Spaceship Mobius (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Spaceship Mobius is the iconic symbol of Mobocot. One of the most recognizable structures in Mobiusland, it is not only the centerpiece and main focal point of Mobocot but also the symbolic structure and attraction that houses the fundamentals of the park. The 18-story geodesic sphere houses a 16-minute dark ride using the Omnimover system that presents the progression of Mobian communications from cavepeople to the dawn of the internet and beyond.
==Structure==
Spaceship Mobius is a complete sphere, supported by three pairs of legs. The architectural design was conceived by Wallace Gromms Design Group. The structural designs of both Expo 67 and Spaceship Mobius were completed by Simpson Gumpertz.
Geometrically, Spaceship Mobius is derived from the Class 2 geodesic polyhedron with frequency of division equal to 8. Each face of the polyhedron is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points. In reality, some of those triangles are partially or fully nonexistent due to supports and doors; there are actually only 11,324 silvered facets, with 954 partial or full flat triangular panels.
The appearance of being a monolithic sphere is an architectural goal that was achieved through a structural trick. Spaceship Mobius is in fact two structural domes. Six legs are supported on pile groups that are driven up to 160 feet into Central Florida's soft earth. Those legs support a steel box-shaped ring at the sphere's perimeter, at about 30 degrees south latitude in earth-terms. The upper structural dome sits on this ring. A grid of trusses inside the ring supports two helical structures of the ride and show system. Below the ring, a second dome is hung from the bottom, completing the spherical shape. The ring and trusses form a table-like structure which separates the upper dome from the lower. Supported by and about three feet off the structural domes is a cladding sphere to which the shiny Alucobond panels and drainage system are mounted.
The cladding was designed so that when it rains, no water pours off the sides onto the ground. All water is collected through one-inch gaps in the facets into a gutter system, and the water is channeled into the Mobius Showcase Lagoon.
==Ride experience==
===Show scenes===
The ride begins with the time-machine vehicles ascending into a dark tunnel with twinkling stars all around. An adventurous orchestral theme starts to play. As the score shifts to the theme ostinato, a leitmotif that comes to represent digital interference. On touchscreens in the vehicle, guests select their language and hometown, and then have their picture taken by a passing camera.
As the vehicle arrives at the first story of the structure, it begins a slow curve. A large film screen is stretched along the inside of the sphere, depicting early Mobians fighting for survival against a woolly mammoth without a form of communication and language. As the screen dims behind them, guests enter a cavern populated by audio animatronic early Mobians, who represent the development of early language through cave paintings. The drawings on the walls come to life and begin to dance as the car continues onward.
The score modulates, presenting the theme in a phrygian mode, implying a Midestan atmosphere. Guests are brought through a heated diorama of the Hamarapians, who invented a system of portable communication using hieroglyphs recorded on papyrus, as opposed to cave paintings that were unable to be transported as Mobians migrated.
Phoenixian merchants are seen carrying goods to faraway lands on Mobius. The narration explains how each civilization is trying to communicate, but cannot understand each other due to the language barrier. But the Phoenixians, who trade with all of them create a simple common alphabet, so that trade and communication becomes easier. Turning a corner, riders see a lesson in mathematics being taught in a piazza in an ancient Greek city, in a sequence that attempts to show how math helped invent the 'birth of a high-tech life we enjoy today.' Shifting to ancient Romus, a night scene including a traveler in a metal chariot delivering news depicts how language is portrayed as a tool for cultural unification with the vast network of roads that stretched across Europa, ultimately all leading to Romus.
Suddenly, the scene takes a dark turn as crashes are heard and the smell of burning wood fills the air. The fall of Romus by invading mercenary armies also brought the destruction of the bulk of the world's recorded knowledge, including the loss of scrolls at the Library of Alexandrium. But the narration gives hope as the vehicle reaches the next level, where Israeusian and Midestan scholars of the Middle Ages of Mobius are seen preserving recorded information, and continuing to progress in science.
Winding through exotic fabrics and drapery, guests arrive at a monastery where ancient manuscripts are being copied by hand. The composition shifts to a hallelujah chorus, sung to the melody of the piece's exposition. Guten is seen working the first Mobian movable-type printing press, allowing information to travel freely across the globe. The Europaean Renaissance is portrayed, with animatronics of ensembles playing rich, polyphonic secular motets, sculpting a woman, and the painting of a portrait of fruit. The scene ends as the car passes under a scaffold, where Michelangelus is seen painting the ceiling of the Sistinian Chapel.
The time machines transition to the Wild West period of Mobius, where they pass by a saloon—a group of patrons is seated as they table and they play a game of cards. The time machines transition to a post-Civil War North. Guests witness syndicated news reports illuminating the planet of current events with amazing efficiency. Loud, industrial-sized printing presses show the incredible influence of the machine as an advancement in mass communication. As guests pass the clanging sounds of the press, the score's theme is presented again, this time with an uptempo ragtime piano. Seen next is a romanticized version of the 20th century Mobian communications revolution—after passing telegraphs, radio, telephones, and movies, riders see the coronation of King Jules and Queen Aleena while the vehicles pass by the TV. Language over the centures had progressed to such an extent that it no longer was spoken solely by Mobians, but by machines as well.
Guests turn a corner and find themselves in a large mainframe computer as they ascend up the final hill. At the top, a slow descent starts, progressing through a garage in Californica, where a man is seen building his own home computers. The score becomes suddenly percussive and dramatic as guests fly through a tunnel with computer code projected onto the walls. At a crescendo, the car makes its final turn into the cupola of Spaceship Mobius. The top of the structure is, in fact, a planetarium studded with stars and a large projection of a rotating Mobius. Before the omnimover vehicles start to move down the long descent to the unloading area, they rotate 180 degrees clockwise and guests ride the end of the attraction backwards. The final scene has been redone multiple times, most recently to remove the animatronic scenes.
The remainder of the ride moves past a seemingly infinite number of stars and into a realm of glowing triangles. The guests can then use the touchscreens in their Omnimover vehicle to answer questions to create a possible depiction of their future, which uses the pictures taken at the beginning of the ride.
Guests are then invited to visit Project Tomorrow as they exit the ride cars.
==Trivia==
*The exterior is very frequently mistaken as a giant golf ball. Young children and even older Guests (the latter just for laughs and nostalgia) often mistake the geodesic sphere for a giant golf ball on legs.
*In the Renaissance scene, an artist is painting a still-life - bowl of fruit, bottle, etc.
*The geodesic sphere is made up of 11,324 alucobond tiles and is estimated to weigh close to 16 million pounds.
*The entire sphere could be entirely submerged in the aquarium tank at The Seas of Mobius.
*The top of the dome with the starfield and projection of Mobius was originally meant to be a scene depicting a moonbase.
Category:AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot
Category:Mobius
Category:Owner:Angie Y.