Spaceship Earth Update

[Buford]

Press announcement are released, i just can't link to it because steve put that site on a filter. It is Disney's official wdw news (.com) website.

ooohhhh, okey. I look forward to the news printing

 

[brkgnews]

Press announcement are released, i just can't link to it because steve put that site on a filter. It is Disney's official wdw news (.com) website.

I can confirm this. I also logged onto the link that Merf is referring to (which is the official WDW news media website, and to which I have access being a member of the media - hence my username). It confirms the info merf posted in this thread. It does NOT have the specific dates that the original poster mentioned, however.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Do you have exact closing dates?

Hope they keep the sleeping monk!

There's a special face on the sleeping monk.

 

[majortom1981]

wow

This is ffor all the people that are saying stop complaining.

A trip to disney costs a lot of money . Especially if you are not a local and have to stay on property.

Also get this straight. The Huanted mansion and SSE are major people eating attractions. This means they help control the lines else where in the parks.

Now I am going in the first week of July prob the busiest time of year. Now since 2 major people eating rides will be down. Lines at all the other lines will be considerably longer, On top of the normal crowds for that time of the year.

They could have waiting till october to clsoe down sse when the haunted mansions refurb is done.

I dont mind that they are doing an sse refurb. I do mind that they are doing it at the same time as the haunted mansion

Please keep in mind that a major ride closed down like this can affect lines at the other parks because now people might visit the other two parks .

Nobody takes this into account.

 

[Enigma]

Is the Wand finally going to be removed as well????

 

[brkgnews]

For all you Doubting Thomases... :lookaroun



(Portions of image obscured to keep with Steve's wishes of not revealing the site's URL).

 

[RiversideBunny]

Going in December.
Hope SSE is back up and running then.

Not getting free dining in December so maybe that would help compensate to a degree.

:xmas:

 

[mousermerf]

This is ffor all the people that are saying stop complaining.

A trip to disney costs a lot of money . Especially if you are not a local and have to stay on property.

Also get this straight. The Huanted mansion and SSE are major people eating attractions. This means they help control the lines else where in the parks.

Now I am going in the first week of July prob the busiest time of year. Now since 2 major people eating rides will be down. Lines at all the other lines will be considerably longer, On top of the normal crowds for that time of the year.

They could have waiting till october to clsoe down sse when the haunted mansions refurb is done.

I dont mind that they are doing an sse refurb. I do mind that they are doing it at the same time as the haunted mansion

Please keep in mind that a major ride closed down like this can affect lines at the other parks because now people might visit the other two parks .

Nobody takes this into account.

Epcot has also prepped for this closure - and since they're at two seperate parks, they don't effect each other crowd-wise. Epcot re-did El Rio to get a high capacity attraction more of a lure, previously no one was on El Rio.

They also opened Seas with Nemo which was a closed omnimover for years - raising the park's total guest ride ability.

They also changed Living with the Land to hold more guests. And Energy does not max out it's capacity yet - so people can go there for a slow moving trip through time.

SSE's moves 2,200 per hour, and most days doesn't reach that capacity because it doesn't hold a line all day. Energy has capacity to spare of it's 1,700 per hour, boat rides like mexico/land can move insane amount of people, 2000+ per hour atleast, and an omni like Seas moves a good number too.

They've compensated in preperation for months.

 

[raven]

· This summer, Spaceship Earth will close for renovations to combine the classic attraction time-travel adventure into the past with a new interactive conclusion.

Is the interactive part on the ride or in the post show? If it's in the post show why would they close the ride? To me it sounds as if they are putting something interactive in the decent part of the ride. Any clues as to what this means? :veryconfu

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I second that question about the wand... I've never thought there was a chance it was coming down, but this to me makes that interesting. Who knows.

Also... I'm wondering if we might see some form of return of "Tomorrow's Child".

 

[RiversideBunny]

This news is also on Deb's web site now.

http://www.allearsnet.com/news/hnews.htm#41107

Good source also.

Excerpt from Deb's site:

Enhancements to the time-travel attraction will encompass changes to each of the ride scenes. New show scenes will be added to the attraction's story along with new lighting effects, costumes, set decoration, narration and musical score. The time travel adventure will be enhanced through new, interactive touch screens installed aboard each "time machine" that will enable guests to create their own visions of the future and see themselves in that future.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Denial?? Someone get up onthe wrong side of the bed today?

You are so funny! As if Disney is the most important thing in my life and I make all of my daily decisions based upon what WDW MIGHT do...much like an alcoholic trying to get a drink....

That being said, 5 thousand dollars is a lot to spend on a trip (and that's just the Disney portion) and if three of my favorite attractions are closed I have the right to postpone my trip. Sorry if that offends you. My main concern is that I find out early enough to that SSE will actually be closed during my stay so I can postpone without losing my deposit. As a paying customer that is my right.

WDW Travel states at this time that they have no info on a SSE closing..why shouldn't we believe them? It doesn't mean they aren't going to close it, just that they don't have closing info AT THIS TIME.

