Disney's Adventure Thru Inner Space
• 4-star rating
• PCVR, Quest
• Documentary, Free, Theme Parks
• Comfortable, Stationary
Project Snowflake turns the clock back to 1967 for a virtual ride of the now defunct Disneyland ride Adventures Thru Inner Space. Climb aboard an Atommobile and head into the darkness where the Mighty Microscope shrinks you down to the size of a molecule and flings you into a snowflake where you can marvel at visual spectacles on a subatomic scale. Accompanied by the narration and soundtrack from the original ride, Project Snowflake recreates every scene from the ride; jogging the memories of former riders and teaching others about this landmark theme park ride.
Though the experience lacks polish - there is no menu system for example, as the app jumps straight into the ride - we're very grateful for its existence and hope experiences like these can illustrate the importance of preserving the memory of old rides and theme parks. It appears that some scenes are recreated more faithfully than others, and particularly on Quest the experience appears to be lacking in color when compared to video captures of the real thing. However, we're no experts and are happy to enjoy this five minute ride for what it is.
This labor of love was developed by Disney fans Jeremy Marx and Kurt Pfeifer and is available through the Disney History Institute website as a PC download or as a free Meta Quest app. The experience on the two platforms is largely the same, though there are some improved lighting effects on the PC version.
Boarding an Atommobile and preparing to be shrunk."
For folks interested in learning more about this ride, there's video from the original ride, a great alternate flatscreen recreation by AdventureThruSpace which also includes the pre-ride walkthrough and narration and the exit area where the Sherman Brothers' theme plays at the end of the ride. If you want an even deeper dive into this Disney ride's history, Defunctland's film is an excellent choice.
Adventure Thru Inner Space was shrinking guests until it closed in 1985 to make room for the Star Tours motion simulator. Echoes of the old ride still exist today. The original winding queue line was repurposed for Star Tours though a starship now rests where the Mighty Microscope once stood, and that queue line was also reproduced in other Star Tours rides in Disney parks around the world.
More Theme Park Experiences
• Project Fairwinds Disney designed Worlds Fair centerpiece in VR.
• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea VR video recreation by Defunctland.
• Futureport '82 EPCOT recreation under development*.
• Virtual Towers Online Alton Towers recreation under development*.
* VR possible on powerful PCs using UEVR.
• Project Fairwinds Disney designed Worlds Fair centerpiece in VR.
• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea VR video recreation by Defunctland.
• Futureport '82 EPCOT recreation under development*.
• Virtual Towers Online Alton Towers recreation under development*.
* VR possible on powerful PCs using UEVR.
Crystalline snowflake structures as we shrink further.
✅ Impressive recreation with original narration and soundtrack.
✅ Experienced from the perspective of a rider.
✅ Free download.
❌ Excludes pre and post-ride visuals and audio.
❌ Some scene recreations are approximate rather than faithful.
• Languages: English
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