Captain EO - Returns to Disney World

Captain EO is back. Yep, it's back in 3D. After a 16 year hiatus the Michael Jackson production makes a return to Epcot. In fact it goes right back in to it's old location. The original movie ran for around 8 years. The movie was produced by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.

This show replaced Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for a limited time.

Dad's Honey, I Shrunk the Audience page

Captain EO - Tribute to Michael Jackson

Photo by Mike Saechang

The Preshow

The Preshow to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience features was a 7 minute video. This video is a "slide show" (it really did use to be a slide show with slide projectors synced to the music) that shows lots of cutesy pictures of little kids and couples getting married and syrupy stuff like that. It's meant to get you in the mood to take a bunch of pictures and videos when you get home.

Dad's assuming that Disney didn't change the preshow. If they did, let me know.

The Attraction

Here is a quote from the 1986 Disney World News -

"The ultimate 3-D motion picture musical space fantasy, Captain EO, premieres this month at the Magic Eye Theater in Future World.

Combining the music, magic, and creative talents of superstars Michael Jackson as Captain EO, executive producer George Lucas, director Francis Ford Coppolo, and the Walt Disney Company, this 17-minute spectacular promises to be an electrifying three-dimensional event. In her 3-D screen debut as the evil forces' supreme leader is Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston.

Featured are original Jackson songs, exciting dance sequences by "Flashdance" choreographer Jeffrey Hornaday, and an amazing array of special effects. They bring to life the story of an electronic band of mythical space creatures who undergo a magical transformation and aid Jackson in conquering the evil forces of darkness.

Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson, is entertainment, fantasy, and fun in the grand tradition of Disney. This incredible 3-D film experience, presented by Eastman Kodak company, is playing continuously beginning mid-September at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World, Disneyland Park, and nowhere else in the universe."

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

If you saw the original, you won't be disappointed. The movie and sound track are the same, but a couple of extra special effects have been added.

Link to the Michael Jackson site for Captain EO

The Postshow

There is no postshow. You just dump your 3D glasses in the big bins as you go out.

History

This attraction first opened at Epcot in September of 1986 and opened 6 days later in Disneyland. It was also seen in Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. It closed in Epcot in 1994. The last show closed in Disneyland Paris in 1998.

Dad's Ride Information Table

Dad's Bottom Line

It's always interesting to see what happens when Disney brings back a ride. This one will draw big crowds for a while, and maybe for the whole time it's open. Disney has not announced how long the new show will be in place of if Honey I Shrunk the Audience will return.

(It's Dad's opinion that they are planning a new attraction for this pavilion and we'll start hearing something about a new show soon.)

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