Spaceship Earth Update

[HinunterZuNich]

This is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! I am BEYOND excited (Yes caps because I'm yelling) that the one attraction I never grow tired of is getting refreshed! Even if it stayed as it is I would be totally contempt, but with a nice updating to what ALREADY is an awesome ride......WHY COMPLAIN? I highly doubt they will change anything in a way that would upset all of us SSE fans too much, of course there will always be haters . Anyway, my family does not have a trip planned for this summer due to my sister getting married (lack of $$$) so I will use this as an excuse for why we really cannot go

Have a good one! YES!

M :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[Belle of WDW]

Stop with the personal attacks. That was uncalled for.

Also If you see what I was compalining about is the fact that they have two High capacity rides claosed down at once.

They should start looking at their resort as a whole. People have this false belief that one park does not affect the other.

With the park hopper passes if a major ride is down people will just go to another park and that good start affecting other parks.

But other nicer people who did not attack me addressed my capacity concerns already.

If you look at the resort as a whole, you can see that there are several rides at both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot that will be there to take the overflow. The Magic Kingdom has many attractions, and Epcot has refurbished two that have opened in less than a year, and many will be riding for the first time. Having two rides down is not very big of a deal at all.

 

[Thelazer]

Dear God.. Please get off the high capacity ride thing.

I highly doubt just because Spaceship Earth is closed thousands of thousands of people are going to just do a U-Turn and walk right out of Epcot. The lines are ALWAYS out of control in the summer. If that is your concern, I suggest you visit in say.. February or late Nov or early October.

As for light. The screens won't be on at all times. Just towards the end. I'd guess they would light up for a few moments while you make a selection. Then go off so you can experience yourself in the future... BTW- just a guess but I see a photo pass tie-in here.

 

[jasondiff]

Wouldnt adding touchscreens to each car cause a lot of light polution in the ride?

Maybe they just won't be turned on till the descent.

 

[SirNim]

Maybe they just won't be turned on till the descent.

That, plus I also bet they'll allow for the removal of the highly intrusive warning video screens in the ascent tunnel.

Gosh, those things must go.

 

[majortom1981]

screens

The way they make it sound it sounds like they will be on throughout the whole ride and that you will interact with it through the whole ride .

I ca nsee some type of survey type system maybe . Where the actions of a group of cars changes the end for that section .

Thats the only thing I can think of that would allow for an interaction that is fast enough for the riders to see before they pass it.

I just hope the screens arent too bright and dont give off too much extra light.

 

[diddy_mouse]

Holy crap! How'd I miss this thread?! :hammer:

I am very excited to see changes brought to SSE. The idea of having refreshed sets, costumes, and lighting is pretty cool. I'm hping tha tthe narration and score will still do the attraction justice.

It's great to hear that the central attraction of the park is getting the TLC that it desperately needs! Thanks to those who were able to get the news so quickly :wave: Here's hoping that we'll get to see the "so fresh and so clean" SSE this December! :sohappy:

Thanks again for all the info!!

 

[lilredfoxie]

Unlikely. Epcot has a gigantic capacity. If anything, they might open Wonders of Life for that week or so. Epcot can (and has) also opened backstage areas to compenasate for large crowds.

Just out of curiosity, what type of backstage areas have they opened up?

 

[Pongo]

This is BLOWING MY MIND and GIVING ME CHILLS.

Weird. And incredible.

 

[Captain Hank]

Just out of curiosity, what type of backstage areas have they opened up?

The area between The Land and Imagination was open for most of Christmas week last year. Also, the area between Mexico and Test Track along with much of the East side of World Showcase was open on New Year's Eve for easier crowd flow.

 

[haveyoumetmark]

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the loud part just before the descent... "ATTENTION TRAVELERS: Your time travel vehicle is rotating backwards for your return to Earth."

I'm not sure if I would be happy to see that go. It cracks me up everytime. Never gets old and there have probably been over a million times. :lol:

 

[goofyfan13]

Great news, it's about time one of my favorite attractions gets some TLC. Hopefully they don't completely revamp the score, cause it was one of my favorite ride scores in WDW.

The only thing I'm upset about is this falls on when me and 2 of my friends were planning on doing "drinking around the world" as a late 21st B-day present for each of us, and my friends share my obsession for SSE.

Oh well, can't argue with progress, and like I said, it's about time the centerpiece attraction gets some serious TLC.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Great news, it's about time one of my favorite attractions gets some TLC. Hopefully they don't completely revamp the score, cause it was one of my favorite ride scores in WDW.

The only thing I'm upset about is this falls on when me and 2 of my friends were planning on doing "drinking around the world" as a late 21st B-day present for each of us, and my friends share my obsession for SSE.

Oh well, can't argue with progress, and like I said, it's about time the centerpiece attraction gets some serious TLC.

It's definitely a concern that they change the score, but if they could make such a powerful score once, they can do it again. One thing that hasn't really slipped over the years is Disney's ability to make great music. Look at all the Animal Kingdom music. I love it (especially the "Tree of Life theme"). More recent additions like Soarin' have a fantastic score. I have faith in Disney on this one. This sounds like a well-funded project. Based on what I have seen from Siemens thus far, they are a fantastic sponsor).

