Spaceship in Spaceship Earth

[Bill in Atlanta]

Oh, my, word. I found this thread and had to create an account to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

My name is John, and I am the grandson of John DeCuir, Sr and the son of John DeCuir, Jr. My father designed Spaceship Earth, along with Marty Sklar, John Hench, and Ray Bradbury. Attaching a photo of an early model of the attraction with Marty on the left, John Hench on the right and dad in the middle.

It makes my heart feel happy to know that people are sharing such love for this attraction in a thread that spans sixteen years -- it is just remarkable. You all are right that Spaceship Earth is the heart and soul of EPCOT Center. If any of you haven't read it, you should hunt out Ray Bradbury's early concept draft entitled "MAN AND HIS SPACESHIP EARTH" - PDFs are floating around on the Internet. It really underscores the key and critical importance that SSE has to Future World, and to EPCOT as a whole. While I'm not exactly thrilled with the recent changes to Epcot - that's fodder for another thread - I am glad that our beautiful geodesic sphere is still there and shining the way to a better future.

Dad's still around and I'd be happy to convey any questions you all have for him. While he's getting up in age, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to answer whatever questions you have.

Thanks again for the love and care you all have for Spaceship Earth. As Ray so eloquently wrote in his treatment,

This is so cool. I have such great memories of riding the ride your dad helped design going back to the 80s when I was a kid.

I guess the only unresolved question in my mind is what's inside the space station nowadays behind that black paint? And I'd wonder about any general comments your dad would have about the space station itself, and his thoughts on it still being up there.

 

[Bill in Atlanta]

The working mother pictured below… am I correct that a curtain was placed in front of her in 1994 to hide her from guests, and nobody knew she was still there until a Twitter post in 2019?

If this is correct, my next questions would be why did it take 25 years for someone to sneak a camera under the curtain during an evac? And is her son still back there?

 

[TikibirdLand]

The working mother pictured below… am I correct that a curtain was placed in front of her in 1994 to hide her from guests, and nobody knew she was still there until a Twitter post in 2019?

If this is correct, my next questions would be why did it take 25 years for someone to sneak a camera under the curtain during an evac? And is her son still back there?

great. There's the missing ladder. Let's get it over to JoW so they can get that project finished!

 

[Dragonman]

The working mother pictured below… am I correct that a curtain was placed in front of her in 1994 to hide her from guests, and nobody knew she was still there until a Twitter post in 2019?

If this is correct, my next questions would be why did it take 25 years for someone to sneak a camera under the curtain during an evac? And is her son still back there?

She was added for the 1994 version and simply covered up during the 2007 update. Over the years all the elements down there were slowly being removed, as you can tell by the ladder they were working on removing her around the time that photo was taken in 2019. Pretty sure the only elements left down there now are the graduation cap silhouettes.

 

[TheEPCOTHistorian]

So fun little tidbit of knowledge shared to me by Imagineer Peggie Fariss for my upcoming EPC9T book, the narration was indeed delivered by Lawrence Dobkin. The confusion stems from the fact that Vic Perrin offered his voice to the shaman. Another fun discovery, Joe Rohde voiced the original Roman soldier, as no one else at WED could speak Latin!

 

[Dragonman]

So fun little tidbit of knowledge shared to me by Imagineer Peggie Fariss for my upcoming EPC9T book, the narration was indeed delivered by Lawrence Dobkin. The confusion stems from the fact that Vic Perrin offered his voice to the shaman. Another fun discovery, Joe Rohde voiced the original Roman soldier, as no one else at WED could speak Latin!

No, I’m sorry but they’re wrong, it’s been confirmed to be Vic Perrin by the person who helped cast Vic in the first place. The Lawrence Dobkin confusion amongst imagineers stems from an error in Marty Sklar’s autobiography. Listen closely to Vic Perrin’s dialogue in other attractions and media, then listen to the original SSE audio. @marni1971 can confirm this.

 

[TheEPCOTHistorian]

No, I’m sorry but they’re wrong, it’s been confirmed to be Vic Perrin by the person who helped cast Vic in the first place. The Lawrence Dobkin confusion amongst imagineers stems from an error in Marty Sklar’s autobiography. Listen closely to Vic Perrin’s dialogue in other attractions and media, then listen to the original SSE audio. @marni1971 can confirm this.

It's odd to me that she's incorrect, considering she and Ray Bradbury were two of the largest Imagineers on the project. I don't doubt it, but it's odd

 

[marni1971]

I was undecided for a while too so I asked some friends. The Archives say “Marty was wrong”.

 

[Bill in Atlanta]

She was added for the 1994 version and simply covered up during the 2007 update. Over the years all the elements down there were slowly being removed, as you can tell by the ladder they were working on removing her around the time that photo was taken in 2019. Pretty sure the only elements left down there now are the graduation cap silhouettes.

Thanks! Would I be correct in saying she sat there for 12 years (2007-2019) without anyone knowing she was still there? I guess I'm just surprised it took that long for someone to snap a quick photo behind the curtain during an evac.

Does anyone have confirmation that she's not still there now?

 

[mikeymouse]

If you listen to both Perrin and Dobkin's voices, you should be able to judge for yourself.

 

[Rue D'Baga]

Darn it. I'm getting evac'ed off of SSE as I type this but at the most uninteresting spot near the end and nothing cool to snap a pic of.

 

[Touchdown]

I got stopped right at the top of the ride once, for a good 5 min, it was amazing.

 

[Figments Friend]

I got stopped right at the top of the ride once, for a good 5 min, it was amazing.

I love it when that happens.
One can sit there for an hour or more enjoying the view(s).
If one knows where to look....beyond the stars.


-

 

[Demarke]

I got lucky a couple of years ago to stop right under the spaceship, got a couple of good pics since we were there long enough everyone was bringing out their cell phones while we waited.

 

[JoeCamel]

I got lucky a couple of years ago to stop right under the spaceship, got a couple of good pics since we were there long enough everyone was bringing out their cell phones while we waited.

The story was broken at that point so light 'em up! Everyone could have had epic shots with all lights on at once.

 

[Touchdown]

The story was broken at that point so light 'em up! Everyone could have had epic shots with all lights on at once.

I do usually take flash pictures when a ride stops, if it will get a good picture, but not there, I have a great shot of Earth.

 

[Dragonman]

A ride stop at the top would’ve been amazing back in the day with the astronauts and the full space station in view.

 

[vikescaper]

I had a nice little treat this morning! I saw that nobody was going on SSE during early park hours this morning so I decided to go on. There wasn’t anybody in the cars in front or behind me so I took some time to look around with my flash. I didn’t take photos, though.

 

[Wdwsince86]

I had a nice little treat this morning! I saw that nobody was going on SSE during early park hours this morning so I decided to go on. There wasn’t anybody in the cars in front or behind me so I took some time to look around with my flash. I didn’t take photos, though.

What did you see?

 

[vikescaper]

What did you see?

Just a few of the things mentioned in the thread. Like the old space station that’s above the track and the peppers ghost scenes that were left in place.