Photo by Werner Weiss, 2004

Do you have 45 minutes to spare while you’re in Future World at Yestercot, the edutainment park at Yester Walt Disney World? Are you a fan of Jeopardy!? Do you like dinosaurs?

Head over to Universe of Energy, home of Ellen’s Energy Adventure. You’ll almost always get right into the next show. The 45 minutes include the time you might have to wait for the next show to begin.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2004

Solar panels (alternative energy) on the roof of an attraction sponsored by a traditional energy company

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007

What to expect

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Ellen’s neighbor dropping by

Your energy experience begins soon after you enter the pre-show room. Ellen tells a story on five large movie screens. In her story, her neighbor Bill Nye drops by briefly, and she then dozes off on her couch while watching her favorite TV show.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Beginning of a dream sequence

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Contestants Dr. Judy Peterson, Dr. Albert Einstein, and just Ellen

In her dream, Ellen is a contestant on Jeopardy! Another contestant is her “smarty-pants, know-it-all” college roommate, who is now a professor of energy. The renowned theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity is also a contestant. Not surprisingly, the five categories all deal with types of energy.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Dr. Judy Peterson providing correct questions

By the end of the first round, Dr. Peterson has provided the correct question for each answer. It’s not looking good for Dr. Einstein or Ellen.

Ellen observes that it’s her dream, and she still has a chance to win. Bill Nye rushes in to help — by first taking Ellen and you back to “many billion years ago” during the Jeopardy! commercial break.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011

Six travelling theater cars, initially arranged together for one audience

Now you move into an unusual theater. These aren’t your typical theater seats. Sit down in one of the 30,000-pound, 96-passenger traveling theater cars.

It gets dark. The theater cars turn toward three huge movie screens. Now you find out why Bill Nye wanted to go back “many billion years.” He presents the Big Bang Theory — not the CBS sitcom, but the birth of the expanding universe from a single point of very dense matter. The film footage of early Planet Earth with many volcanos is spectacular.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Fast forward to the age of dinosaurs

Bill Nye and Ellen are now in a more recent period — “only” 220 million years in the past. One by one, each traveling theater car departs from the pack and begins a journey through a primeval diorama, guided by a very thin wire embedded in the floor.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Traveling past 36 life-size dinosaurs in a huge show scene with a 515-foot wide backdrop painting

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Approaching the climactic battle scene

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Battle between a Stegosaurus and an Allosaurus

This primeval diorama has been the best six minutes so far in this 45-minute experience, and we’re only in the middle of the ride! How are they going to top that?

They aren’t.

Get ready to spend time in another movie theater without leaving your traveling theater car. As you approach the theater, a radio announcer’s voice intones, “KNRG news time: 55 million B.C. Now, for a look at our weather. Willard?”

The voice of Willard Scott responds, “OK! Our ultra-extended forecast calls for decreasing dinosaur population, followed by a sudden growth in those tiny little creatures the size of mice, that we call mammals. Hey, aren’t they cute? Birthday greetings go out to the cockroach! Two hundred million years old today.”

Other audio rapidly moves the timeline though the evolution of mammals to the dawn of the human age.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Part of montage of human energy use through the centuries

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

“So here we are today!”

There are a lot of quick movie scenes with Bill Nye explaining about various energy sources — solar, wind, hydroelectric, coal, gas, oil, and nuclear fission. All these details could be useful to Ellen when Jeopardy! goes into the Double Jeopardy round.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Raining on Ellen

After dramatic flight footage through Glen Canyon toward the huge dam, Ellen wants to be quizzed. Bill Nye is ready with, “Hydroelectric power plants convert the energy of falling water into electricity and are renewed by this natural resource.”

Ellen knows the question — “What is rain?”

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Not surprising in an attraction sponsored by ExxonMobil

Ellen observes, “So I guess there’s never gonna be just one answer.”

Bill Nye responds, “But if we keep using our brain power, we’ll have lots of choices for the future. Maybe even unlock the power of the stars — fusion power!”

Next, it’s back to Jeopardy!

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Ellen with a score of zero at beginning of the Double Jeopardy round

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Ellen getting everything right in the Double Jeopardy round, tying Judy for the lead

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Dr. Judy Peterson objecting

Judy complains, “How could she possibly learn so much during the commercial break? She’s obviously cheating!”

“Zip it, Judy,” says Alex.

Albert Einstein, still with no points, is sent home with a low-energy lightbulb as a parting gift.

The Final Jeopardy answer is, “This is the one source of power that will never run out.”

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Ellen thinking about all she’s learned from Bill Nye

Your moving theater car is once again on the move, this time returning to the first theater as the bouncy Final Jeopardy tune plays.

