The Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator, or ATLAS, is a large

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

motion simulator A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provi ...

. It was designed, as the name implies, for the theme park industry. The ATLAS is a product of Rediffusion Simulation in Sussex,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, now owned by

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

and known as

Thales Training & Simulation Thales Training & Simulation Ltd. is a multinational company which manufactures simulators, including full flight simulators and military simulators, and provides related training and support services. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Th ...

. Disney filed multiple patents on their variant of the device, including US Utility Patent #516110

The ATLAS was derived from military flight simulation technology. It uses six hydraulic actuators to provide a broad range of movement. In the later half of the 1980s,

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

bought and refined this technology for two theme park attractions;

Star Tours Star Tours was a motion simulator attraction at several Disney theme parks, based on the successful ''Star Wars'' film series created by George Lucas. Set in the ''Star Wars'' universe, the attraction sent guests on an excursion trip to Endor, ...

at Legoland &

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

(and later

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by M ...

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...

, and

Disneyland Park Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

) The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Experience at Anaheim GardenWalk and Body Wars at

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

. The technology was also used in 2016 for the Iron Man Experience at

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. SeaWorld San Diego ...

. The LEGO Movie & Disney attractions feature large, 40-person cabins (45-person in San Diego & Hong Kong) hidden from outside view, arranged lengthwise with four or six simulators per installation. There are four simulators at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Arizona’s Guardians of the Galaxy Experience & The LEGO Movie 2 Experience, Sea Life Arizona Aquarium’s Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Legoland Arizona & Others’s The Lego Movie 4D Experience. Anaheim GardenWalk’s The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Experience, Legoland & Disneyland's Star Tours and EPCOT's Body Wars, while the remaining Star Tours installations have six. At SeaWorld San Diego & Hong Kong Disneyland's Iron Man Experience, there are five simulators. Body Wars is now defunct and the simulators have been removed from the building in the years since the closure of the

Wonders of Life The Wonders of Life pavilion was an attraction at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was devoted to health care, focusing on the human body, physical fitness, medicine and nutrition. Attractions included Body Wars and C ...

pavilion. . Now Hosted by

Peter Quill Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a fictional character and superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, first appeared in ''Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 1976) ...

. Walter Beckett .

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to assis ...

RX-24 & J.A.R.V.I.S

References

Simulator rides Disney technology {{Tech-stub