A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: ExtraTERRORestrial at Magic Kingdom
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
EXTRATERRORESTRIAL ALIEN ENCOUNTER
By Jim Korkis
ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter opened in Tomorrowland in June 1995, replacing the Mission to Mars attraction. It was originally intended as an attraction for the never produced Tomorrowland 2055 make-over at Disneyland, and would have been based on the Alien movie franchise that began in 1979.
Filmmaker George Lucas was brought in to work on the concept and abandoned any connection to the Alien movie franchise because it was determined to be too traumatic and intense for Disney guests.
Despite the word “terror” being in all capital letters as the name of the attraction and the many warning signs that stated that it was “ a frightening theatrical experience in a confined setting with loud noises and moments of total darkness (that) may be too intense for children and some adults,” many guests were still unprepared for the experience that was presented, and there were complaints.
Guests entered the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center to witness a demonstration of the alien corporation X-S Tech’s latest technological innovation. The lobby show music consisted of twelve original musical selections composed specifically for the attraction by George Wilkins, as well as posters and videos that humorously referenced Disney related science-fiction efforts including “Lunar Disneyland. The Happiest Place Off Earth.”
Chairman L.C. Clench (played by actor Jeffrey Jones) was excited to find a new world to sell his products, and told the guests, “If something can’t be done with X-S [Excess], then it shouldn’t be done at all!”
In the pre-show, the amoral robot S.I.R. (Simulated Intelligence Robotics), voiced by Tim Curry, gave a disturbing demonstration of the newest Series 1000 teleportation device as he transported the adorable alien Skippy across the room where he reappeared burned, in pain, scared, and confused.
Guests proceeded to an amphitheater Testing Center of concentric circles of seating surrounding a large cylindrical teleportation tube similar to the one they had just seen in the pre-show. For “safety reasons,” each seat included gigantic over the shoulder harnesses that locked down on each guest.
Binaural audio like the breathing of the alien would be pumped through two special speakers located next to each ear along with warm, moist water (to simulate the creature’s drool and the blood of a killed technician and exploded alien) and hot air effects (to simulate the creature’s tongue licking the guest’s head). The feeling of being restrained added to the anxiety of being in the dark.
Clench decides to use the device to teleport himself to the audience but something in the signal path intercepts the transmission. What appears in the tube is not Clench but an extraterrestrial that is tall with spider-like legs, gnashing fangs, glowing red eyes and transparent wings. It is determined to be carnivorous.
It crashes through the tube and the theater goes dark and the audience imagines this creature right behind them. The alien is lured back into the tube and exploded.
The attraction closed in 2003 and was replaced by a similar but more comical and family-friendly attraction called Stitch’s Great Escape in 2004. The Interplanetary Convention Center was recast as the Galactic Federation Prisoner Transport Center, with guests recruited as trainees in the cosmic government’s justice system and witnessing the arrival of a Level 3 prisoner, Stitch, who escapes into the Walt Disney World park.
Stitch attraction went to seasonal only operation in 2016 and it was announced in July that it would be closed permanently. Papers have already been filed for its demolition. There has been no formal announcement of what might replace it.
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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Disney Never Lands, and about planned but unbuilt concepts, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.
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