Rumor Spaceship Earth Redo Shelved Indefinitely

[t3techcom18]

As someone who worked there for 5 years in the past decade, derailments did happen once in a blue moon, if this is indeed what happened (one happened a few feet away from me at the unload area, quite literally and management kept running the attraction. Fun day that was). When it comes to omnimovers, they're not as uncommon as you may think. It boils down to age and stresses on the track and vehicles.

From how the OP on Twitter describes it, either the wheel jumped the track or the mechanism that turns the vehicles forward at the final descent broke (which causes an emergency stop once the sensor catches it). If it only took an hour, it was most likely the latter.

 

[ppete1975]

Then this was definitely nothing serious and not the massive derailment rumored.

46 years and i was finally right about something

 

[ppete1975]

It honestly confuses me why they don’t just do a soft refurb on the existing ride without completely rahabbing it in the meantime, especially if it’s in this kind of shape. Why waste the budget on exterior lighting (which needed no “fixing” to begin with)?

downtime.. sadly i dont see guardians or rat giving it a break. One of the biggest issues with Epcot AK and studios.. there isnt enough around to allow for a major people eater to be down any significant time... and im assuming this was expected to be 6 months in the least to 2 years max. @marni1971 how long was the refurb pre covid planned for?

 

[marni1971]

downtime.. sadly i dont see guardians or rat giving it a break. One of the biggest issues with Epcot AK and studios.. there isnt enough around to allow for a major people eater to be down any significant time... and im assuming this was expected to be 6 months in the least to 2 years max. @marni1971 how long was the refurb pre covid planned for?

Last pre Covid figure I had was reopening 2023.

 

[ppete1975]

Last pre Covid figure I had was reopening 2023.

Wasnt it to shutdown soon pre covid.. so 2020 So a 3 year refurb!!!

 

[marni1971]

Wasnt it to shutdown soon pre covid.. so 2020 So a 3 year refurb!!!

Yes.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

Disney was okay with having Ratatouille newly opened and then closing the ride for 3 years prior to COVID, but there were other attractions set to open as well. With several delays, changes and cancellations, SSE will just keep waiting.

This is yet another domino effect of closing several high-capacity attractions and not making up for it elsewhere in the park.

Eventually SSE will have to get at least a track replacement, and it’s going to be a lengthy process.

 

[Surferboy567]

Disney was okay with having Ratatouille newly opened and then closing the ride for 3 years prior to COVID, but there were other attractions set to open as well. With several delays, changes and cancellations, SSE will just keep waiting.

This is yet another domino effect of closing several high-capacity attractions and not making up for it elsewhere in the park.

Eventually SSE will have to get at least a track replacement, and it’s going to be a lengthy process.

It needs way more then a track update. It’s just dated in general. Functional, but dated.

 

[Naplesgolfer]

Yes.

Marni,

If they left the load and un load in the same positions and then replaced the track and last free scenes of the ascent , all of the decent and whole "play" area you finish in, wouldn't that save time and money? What do you think is the actual time it would take if this wasn't stretched out for quarterly profit reasons? Wasn't the whole park built in less than 3 years?

 

[marni1971]

Marni,

If they left the load and un load in the same positions and then replaced the track and last free scenes of the ascent , all of the decent and whole "play" area you finish in, wouldn't that save time and money? What do you think is the actual time it would take if this wasn't stretched out for quarterly profit reasons? Wasn't the whole park built in less than 3 years?

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

Simple as.

 

[CastAStone]

What do you think is the actual time it would take if this wasn't stretched out for quarterly profit reasons?

Disney amortizes the cost of major ride overhauls over a minimum of 20 years. So when they actually do the work has minimal impact on quarterly earnings.

 

[t3techcom18]

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

Literally of this. Literally the only way to really way to do something like this would be removing vehicles from 180top. It would require a LOT of reworking around that area (not to mention those vehicles weigh quite a bit and with an aging building like SSE, I don't know if the floorboards there would be able to handle that kind of weight).

If they didn't want to do that? Gut the entire building and restart from scratch.

 

[brettf22]

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

Thanks for the inciteful info (as always). One question. How did they load the RVs on to the track at the beginning?

 

[marni1971]

Thanks for the inciteful info (as always). One question. How did they load the RVs on to the track at the beginning?

I’d love to know.

 

[CastAStone]

I guess I’m confused, why couldn’t they use the mechanisms that propel the cars forward to hold the cars in place and slowly move them?

 

[peter11435]

I guess I’m confused, why couldn’t they use the mechanisms that propel the cars forward to hold the cars in place and slowly move them?

Weight distribution

 

[Naplesgolfer]

Disney amortizes the cost of major ride overhauls over a minimum of 20 years. So when they actually do the work has minimal impact on quarterly earnings.

View attachment 551171

So why does it seem to take them so much longer than has in then past to build a ride? Universal seems to move much faster. I always thought it was for cash flow reasons , but that was just a guess of coarse.

 

[Naplesgolfer]

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I always find the engineering of WDW fascinating .

 

[RSoxNo1]

Pass.

SSE is unique in its design - and that creates problems. Being an island site means either all material for the following day needs to be brought in overnight and stored within its footprint or they have to block half of the parks entrance walkway (as has been done before)

Then you have the issue of a complicated omnimover chain at tension that’s only designed for having one, maybe two vehicles removed at once. Off track vehicle storage becomes an issue unless you store them in show scenes to clear the track. Then you’d have the problem of lifting vehicles off the track away from the 52 foot level maintenance area. Or you remove them from the building - and the only way out is either at unload (beyond the original design scope and requiring a lot of work) or as designed via the service elevator one at a time. But then, as I said, the ride wasn’t designed to have more than a few RVs removed. The omnimover tension would be lost. Vehicles waiting to be removed would have to be securely and safely parked on track lest a chain of RVs suddenly shoots downhill. Can you work from the top down? Can you send the top set of vehicles in 180top down the service elevator and store those lower down on the show area? Can you remove ride cars - and their chassis - on an incline? Possibly. It’s never been done before.

And then you have the issue of space and access due to that unique design. Anything not needed or old, and anything new, has to get into the geosphere either via the ascent and descent show tunnels, two sets of service stairs, or the (not large) service elevator. There’s no “loading dock door” to back a truck up to to unload new track.

It’s a far more complicated job than it seems. Retracking Space Mountain would be an easier task. Not least because they’re both rollercoaster designs.

Yeah, but still.