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EPCOT Spaceship Earth refurbishment coming soon?

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I’ll be honest, changing to a new IP based attraction would be awful. They could plus this attraction and come up with a fresh return trip instead of black scrim.

But don’t worry. Your wish will come true. They will probably eventually close SSE for 3 to 5 years to convert it to some silly IP based ride.
Its not so much a wish as it is just expectations.
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
The spirit of the original EPCOT Center lives on in those of us who experienced it firsthand back in the day.
It was glorious, and shall never be forgotten.

Why was it glorious?
Back then, the experience empowered and inspired you.
You left that Park wanting to go out into the world and make a difference.
It was so much more than just a day of frivolity in a theme park.
You came away a changed person…for the better.

As we know…that direction changed over the years for several reasons.

Epcot COULD be that way again - empower and inspire - when we get some people in charge that understand what made this Park unique.
And said people have the bravery and the balls to invest in what needs to be done….and do it RIGHT.

The bones are still good.
They have just been shifted round and outright desecrated in some limbs, but there is always a chance it can regrow and return to a better tomorrow.

Someday….in the future.


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ChrisFL

Premium Member
I don't think it's as straightforward for Disney to remove the SSE ride structure from what I've heard as it was already discussed during Project Gemini where they were going to possibly put in a rollercoaster (Timeracers I think?) and found it just wasn't feasible.
 

JD80

Well-Known Member
The spirit of the original EPCOT Center lives on in those of us who experienced it firsthand back in the day.
It was glorious, and shall never be forgotten.

Why was it glorious?
Back then, the experience empowered and inspired you.
You left that Park wanting to go out into the world and make a difference.
It was so much more than just a day of frivolity in a theme park.
You came away a changed person…for the better.

As we know…that direction changed over the years for several reasons.

Epcot COULD be that way again - empower and inspire - when we get some people in charge that understand what made this Park unique.
And said people have the bravery and the balls to invest in what needs to be done….and do it RIGHT.

The bones are still good.
They have just been shifted round and outright desecrated in some limbs, but there is always a chance it can regrow and return to a better tomorrow.

Someday….in the future.


-

Building a themepark around creating inspiration and good humanity vibes would be an interesting project, but it would be completely different than what your nostalgia is reminding you about EPCOT in it's yesteryear.

Especially today with social media and the speed in which information is shared. Not sure how you do that without it becoming cringe or boring.
 

jah4955

Well-Known Member
The spirit of the original EPCOT Center lives on in those of us who experienced it firsthand back in the day.
It was glorious, and shall never be forgotten.

Why was it glorious?
Back then, the experience empowered and inspired you.
You left that Park wanting to go out into the world and make a difference.
It was so much more than just a day of frivolity in a theme park.
You came away a changed person…for the better.

As we know…that direction changed over the years for several reasons.

Epcot COULD be that way again - empower and inspire - when we get some people in charge that understand what made this Park unique.
And said people have the bravery and the balls to invest in what needs to be done….and do it RIGHT.

The bones are still good.
They have just been shifted round and outright desecrated in some limbs, but there is always a chance it can regrow and return to a better tomorrow.

Someday….in the future.


-
THIS
 

jah4955

Well-Known Member
Building a themepark around creating inspiration and good humanity vibes would be an interesting project, but it would be completely different than what your nostalgia is reminding you about EPCOT in it's yesteryear.

Especially today with social media and the speed in which information is shared. Not sure how you do that without it becoming cringe or boring.
This....is the challenge...There's virtually no comparison between how people get their info now vs. then (which SSE predicted). In 1982 cable was is in its infancy (now its in hospicecare!)

Most got their info from three/four TV channels, radio, newspapers, books, &/or magazines. That was it.
 
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JD80

Well-Known Member
This....is the challenge...There's virtually no comparison between how people get their info now vs. then (which SSE predicted). In 1982 cable was is in its infancy (now its in hospicecare!)

Most in the US got their info from one of three channels, radio, newspapers, books, &/or magazines. That was it.

