Epcot Center - The Sum of All Thrills
Disney World’s Epcot in Orlando has a new ride. It is a simulated roller coaster. What is a simulated roller coaster? It is a ride that you actual get into, but only two people at a time. You are enclosed, so it feels like you are riding the roller coaster, but you are really staying in the same spot, just moving around some. You will have a screen in front of you that will make it look like you’re actually moving along a track on a real roller coaster. It just opened last week, so if you want to be one of the first to experience it, there is still time.
It is a virtual ride, so people with motion sickness, like me, may not want to risk it. Your body will be moving and I’m sure the Disney imagineers have done a great job coordinating the physical movements with the virtual ones on the screen, but somehow my body knows the truth.
This new ride is called The Sum of All Thrills and it can be experienced in the Innoventions pavilion at Epcot. Probably the coolest thing I have heard about the ride is that riders get to design their own ride. For example, you can simulate a bobsled ride, an airplane ride, or a traditional roller coaster ride. Then you lay out the track that your ride will take. This can include loopty loops, straight falls, and all the ups and downs you think you can handle.
It’s the next step in technology-driven rides and Epcot is the perfect place for it-with their technology focus. Right now it’s one of the only rides that you have a part in creating, but I think it’s the future of thrill rides and if stomachs can handle it, more power to them!