(updated) Welcome to the Wonderful World of Motion...

When EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, one of the few Future World attractions was the transportation based World of Motion. This attraction, sponsored by General Motors and housed in The Transportation Pavilion, presented a history of transportation from the days of foot power all the way through futuristic methods such as the Lean Machine. The attraction was basically broken into two parts: the ride-through attraction and the TransCenter, which was presented in a walk-through format.

What set this attraction apart from its Future World counterparts was its approach to the subject matter. Unlike other EPCOT Center attractions, World of Motion was "the funny one," opting for a fun and whimsical approach over the more serious, sometimes even stern approach taken by its counterparts. The ride scenes, designed by Marc Davis, presented what would have otherwise been very serious fare in a most entertaining tongue in cheek fashion. Among the jokes were the invention of the wheel, used chariot sales (including a hidden Mickey), and Leonardo da Vinci ignoring a rather perturbed Mona Lisa so he could instead design flying machines. Also included was an effect somewhat akin to the hitchhiking ghosts at the Magic Kingdom, only this time the entire ride vehicle was made to look like a streamlined futuristic car.

Once your ride was over you were invited to explore the TransCenter, the walking part of the attraction. This part of the attraction was accessible both via the ride and through an exterior entrance, so you didn't necessarily have to ride to experience this part of the attraction. Numerous static and dynamic displays were included in this section as well as some "mini-attractions" like The Bird and the Robot and The Water Powered Engine. Among the static displays was a futuristic looking car, a magnetic powered train, several prototype GM designs, and various GM production vehicles.

World of Motion was in operation until January 2, 1996, when the ceremonial last ride was taken. The attraction underwent a major overhaul, reopening as Test Track on December 19, 1998.

So you're probably asking yourself, since this is a Disney License Plate Blog, is there a license plate involved somewhere in all of this? As a matter of fact there is, and as far as I've been able to find, it's a pretty rare one.

I don't know a great deal about this license plate (I'm sure you're getting used to hearing that by now), but from the information that I've been able to find it was issued only to GM employees and cast members who were involved with the construction and opening of the World of Motion attraction. To date I have only run across two of these, one on ebay, which cost me very dearly to purchase, and the other as a part of Steve Garner's collection. I know there have got to be more out there, so if anyone has one or has better or more accurate information about it please let me know and I will update appropriately.

I want to thank Steve Garner for the following information. In an email this morning he shared with me the information that he has on this plate.

"Discovered on e-Bay January 2003. Seller states that it belonged to a family member who oversaw the setup of the World Of Motion exhibit when Epcot opened. World Of Motion was a pavilion in Future World and opened October 1, 1982. The attraction was a ride through the history of the automobile. It was closed January 2, 1996 and was replaced by the Test Track attraction that opened in 1998.

A June 2005 e-Bay seller notes that the plate was only available to General Motors Public Relations staff and as a gift to the original test and adjust team with Epcot maintenance."

Judging by this it would seem that the plate is even more rare than I originally thought given the limited distribution.

Steve also gave the auction history from ebay, and it appears that I kind of got the short end on the auction block. I bought the second one that had shown up and paid the second highest auction amount for any of the ten auctions. One thing I can say for sure though is if I had it to do all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.