I swear, you Disney addicts are really starting to turn me off of WDW. I also suppose that WDW is also a charity, set up just for the patrons enjoyment...as we all know they are a business, and they only give a darn about the customer as long as it makes them cash...I'm a stokholder so I appreciate this.


If there's another phone number I can xall to have this verified by a WDW employee, please grace me with it so that I can call and hear this monumental announcement for myself. After all, everything posted on the Internet is true.....

SOMEONE'S gonna be eating some crow... :lookaroun

:lol:

 

[Belle of WDW]

Thank you, Merf. Epcot's been through several refurbishments lately, so it's prepared to handle one ride being down. The Magic Kingdom is also prepared for the Haunted Mansion to be down. (And honestly, when I was there last June, I walked on it.) I'm not saying that you should not change your trip, if not being able to ride two of the many rides on property is important to you. But I don't think it's a big deal at all, and it will not affect my late June/early July trip. I've gone at least once every year for the last nineteen years, and there's always something down. It just happens.

 

[SirNim]

Is the interactive part on the ride or in the post show? If it's in the post show why would they close the ride? To me it sounds as if they are putting something interactive in the decent part of the ride. Any clues as to what this means? :veryconfu

Touch-screens which, I take it, will enhance the backwards descent finale of the attraction à la the old Horizons interactivity system...

The news seems to be just about 100% grand, I must say. Not a bad feature in the bunch. Although, admittedly, one of the new attractions going into Project Tomorrow sounds like it would be a bit more at home in the Wonders of Life, which begs the question of what will happen in time with that pavilion...

I'm curious to see (or rather, hear) if Edo Guidotti's score is replaced or altered. The press release mentions a new musical score. Maybe Tomorrow's Child will make some sort of return in the form of an instrumental homage.

 

[WDW Monorail]

We saw it coming. It's about time that they eased our curiosity a bit.

 

[erasure fan1]

This is great news! I love SSE and like most of the older dark rides are in great need of refurbs. I do hope they start after july 1st(the day I check out) so I can ride one last time before this well overdue and much needed and much appreciated refurb starts. I know it stinks to go and have a favorite ride be down, but it has to be sometime. Whos to say that the reason they are not doing this later in oct. or something like that is because they have something else big that they are doing then? No one really knows but them.

 

[jedimaster1227]

It's not a hoax..

(arh, can't post a link because the board filters the official WDW news (.com) site)

Inside the Epcot icon, remarkable changes will be taking place over the next several months. A re-imagined Spaceship Earth presented by Siemens will combine the magic of the iconic attraction's time-travel adventure into the past with a new finale which provides guests the opportunity to imagine their futures.

On a trip through time inside the Spaceship Earth attraction, guests discover how each generation of mankind has invented the future for the next generation, and how the spirit of innovation has moved people from the caves to the cosmos.

Enhancements to the time-travel attraction will encompass changes to each of the ride scenes. New show scenes will be added to the attraction's story along with new lighting effects, costumes, set decoration, narration and musical score.

This adventure through time leads ultimately to the very top of Spaceship Earth's geodesic dome, where guests arrive at the present. The time travel adventure will be enhanced through new, interactive touch screens installed aboard each "time machine" that will enable guests to create their own visions of the future and see themselves in that future.

As guests disembark the time travel experience, they are invited to visit "Project Tomorrow: Inventing the World of Tomorrow," where interactive exhibits bring to life the ideas and technologies Siemens is developing to help make the world a better place for the future.

The space is filled with fun, interactive games and displays that showcase innovative technologies. Here guests step into the world of tomorrow and glimpse the future of medicine, transportation and responsible energy management across the globe.

Opening to Epcot guests later this month, the first completed phases of Project Tomorrow will include:


* An illuminated globe measuring 20 feet in diameter that will offer an ever-changing collage of inspirational images that invite guests to imagine the wonders of tomorrow.
* Body Builder, a 3-D game that enables users to assemble a digital human body, simulating the Siemens technology developed to perform remote surgeries.
* Super Driver, a driving simulation video game that showcases motor vehicle accident and avoidance systems developed by Siemens.

With phased renovations occurring through the year, Spaceship Earth's makeover is scheduled to be fully completed in early 2008.

I'm impressed at how quickly the news got out... This refurb is definitely going to be worth the wait!

 

[askmike1]

WDWMagic [strike]4[/strike] 0 days without pointless complaints.

 

[SirGoofy]

Wow, I can honestly say I'm as giddy as a school girl right now. SSE has been in dire need of TLC for some time now, but this is just amazing. I mean come on, there's even a throw back to Horizons! This is every Epcot fan's dream. Here's to hoping for some padding on those vehicles!:sohappy:

 

[philsfan2185]

I'll be there in August and it will be closed. But I'm all for it. I've been on SSE a countless amount of times (along with almost of you here) and not being able to ride it during one of my trips there will not make or break my vacation.

Maybe Wonders of Life will open for the summer time :lookaroun