Spaceship in Spaceship Earth

[marni1971]

I just *love* Spaceship Earth, it is one of the very few rides at Disney that I would not change, except for adding air conditioning. This ride is so hot all the time, so air conditioning would make the ride more pleasant when it's hot.

It has air con. But heat rises and the design of the building can't stop that. There's actually air canons that vent cold air into the ride path, and extractors in the roof of 180 top to expel the hot air.

Assuming it's all switched on.

 

[Siren]

It has air con. But heat rises and the design of the building can't stop that. There's actually air canons that vent cold air into the ride path, and extractors in the roof of 180 top to expel the hot air.

Assuming it's all switched on.

Thanks Marni, for explaining this. Now that I think about it -- it does get hotter as you up like going up in an attic, not a big deal. I *love* Spaceship Earth and going backwards is my favorite part.

And for once, I would love to ride Spaceship Earth *first*, instead of always having to race to Soarin'!

 

[aladdin2007]

Thanks Marni, for explaining this. Now that I think about it -- it does get hotter as you up like going up in an attic, not a big deal. I *love* Spaceship Earth and going backwards is my favorite part.

And for once, I would love to ride Spaceship Earth *first*, instead of always having to race to Soarin'!

you must enjoy riding through ugly air ducts, blacks sheets, and dusty scraps then with nothing to look at but an obtrusive tacky cartoon screen. yeah thats real show there, not.

 

[unkadug]

you must enjoy riding through ugly air ducts, blacks sheets, and dusty scraps then with nothing to look at but an obtrusive tacky cartoon screen. yeah thats real show there, not.

I can't believe I find myself defending @Siren, but what if she does?

Why do you feel the need to spoil her joy in something she finds enjoyable?

Perhaps she is a "glass half full" personality while you seem to be a "glass half empty" type of guy.

You also seem to be projecting your opinions as facts, which I find distasteful.

 

[marni1971]

You also seem to be projecting your opinions as facts, which I find distasteful.

Air ducts, black sheets and dusty scraps are fact.

Anything else could indeed be opinion.

But don't forget the chicken wire.

 

[garagely]

I wish the links at the beginning of this (10 year old, wow) thread still worked, now I'm curious about this satellite that's being discussed in the first few pages.

 

[KikoKea]

I wish the links at the beginning of this (10 year old, wow) thread still worked, now I'm curious about this satellite that's being discussed in the first few pages.

I recall seeing it during my 2 early trips to the World, and I wish it was still there. Google "spaceship earth satellite" and you'll get lots of images to check out and links.

 

[marni1971]

I wish the links at the beginning of this (10 year old, wow) thread still worked, now I'm curious about this satellite that's being discussed in the first few pages.

Do these help?

 

[aaronml]

Speaking of SSE, can anyone speak to its current condition? I rode it last week and every single time the effect that detects your face from the initial photo and superimposes it onto the video during the descent wasn't working at all. Additionally, the last time I rode it all of the AAs stopped working. The AAs thing was probably just a fluke, but I asked one of the CMs about the effect that links the image of your face to the descent video and she said that it had been working on and off for the past several months, and that Disney was working on it. She said that the computer system used for it is 10 years old, and that they are having trouble finding parts for it. Naturally I was skeptical of that explanation, since the only "part" I can think of that could change would be the camera that takes the initial photo, but who knows.

 

[Matt_Black]

Speaking of SSE, can anyone speak to its current condition? I rode it last week and every single time the effect that detects your face from the initial photo and superimposes it onto the video during the descent wasn't working at all. Additionally, the last time I rode it all of the AAs stopped working. The AAs thing was probably just a fluke, but I asked one of the CMs about the effect that links the image of your face to the descent video and she said that it had been working on and off for the past several months, and that Disney was working on it. She said that the computer system used for it is 10 years old, and that they are having trouble finding parts for it. Naturally I was skeptical of that explanation, since the only "part" I can think of that could change would be the camera that takes the initial photo, but who knows.

Software can be outdated. My favorite PC game is Planescape Torment, which came out in '99. If I want to play it, I would have to find a modified version online to download, as trying to install the discs on my PC wouldn't work. The system is simply TOO advanced.

 

[aaronml]

Software can be outdated. My favorite PC game is Planescape Torment, which came out in '99. If I want to play it, I would have to find a modified version online to download, as trying to install the discs on my PC wouldn't work. The system is simply TOO advanced.