Yes it's a challenge. My debate has always been with people that want to resurrect EPCOT of the past based on nostalgia and not in the context of the past in modern society.

You want a new EPCOT then it needs to be new and modern. Ideals are fine like the post you liked, but how do you realize them with brick and mortar?
 

jah4955

Well-Known Member
Yes it's a challenge. My debate has always been with people that want to resurrect EPCOT of the past based on nostalgia and not in the context of the past in modern society.

You want a new EPCOT then it needs to be new and modern. Ideals are fine like the post you liked, but how do you realize them with brick and mortar?
Good question. Nothing could be more counter-intuitive to the concept of EPCOT than it staying in its original incarnation forever. I apologize for being repetitive, but the original plan was replacing the contents of every (FW) pavilion, every decade. As a 14 yo in 1994 I was upset to see that they were starting to change both Tomorrowland & FW, but as a middle aged adult I understand completely. And things have changed so radically since 1994. I don't envy Disney; it's a taller-order than ever to convince our overstimulated populace that has vastly more options for "entertainment" (including virtual, which is now only in its infancy) than they can ever consider experiencing in a lifetime.

But what we got from the most recent EPCOT reno seems so vastly less than the expectations they initially set.
 
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HMF

Well-Known Member
Good question. Nothing could be more counter-intuitive to the concept of EPCOT than it staying in its original incarnation forever. I apologize for being repetitive, but the original plan was replacing the contents of every (FW) pavilion, every decade. As a 14 yo in 1994 I was upset to see that they were starting to change both Tomorrowland & FW, but as a middle aged adult I understand completely. And things have changed so radically since 1994. I don't envy Disney; it's a taller-order than ever to convince our overstimulated populace that has vastly more options for "entertainment" (including virtual, which is now only in its infancy) than they can ever consider experiencing in a lifetime.

But what we got from the most recent EPCOT reno seems so vastly less than the expectations they initially set.
Despite the obvious aesthetic changes, the 94 Epcot was FAR closer in spirit to the original than today's EPCOT is. They were obviously just trying to bring the original concept into a more 1990s style. The EPCOT of today has basically just given up on the concept altogether.
 

DisneyCane

Well-Known Member
Despite the obvious aesthetic changes, the 94 Epcot was FAR closer in spirit to the original than today's EPCOT is. They were obviously just trying to bring the original concept into a more 1990s style. The EPCOT of today has basically just given up on the concept altogether.
I think that one issue with having the original spirit today is that technology is advancing so quickly that, by the time an attraction is designed and built to highlight the future it is already the past.
 

osian

Well-Known Member
I think that one issue with having the original spirit today is that technology is advancing so quickly that, by the time an attraction is designed and built to highlight the future it is already the past.
While that's true in many cases, it's not always. Look at Horizons and The Living Seas. We are still not living and working in space, in the desert, under the water. The Land doesn't showcase technology that is out of date, neither did original Imagination, which was about the human mind and creativity. Mission Space is still true. Cosmic Rewind, regardless of the IP and a completely inappropriate and impossible view of the present, is actually about the creation of the universe. That doesn't date. I think it's the Communicore and Innoventions concepts, and the concept touted for the Play Pavilion, that date. Spaceship Earth is a spritual successor to Carousel of Progress - you either keep updating the final scene or embrace it and make it retro. And of course, an earlier iteration of the descent was basically Horizons. These attractions are as much about history as they are about our journey into the future. To be perfectly honest, Test Track 3.0 is probably the most likely thing to date.
 

jah4955

Well-Known Member
Despite the obvious aesthetic changes, the 94 Epcot was FAR closer in spirit to the original than today's EPCOT is. They were obviously just trying to bring the original concept into a more 1990s style.
Agreed. Up until my 1994 visit I never stopped to think of things changing. With few exceptions, up to that point things either stayed the same or expanded. Once I accepted the need for the changes (my 1995 visit lol) I started to enjoy them in and of themselves...many of them truly "stood on their own." I admit how fortunate I was to have gone as much as I did.
 
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