Spaceship Earth closed August 18th-24th for refurbishment.

[spacemountain89]

short supply of parts for him, they wanted to open up the scene more, and prob needs a new face mold. along with people grabbing for the newspaper..

 

[Goofyernmost]

Why did they ever turn him around in the first place?

The story is that the original location is the back of the building or the ally. They moved him so he would be standing on the street selling papers. They didn't take anytime to explain that, if that is what it was, so it just looks weird to most everybody.

 

[Figments Friend]

I always liked where the Paperboy used to be..as it seemed as if he was hawking papers to the passerby as he should, as in, the Guests going by in the ride vehicles.

Now he just looks so lonely and desperate for a nickel....hawking to a wall painted like a alleyway...

 

[WDITrent]

Hopefully any track replacement will be at the top of the initial lift, the dawn of time. It gets noisier each trip. Parts of the track are trashed from incompetent investment and this must be the worst part.

But that's part of the charm! I for one hope they don't replace the track with new smooth omnimover track like the stuff that's in the Little Mermaid. That ride goes way too slow.

(I jest, everyone)

 

[Taylor]

Why did they ever turn him around in the first place?

People were touching him and grabbing on to him

 

[HMF]

I always liked where the Paperboy used to be..as it seemed as if he was hawking papers to the passerby as he should, as in, the Guests going by in the ride vehicles.

Now he just looks so lonely and desperate for a nickel....hawking to a wall painted like a alleyway...

I know this will be controversial but I feel if the paper boy is indeed causing WDI problems forcing them to have him face the wall. It would probably be wiser to use that spot for a new vignette.

 

[t3techcom18]

If the track replacement turns out to be right in the end, the only places that will have replaced track are load/unload, reason being is that its the pieces of track with the most stress on them (basically think as if the entire weight of the building's track is in that area).

Any more track replacement would cause SSE to be down for 4-6 weeks at the least.

 

[spacemountain89]

If the track replacement turns out to be right in the end, the only places that will have replaced track are load/unload, reason being is that its the pieces of track with the most stress on them (basically think as if the entire weight of the building's track is in that area).

Any more track replacement would cause SSE to be down for 4-6 weeks at the least.

they are replacing track at unload. 2 days to remove cars, 3 days to replace track, and 2 days to put back in the cars.

 

[Tom Morrow]

It does make more sense for the paperboy to be selling to the street rather than to you - the characters in the ride aren't "aware of your presence." It just looks weird having an animatronic looking away from you.

 

[montyz81]

Why did they ever turn him around in the first place?

Didn't his face get melted at some point? I heard that is why they turned him around, and it fit into the story so it was a low cost way to fix the problem. Just turn him around.

 

[montyz81]

they are replacing track at unload. 2 days to remove cars, 3 days to replace track, and 2 days to put back in the cars.

This makes sense. I'd imagine that it is a pretty substantial undertaking just to remove a handful of ride vehicles. If you don't prop them right, they all come tumbling down to load and unload.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Didn't his face get melted at some point? I heard that is why they turned him around, and it fit into the story so it was a low cost way to fix the problem. Just turn him around.

I never heard about that and it would also beg the question of what would have caused it to "melt". There has never been a fire in there that I remember hearing about. When it started out, he was very close to the track, so not only did they turn him around but they moved him as well, I think. Why wouldn't they just have taken it out. It's not terribly crucial to the ride, just an extra detail. I think it would have been less missed then it is noticed for it's weird location now.

 

[Fe Maiden]

Didn't his face get melted at some point? I heard that is why they turned him around, and it fit into the story so it was a low cost way to fix the problem. Just turn him around.

I heard it was because he got really blasted one weekend with the cavemen and he let them tattoo his face.

 

[Bryner84]

People were touching him and grabbing on to him

I have the same problem when I stand out on the street...Hey oh!

 

[JEANYLASER]

I'm confused! Why is the Spaceship Earth is closing for refurbishment. is the Spaceship earth needs more special Effects?

 

[wm49rs]

I'm confused! Why is the Spaceship Earth is closing for refurbishment. is the Spaceship earth needs more special Effects?

No one knows for certain what they're going to do while the ride is down. But it's a short refurbishment, so I wouldn't expect anything too major, Jeany.

 

[JenniferS]

They're adding a new scene at the end of a family eating dinner at a restaurant with everyone ignoring each other while they play on their phones.

No that's for the final scene when COP finally gets a refurb.

 

[JenniferS]

I could see this in a CoP update of the final scene. No dialog at all. Just everyone texting / cruising facebook. lol

Darn, I wish I had read further in the thread before posting a similar response.
Let's chalk it up to - great minds think alike.

 

[JEANYLASER]

Thanks for the info! Spaceship Earth is second favorite ride in EPCOT!

 

[JohnnyDollaz89]

Ahhh they changed the dates again, this sucks.