Peeps on SSE! Soft openings!

[SweetMagic]

I keep refreshing this page with my car keys in hand hoping that someone says its open. I know I should be down there waiting out just in case but I've been up since 4am and can't really see myself in Epcot tonight no matter how much I love it.

BUT... if there is an opening and if I am still awake, I may be willing to take the drive over there even though I am a bit put off by it not being ready. I rode M:S when it was still walled off and loved it but that was a new ride. This is a reworking of a classic. I'm nervous about not loving it the first time around.

Somebody hold me.

If you've been up since 4 then maybe go tomorrow :shrug: One more day isn't gonna change too much being that you no longer can be the first to ride. Just a thought, specially since I know there will be several of us there tomorrow

 

[BSikor]

If you've been up since 4 then maybe go tomorrow :shrug: One more day isn't gonna change too much being that you no longer can be the first to ride. Just a thought, specially since I know there will be several of us there tomorrow

Tomorrow IS my birthday! :animwink: and it would be a great treat to get to ride it. What time is everyone starting to convene?

 

[TheNewPromiser]

Hi everyone

I just have a couple of questions: who/what was the girl in the window that Expo_Seeker40 was referring to in Spaceship Earth??

Also, the waving lady?? are these hidden mickey type things I didn't know about??

As far as the refurbishment goes, was anyone else's favorite part of SE the descent???

 

[donaldfan]

I think the only thing I'll really miss is Jeremy Irons saying..."Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many passengers."

I'm such a nerd.

I hope they captured some of the "grandness" of the old narration with the new narration. I have one of the Jeff Lange DVD's -- highly recommend them for SSE fans out there. It has a pristine recording of Jeremy's narration. But I'll take Judi w/o wand over Jeremy w/wand any day.

 

[SweetMagic]

Tomorrow IS my birthday! :animwink: and it would be a great treat to get to ride it. What time is everyone starting to convene?

Wow, how nifty! Happy Birthday to you! I don't know what time we're convening because Ms. Epcot.nut has not checked in yet :fork: There are a few Mousefest activities that are scattered throughout the day, but I'm torn between that and staking out SSE all day!

Based on the Mousefest schedule, I'm wondering how 11am - noonish would be to meet by SSE just to plot and plan the rest of the day?

 

[RedGear]

how much longer til April? Man I wish I lived closer, I really need to finsh school so we can move down that way. . .

I use to be afarid of SE when I was little, but I was afarid of all rides that were in the dark. Is it still scary? (jk) :veryconfu

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Yes! I knew someone was gonna ask about the girl in the window. :drevil:

Alright....here we go....

For all of us who have been on SSE, can't help but notice the large mural that hangs near the entrance door. On that mural are astronauts, a satelite dish, and a cylinder structure which is a space station.

From 1982-1994...guests riding spaceship earth got more than just seeing some stars and a projection of earth at the ride's top....

Once your vehicles rotated backwards you entered the space station!

All it is...is a hexagonal shaft running throughout the structure itself.

I'd say its about 25-30 ft tall...and about 10 feet wide on all sides.

The space station was painted white...very simple wall panneling...some blinking lights...various pink track lighting...and it also had a ceiling...and part of it was open so you could see up and look at the stars projection on the dome.

Inside the space station scene was a satelite dish clamped to a mechanical arm. The arm attatched to a large window. Inside that a window a girl was looking out at the satelite dish...and also the astronaut who was upside down and holding onto the dish. Right outside the spacestation was another astronaut carrying a replacement part for the satelite dish.

The girl moved only a little bit. She basically tilted her head and waved once and a while to the astronauts.

The window itself was not big at all....maybe 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide. But the entire structure and wall panneling that held the window frame was huge! Probably 10 ft tall by 5 feet wide.

Well in 1994....for whatever reason the space station scene was no longer needed. The astrounats and satelite dish were removed...and all the wall panneling was removed from the space station as well as all the lighting. The ceiling remained but was painted black. The walls were then fitted with black sound proof panneling.

The huge window structure remained. Most likely do to the time and effort to take it down. Most likely the Animatronic girl was removed. The window was boared up and painted black.

From 1994-2007 we saw a floating news broadcast in space. This is just about where the astronaut was floating in space with the spare part. Just a bit further down and to our right is an empty space where the satelite dish and upside down astronaut were.

Now to our left is where the floating classroom scene was. Right BEHIND us is the window where the girl was looking out of.

I could see it very clearly in early 2007 when I went on SSE because the light of the floating classroom projection screen reflected right onto the window.

Shortly before the ride closed in the summer of 2007...a rider went on SSE to see the window for themself...however Seimens and Disney had already started to make adjustments and small rehabs to the ride. The window had been removed...leaving a little scar on the wall where it used to be.

