- “Control, we were the first to go through the heart, lungs and brain!”
- ―Dr. Cynthia Lair
Body Wars was a motion simulator ride in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. The premise of the attraction had guests shrunk to survey a mission carried out inside a human body. The ride film was directed by Leonard Nimoy, and utilizes the ATLAS simulation technology used in Star Tours.
History[]
In the original 1977 designs for the "LIfe and Health Pavilion", the main attraction was to be an Omnimover attraction called "The Incredible Journey Within" taking guests on a journey through the human body and circulatory system aboard "Blood cell" vehicles. Featuring oversized sets and animated props including a 35 foot tall heart, the concept proved difficult in attracting a sponsor and there were maintenance cost concerns as well.
With the development of Star Tours however, a simulator system looked to be a more practical solution to the design problems. Additionally, this would allow Epcot to receive its first thrill attraction, something which executives saw as desirable.
Attraction Description[]
Queue[]
Guests entered the queue as "observation team members" recruited by MET and were told by overhead announcements that they must pass the "Level 1 and Level 2 dermatopic purification screens" to enter the body-probe vehicle. In the queue and loading area, announcements were made about details of the four bays.
Boarding[]
Dr. Cynthia Lair had volunteered to be miniaturized and enter a patient's body to observe how white-blood cells attack a splinter. The guests were told they would board the Bravo 229 probe ship with Captain Braddock piloting the ship to go inside him and meet up with Dr. Lair and bring her out. Guests learned that their "LGS 2050"-type probe vehicle weighed approximately 26 tons, but once miniaturized, weighed less than a drop of water.
Ride[]
Guests aboard the Bravo 229 vessel travel through a capillary.
The guests' ship, Bravo 229, moved from the loading bay to the miniaturization chamber, where technicians focused a "particle reducer" on the ship. The ship and crew mates were miniaturized and sent under the patient's skin. When inside the patient, they saw white blood cells on their way to destroy his splinter.
The guests arrived at the splinter, meeting with Dr. Lair as she began to take a cell count when she was accidentally pulled into a capillary. Braddock followed her into the vein, entering an unauthorized area. Braddock steered the ship past the heart and into the right ventricle. The guests entered the lungs where Dr. Lair was being attacked by a white blood cell. Braddock used his lasers to free her and have her come aboard.
By now, the ship was very low on power. Dr. Lair suggested that they use the brain's energy to recharge it. Passing the heart's left atrium, the ship went through the artery to get to the brain. A neuron contacted the ship, allowing it to regain power and de-miniaturize outside of the patient's body. The team members were then congratulated for a successful rescue as guests exited the ship.
Cast[]
- Tim Matheson as Captain Braddock
- Dakin Matthews as Mission Commander
- Elisabeth Shue as Dr. Cynthia Lair
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Body Wars. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |
