Changes

Ellen's Energy Adventure was developed as a replacement for the Universe of Energy attraction, which was located in Exxon’s Universe of Energy pavilion. Although the Universe of Energy had initially been quite popular with guests, by 1996 attendance in the pavilion had dropped substantially. Furthermore, the information presented in the attraction was dated, and guests began to complain that the ride's tone was too serious <ref> Book </ref>. With this in mind, Exxon and Disney agreed that a new attraction was necessary, with Exxon asking that the attraction be ready in time for the pavilion’s 15th anniversary in 1997 <ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=619 </ref>. In order to rejuvenate the pavilion, Disney pitched the idea of Ellen’s Energy Crisis, a show that would use still teach guests about energy, but would do so in a lighter more comedic tone. Using the same ride format and the Primeval Diorama scene from the Universe of Energy, Ellen’s Energy Crisis would feature comedienne Ellen DeGeneres as the attractions host. Disney estimated that the change from the Universe of Energy to Ellen’s Energy Crisis would take five months, and with this in mind the attraction closed on January 20, 1996 <ref name= "Martin"/>.

After the Universe of Energy closed changes were made to the attractions infrastructure in order to accommodate Ellen’s Energy Crisis. In the preshow theater, the rotating Radok screens were taken out and replaced by five standard screens <ref name= "Martin"/>. Initally, Disney had planned on reusing the Radok screens, however after further changes to the attraction's script, this idea was scrapped <ref name "book"/>. In the first theater, the gold curtains that rose were removed and replaced by stationary black curtains. Furthermore, the mirror walls which were used to reflect and multiply the images of the theater’s three rear screens (giving the attraction's finale a seemingly endless scope) were removed and replaced with sound insulation <ref name= "Martin"/>. More substantially, as part of Ellen's Energy Crisis the first theater got a completely new film as well as a new audio system <ref name= "Martin"/>. Like the first theater, the second theater also got a new film, which used both new footage as well as recycled footage from the original attraction.

Although initially planned for a summer Summer 1996 opening, delays in Burbank with the filming and editing schedule for Ellen’s Energy Crisis in Burbank , led Disney to realize that the attraction would not be ready on time. With the World of Motion already closed for refurbishment during the busy peak season, Disney decided that they would temporarily reopen the original Universe of Energy attraction, albeit it with Ellen’s Energy Crisis’ infrastructure. This meant that beginning in June 1996 an attraction that was a combination of the original Universe of Energy and the incomplete Ellen's Energy Crisis ran in the Universe of Energy pavilion <ref name= "Martin"/>. Without the Radok screens, the first preshow film did not achieve the effects that were intended. In the Primeval Diorama, the dinosaurs obviously had their new colors, although the audio tracks for Ellen's Energy Crisis were muted. Furthermore, the Ellen Audio Animatronic that was installed in the Diorama was deactivated and hidden from guest's view behind a boulder <ref name= "Martin"/>. In the attraction's second theater, the monitors and maps that the ride narration referred to had already been removed. To fix this, a new narration was installed that made the attraction seem more current, while also omitting the references to the removed props<ref name= "Martin"/>. Finally, due to the fact that the mirror walls had been removed from the third theater, the attraction lost its big finale <ref name= "Martin"/>.

After operating throughout the summer, on September 1, 1996 the Universe of Energy attraction finally closed for good and on . On September 15th Ellen’s Energy Crisis soft opened for guests. A few weeks later, On October 1, 1996 , the attractions name was changed to Ellen’s Energy Adventure, and the attraction had its official opening. Since On hand for the festivities were attraction stars Alex Trebeck and Bill Nye the Science Guy <ref name= "Progress"> http://progresscityusa.com/energy/rehab.htm </ref>. Since Ellen's Energy Adventure opened very few changes have occurred. In 20032001, Exxon and Mobil merged, and thus ExxonMobil became the sponsor of Ellen’s Energy Adventure<ref name= "Martin"/>. This sponsorship was short-lived however, because in 2004 the company chose not to renew<ref name= "book"/>. More recently, in 2009 the attractions ride and sound system was upgraded.