Ellen’s Energy Adventure

Image: Disney

If you visited Disney World a decade ago, you'll remember EPCOT Center and its educational, thought-provoking pavilions. But even here in 1996, it's almost laughable to consider the technologies, viewpoints, and ideals showcased as "cutting edge" back then. While the gleaming utopia present in each of the park's epic dark rides might still look unattainable, the park's infrastructure, architecture, even typefaces look distinctly of the '80s... Things are changing fast, and even the quality of a video projection can betray a decade's age.

While the grand sign erected before the park's geometric pavilion still reads UNIVERSE OF ENERGY presented by (the newly merged and minted) ExxonMobil, the attraction inside the pavilion has changed. The only indication of that, though, would be the white thatched garden wall erected nearby. Now forget the '80s... if the bright colors, bolt patterns, and typefaces here don't assure you that Ellen's Energy Adventure is straight outta 1996, the presence of Ellen Degeneres (star of ABC's Ellen) and Bill Nye (from PBS' Bill Nye the Science Guy) will. (Although the sign doesn't mention it, we may also bump into Jamie Lee Curtis, Alex Trebek, and Johnny Gilbert.)

Image: Disney

A digital countdown clock on the exterior ticks away the minutes until the next show. Ellen's Energy Adventure has a capacity of nearly 600 people, so if there's a wait, it's probably just until the next show starts. Cast members and signs will also remind you of a piece of information too important to miss: from entrance to exit, you should count on spending 45 minutes inside. There are no restrooms along the way, and unlike a traditional show, there's not even a chance to exit with squirmy children. Are you in or out?

Alright, then let's step inside the pavilion. Just inside, the wide preshow theater (once home to those flipping, synchronized Kinetic Mosaic projection tiles) is now decorated with a more traditional projection surface made of five screens. But what's showing on it is quite unlike anything else at Epcot.

Ellen Degeneres appears, snapping between the five screens. After a traditionally-Ellen opening comedy monologue, the omnipresent Ellen snaps us to her apartment, where she's settling in to watch her favorite show.

Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

"This is Jeopardy!" The television host announces. As Jeopardy!'s unmistakable musical theme kicks on, there's a knock at the door – it's Ellen's next door neighbor, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill settles in on the couch next to Ellen, who notices that one of the contestants on tonight's Jeopardy is her old college roommate, Judy Peterson – a doctor of energy! "She was such a smarty-pants know-it-all. I had the best nickname for her, though."

"What was that?" Bill asks.

"Stupid Judy. Who cares about Stupid Judy and her stupid energy?"

Bill scoffs. "Ellen, energy is the most important thing in the universe! I'm not taking her side, it's just that... without energy, nothing would go! Nothing would happen! There'd be... nothing!"

"Well, then we'd really be in jeopardy then, wouldn't we?" On TV, Judy responds correctly to a question about Israel. "Right again, Judy," Ellen taunts. "Stupid Judy, stupid energy! Maybe the universe needs energy, but I don't. I'll take a nap for $100." Of course, as Ellen reminds us, when a person falls asleep watching TV, they're destined to have a dream sequeunce. In this case, Ellen has found herself as a contestant on Jeopardy!, facing off against Stupid Judy and Albert Einstein... and wouldn't you know it, every category is about energy.

Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

Alex Trebek offers the first question in the Fossil Fuels category. "The answer is: this was formed from microscopic plants and animals trapped in ocean floor sediments millions of years ago." Ellen, of course, is clueless. One-two-skip-a-few and we find Judy reining supreme with over $17,000, Einstein with $0, and Ellen with a commanding –$100. 

You see where we'd headed. Ellen freezes her dream and steps off Jeopardy!'s set, running into Bill Nye. He explains that he can help Ellen out by taking her back to the origins of energy on Earth... way back. We're invited along, too, and as the doors beneath the screens open, we move forward into the ride itself.

Ellen's dream

Once seated in the massive theater, small doors on the edge of each row curiously slide shut, closing you into the row... that seems an odd thing for a theater, but ah well.

In the darkness ahead, Ellen and Bill appear, walking through nothingless... at least, that's how it looks. In reality, all of the energy that ever would be was already there, simply contained into an infinitely dense, infinitely hot point of matter. And all at once, that dense point of matter expanded, and fast. "Now what you're about to witness took place over billions of years," Bill explains... then, the tiny, distant speck of light erupts as our viewpoint goes racing through endless galaxies, zooming into a tiny distant point: our Sun. Not too far from it is a rocky orb covered in volanoes spewing lava and ash, rocky plains upheaved by tectonic action, basins carved by and filled with liquid water. Returning now to land, the barren, smoldering scene has changed... it's covered in dense, thick, living plants.

Image: Loren Javier, Flickr (license)

It's there that Ellen and Bill emerge. "Here we are!" Bill announces, checking his watch. "220 million years in the Earth's past."

Ellen looks around the dense prehistoric jungle, with the distant sounds of unknowable creatures chirping and hooting all around. "Where's the energy?"

