EPCOT Spaceship Earth refurbishment coming soon?

[Touchdown]

The Chinese invention of paper is very much part of that story. (The relevance of Chinese printing technology is more debatable.)

Not when you already have a scene depicting the invention of papyrus (which is older) paper is just a better version of papyrus and would just be seen as a repeat of a previous beat on the ride.

 

[LittleBuford]

Not when you already have a scene depicting the invention of papyrus (which is older) paper is just a better version of papyrus and would just be seen as a repeat of a previous beat on the ride.

By that logic, the scene of Renaissance artists is redundant given that the ride shows cave painters at the very start.

Paper was much more of a game-changer than papyrus was. The majority of books west of East Asia were being made with expensive animal skins, not papyrus, before the introduction of paper. In a ride that styles itself “Spaceship Earth” (not “Spaceship West”) and includes a scene of the Islamic world, a little nod to this momentous Chinese contribution would not have been difficult to include either narratively or spatially.

 

[HMF]

The Chinese invention of paper is very much part of that story. (The relevance of Chinese printing technology is more debatable.)

I don't disagree and if there is a way to incorporate it, I would advocate for it. At the same time , I realize that only so much history can be covered in a 20 minute ride that requires a descent that is supposed to hopefully be an optimistic message for the future. To be honest I am not sure how much "New Research" has gone into each subsequent SSE script in the sense that the show writers did new historical research to make the shows accuracy better or did they just reorganize the structure and framing of the previous scripts from the subsequent re-writes since the Bradbury original. either one is believable to me.

 

[LittleBuford]

I don't disagree and if there is a way to incorporate it, I would advocate it. At the same time , I realize that only so much history can be covered in a 20 minute ride that requires a descent that is supposed to hopefully be an optimistic message for the future.

As I said in my last post, I don’t think it would have been at all difficult narratively or spatially to incorporate a brief scene. But I realise we disagree, and that’s OK!

 

[HMF]

As I said in my last post, I don’t think it would have been at all difficult narratively or spatially to incorporate a brief scene. But I realise we disagree, and that’s OK!

I am not disagreeing at all. I like it, I am just curious how it could be incorporated structurally into the existing ride and not having a detrimental effect on the existing scenes. My best theory would be you shorten the Renaissance scene a bit and re-think the placement of certain vignettes which I would not necessarily be opposed to.

 

[LittleBuford]

I am not disagreeing at all. I like it, I am just curious how it could be incorporated structurally into the existing ride and not having a detrimental effect on the existing scenes. My best theory would be you shorten the Renaissance scene a bit and re-think the placement of certain vignettes which I would not necessarily be opposed to.

I would place it between the scene of the Islamic world and of medieval Europe. It doesn’t quite work chronologically, but it’s through the Islamic world that paper made its way to the West, so that could be the narrative framing. I agree the Renaissance scene could be streamlined a bit!

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

The Land doesn't showcase technology that is out of date

Technologically speaking it isn’t but a lot of the actual information and techniques they present are very out of date. In some cases the concepts are still in use but way more advanced, and in some cases the concepts have long since died out or been declared unviable or just straight up incorrect.

The ride doesn’t really suffer because of it exactly, but it is part of the reason the science aspect of the pavilion isn’t as lively and active as it once was.

The Seas is also outdated but for very different reasons that would kinda necessitate completely rebuilding it.

 

[aladdin2007]

I remember the EPCOT Center TV special regarding filming the China 360 movie how it was difficult and that some areas were never even seen before in the west. Our perspective and knowledge on things have changed so much since the mid 1970's.

Just for fun fyi there is a great book on the entire process of the making of that one film, "Polishing the Dragons". Gives incredible insights into the building of Epcot beyond the China film as well.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I just want to say that...

man, SSE really needs that complete overhaul it was supposed to get. Things are looking dire.

I don't know if these things have been discussed, but post-refurb, three things stood out to me:

Audio levels were way too low. Many rooms felt almost completely silent other than the ride motors.

Lighting levels seem too high, revealing too much you're not supposed to see.

There are now fire alarms all over the ceilings that blink in unison. It is distracting. They should find a way to have them not blink.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

They also have the resources to

The yeti is the pinhole that keeps all of animal kingdom standing. If they attempt to fix the Yeti a sinkhole would develop that would envelope all of Asia, Africa, and a good chunk of Pandora.

 

[HMF]

man, SSE really needs that complete overhaul it was supposed to get.

It needs an overhaul. It doesn't need THAT overhaul.

 

[dmc493]

There are now fire alarms all over the ceilings that blink in unison. It is distracting. They should find a way to have them not blink.

The blinking sensors are a nightmare and I've started to notice them on other attractions as well. The problem SSE has is you're facing forward at all times and always have clear views of the ceiling so you always see multiple sensors at any given time.

Idk about turning off the flashing, but I do know they make that type sensor in black and Disney was too cheap to buy ones that would blend in a little better

 

[Tha Realest]

They probably knew, but it’s what people expect to see, so that’s the version they (understandably) went with. I really enjoy that scene too!

By many reliable accounts Lincoln had a high-pitched, reedy voice (Daniel Day Lewis’s masterful portrayal gets close) and not the deep baritone we hear in the DL attraction.

 

[Tha Realest]

The blinking sensors are a nightmare and I've started to notice them on other attractions as well. The problem SSE has is you're facing forward at all times and always have clear views of the ceiling so you always see multiple sensors at any given time.

Idk about turning off the flashing, but I do know they make that type sensor in black and Disney was too cheap to buy ones that would blend in a little better

Are these new? Or just being noticed more frequently? Byproduct of oversight by CFTOD vs RCID?

 

[dmc493]

New / upgraded / added more - not sure which but someone else mentioned these changes were part of the refurb. As for other attractions idk but they're definitely the same model. A flashing green dot every 10-11 seconds

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I am not disagreeing at all. I like it, I am just curious how it could be incorporated structurally into the existing ride and not having a detrimental effect on the existing scenes. My best theory would be you shorten the Renaissance scene a bit and re-think the placement of certain vignettes which I would not necessarily be opposed to.

No. The renaissance scene is the best sequence in the whole ride.