The new version of SSE has eliminated all traces of the floating classroom and floating news broadcast...there is also no new space station scene.

The space is now used for lighting effects. :wave:

 

[SoFlaDisneyFan]

To go, or not to go, that is the question. I REALLY hope SSE will have at least ONE soft opening this weekend. I am only 3.5 hours away, but still, I don't wanna spend the time and gas $$$ in vain. Well, nevermind, I will still be in the World, so nothing will be in vain!

Okay, well since I need to purchase Christmas gifts, perhaps it is....or not. Okay, I'll stop!

PLEASE OPEN SSE!!!!

 

[SDav10495]

Yes! I knew someone was gonna ask about the girl in the window. :drevil:

Alright....here we go....

And now she roams the crevices and catwalks of Spaceship Earth searching for her lost torso, a bloody, vengeful gleam in her eye... :lookaroun

Geez, I'd never heard that whole story before. Sounds like something you tell around a campfire (with fellow EPCOT nerds, of course).

 

[MuRkErY]

Over the past couple of years I've been very happy with the updates too the parks.

Everest, Finding Nemo The Musical, and The Yak and Yeti have all been great additions to DAK.

LMAX was a nice little addition for MGM, nothing I'm too happy about but it certainly did no harm.

What true EPCOT fan could not be ecstatic about the wand coming down from SSE. The Sea's with Nemo and friends is a nice little D-Ticket. I have a few qualms about the Three Cabs and other characters invading WS but nothing I cant deal with as long as it does not get too out of hand.

The HM refurb was superbly done. Once again I have a few qualms about MILF but I think it is no where near the disaster of AE for Stitch or JII into JIYI and like the Three Cabs in WS I can live with it.

How-ever I have to say if indeed it turns out that they have turned the descent on SSE into nothing more than a glorified touch screen survey with a light show then I will be very unhappy.

Where is the soul in that, where is the heart in that, the old score mixed with the city of tomorrow and the various scenes (Doctors etc...) then moving into the light tunnel for the final portion worked beautifully. It gave a grand overview of our planet and the people on it, it showed the human soul of "Our Spaceship Earth", then the final light tunnel leading from the city of tomorrow all gave us time to think, the rousing score all-most challenged us to think about our planet and where we are heading. The ending was by no means technically perfect, the light effects could have done with updating, the model was looking dated etc... Which is why when I heard they were updating the Descent I was hoping they were going to expand upon these ideas and make them even grander, unfortunately this seems not to be the case.

Now I can not help but feel where as I used to come off SSE feeling elated, thinking about the world etc... that things now wont seem a little flat. Lets hope this is not the case and WDI just have not finished yet with the Descent.

 

[Texas84]

Disney, you have 8 days to put the horse and carriage projection in the Rome scene back! :xmas:

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Okay....now everyone breathe

on laughingplace a person just posted at 7:59PM EST today that they had the pleasure of riding spaceship earth "tonight".

I'm writing this at 8:20PM EST...we haven't heard from anyone since 7:45pm or so...the ride takes 15 mins to ride....so maybe just maybe it is open right now.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

remember I said MAYBE :lookaroun

 

[t3techcom18]

-- I have a pic update for y'alls to come tomorrow! I can back up Merf's statement bout the lights - they were indeed working, and I got pics of them. The font part of the main signs were also lit up, and the outer frame also was working, but was stuck on only blue.

-- The music outside was on and off, but it IS really well done. I just find it a tiny bit repititive, but I'm saving the final critique for that once the walls come down and I can hear it clearly.

-- I can also backup how most SSE cast were being trained; nearly all of them had their 'Earning Their Ears' banner with their nametag. TONS of them were there, probably all of them. However, I can say...try not to ask the CM's if there's any previews for SSE. 2 out of the 3 I asked during the day gave me a look like, "Oh my God, another one."

-- ...However, I got a story bout the first one I asked, the one that actually replied to me bout it instead of "it can open without warning."; I can't say half of it cause I don't want to endanger the CM's job, as we had a CM to CM convo. But basically, they did tell me that it would open today in a few hours, and explaining how it opened for an hour last night, as how STR8FAN got on. They said SSE was gunna be open in a few hours. Just as I was talking, two guys were setting up the metal pipes and rope that is usually seen when they need an overflow queue, but leading to the door on the Art of Disney (aka right) side of SSE. However, 3 hours later, when I came back from AK, they were gone, but the same type of metal pipes and chains were installed at the main exit. Apparently, there were set on testing it with folks today, but I guess they encounted a problem or they wanted to fix some stuff.

