News Spaceship Earth Refurb - 2 Year Closure

[marni1971]

Well it vastly differs from the anointed versions I've seen here. Yes. We have a long time family friend that works for Siemens. I've read the fan based versions. I heard days before what was going to come down from Siemens. The two stories do not mesh no matter how much the fan based people try to push that narrative. Siemens a massive corporation didn't need Disney.

This.

Siemens were not committed to renewing. Having the lagoon show sponsorship option removed helped them choose.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

I have an Uncle who used to work for Siemens. He said he’d take me into the lounge next time he got down to Florida, but by the time he did they pulled their sponsorship. That sucked

 

[Bender123]

This.

Siemens were not committed to renewing. Having the lagoon show sponsorship option removed helped them choose.

That is one of those sponsorships that always confused me...Its not like Siemens had some need for the sponsorship. They primarily play at a business/corporate level and the patrons of WDW aren't going to be their marketing sector...Exxon, HP, GE, GM, Kraft, Nestle, Kodak and ATT, at some level are competing at the consumer level. Companies like Sperry, Siemens and Unisys always felt out of place...They just don't have any real presence in the lives of people that aren't in IT offices.

 

[MisterPenguin]

This.

Siemens were not committed to renewing. Having the lagoon show sponsorship option removed helped them choose.

But... but... the monorail deal!!!!

 

[HiJe]

Not sure this has already been discussed or not, and it's probable that no one has any idea if this will happen, but with all of the renovations and revamping going on with SSE, is it possible that at some point, we will see a gaping hole in the side of the structure as part of the repairs and changes?

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Not sure this has already been discussed or not, and it's probable that no one has any idea if this will happen, but with all of the renovations and revamping going on with SSE, is it possible that at some point, we will see a gaping hole in the side of the structure as part of the repairs and changes?

If they really tear down Project Tomorrow then there’s a solid chance you might see something

 

[huwar18]

I'm thinking the new sponsor will want their logo covering up the art...
View attachment 394971

As long as we get our cupcake in a cup.

 

[larryz]

That is one of those sponsorships that always confused me...Its not like Siemens had some need for the sponsorship. They primarily play at a business/corporate level and the patrons of WDW aren't going to be their marketing sector...Exxon, HP, GE, GM, Kraft, Nestle, Kodak and ATT, at some level are competing at the consumer level. Companies like Sperry, Siemens and Unisys always felt out of place...They just don't have any real presence in the lives of people that aren't in IT offices.

Hey -- business executives take vacations, too...

 

[Bender123]

Hey -- business executives take vacations, too...

Yeah...I can just imagine a CEO walking back into the office after a Disney trip and yelling, "I saw some dolphins sponsored by Unisys!!! BUY THE UNISYS THINGS FOR THE LOBBY AQUARIUM!!!"

Out of all of those companies, an IT company sponsoring the Living Seas was just weird...Corporate IT company sponsoring fish. What genius thought that would help sell their mainframe products?

 

[larryz]

Yeah...I can just imagine a CEO walking back into the office after a Disney trip and yelling, "I saw some dolphins sponsored by Unisys!!! BUY THE UNISYS THINGS FOR THE LOBBY AQUARIUM!!!"

Out of all of those companies, an IT company sponsoring the Living Seas was just weird...Corporate IT company sponsoring fish. What genius thought that would help sell their mainframe products?

Rather, "I saw a massive aquarium complex where the support systems had been designed, equipped and integrated by UNISYS... let's take a look at what they might be able to do for our processes..."

 

[Bender123]

Rather, "I saw a massive aquarium complex where the support systems had been designed, equipped and integrated by UNISYS... let's take a look at what they might be able to do for our processes..."

You give CEOs a lot of credit on IT infrastructure knowledge...The ones who do know are already well aware of what Unisys does/did. You need to remember that the sponsorship from Unisys was in a time that was before PCs and computer networks were much of a "thing" and Unisys was more known for Mainframes that were the size of a house.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Yeah...I can just imagine a CEO walking back into the office after a Disney trip and yelling, "I saw some dolphins sponsored by Unisys!!! BUY THE UNISYS THINGS FOR THE LOBBY AQUARIUM!!!"

