Wall-E's Earth Overture

Wall-E's Earth Overture is a flat ride that now joins the Land Pavilion's attraction lineup. Not only does it serve as an exciting flat ride/filler ride that EPCOT sorely needs, but it's also serving as the area's visual weenie, combined with the Greenhouse in the background. While most of the other pavilions have their centerpieces to bring guests in, like Wonders of Life's DNA statue, Imagination's glass pyramids, or Horizon's iconic spaceship design, The Land's old "greenhouse" structure is so outdated that it's less futuristic than a mall. The Wall-E-themed spinner is designed to bring in the kinetic energy, filling the pavilion with the "life" it deserves. It also establishes that Wall-E IS the new mascot for the pavilion.

As a side note, the ride was constructed to similarly reflect Dumbo's double-carousel design- but the twin for this ride is actually directly across the park at World Discovery, featuring Wall-E's Orbital Overture, creating a kind of natural balance of space and earth that ties the park together...

ride system

as it goes, Shanghai Disneyland's Jet Packs flat ride at Tommorowland is one of the most underrated and underutilized ride types ever- it takes the normal dumbo-style carousel but ups it up an entire notch by making it semi-inverted, where guest's legs hang in the air, giving a thrilling sensation unlike any other. This ride system imported to EPCOT serves as another Shanghai-inspired addition to WDW.

queue/premise

after passing through a small, glass archway that passes a small circular-perimeter pond, (and a small checkpoint of 112 cm or taller), guests can read a small plaque describing the experience:

"Inspired by the wind turbines that generate electricity all across the United States, Wall-E's Earth Overture showcases Wall-E's conservation efforts with his newest invention, with the help of the humans, a spinning turbine called The EVE Hydrotron, a sentient horizontal wind turbine. Help Wall-E and company generate electricity by taking a spin at the Land Pavillion!"

The queue then slowly wraps around the flat ride, passing by dancing fountains and murals depicting Wall-E's conservation efforts (with the murals in the Space pavilion telling the original story). Soon, guests are seated into the ride vehicles and the ride begins.

the ride

Once guests are strapped in safely in pairs, they'll notice that a sleek white lever can turn up and down between them. From dials one to eleven, and very similar to the ones found in the Dumbo ride, guests can control how high they fly, and it can completely change the experience when the ride begins. The higher you go, the more your vehicle twists forward, and with your legs dangling in the air, an entirely new level of thrill is achieved. With a few robotic chitters and squeaks from speakers behind guests, and suddenly, guests soar upwards based on how their lever's height. An original score, Wall-E's Earth Overture by Thomas Newman (the original composer for the movie) plays along with the spin. After 90 seconds, the ride "powers down" and the vehicles head back to their starting position. Upon exiting, guests will walk through a small show scene found inside a covered glass tunnel. Because of the energy you just harvested, you can see Wall-E showing EVE his impressive Christmas lights display. A few hydraulics, while not making them expensive Disney animatronics, allow the robots to have extra motion.

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