In 1984, Six Flags AutoWorld debuted in Flint, Michigan. Unlike the famous Six Flags parks that feature roller coasters and thrills, AutoWorld was an indoor experience. It appears to have been sort of a mix of EPCOT's old World of Motion pavilion, plus the original version of its replacement, Test Track. And it even had a dash of Disneyland's old America Sings animated animal show.
AutoWorld was nothing like the traditional Six Flags parks. It looked more like a museum or a science center.
Michigan had high hopes for AutoWorld. Sadly, the new car smell was gone by 1985.
At the time, Six Flags was experimenting and diversifying with new types of attractions that were not traditional amusement parks.
In 1985, another experimental attraction, Six Flags PowerPlant, opened in Baltimore, Maryland. It also was short-lived (I got to visit the corpse of PowerPlant in 2000, as it had transformed into a shopping center).
Like a mall or a museum, AutoWorld's fun could be had on different levels.
AutoWorld brings to mind the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
You can actually see Test Track at AutoWorld! A remote control Test Track, that is.
Was AutoWorld ahead of its time? Maybe.
The Great Race seems to share DNA with the original version of Walt Disney World's Test Track.
The Humorous History of Auto-Mobility seems very similar to EPCOT's World of Motion.
This attraction screams old school Disney.
Speaking of Disney, AutoWorld had its own mascot. Not a cartoon car. That would be too logical. AutoWorld had a Horse. A crazy looking horse. And he hosted the Humorous History of Auto-Mobility.
Fred the Carriageless Horse! Of course!
Fred existed in some sort of animated, three dimensional form at AutoWorld. I'm guessing it was a robot.
Fred seems to be a relative of the Old Grey Mare driving a Model T from the 1974 Disneyland Audio Animatronics show, America Sings.
Poor Fred was probably sold to the glue factory.
Six Flags AutoWorld seemed like a clever idea.
I feel like AutoWorld was built in the wrong location, and at the wrong time.
You know that if this was Hot Wheels AutoWorld, or Matchbox AutoWorld, or Disney-PIXAR Cars AutoWorld it would have been a big hit.
Fascinating! I had never heard of this place until now. Does the AutoWorld building still exist today in some form? I hope you plan to do a post on that Six Flags PowerPlant attraction! And I hope it wasn't a "nuclear" Power Plant with everyone getting radiated for free.
ReplyDeleteNone of the building exists. It was demolished in the 90s. The lot is now part of the University of Michigan's Flint campus.
DeletePre-Autoworld is actually a more interesting story than post-Autoworld. The "spiky" looking dome was built for Autoworld, but the old IMA auditorium (a place that held concerts and events when Flint was booming) was repurposed as part of the park.
Thanks, TokyoMagic! The AutoWorld building lasted for some time, but was demolished. I don't have much information about Six Flags PowerPlant. When I visited the PowerPlant site in 2000, I did not take any pictures (no smart phone back then!) so I missed an opportunity. What I have seen of PowerPlant looks like "SteamPunk" entertainment that is so popular right now. And no, I don't think PowerPlant was a Nuclear Power Plant. That would have been awesome, though. I feel like Six Flags Nuclear PowerPlant would be fun.
ReplyDeleteThat is one creepy-looking horse.
ReplyDeleteI used to work as an Animatronics operator, at Autoworld.
ReplyDeleteThe talking horse sitting on the porch, playing banjo is not Fred, but his brother, Jed. (Fred was on the third floor, Jed on the second.)
Fred and Jed were Autoworld's two pneumatically operated characters. They both ran automated audio-and-movement programs, as well as interacting with park guests. Jed's operator was concealed inside the 'house' behind him, and could see and hear to interact with people through the partially-visible window to his Left. That window had a black cloth screen which the operator could see out of, but not into. (The operator talked via a microphone on a headset, and Jed's mouth would move in sync with the operator's voice. His (limited) body and head movement were controlled via two joysticks. His audio program ran on a tape 'cart' similar to ones used in radio for commercials at the time.
As they were pneumatically operated, there was a *lot* of hissing and popping noise, whenever Fred or Jed were in operation. Also, there were many days when their individual compressors couldn't keep air pressure at the necessary levels, due to leaks or other issues. On those days, head and body movement would be slow, laggy, and when the head or body parts hit their mechanical stops, the part in question would shake, horribly. Fred got so bad that they stopped interactively operating him, and just let him run his programmed shows, on schedule.
There were three other Animatronic characters in the Automotive Wonders display in the park's rotunda, where the giant V-6 engine was. Bob, Smitty, and Al. They were electric, rather than pneumatic (no pressure problems, but constantly burning-out expensive servos.) They, too, ran a program (theirs ran for nine minutes, from a laserdisk system, and it included video.) One operator controlled all three characters, in interactive mode, but obviously only one was ever operated at a time when guests were in the park. (Turning-on all three was...interesting. They'd all respond simultaneously to the same joystick commands, and all 'speak' in synch with the operator's headset-microphone.) Their operator was located behind a mirrored wall, to the Right of the stage, when facing it. The front of the stage was miked, so that the operator could hear park guests through his headset. There was an interactive 'script,' but interactions were ad-libbed, with the 'script' supplying sample and suggested responses. Bob had a 'buddy' he'd sing about, which was a Fanuc spot-welding robot (I forget the model.)
There was also a travelling 'robot' character named "Bumper T. Fenderbender," who roamed throughout the park. Bumper was based upon an electric wheelchair, and his operator sat inside his body, with a harness strapped to his head to move 'Bumper's' head wherever he looked. The operator saw out through one-way decorative mirrors in 'Bumper's' body.
Hey Frost! Thank you for the great insider information about Autoworld!
Deleteanyone got photos of bumper t fender bender and doctor droid and sparkie and all the robots?
ReplyDelete