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[JBIRDTO]

I have such a hard time watching these videos. They bring back wondrous moments from my childhood. Let's just hope the imagineers who are working on a potential referb can capture the emotion of the original endings. This can be done with or without a sponsor. SSE has always been one of my favourite attractions for its ingenious design and educational elements.

 

[Skibum1970]

It’s a good ride, don’t get me wrong. Its lines are due to Fastpass+ and location. Location gets it to 20 min. Fastpass+ gets it to 45. It was designed with a capacity to allow all guests to ride with minimal wait like just about every ‘82 ride. If only 1970s Imagineers had invented precogs to foresee the greatest achievement in the history of mankind—Fastpass+.

<sigh> So accurate. Build rides with good capacity and you don't need FP+.

 

[Horizons '83]

I hope they get rid of that ending they have on this ride currently. IDK what the ending was before the current ending, but I never really liked the current ending very much (referring to the stuff on the screen, not the part in space where you're in the ball. The part in space where you're in the ball is great)


iirc the sponsor wanted them to make that ending or something, and I guess they needed time to be able to do it, so they made the part in space the ending and left the descent to be used for this. The sponsor left though now so they don't need to keep it.

I hope you are right, sponsors shouldn't be the one's calling the shots on such large show decision's as those. Let the imgineers do their work and you (the sponsor) pay the bills and get great exposure for your brand.

 

[erasure fan1]

Is there a reason why they completely gutted the decent? I can't think of any sane reason why they would do that, it would have been cheaper (and much better) to leave the decent show as is.

That's because there is no good reason in my eyes. Like most things Disney changes, it all comes down to money. It is sad how they took the end that was awesome and inspiring and replaced it with a jib jab video. I guess Disney was more forward thinking than we thought as everyone seems to only look at their phone screens anyway. They had the future pegged.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

With this being within 5 years could this also mean the removal of the screens on the omnimovers? If it takes that long for it. I say take your time...

 

[geekza]

I feel like just because how quickly technology moves today this ride always feels out of date 2 years after being refurbed.

The only thing that really becomes dated fairly quickly is the last part. The rest of the ride is history-based. Honestly, if they want to avoid automatic obsolescence, just have "today's communication" be little more than a brief bit of narration and skip right to the Space section. Definitely need to go back to the "time machine" concept for the trip down, with more abstract visual effects than concrete factual information. As it stands, the ride is tremendous build-up followed by... nothing.

 

[Kman101]

It’s a good ride, don’t get me wrong. Its lines are due to Fastpass+ and location. Location gets it to 20 min. Fastpass+ gets it to 45. It was designed with a capacity to allow all guests to ride with minimal wait like just about every ‘82 ride. If only 1970s Imagineers had invented precogs to foresee the greatest achievement in the history of mankind—Fastpass+.

This.

I love the ride too but that's the reality of it.

I've lucked out a few times and walked right on, but there's often a line at least in the front of the entrance. And I almost always see confused guests trying to get into the FP line. No reason this needed FP but you can't implement a program and only have two or three attractions as FP options. But it speaks to a bigger problem.

So what "more classic, more timless, more family friendly" IP gets shoehorned in here? Hopefully none, but this is the same company that now has to name a restaurant "Sebastian's" (which, I don't mind or care about really, they've done that for a long time, but it speaks to the bigger issue of needing a character/IP attached to everything. Literally everything seems to need a character/IP now. That's beyond annoying)

 

[HMF]

Is there a reason why they completely gutted the decent? I can't think of any sane reason why they would do that, it would have been cheaper (and much better) to leave the decent show as is.

Many of us have been asking that question for the past 10 years.

 

[Kman101]

From what's been said on here, and I could be wrong, but it seems they had a new finale in mind but ran out of time and money and that's what we ended up with. Really poor decision making. They just don't care if it's "good enough" and clearly guests let them get away with it. We wouldn't have nearly 30 year old shows in DHS if guests actually spoke up (I imagine guests whining is one of the reasons we're getting updated night entertainment). You can like it but still think it's time for it to go.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Along with the fp+ enterance

 

[aladdin2007]

Maybe I'm being far too cynical, but what IP are they going to shoehorn into the ride?

Chapek said Epcot will be more "Disney" in the future after all.

Also it would never happen but I'd personally love to see the return of Jeremy Irons, especially since his voice worked so well.

that kind of scares me too, I find it hard to believe he is not going to insist on cramming ip in there.

 

[britain]

I suspect it's just waiting for a new sponsor to pony up the cash.

 

[DAK1928]

5 years would put us in summer of 2023...

It's an awkward timeline as I would think they would want to have Epcot's thesis attraction open during the resort's 50th in 2021, and they would especially want it open for Epcot's 40th in 2022.

Perhaps they announce at next year's D23 (2019) and open by fall 2021?

I could see Epcot and DCA (Marvel) taking center stage at the P&R panel following SW:GE's debut.

 

[wdwmagic]

Are they going to fix the A/C?

There isnt anthing to fix (other than setting the thermostat), the temp issue is a resort wide initiative to reduce cooling costs.

 

[Oriolesmagic]

I have high hopes for this refurb and I hope that it comes sooner rather than later. It brings up an interesting question though. Who would you like to see take over the reins of narration from Judi Dench?

There's a lot of fantastic options but I've always felt that Benedict Cumberbatch would be a really great voice for the attraction.

 

[Spash007]

I'm going to premise this with I hate the ending - it's cheesy, the graphics are awful, and whenever I ride it I walk off wondering what just happened. That said, I know some people like my mom had major issues with the old descent, due to height, going backwards and being in the relative dark. For her, it was the "scariest" part of a ride she would go on, and would cling to me or my sister for dear life. Having an interactive component does help to distract the riders like that and take away some of that fear.

All of that said, it's terrible in implementation.

 

[mikejs78]

It’s a good ride, don’t get me wrong. Its lines are due to Fastpass+ and location. Location gets it to 20 min. Fastpass+ gets it to 45. It was designed with a capacity to allow all guests to ride with minimal wait like just about every ‘82 ride. If only 1970s Imagineers had invented precogs to foresee the greatest achievement in the history of mankind—Fastpass+.

It's not FP+ per se that cause the long lines. It's the tiering system at Epcot....

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

I suppose any decent refurb of the ride would entail a new script and voice-actor?
Here's just a few suggestions:
-Benedict Cumberbatch
-Gal Gadot
-Anthony Hopkins
-Chris Hemsworth

or perhaps, a combo-job.

Whatever they do though, I want them to remove the on-board screens and fix the damn descent! Bring back Tomorrow's Child!

 

[Kman101]

that kind of scares me too, I find it hard to believe he is not going to insist on cramming ip in there.

Well when they think a restaurant at a resort needs a character's name attached ... how else can we think? lol

 

[TwilightZone]

Is there a reason why they completely gutted the decent? I can't think of any sane reason why they would do that, it would have been cheaper (and much better) to leave the decent show as is.

I heard the decent or at least part of it is still there, behind some curtains or something, so it's not completely gone.
But anyway my guesses are:
1. New sponsor wanted a new ending
2. Disney and the sponsor, both wanting the ride to be more fun, decided to create a funner ending
3. At the time the refurb happened, touchscreens were still relatively new, so it would have been a neat showcase of the technology.