What I mean is that the software behind the SSE Descent / Project Tomorrow is almost definitely custom, and Disney probably owns the source code to it, unless they contracted it out. Either way, if a software-based system worked for many years, I don't really buy the argument that because the software is 10 years old, it has "parts" that they are having trouble replacing. If the SSE descent really hasn't been working properly for several months, that reflects pretty poorly on TDO in my opinion. Old computer systems can still work — plenty of banks still use mainframes, for example.

 

[marni1971]

There's plenty of hardware involved in the photo capture; servers, wifi networks and infrastructure, the camera, lighting.... but you'd imagine it could be replaced for something comparable.

All the AAs stopping usually means total loss of pressure to the building. Not unheard of in any AA attraction and usually fixed quite fast.

 

[RobotWolf]

I only remember the smaller drum-shaped satellite. But the thing that stuck with me about it was that it always seemed to be slowly moving. It took me a couple of rides to figure out that it was the star field behind it that moved. It was a very effective illusion.

 

[Siren]

I can't believe I find myself defending @Siren, but what is she does?

Why do you feel the need to spoil her joy in something she finds enjoyable?

Perhaps she is a "glass half full" personality while you seem to be a "glass half empty" type of guy.

You also seem to be projecting your opinions as facts, which I find distasteful.

Awww! @unkadug, I just want to give you a big hug! {{{HUGS}}} This means the world to me coming from *you*.

Like, I have *never* seen this kind and thoughtful side of you before. I totally like it.

And, I totally agree with everything you have written here! I do find his post to be distasteful and totally redundant. I *love* going backwards on Spaceship Earth, that doesn't mean I love dust and black cloth. This is akin to saying that people who love Pirates love filthy water filled with ashes. His "opinion" of the ride is *not* a fact.

By his poor logic, we should all just stay home and not go to Disney World at all. LOL.

 

[Matt_Black]

By his poor logic, we should all just stay home and not go to Disney World at all. LOL.

Of course! Then he can have the whole park to himself! The crafty devil.

 

[garagely]

Do these help?


View attachment 144720 View attachment 144719

View attachment 144718

Oh, YES thanks so much!

 

[AEfx]

What I mean is that the software behind the SSE Descent / Project Tomorrow is almost definitely custom...

There's plenty of hardware involved in the photo capture; servers, wifi networks and infrastructure, the camera, lighting.... but you'd imagine it could be replaced for something comparable.

I'm sure that it's overall a custom software installation, but likely a lot of bits of it are based on 3rd party components/modules that Disney stopped getting outside support for years ago.

Given CM-translation, LOL, I don't think it's going to be about physical parts. If it was, it would likely not be "on and off" but broken. The issue sounds like software components ("parts") that Disney cobbled together into one platform in-house that performed add-on functions like photo overlay, etc. It would have been much more cost-effective (short-term) to just buy off-the-shelf software that does that and then integrate it in. This is really common practice in IT.

Given the recent changes in their IT structure, it makes perfect sense that they are having issues and don't know how to fix it. When you have Frankenstein'd systems like that many things can happen - the original company goes out of business, Disney stopped paying for on-going support, the platform may no longer have support available, period, etc. - and the "institutional knowledge" of how to jury-rig it back up is lost with turnover in IT. Code like that is usually ridiculously messy and completely undocumented - because it's likely been hot-fixed countless times.

This is one reason that so much infrastructure runs on 1980's computer code...because it works, and has worked for 30+ years, because it was much more simple. Now, I would bet that nothing at WDW is actually based on unique code - aside from perhaps whatever runs the animatronics. Anything else, dealing with everything from cash registers and ticket booths to audio and video in shows/rides/etc. is likely based on a lot of different bits bought from many different vendors (which explains a lot, doesn't it? LOL).

This is usually cheaper in the short-run (though in the case of MM+ and it's implosion, at this point it would have been cheaper to hire Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak to come in and write it in machine code from scratch, LOL), but in the long run often becomes a problem when you try to upgrade or change anything because it's not based on internally documented code.

 

[HMF]

She said that the computer system used for it is 10 years old, and that they are having trouble finding parts for it.

Gee, Who would have thought basing the entire ending of your ride on technology that will become dated was a good idea?

 

[Matt_Black]

Gee, Who would have thought basing the entire ending of your ride on technology that will become dated was a good idea?

... The people who designed Carousel of Progress?

 

[tirian]

... The people who designed Carousel of Progress?

Meh, it was built as a one-off attraction for the 1964 World's Fair. Walt only moved it to DL because it was a quick way to add a ride, and it *was* updated when it moved to WDW. Tbh, I doubt it would still exist if Walt were around. (I know, I know, "them's fightin' words.") He would've replaced it with Horizons.