DreamfinderGuy
Well-Known Member
Tuesday was the original scheduled closing date. It has next to no relevance now that the parks will be closed that day as well as afterwards. Very likely that it's final date of operation was March 15th.
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Rumor Spaceship Earth Redo Shelved Indefinitely
- Thread starter A Noble Fish
- Start date
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Up to his old tricks again, ranting about what other people should or shouldn't care about.
rle4lunch
Well-Known Member
Do what I do. When I see his posts I just scroll on by. Usually it's 1000 words of ing.
CastAStone
5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
I dunno, they made a formal announcement last time. It seemed previously that they were trying to ensure that they minimized the gap vs or outright overlapped with Ratatouille, I don’t know why that would change.
Haymarket2008
Well-Known Member
Chris Kidder, an Imagineer (is he actually? I'm not entirely sure), who is "Producer on Spaceship Earth and the Epcot overhaul" posted on Twitter today about today's planned closure. I am assuming he wouldn't post about it if the project was definitively canned. Thoughts?
trainplane3
Well-Known Member
I actually meant to share that tweet earlier today. For anyone that wants to see it:
Makes you wonder what the plan is now.
DoleWhipDrea
Well-Known Member
Honestly by the verbiage he uses, he isn’t indicating any sort of update to the plans.
We have to remember that a lot is still up in the air. I don’t think anything will be finalized until after some amount of the WDW parks re-open. It comes down to money and how much Disney can recoup.
DreamfinderGuy
Well-Known Member
Another SSE imagineer was in the replies of that. Surprised nothing has come out of Zach Riddley considering he wrote the Disney Parks Blog article and is also pretty active on social media.
FigmentsFangirl
Well-Known Member
So there is no new update on if this will happen or not ?
vinnya1726
Active Member
I have been thinking that maybe Disney should just keep Epcot closed longer than the other parks. Maintaining Social Distancing in a park that is half torn up might not be possible. Limiting the crowds at those restaurants to 25% sounds like a losing proposition. Maybe they focus on construction in Epcot while the other parks get back up and running.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
Even with the construction Epcot still has the widest pathways and most open space. Restaurants are now only limited to 50%. Still problematic.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
It’s better getting in and out of there a lot better than the MK
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
People have hinted at a F&W mode with plenty of outdoor vendors to visit.
Is it a trustworthy Source?
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
I’m starting to believe this project has NOT been shelved...scaled back sure but not dead. Even the website has the attraction marked as “Starting on May 26, Spaceship Earth will be closed for refurbishment as part of the exciting transformation of Epcot. Please check back here for updates.” The imagineers tweets also have me thinking this project isn’t dead. I think we have to rethink what projects we think are going to be affecting by this pandemic. All this could mean nothing...but it makes you wonder.
Maybe Epcot isn’t as doomed as we all think. Spaceship Earth really needs this update at least in my opinion.
Maybe Epcot isn’t as doomed as we all think. Spaceship Earth really needs this update at least in my opinion.
britain
Well-Known Member
It could be scaled back to the point that it's fresh paint and freshly oiled gears, and that's it. Maybe by tying it still to the 'exciting transformation of EPCOT' they can save some face.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
Could be, but I’m trying to remain hopeful. Honestly, they just need to rip the track apart, install some new cars, and fix the finale. Unfortunately, that is very expensive and easier said then done.
CastAStone
5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
People twisted his words all sorts of ways but Chapek was incredibly clear on the earnings call:
- The $900MM in capital spending reductions represents the stoppage of work during the park closures
- Good (capital spending) ideas pre-COVID are still good ideas post-COVID.
DVCakaCarlF
Well-Known Member
The $900M was just a cash flow manipulation to match expenses with revenues.
DoleWhipDrea
Well-Known Member
All valid points, but we also have seen a long history of Disney cancelling WDI projects after things like an economic downturn, hit to tourism, etc...all of which cannot compare in magnitude to what’s happening now, where most revenue streams have had to stop cold in their tracks for the company on the whole.
IMHO, given the company’s history, leadership’s focus on investments heavily featuring IP, and how this situation has affected the company’s bottom line, I can’t see a group of board members saying, “Sure, let’s fund the makeover of Spaceship Earth, a ride we won’t be interested in advertising to get new visitors to EPCOT!” when having to pick and choose between several projects where things are just going to have to get axed.
At this point I’m just hoping they’re willing to replace the track within the next 5 years.
IMHO, given the company’s history, leadership’s focus on investments heavily featuring IP, and how this situation has affected the company’s bottom line, I can’t see a group of board members saying, “Sure, let’s fund the makeover of Spaceship Earth, a ride we won’t be interested in advertising to get new visitors to EPCOT!” when having to pick and choose between several projects where things are just going to have to get axed.
At this point I’m just hoping they’re willing to replace the track within the next 5 years.