Spaceship Earth reopening reports

[jt04]

Merf Saved SSE

Got to ride tonight. Spoilers ahead...... They have turned on the "lightning in a bottle" effect in the load/unload. Glad those are back. The subtle sparkling effect is also back on the SSE signs out front.

Rome burning is not working....please, please don't remove the smell! The papyrus paper sound effect was also not working.

The animated chariot rider has not returned, suspect he has ridden into the sunset for good. Too bad. I agree with others, it was strangely mesmerizing.

They have painted some silouettes of smokestacks to create a transition from the Sistine chapel to the industrial revolution. Wouldn't some "Da Vinci mechanical drawings morphing into some industrial age machinery" montage painting or sets work here? Just a thought.

Paperboy is looking at a painted cityscape. Very well done IMO. I always wondered why he was facing the vehicles instead of how it is now. It makes much more sense how it is now. Great change!

All is the same from the computer room through the blue stars. I was hoping for some kind of set pieces in the dome. Oh well.

Now the descent. I really like the future cityscape that is drawn on the screen. It is a great filler while they process your future.

But the best news of all (for me at least) is that they really cleaned up the descent. Almost all of the chicken wire is gone! Not only that but most of the star field curtains are also gone. This has the effect of making the tunnel much darker. The triangles block much of the infrastructure so it is not nearly as noticiable. At the same time they are subtle enough not to distract people from the screens. It is a good balance IMO. And they don't add light to the tunnel because they have a paint on the edges that seems to glow very faintly from the light on the monitors. I think it works. They have definitely made a strong effort to improve the weaknesses of the tunnel. The emphasis is on the monitors and I doubt that will change for a couple years. So all in all it is much better. I hope they continue to tweak things. There is continuity problems between some of the sets on the ascent. The music was off at some points so I think they may be working on the "soundtrack". Otherwise the audio was very good! All in all, a real effort was made to address people's concerns and that is a postive trend. Way to go Disney.

 

[SirGoofy]

Got to ride tonight. Spoilers ahead...... They have turned on the "lightning in a bottle" effect in the load/unload. Glad those are back. The subtle sparkling effect is also back on the SSE signs out front.

Agreed. I looks awesome.

Rome burning is not working....please, please don't remove the smell! The papyrus paper sound effect was also not working.

Don't worry it will be back. I believe there is a small problem with the smell cannon.

The animated chariot rider has not returned, suspect he has ridden into the sunset for good. Too bad. I agree with others, it was strangely mesmerizing.

Yup it's gone for good, unfortunately.

They have painted some silouettes of smokestacks to create a transition from the Sistine chapel to the industrial revolution. Wouldn't some DaVinchi drawings morphing into some industrial age machinery montage painting or sets work here? Just a thought.

I'm just glad they put something there. The blank wall was aweful.

Paperboy is looking at a painted cityscape. Very well done IMO. I always wondered why he was facing the vehicles instead of how it is now. It makes much more sense how it is now. Great change!

My favorite part of the new changes. Really sets the scene.

 

[wannab@dis]

Got to ride tonight.

Way to go Disney.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Appears they have cleaned up all of the loose ends. It was apparent when I rode that the tunnel was still undergoing construction work. The cityscape background for the paperboy is another great addition.

But... "Merf saved SSE" :brick:

Nope, thankfully his rants were not heeded.... the screens are still in every car!

 

[aladdin2007]

Kudos to Disney and Siemens, I cant wait to ride it next week!

 

[Horizons1]

Merf saved Spaceship Earth? Oh please. I'd say what Merf did, but I'm too nice of a person.

As I said back in December when everyone was ranting and whining and going on that SE was rui3n3d!!11!! It wasn't done. Now here we are, closer to official opening and two months later. You've gotta give things time, people.

 

[mousermerf]

Whatn the crap? Whoever said merf saved SSE?

Why do i have to be the butt of everything? It's starting to hurt my feelings.

 

[jt04]

^ ^ Just a joke. Although it does have a grain of truth to it and people are having a hard time with that. I guarantee you if people had not complained we would not have the new descent. Deal with it folks, Merf was the most consistent yet thoughtful critic (someone had to do it) and he got results. So many were ready to settle.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Merf, you are a most passionate and observant wdwmagiceer...or ear in this case LOL. Had I been able to come to Celebration25 I would have scouted you out and given you a hug for all your dedication.

You have given us plenty of photo and video updates and trip reports. For that I will always be grateful, and I wish a clone of you were in Epcot every day (since that's my favorite park) sending us pictures and video updates.

What frustrates me so much now is that Disney no longer cares about the details, the hidden meanings, the things not every guest will see. It only cares about what every guest might see and what they want us to see.

The wdwmagic boards are now being torn by people who feel that if its good for the public, it's good for you, and if you don't like it, then stop going to disney.

The other side, is not people who are so much against change, but rather to preserve the values and skills and meaning and depth we all knew and got from the Disney company as we were growing up.

