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"> book </ref>. 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.
In the Primeval Diorama, the storm effects were toned down and a significant amount of vegetation was added <ref name= "Martin"/>. At this time, the dinosaurs’ skin color was also changed based on new scientific findings <ref name= "Martin"/>. As far as the dinosaurs themselves, the Ornithomimus who was once drowning in a mud pit was relocated and reprogrammed so that it now squirted guests with water"Martin"/>. An Ellen DeGeneres Audio Animatronic also replaced a fish eating Pteranodon, and the Elasmosarus' programming was changed so that it now attacked Ellen as opposed to guests"Martin"/>. Finally, the quaking rock effect and the wave pool effect were both deactivated <ref name="Martin"/>.