Ellen knows what to write.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013

Back in the first theater

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016

Ellen’s Final Jeopardy question

“Time’s up, players,” says Alex. “Let’s see how well you did. Judy, we’ll start with you. You wrote down — nothing.”

“That’s correct, Alex,” replies Judy, “because there is no answer.”

“Well, actually, you’re wrong,” says Alex. Judy’s wager is $17,800.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” says Alex. “You risked everything you had, and that means you lose $17,800 and you wind up with nothing. Let’s go down to Ellen now and see what she came up with as the response to our Final Jeopardy clue. Ellen?”

Ellen responds, “Uh, what is brain power, Alex?”

“You are correct,” exclaims Alex, “and your wager? You, too, risked everything, but you doubled your score to $35,600, which makes you, Ellen, our new Jeopardy champion! Congratulations!”

You learned everything that Ellen learned, so you’re now an energy expert too.

There were two versions of Universe of Energy. Both used the traveling theater cars and both had an impressive audio-animatronic dinosaur ride-through section, but the pre-shows, the movies, and the tone were completely different.

The original Universe of Energy opened with EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982. The pavilion was grand in scale. Its innovative pre-show used 100 rotating prism-shaped flip screens. The dinosaurs were magnificent. They were sandwiched between movie sections that sought to awe the audience. The deadly serious style of the narration already seemed old-fashioned in 1982.

Opening-year EPCOT Center attractions had catchy theme songs. Universe of Energy had two: “Energy (You Make The World Go ‘Round)” in the opening and “Universe of Energy” in the closing.

This original version closed January 21, 1996. It was time to make the attraction more entertaining and to add celebrities. The dinosaurs would stay. The traveling theater cars, overall layout, and long ride time would also stay — but everything else would be replaced.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 1996

“Energizing this Fall…”

The second version, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, opened September 15, 1996.

At that time, Ellen DeGeneres was the star of a popular ABC television sitcom, Ellen (1994–1998). Bill Nye was hosting the educational series, Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1999) on PBS and in syndication. Dr. Judy Peterson was played by actress Jamie Lee Curtis who had many starring movie roles behind her, with many more to follow. The host of the fictional Jeopardy! episode was Alex Trebec, who hosted the actual TV game show from 1984 until his death in 2020. Although former aerospace engineer Benny Wasserman was not a well-known celebrity, his uncanny resemblance to Albert Einstein made him perfect for the non-speaking role of the third Jeopardy! contestant.

The attraction’s orignal sponsor in 1982 was Exxon. In 1998, Exxon merged with Mobil, so the sponsor became ExxonMobil. In 2004 ExxonMobil dropped its 22-year sponsorship. No company sponsored the attraction for the rest of its run. Without a sponsor, the scene with animatronic Ellen fending off an animatronic dinosaur was removed instead of being repaired when the scene stopped functioning properly.

Arguably, Ellen’s Energy Adventure was both more entertaining and more educational than the original Universe of Energy — especially for fans of Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, and Jeopardy! The update made excellent use of the original attraction’s infrastructure. It could be a real “wow” for first-time riders. The dinosaurs never got old, but watching movies from a stationary ride vehicle and the Jeopardy! story got old quickly. Return visitors to Epcot made it a low priority, especially given that it required a 45-minute time commitment. The Ellen version of the ride ran almost 21 years — often with sparsely filled traveling theater cars.

The closing day for Universe of Energy was August 13, 2017. The final ride of the day was packed with fans. It broke down in the dinosaur diorama. The lights came on. Instead of being quickly evacuated or forced to remain seated until the ride resumed, guests were allowed to exit from their traveling theater cars to wander around the diorama, admire the details closeup, and take photos and videos with the well-lit dinosaurs — experiencing the best part of the attraction as never before. Was this “breakdown” planned as an intentional treat for the fans? Rumors suggested it was.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019

Hidden behind a construction wall for almost five years

For almost five years, the former Universe of Energy was a construction site. The building survived. It was connected to a huge new “box” building added behind its neighbor, the former Wonder of Life pavilion, to hold an indoor roller coaster track.

Photo by Kent Phillips, 2022 © Disney © Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind officially opened May 27, 2022. The building that formerly housed Universe of Energy now primarily houses the queue and pre-show for the new attraction. But it’s not your ordinary queue. According to the official Walt Disney World website: “Begin your adventure by touring the Galaxarium — a planetarium-like exhibition showcasing the similarities and differences between Xandar and Earth’s galaxies. You’ll even get to discover some of the incredible wonders of Xandar and learn about their technology.’

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2024

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind pre-show

The indoor coaster features a reverse launch, 360-degree rotation, and a random chance of hearing one of six different songs — “September,” “Disco Inferno,” “Conga,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” “I Ran,” or “One Way or Another.”

One big difference between the new attraction and the former is that the wait is now much longer, and the ride is now much shorter.

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Updated February 7, 2024