Some rides/shows bomb. Some make it. Some are mostly found boring. It's a matter of how do you make it suitable for fans and the average joe....who is quite dumb compared to the disney fan. Yup I said it, the average guest truly has no thought or care behind the details and meanings of the rides. They just want to take a picture of their kid with mickey, ride a few rides, see cinderella, watch some fireworks and get the hell out. It's us who can methodically see the details and take the walks around the parks and can see things off the beaten path, and smile at those windows on Main Street, or at the Indiana Jones rope at DHS, etc.

I have always said there are quite a few things I really enjoy with the new SSE and the current state of Epcot....many things turning for the good.

But to have so many things watered down and dumbed down just to keep people's attention is quite scary.

Here we have Epcot, the only theme park in America that could give us a great package about all the bull that goes on in the world and how we can make it better....and it now it has become so similar to the magic kingdom, it's eerie.

The commercialism, the gimicks, the ungoldy prices, and the merchandise that constantly repeats itself everywhere is rediculous.

Am I glad the wand and stars came off of SSE....of course...but still....the mirror column has the scars from the old signs...there is no fence...or plants to protect it from the constant kids and folks who walk right up to it and get their fingerprints off of it. The legs of SSE continue to have the dull and drab leave a legacy colors. All around SSE at the entrance are overgrown and exotic plants that are holdovers from 1982. There is no branding at all. The main entrance to SSE circa 2007 contradicts the main entrance to Epcot circa 1999. If they could make the entrance to the park as sleek and clean and modern as they did with the main entrance to SSE, then I would be completely behind it.

The entrance plaza looks much smaller with the haphazard legacy structures. The concept was fine but the execution was terrible.

It seems the imagineers back in the late 70s early 80s tried so hard to get the cosmetics of EPCOT Center down, that by the late 90s, no one cared how new concepts would flow with old concepts i.e. legacy, giant pink tent, and whirley gigs, and all the other clutter, and DVC booths.

That's the problem I have with Disney, and it's parks, and especially with Epcot.

I will continue to go there, and there are still fun and exciting and inspiring things to see and do...but when you have an attraction that means so much with its message and what it intends to do....the ending has now become a fad of flash videos, and comical approaches. I doubt the flash ending will be there by 2011. Something will replace it on the screen, maybe nothing, maybe by then Seimens will actually do something to the descent.

It seems to me the current ending is for Seimens awarding you for managing to stay awake during the ascent of the ride.

Whenever I can get back to Epcot *cough* next year hopefully, I will ride SSE twice. One will be the way it currently is, and I will be bringing a dark piece of paper or folder I can tape over my touch screen and will also have my ipod set to the 1986 or 1994 version of the ride. Then I'll decide which version I like...2007 or old school....or a mesh of both.

All they had to do was keep the fiber optic city, sse model, fiber optics, sound effects, and sound track.

People could still be watching their videos....and I could have chosen the option to have my video off and watch whats around me.

It's all about compromise. The fans get the effects left over from 1994 to see and watch as well as having the option to turn their screen off, while the average joe can laugh hysterically at a fad flash video, and can glaze every so often at the swirls of lights we're going through.

 

[Laura]

What changed my mind? My family rode it with me, and I suddenly enjoyed the goofy ending. :shrug:

That really makes me mad actually. I certainly hope the people who keep saying the ending stinks are not people who have only ridden it alone. Of COURSE it would not be as fun when you're riding alone. That's not a fair assessment. You have to ride it with a friend or family member to fully enjoy it. It's like the difference between riding Buzz Lightyear alone or with someone else you can compete with.

^ ^ Just a joke. Although it does have a grain of truth to it and people are having a hard time with that. I guarantee you if people had not complained we would not have the new descent. Deal with it folks, Merf was the most consistent yet thoughtful critic (someone had to do it) and he got results. So many were ready to settle.

Oh please. You guarantee?

I betcha anything if one of the imagineers who worked on the ride were to see your post they'd spit all over their screen.

 

[Laura]

It's all about compromise. The fans get the effects left over from 1994 to see and watch as well as having the option to turn their screen off, while the average joe can laugh hysterically at a fad flash video, and can glaze every so often at the swirls of lights we're going through.

Wow you're awfully pompous.

Some dedicated fans actually like the ending, me included.

I like how you group Disney guests into 2 categories:

1. The elite superfans...the ones who notice every time a plant is moved or paint is peeling. The ones who complain about every little thing that changes at Disney because the changes are ruining your ideal 1980's versions of the parks. But again, you are mightier fans than the rest of us.

2. The "average Joes"...the ignorant little people who enjoy being at Disney and soak up the magic. The ones who see change and progress as something positive. The ones who don't obsess over things that don't matter because they're too caught up in the fun.

And of course the elite fans are so much more important and valuable to the WDC than the dumb old average Joe's right?

I think what you fail to realize is that Disney cares more about their "average" customers than about the small percentage of whiney miserable ones that hate everything they do.

 

[jt04]

Oh please. You guarantee?