 

[pcf1385]

So, I'm a little confused. I see everyone posting that it will be closed during their trip, but how does anyone know when it will be closed for sure. Unless I'm missing something in this thread, we know it will be closed sometime in the summer and then open again in november, and that's all (as far as closing dates) that we know for sure now, right? I mean, we can ASSUME that it will be closed by july or august to give time for changes, which isn't a bad assumption but an assumtion none the less, but no one knows for sure, or am I missing something? :shrug:

 

[ToTBellHop]

So, I'm a little confused. I see everyone posting that it will be closed during their trip, but how does anyone know when it will be closed for sure. Unless I'm missing something in this thread, we know it will be closed sometime in the summer and then open again in november, and that's all (as far as closing dates) that we know for sure now, right? I mean, we can ASSUME that it will be closed by july or august to give time for changes, which isn't a bad assumption but an assumtion none the less, but no one knows for sure, or am I missing something? :shrug:

It's an assumption for now, but I'm sure it'll be added to the calendar at disneyworld.com soon enough.

 

[CTXRover]

They should start looking at their resort as a whole. People have this false belief that one park does not affect the other.

With the park hopper passes if a major ride is down people will just go to another park and that good start affecting other parks.

I think they are taking the entire resort into consideration when doing these refurbs, that is why there will be attractions at DIFFERENT parks down at the same time and not the same park. If rumors are true, and so far they slowly are becoming true, Disney World will see a number of major attractions go down and be updated/refurbed over the next few years at the 'older' 3 parks. In order to get these updates done in a suitable time frame, more than one may be closed at any given time.

There is no real 'slow' period at Walt Disney World anymore. Any 3 month+ span of time needed for a thorough refurb will hit extremely busy periods, some of them busier than the average summer day when you are(/were) going. The price to enter any of the parks is the same no matter when you go during the year, so who do think is less worthy of riding a particular attraction that it is ok if a certain attraction is closed during their vacation?

Just be glad you don't visit Disneyland. Many on here suggest Disneyland's attractions are far superior to Disney World's. A lot of that has to do with the downtime Disneyland's rides get on an annual basis. For instance, the periods leading up to and after the holiday season have two major attractions down not only for their holiday overlays but also minor improvements (HM and Small World). While DL was preparing for their 50th, I believe 3 major attractions were down at once in ONE park (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the Matterhorn). At least in this case, there are two attractions in two DIFFERENT parks that each offer a large selection of new and old attractions to cover for it.

It is my opinion, but writing any letters to Walt Disney World complaining about a planned refurb is a bad idea. It is this very reason that Disney World's management team has allowed rides to run at full capacity for as many years as possible without any refurbs. If they get enough complaints from guests that certain attractions are down, they may reconsider other plans for extended refurbs of other attrations that need them. Imo, we should all be happy these attractions are getting the NEEDED attention they deserve, not complaining because attraction x will be closed during my vacation..... There is plenty still left to do to absorb the crowds, don't worry. They know what they are doing when it comes to capacity issues.

All that said, is there any confirmation that Spaceship Earth is even going down over the summer? The press release indicates improvement will come in "phases" to be completed by early 2008. Is it possible that there will be several mini refurbs during a few weeks here and there (during historically slower times) over the next 8-9 months left in 2007 to refurb the attraction? I think an extended refurb all at once is the way to do it though.

 

[jmuboy]

Thank you WDW - Thank you for investing time, money and imagination into this GREAT ride. I can't wait to ride this at the end of the year.

And I really wish all you people complaining would just get over it. You complain when Disney does nothing to fix up run down rides. Then WDW announces this cool sounding rehab and you still complain. It's really annoying!!!

 

[goofyfan13]

It's definitely a concern that they change the score, but if they could make such a powerful score once, they can do it again. One thing that hasn't really slipped over the years is Disney's ability to make great music. Look at all the Animal Kingdom music. I love it (especially the "Tree of Life theme"). More recent additions like Soarin' have a fantastic score. I have faith in Disney on this one. This sounds like a well-funded project. Based on what I have seen from Siemens thus far, they are a fantastic sponsor).

I couldn't agree more with you, I love Disney's ability to create amazing scores for their attractions. I think it may be I've heard the current score so many times that I have a certain connection to it now, if that makes sense. I mean, I can help but get that "I'm at Disney feel when I walk into the loading area for SSE and here that loop especially, probably my favorite on the attraction. :sohappy:

I'm sure the new score will be outstanding though, I just hope they don't completely throw out everything, or put a little tribute in one of the loops to the old score.

 

[mousermerf]

All that said, is there any confirmation that Spaceship Earth is even going down over the summer? The press release indicates improvement will come in "phases" to be completed by early 2008. Is it possible that there will be several mini refurbs during a few weeks here and there (during historically slower times) over the next 8-9 months left in 2007 to refurb the attraction? I think an extended refurb all at once is the way to do it though.

Releases state Summer to late November, for the ride. Early 2008 is for other work to be completed.

 

[CTXRover]

Releases state Summer to late November, for the ride. Early 2008 is for other work to be completed.

Thanks! I didn't see that in the WDW news press release, but I do see that was mentioned in the first post in this thread now. Thanks :wave: