No Tomorrow Land

The eastern portion of the park is home to (No) Tomorrow Land; a classic sci-fi themed land with the caveat that not all stories have good endings. Sometimes the future is not hopeful and optimistic, but frightening and hostile.

NTL features sleek, white architectural facades. But they have been weathered, eroded, and there is overgrowth where nature is taking back the landscape.

(Like this, but dirty).

Planters and gardens throughout the land feature brightly colored alien flora (they aren’t real). Low, droning synthesizers provide ominous ambient background music.

NTL features three attractions, a restaurant, and a gift shop.

Metroid: Hostile Invasion

NTL’s signature attraction is Metroid: Hostile Invasion. Loosely based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, this revolutionary drop tower-coaster hybrid style ride will appeal to fans of the franchise, attraction enthusiasts, and adrenaline junkies.

The ride utilizes an elaborate new ride tech. Guests board vehicles with grandstand style seating. There are three rows of four seats for a total of twelve passengers per vehicle. The vehicle is LIM powered via a pair of tracks that run parallel to the ride vehicle. Vehicles are also equipped with the ability to rotate 180 degrees along a preprogrammed route. It is truly one of the most technologically advanced attractions ever constructed.

(A very crude sketch of the ride vehicle).

Throughout the ride, guests will encounter a series of physical sets, as well as large screens that work together to tell the story of the attraction.

(The queue is based on the Spider Guardian room from Prime 2).

Once guests enter the facade, they are shown the plot of the ride via short video clips on a series of large monitors. There is an unseen narrator.

“We thought the horror of the Ing had been eradicated by the bounty hunter Samus Aran. We were wrong. While on a recon mission to a previously uncharted planet, GC2-4, Galactic Federation soldiers sent out a distress call. They were able to transmit one video before all communication ceased.”

The short video is from the perspective of a soldier as they being attacked by mutated insectile creatures that emit a purple hue. One of the creatures lunges in the direction of the camera before the feed cuts.

“We of course attempted contact with Samus. She did not respond. Recent events have strained our relationship with the heroine. Therefore, we are left with no choice but to send in an extensive task force, and that’s why we need you, our newest recruits.”

“You will be deployed to planet GC2-4 with a single objective; destroy the Ing. But be warned; they can posses any living being. Allegedly they can even inhabit Metroids. If an Ing takes hold of you,… there is nothing that can be done to help you. We are grateful for your courage during these desperate times recruits. Good luck.”

Scene 1: Launch and Access Tunnel.

After loading into their ride vehicles, there is a short “launch” sequence. The vehicles are accelerated forward through a narrow tunnel. The vehicles tilt back slightly as stars zoom by on screens that wrap around the tunnel. There is a flash of light as a door opens, the vehicles slow and tilt back to normal and guests enter a fog chamber. A few feet later another door opens and guests find themselves in the first location on planet GC2-4.

This room is designed after the Access Tunnel room in Prime 2. There are literal piles of deceased Galactic Federation soldiers on either side of the room. Even more unsettling are the group of soldiers seen hanging from the ceiling. Large insectile creatures called Splinters are seen scurrying about in the background and on the walls. As guests move through the room, some of the soldiers are seen being pulled up by some unseen entity.

Unseen narrator: “Heath unit readings indicate that these soldiers’ cause of death was,… fear!”

Scene 2: Power Bomb Guardian

The vehicles come to a stop before entering a vertical corridor and twisting around 180 degrees to face the opposite direction. As the corridor gives way to a new room, guests encounter the creature only known as the Power Bomb Guardian, again as seen in Prime 2. This mutated plant-like creature swipes its limbs and snaps at guests. Gusts of air hit guests in the face to strengthen the effect.

Scene 3: Submerged

Passing through a morph ball tunnel, guests travel through another screen based room, this one simulating a dim underwater environment. Here guests encounter a pair of creatures resembling bloodworms. Only with a glowing purple hue.

These huge creatures lunge at guests. One of them manages to latch onto the ride vehicle. Water sprays at guests to provide the illusion of the worms starting to successfully break into the vehicle. The worm releases its grip when another worm ends up latching onto it. The vehicles are tilted back and zip through another escape tunnel into the next room.

Scene 4: Quadraxis

This scene features by far the largest animatronic ever created. Standing 43’ tall, the menacing biomechanical being known as Quadraxis towers over guests.

The vehicles attempt to escape the entity by traveling under it. But upon reaching the other side, the vehicles jerk to a stop before being lifted while also twisting around to once again face the opposing direction. Two of Quadraxis’s gargantuan limbs appear to have the vehicles in its grasp. The crunching of metal is heard as lighting inside the vehicle suddenly flashes red off and on and warning lights illuminate.

Invisible computer narrator: “Warning. Warning. Systems critical. Structural damage.”

Invisible narrator: “Activate main thrusters!”

A rumble is felt as the vehicle struggled out of the grip of the large entity. A purple hue now emits from the being’s head, all while lights continue flashing and the vehicles finally accelerate. Guests are thrown back in their seats and are launched vertically into the next room.

Scene 5: Abandoned

Guests end up in a pitch black space. The vehicles vibrate and engines can be heard sputtering.

Invisible narrator: “Calculate the damage.”

Invisible computer narrator: (computer noises) “Vehicle status critical. Heat shields inoperable. Main engines depleted. Oxygen levels 15% and decreasing. Survival near impossible.”

Invisible narrator: “We can’t get you home. I’m sorry recruits. Know that your sacrifices will not be made in vain. The next mission will succeed thanks to the lessons of this failure.”

The cabin lights slowly dim. Mechanical creaking is heard along with the sound of air escaping, and soon there is absolute silence and dark.

Scene 6:

Guests are now alone in the dark and apparently left for dead by the Galactic Federation. After a few moments, a loud chirping sound suddenly cuts through the silence.

In a dark room enveloped by a large wrap around screen, a familiar Metroid appears against the blackness.

Curious, the Metroid moves in closer. But before it’s able to attack, a glowing purple bubbly ooze appears and latches onto the Metroid. The creature lets out another screech, higher pitched this time. The Ing has infected the living energy parasite.

In a matter of seconds, the Metroid is mutated and contorted into a new being; a Dark Metroid. Its membrane now covered by a rigid shell, has a single glowing, orange “eye”, and it has grown a third set of fangs.

The Metroid’s recognizable chirp has been replaced by a more raspy screech. Now moving in a more aggressive manner, the Metroid prepares to attack. But it’s not alone. In an instant, nearly a dozen Dark Metroids converge on the guests’ location. The creatures “ram” the ride vehicles, and a couple of the Metroids begin to attack the top of the vehicle in an attempt to reach guests.

The vehicle slowly inches forward before stopping with a considerable jolt. The vehicle slowly rotates forward and guests are now looking straight down a vast chasm. And at the bottom of the void awaits another hostile creature, the emperor Ing. Its tendrils begin to reach out towards guests as more metallic creaking is heard before the vehicle plunges straight down.

The 167’ drop feels like it takes ages to guests, but it’s actually only a matter of seconds. Just as the vehicle is about to plunge right into the awaiting grasp of the creature, the vehicle suddenly levels out. Samus’s gunship comes into full view (via screen). Samus has used her Charge Beam to catch the plummeting vessel and being it to safety!

The vehicles follow Samus to a safe landing area (ride unload). Guests have survived the Hostile Invasion. But with the deadly Ing still present in the Galaxy, how long will it be until more worlds are under threat??

Grey Goo: The Assimilation

This 4D theater show demonstrates how everything can go wrong when people take technology for granted. A combination of digital and practical effects takes guests on a one way journey to the end of the world.

The story follows a few brilliant scientists who have just finished programming an army of self-replicating nanobots. An unfortunate glitch in the system caused by oversight and laziness from scientists working on the project results in an unstoppable run way disaster.

Flatland

This small indoor area is themed to the novel and film Flatland. So naturally there are three flat rides, each themed to a different 2D character. All meanwhile a large yellow sphere character looms over everything. The flat rides used are a basic Astro Jets type spinner, a gravity defying enterprise, and a tea cups ride. Flatland decor includes many 2D shapes of varying sizes.