Soo, main point is that testing could REALLY happen at any time, and the key places are on either side of the wall, OR, in Project Tomorrow.

 

[pheneix]

Okay....now everyone breathe

on laughingplace a person just posted at 7:59PM EST today that they had the pleasure of riding spaceship earth "tonight".

I'm writing this at 8:20PM EST...we haven't heard from anyone since 7:45pm or so...the ride takes 15 mins to ride....so maybe just maybe it is open right now.

That was me. I screwed up. I wrote the review in Word last night but never got around to copying/pasting it till tonight. Here is the full review if anyone cares:

I was one of a lucky few that got to experience a rough cut ride through of Spaceship Earth tonight. First off I can say that I really like the new ride. Mercifully they did not screw this one up. It is not without flaws though, especially towards the end. Here are my first impressions of the ride…

Dame Judi Dench’s narration is pretty good, but I would have much preferred Patrick Stewart handling the job. She gave it a very light hearted reading, which will probably surprise a lot of fans of the ride. Its also very fast paced. Almost information overload fast. This is a ride that will demand several ride thrus to absorb it all. That might be a good thing, but I think fans of the old ride will be caught off guard by how fast everything goes.

The ride itself… There’s great, there’s good, there’s some bad, and then there is some ugly. Again, this ride is still under construction, so it is hard to tell what is complete and what is not, but I can say I am not impressed with the descent tunnel at all. The LCD screens basically take over and that is all you are expected to look at for the remainder of the ride. All of the static figures, the future city, the SSE model, and the neon are all gone. In their place are lots and lots of fiber optic stars that were not operational on my ride through last night. Allegedly there are some peppers ghost surprises in the finale, if there are they were not operational either. Still, if the finale of the ride is entirely based on these screens they severely dropped the ball . This ride should have a grand and majestic finale and an animated movie on an LCD screen just doesn’t cut it.

On the upside, the new animatronics are amazing. They look like they could jump out of their sets and run over to MK to slap Jack Sparrow back into the 70’s. They are that good. One major item of note are the new Phoenician merchant ships. In the old ride they used to sway back and forth gently if ever at all. Now both ships rock back and forth as if in choppy seas, with brand new AA figures riding on top of them to boot. Very well done.
The three new show scenes are also spectacular as well. The main frame computer room in particular is a stunning use of the space. It gives the impression of a very wide and open environment. I can’t believe they crammed that scene in that building! I also loved the living room scene that preceded it. A nice nod to the former incarnations of the ride, the family is viewing coverage of man’s first steps on the moon, covered by Walter Cronkite.

As I said before this ride is not complete by any means. That is reason enough to not offer a review of the ride at this time. We’ll have to wait until February to see the finished product. However, if you do make it over to Epcot in the coming weeks and are lucky enough to see Spaceship Earth open consider it a fascinating peek into the final stage of designing a major attraction. The sets are not finished, the lighting is not quite right, and many animatronics are not even in place, but it is a great experience all the same.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

 

[TTATraveler]

Just waited 2 hours outside SSE and no opening despite all the cast members standing around. I left around 8:35.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Disney, you have 8 days to put the horse and carriage projection in the Rome scene back! :xmas:

I concur!

For some reason, that little projection is one of my favorite parts of SSE. That, and the burning Rome smell (so glad it remains).

When we were little, whenever we went camping or smelled burning wood we'd say, "I smell Spaceship Earth!" (yes, we were weird children...it was the 80s, what can I say? ).

Anyway, I am loving these SSE threads, thanks to everyone for keeping the rest of us in the loop with the updates. We are living vicariously through you!! :sohappy:

 

[SDav10495]

When we were little, whenever we went camping or smelled burning wood we'd say, "I smell Spaceship Earth!" (yes, we were weird children...it was the 80s, what can I say? ).

Ha, you are in good company on this board...many of us think of SSE immediately when we smell that. It's a running joke in my family.

In fact, we once came back from a week at WDW (a February trip) and found that we had prematurely closed the fireplace flue after a fire we'd made the night before we left...so the whole house smelled faintly of burning wood. As soon as we set foot in the door we all said "Spaceship Earth!!"

We got to live with that blissful scent lingering in the house for another week and a half. Delightful.

 

[mousermerf]

Imagineering went home at around 8ish, and a few mins later they shut off the music - and btw, the trees kept going without it - but since they were gone, the ops were all outside and saying it wouldn't open, i went home. Looks like i mildly cut my losses.

I am a bit miffed a certain member of these forums got backdoored earlier in the evening and then those in power chose not to let the rest of us in, but whatever, if the reviews from earlier are proving to be true i dont think i really care to see SSE in that state anyways.