4/2 Epcot Update (Illuminations/SSE/F&G)

peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I finally made it over to Epcot again for Illuminations tonight. The park was not that crowded. Test Track was down when I arrived (~ 7:00pm) but was running a little later. Soarin’ was at only 50 minutes, M:S was at 10, Maelstrom at 30, and everything else was a walk on.

-The fountain was running again today. I am pretty sure they were just doing some routine maintenance on it during the past few weeks.

-They have added more plants to the new planters around The Land from my last update. It now appears that the area is being made into a mini-mini golf coarse for the festival.

-They have installed the 4 butterfly topiaries along the path where the butterfly garden will be constructed. The entire path has now been closed off.

-They have now marked off where the flowerbeds will be installed around the water on the Test Track side.

-They have also started installing the display in the rose garden area between Canada and Imagination. Temporary plants have been used to block most of the West side of that path.

-SSE. The fiber optics stars in the Rome scene have now been fixed and looked great. Also the audio in my vehicle was excellent. It was very loud and very clear. They had definitely done something to improve it. Unfortunately the ride system itself was still rough and loud.

-Illuminations was great as usual. However the Inferno barge did not fire at all tonight. It was in the center of the lagoon but did not run. The show was still great though. Also for months now the torches have only been lighting up after the 5 minute announcement and going out immediately after the show. Today they lit up at the 15-minute announcement and stayed lit after the show all the way through Promise.

That’s all I can think of now. If you have any questions just ask.

Just one shot of Spaceship Earth tonight.

 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
CaribDisneyGirl said:
Thanks for the update.. great picture of SSE, do you mind if i make it my wallpaper for my computer?
Click to expand...
I don't mind at all. If you click the image you will see a much larger version. I recommend you use that for you wallpaper.
 
dxwwf3

dxwwf3

Well-Known Member
If you rode SSE with no audio problems, I envy you greatly. The past two or three times I rode it has been terrible. I hope that some work has been/will be done to bring the attraction back to where it should be.
 
H

HoW

New Member
Thanks for the update, and the fantastic picture! I'm happy to hear that things seem to be getting better and better on SSE, and I only hope that they can finally get all of the kinks out of the inferno barge before I arrive early this summer.
 
coastermaster83

coastermaster83

Member
peter11435 great photo of SSE. If you dont mind me asking what type of camera are you using and did you have it on a tripod or anything like that and did you use a flash? I love taking night shots of park icons and that photo you took is amazingly clear and crisp.
 
JROK

JROK

Member
I rode SSE on 3/30 and the audio was deffinitely louder and a bit clearer, although it still had static interference in parts... Also, the audio for the ending scenes with the fiber optics and the model of SSE skipped a few times... I think the ride itself looked pretty darn good, except it seemed to be brighter than usual as I could see the walls and electrical boxes a lot... especially in the scene where we travel into space and then again in the final scene with the SSE model...

The butterflies were up on 3/30 as well, but the fountain was not working... One funny thing did happen though... If anybody would like to get some Food & Wine Festival napkins, they're giving them out with ice cream at Gelato's in Italy... thought that was a little magic-killer... seeing as how it's like, oh, 5 months after the fact! :hammer:

But anyways, thanks for the update!!
 
S

scottvicki

New Member
sse sponsor

Last time I was down I noticed a sign indicating that seimens was the new sse sponsor. Maybe they will do a modest rehab to fix the problems now. Has anyone heard anything like that?:)
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
scottvicki said:
Last time I was down I noticed a sign indicating that seimens was the new sse sponsor. Maybe they will do a modest rehab to fix the problems now. Has anyone heard anything like that?:)
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There are threads devoted to this! :D The known rumors are that when Disney courted Siemens as the new SSE sponsor, the Siemens reps expressed strong interest in not only refurbishing the attraction and the post-show, but also possibly bringing back "Tomorrow's Child." SSE CMs were told that Siemens wants to remove the wand. My information comes from someone who was actually present at the meetings.

However, what the Siemens representatives wish to do, and what Disney will actually allow them to do, are two completely different matters. Disney--not Siemens--owns SSE!
 
JROK

JROK

Member
tirian said:
There are threads devoted to this! :D The known rumors are that when Disney courted Siemens as the new SSE sponsor, the Siemens reps expressed strong interest in not only refurbishing the attraction and the post-show, but also possibly bringing back "Tomorrow's Child." SSE CMs were told that Siemens wants to remove the wand. My information comes from someone who was actually present at the meetings.

However, what the Siemens representatives wish to do, and what Disney will actually allow them to do, are two completely different matters. Disney--not Siemens--owns SSE!
Click to expand...


Yea, the post-show actually has construction walls up as of 3/30, so that's already in the works...
 
Incredibles

Incredibles

New Member
That's what I was getting ready to ask. How is the post-show coming? Is there anything there that may give a hint as to what they are going to put in? It needs something badly.
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
coastermaster83 said:
peter11435 great photo of SSE. If you dont mind me asking what type of camera are you using and did you have it on a tripod or anything like that and did you use a flash? I love taking night shots of park icons and that photo you took is amazingly clear and crisp.
Click to expand...
I use a very old camera. Its a Kodak DC3400. Its not the best but it takes some good pictures. I did not have my tripod with me. That picture was taken by setting the camera on a garbage can, and I did not use the flash.
 
WDWGuide

WDWGuide

Active Member
peter11435 said:
- Also for months now the torches have only been lighting up after the 5 minute announcement and going out immediately after the show. Today they lit up at the 15-minute announcement and stayed lit after the show all the way through Promise.
Click to expand...

Great news - I missed the torches. BTW, how many rounds of perimeter comets were there during the show?
 
Buried20KLeague

Buried20KLeague

Well-Known Member
tirian said:
There are threads devoted to this! :D The known rumors are that when Disney courted Siemens as the new SSE sponsor, the Siemens reps expressed strong interest in not only refurbishing the attraction and the post-show, but also possibly bringing back "Tomorrow's Child." SSE CMs were told that Siemens wants to remove the wand. My information comes from someone who was actually present at the meetings.

However, what the Siemens representatives wish to do, and what Disney will actually allow them to do, are two completely different matters. Disney--not Siemens--owns SSE!
Click to expand...

I don't mean to question your reliability, so don't take it that way... But something like this seems really unikely to me.

Do you guys think Siemens would really be "up" on the history of SSE and the parks like that? And beyond that, would they want to wind the clock back like that? I loved "tomorrow's child" as much as everyone else... And miss it plenty. But anytime I hear about something like this, I question the validity.

I just find it hard to believe that a corporate sponsor would be that "up to speed" on something as minute as that... And second, that they would care enough about the topic. Don't forget... Siemens is in this thing for a very shrewd business purpose. They're there to advance their brand. They're there to make this work for them, and eventually to make money. They're not there to "bring SSE back to the glory of the early 80's". I just don't see that as something they'd focus on. Their reason for being with Disney is corporate. Not philanthropic.

It makes good sense that they'd spend money on a refurb... Make it look good, get everything working... Put in a new post show... Because if your name is on the front of something, you want it to look right. Even the idea of dropping the wand could make sense, because it's easily seen, and pretty tacky. But beyond that, to me anything beyond that seems like a bit of a stretch in my mind.

I could be wrong, that's just my two cents.
 

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