Out of all of those companies, an IT company sponsoring the Living Seas was just weird...Corporate IT company sponsoring fish. What genius thought that would help sell their mainframe products?

Unisys sponsored Computer Central. UTC sponsored Living Seas

 

[Bender123]

Unisys sponsored Computer Central. UTC sponsored Living Seas

They all run together in my mind...not that it matters if you slide one in for the other. Not like everybody was clamoring for Otis Elevators or new Pratt & Whitney jet turbine...

At least Sperry/Unisys had a tangible part in the design and construction of the computer systems.

Either way, the idea of marketing it at WDW was laughable.

 

[marni1971]

Not sure this has already been discussed or not, and it's probable that no one has any idea if this will happen, but with all of the renovations and revamping going on with SSE, is it possible that at some point, we will see a gaping hole in the side of the structure as part of the repairs and changes?

No. There’s already access doors for the gutter system. Anything larger would further compromise the weather protection.

 

[larryz]

You give CEOs a lot of credit on IT infrastructure knowledge...The ones who do know are already well aware of what Unisys does/did. You need to remember that the sponsorship from Unisys was in a time that was before PCs and computer networks were much of a "thing" and Unisys was more known for Mainframes that were the size of a house.

No, I give (some) CEOs a lot of credit for recognizing when complex systems run seamlessly and efficiently behind the scenes.

 

[bcoachable]

As for strange companies and sponsorship at Disney- the way I understood that world was that sometimes those companies might get a bit of bad press (Valdez and Exxon). If you have a nice cute little sponsorship at Disney, it somewhat balances out the bad name association with good name association- (Exxon can’t be that bad a company, they sponsor a ride at Disney for goodness sakes)

 

[Gabe1]

This.

Siemens were not committed to renewing. Having the lagoon show sponsorship option removed helped them choose.

Siemens was not committed to renewing as Siemens was let’s say unhappy with negotiations of the benefits back to Siemens. Sponsors and just not Disney need to feel their investments are fruitful and respected by those they are donating huge sums of money to. It was a huge sponsor for Disney to loose and at times I don’t follow Disney’s business model.

I've seen even conflicting reports from people who know people who work for Seimens. Just like we've seen conflicting reports from people who work for Disney on a variety of topics and issues.

Well yeah

As have we all

 

[Aries1975]

That is one of those sponsorships that always confused me...Its not like Siemens had some need for the sponsorship. They primarily play at a business/corporate level and the patrons of WDW aren't going to be their marketing sector...Exxon, HP, GE, GM, Kraft, Nestle, Kodak and ATT, at some level are competing at the consumer level. Companies like Sperry, Siemens and Unisys always felt out of place...They just don't have any real presence in the lives of people that aren't in IT offices.

The world has become so connected and so data driven that even the smallest business needs IT support. There are IT professionals working in every field. Many were inspired to learn more about technology by what they saw at Epcot Center as a kids. Now, they come back with kids of their own.

We can only hope this next iteration of Spaceship Earth and the core can inspire the next generation.

 

[Bender123]

The world has become so connected and so data driven that even the smallest business needs IT support. There are IT professionals working in every field. Many were inspired to learn more about technology by what they saw at Epcot Center as a kids. Now, they come back with kids of their own.

We can only hope this next iteration of Spaceship Earth and the core can inspire the next generation.

These sponsors were in the 80s...signed in the 70s...

 

[Sir_Cliff]

As for strange companies and sponsorship at Disney- the way I understood that world was that sometimes those companies might get a bit of bad press (Valdez and Exxon). If you have a nice cute little sponsorship at Disney, it somewhat balances out the bad name association with good name association- (Exxon can’t be that bad a company, they sponsor a ride at Disney for goodness sakes)

Yes, the only real logic I can see in the case of a company like Siemens is the halo effect it might provide to a company whose ambitions may extend to political lobbying or otherwise doing deals with governments that can be assisted with a certain amount of public goodwill. It would seem odd to me that a company would be crossing their fingers that some eccentric billionaire CEO would be so enamoured with an attraction at Disney World that they'd phone up the corporate offices and instruct them to throw a major contract the sponsor's way.