Tired of ads? Turn them off by becoming a VF Premium Member, for as little as $15 a year. Click here for more information.

Go Premium!

You can help Support Visions Fantastic by purchasing a Premium Membership. Or, If you wish to donate to VisionsFantastic.com directly, use the PayPal link below:

CircleVision360




circlevision.jpg (29998 bytes)

 




 

The CircleVision theater, located in the current location of Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, was unique in that it completely surrounded the audience with moving images and gave a tremendous sense of realism. The Circarama, which opened in 1955, was the predecessor of the CircleVision theater that re-opened in 1967 and featured a new film,  titled "America The Beautiful", which included many sites of the United States. Shot in 16mm film, and updated again in 1975, played into the early 80's, to be replaced by  two new films; now shot in 35mm and a new process,  "Wonders of China" and "American Journeys". All films were filmed in 360 degrees, using a camera specially developed by WDI and Kodak. 

     American Journeys  surrounded the audience with beautiful images of such places as the The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Yosemite, The Rockies, scenes from New England and New Orleans

     The second film, "Wonders of China", was a beautiful collection of moving images from China. Such landmarks as the Great Wall of China were featured. For several  shots for these two films, a special camera rig was loaded onto a helicopter. Soarin' Over California at Disney's California Adventure, while capturing some of these moments and doing it in an innovative way, did not compare with the full immersion and wonderful soundtracks of these two films.    
A Visit to CircleVison 360

Before you entered the main theater, a short  film presentation was shown in the foyer. CircleVision 360 has had several sponsors throughout it's existence including Bell Labs and Delta airlines. (Delta presented flight attendant uniforms, for instance, while Bell Labs demonstrated their new "video phones"  and fully enclosed telephone booths where an entire family could take part in a speaker-phone conversation). Inside the theater, the audience stands, and lean rails were provided to help with the stronger sensations of the film, but nothing in the theater actually moved.

The CircleVision theatre was closed during the construction of New Tomorrowland in 1997, and subsequently became the Rocket Rods queue. The Rocket Rods closed in early 2001. The lobby was then used for restoration of the King Arthur Carousel in Fantasyland, and construction for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters began in 2003 and will open Summer, 2005.
 



  America the Beautiful (Video Clip)

 



Tomorrowland

Space Mountain - Astro Orbiter - Captain EO - Star Tours
Buzz Lightyear - Innoventions - Disneyland Monorail - Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage - Autopia
Tomorrowland Shopping - Tomorrowland Dining - Tomorrowland Entertainment - The Disneyland Railroad


Tomorrowland History

 

 

Advertisements



Tired of ads? Turn them off by becoming a VF Premium Member, for as little as $15 a year. Click here for more information.
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.0.1


Tired of ads? Turn them off by becoming a VF Premium Member, for as little as $15 a year. Click here for more information.


VisionsFantastic.com Copyright 2004-2010

Brett 'DaddyB' Garrett and Chris Lang, Webmasters
Graphics by Chris Lang
Video materials by RU42 and Robbie Rodrigues

Discussion Board Mod Team:
Mousecrazy, Neo, Shrunkenned, DaddyB, Ca Screamin Dude, Ezra, XFKirsten, DCA Fan,

Visions Fantastic Theme Song by Rick McKee

Terms of Use: No part of VisionsFantastic.com may be represented or used
elsewhere without permission from the Webmasters.
This includes audio and video materials, photographs and Flash materials.

This website has not been approved by the Walt Disney Company, Visionsfantastic.com is a fan site and is not operated by the Walt Disney Company.
Opinions expressed on VisionsFantastic.com do not necessarily reflect that of the VF Staff.

You must be 13 years of age or older to visit this site