"Oh, it's all around you! See, these plants and animals are soaking up energy from the sun. When they die, they get buried. Time, pressure, and heat will cook them into the fossil fuels we rely on today, like coal, natural gas, and oil."

"Wait, you're telling me that we're filling our gas tanks with dinosaur soup?"

"Well, not exactly. But dinosaurs did live when fossil fuels were developing in the Earth. And... dinosaurs are just cool! Let's check them out! Ellen, it's a chance of a lifetime!"

As distant roaring grows, the physical theater begins to move... Hundreds of guests all at once! That's because the theater is atop a giant turntable, and it's rotating counterclockwise... What awaits there is one of the best staged reveals in all of Disney Parks... In the distance, barely visible against a glowing purple dawn... something is looming. The theater breaks apart into six ultra-wide ride vehicles that slowly advance out of the theater in a single file line and toward the distant giants... the closer they come, the clearer they are... we've indeed traveled back in time into the primeval world.

Image: Marada, Flickr (license)

It's simply one of the most subtle, brilliant, and perfectly-staged set pieces in Disney history. As we grow nearer, the sunrise begins, illuminating these gentle giants as they chew on plant matter, dangling it right over the vehicles. As we pass, distant lightning strikes illuminate a much more harrowing scene.

Image: Disney

On a rocky outcropping overhead, a stegasaurus and an allosaurs battle against a precarious dropoff, lit by molten magma. Gliding slowly through the seven-minute diorama – the ride's highlight – guests encounter a family of Ornithomimus drinking from a swamp, pteranodons perched against an erupting volcano, trachodons bathing beneath a waterfall, and more.

In one particularly memorable scene...

Image: Disney

... Ellen seems to fight off an Elasmosaurus with a tree branch! Entering into a rocky cavern, flashing lights signal a change. "C'mon, Ellen, let's get a move on!" 

Grand finale

The vehicle pulls into a darkened chamber with a projection of a stylized radio tower transmitting a signal. It's KNRG radio. After a brief prehistoric broadcast (allowing the six vehicles time to reassemble into their original "theater" arrangement). Three massive wraparound screens are revealed, upon which Ellen and Bill Nye reappear. In a twelve-minute montage (the attraction's most lengthy segment), the two explore current (and future!) energy resources from across the country – wind, solar, hydroelectric, and more. The takeaway? Ellen's got it: "Seems like there are pros and cons to every one of these. What gives?"

"Well Ellen, there are no easy answers. Sun, water, geothermal steam, even wood all contribute. Right now, these renewables provide about 10% to the world's energy, but we can expect they'll be playing an even bigger role in the decades ahead!"

Image: Disney

It's on to natural gas ("At the rate we're going, we're set for about sixty more years. But don't worry... we're always finding new natural gas all the time") and oil ("it's our main source of energy, and we've found enough to last at least 50 years! We're far from running on empty!") and fusion power!

"So I guess there's never going to be just one answer," Ellen realizes.

"But if we keep using our brain power," Bill offers, "we'll have lots of choices for the future!"

Ellen tunes back in to Jeopardy! just in time to catch up to Judy, putting them neck-and-neck for the Final Jeopardy round. Alex Trebek looks across them. "You will recall that our Final Jeopardy category on today's program is the future of energy. So here's the Final Jeopardy answer for you: this is the one source of energy that will never run out. Good luck."

As the iconic Final Jeopardy theme begins, walls beneath the screen slide open, and the theater begins to advance forward. It returns to the original theater where the ride began. 

It glides to a stop in the large theater as, far to the left, a new screen lights up – a humungous tube television screen. Resting atop the turntable, the theater begins to slowly rotate toward the television.

We're now a theater of viewers watching the most unusual Jeopardy! episode yet. And it's time for Judy and Ellen to reveal their Final Jeopardy questions.

Judy's response? "Nothing. Because there is no answer."

"Well actually, you're wrong," Alex shrugs. "Let's go to Ellen and see what she came up with."

"Uh, what is brain power, Alex?" Ding!

"You are correct!" Ellen walks away Jeopardy champion.

Image: Disney

"So, that's how I became an energy expert. Again, expert may not be the exact word, more expert-ish. Anyway, I've gotta go... LOOK OUT FOR THE DINOSAUR! Kidding, just kidding." As the lights dim, a dinosaur's roar is heard in the distance. With the house lights restored, we're finally free to exit back into the sunlight as leave the Universe of Energy behind, our seats perfectly positioned to welcome the next group, unaware of the unusual experience that awaits.

As frequent readers know, our Lost Legends entries always include the best point-of-view video we can find, to bring the ride back to life for a new generation and provide a little more insight and detail than our written ride-through alone can offer! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the full Ellen's Energy Adventure experience below... But remember, the story's not over. On the next page, we'll explore the factors that played against Universe of Energy, and see how Epcot is poised to evolve now that its controversial replacement is officially on the way.