I betcha anything if one of the imagineers who worked on the ride were to see your post they'd spit all over their screen.

Well some people take criticism better then others......:lookaroun



And don't be so pompous! :zipit:

 

[Laura]

Well some people take criticism better then others......:lookaroun



And don't be so pompous! :zipit:

:shrug: :lol:

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Wow you're awfully pompous.

Nahhh, I can be quite pleasent. *Gives you flowers*

The reason Disney is stuping to new lows is because the average guest is stuping to new lows. EPCOT Center failed because....well...we failed.

And no I don't go around with my blueprints and spy gear looking for every single thing wrong in the parks...I'm too busy enjoying looking at the new palm trees on the sides of SSE, seeing impressions de france, the american adventure, or soarin'....but the overflowing garbage can outside UoE, the paint that was coming off of a section in the HISTA queue, and the mold that was on a bathroom wall in future world east were pretty noticeable.

I don't want the 1980s back.....*oh my god*....bought the care and quality and meaning that was put into rides and shows....yup!

Walt Disney created a place where....yeah he could make money...but also to show his craftsmanship, and attention to detail...it was his land.

His Disneyland

While it is difficult to say what the good man would have done in the late 80s and early 90s, had he been still alive or had lived during that era...something tells me who would have found any way possible to compromise his designs and intensions with what the general public wanted...so that people that appreciated his work would still come to his parks, and there would be new things for the average guest to see and do.

I like the idea of the flash video in project tomorrow...a fun way of making a video and sending it to someone....but having it as the ending of a ride that just had complex sets, etc....nahhhhhhh. I should have the option to turn my screen off, and then make my video in project tomorrow.

 

[aladdin2007]

Are there floating triangles where the glitter city was? I guess I mean is that space of depth back now and the curtains removed or are the curtains still there closing it off but with the triangles against it?
I know the review said some of the curtains were gone with this new effect structure in place so was just wondering about the show space where the future city was specifically.

 

[jt04]

Are there floating triangles where the glitter city was? I guess I mean is that space of depth back now and the curtains removed or are the curtains still there closing it off but with the triangles against it?
I know the review said some of the curtains were gone with this new effect structure in place so was just wondering about the show space where the future city was specifically.

I could not tell. There is a circle of seperated triangles (pizza-esque) where the city was. Maybe someone "in the know" will post. It would be nice if the glitter city was relocated and not destroyed if they don't plan to use it again in SSE.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

the glitter city would be a nice addition to innoventions if seimens did an exhibit strictly about new telecommunications with the city showing an abstract presentation on how fast communication has become i.e. swooshing through the buildings from one place to another.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Here...this is the average guests interpretation of Spaceship Earth during the Jeremy Irons version.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4264262

I'm suprised Disney didn't hire Wendy to narrate the new ride...that way the whole ride would be fun and enjoyable because honestly who really cares about where we've come from and where we may go when you can earth yourself! (i.e. elf yourself)

LMAO it's a spoof on the average guest.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=4428376

 

[mousermerf]

I wish I was Ukadian!

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Merf, next time you go to Epcot, do you have enough video on your camera to do a full walk-on and walk-off of SSE? :wave:

If are able to film anything, could you please videotape the star ceiling....it's the ceiling where the new flatscreen safety speils are at the beginning of the ride...it sits above them. :zipit:

 

[Laura]

Nahhh, I can be quite pleasent. *Gives you flowers*

Sure, take away my ability to be snarky to you.

Anyway, I think the opinion that the quality of the new attractions and refurbs has gone down over the years is just plain wrong. There's a couple things that have ruined the "magic" of earlier years (*cough* meet and greets and *cough* the dining plan), but I think the quality of the parks for the most part have increased as the technology has increased. What's changed is our mindsets.

Take Jungle Cruise for instance. Most die-hard Disney fans LOVE Jungle Cruise. It's a "classic" with sentimental value. But without those rose-colored glasses it's just a boring boat ride with poor quality animal robots to look at while corny jokes are being told.

Imagine if there was no Jungle Cruise and they just built a brand new attraction and called it "Jungle Cruise" and it was exactly what we have now - cheap robot animals with dumb skipper jokes. The forums would explode with disgust. What is this garbage Disney is making? Look at these crappy animatronics! It's an outrage!

Honestly, us fans only like Jungle Cruise because it's old and been there forever. :lol: Same with the original JII. It was SO corny, but we all loved it because we were all kids living out a fantasy at Walt Disney World without criticism when we first rode it and that euphoric feeling stuck with us.

In order to enjoy the new stuff Disney throws out there you really have to go in with the same attitude you had as a kid and let yourself be amazed and have a good time, regardless of what it is you're riding. Ride the new stuff with the same child-like, criticism-free view that you use when you overlook the obvious flaws on those old classic rides and you'll have just as good a time.

Disney had plenty of flaws back then too. We just CHOSE not to acknowledge those flaws because we just wanted to have a good time on our vacations with Mickey.