Spaceship in Spaceship Earth

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Thanks for confirming my theory about the two lights shining on window girl.


I’ve always wondered what happened to the scaffolding Egyptian. It really made no sense to remove him since they never reused him like they did with the Gutenberg press boy and the network ops lady. It would be nice to see him added back.
View attachment 388317
Bumping my favourite thread :)

Apparently this figure had no animation; the arm and chisel were attached to a rod in the pillar that produced the motion. The motor in the pillar was long broken and the figure lifeless. It was decided to remove it to focus guests attention on the new mural behind the paper mashing man and the updated Egyptian throne room.
 

Thelazer

Well-Known Member
Anyone happen to know if the original liqued neon and other effects (infinity mirrors), were removed from the decent, or just covered up?
 

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
Love this @Dragonman! I usually wait to ride SSE until right before park close when I'm generally alone and use the light on my cell phone to see this stuff (to the annoyance of my kids). Would give the world to see it come back as a blend of the Cronkite 180 top and Irons descent. Wish we could get out of the ride vehicles and run around like kids going where we aren't supposed to haha.
My kids didnt believe me when I told them the original version of the attraction had the guy from the TV in the moon landing scene narrate it. I really loved Cronkites version. Ihope the new version has a narrator that has a distinguished voice.
 

KikoKea

Well-Known Member
Anyone happen to know if the original liqued neon and other effects (infinity mirrors), were removed from the decent, or just covered up?
I remember the descent as a kid- it was within a year or so after EPCOT opened. My dad was really taken by the whole theme of it being a glimpse of the future. I think the futurustic living room scene had a girl in Japan and someone in the US videochatting? Anyway, as we went backwards, it made me feel like the world was connected and there were amazing things to come. Now, DH and I check out the mid-century modern furniture of the not-very-futuristic scene. We really miss the lights, and wish the too-bright computer screen was gone. We've been known to cover the thing with our jacket, in the winter.
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
😳 I am utterly lost as to what provoked that absurd response but in any case, not cool, @WDW862 .

Is not even this thread sacred?

Anyway, to the original topic, I’m curious whether SSE was designed to accommodate a refurbishment to the extent of the upcoming. They can’t exactly cut into the side of the domes like you could a box, right? Is this where the civil engineering challenges come into play?
If I had to guess, it's down to how much the track is integrated with the supporting structure.

It needs love big time. The "clunk clunk" is really bad now.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
😳 I am utterly lost as to what provoked that absurd response but in any case, not cool, @WDW862 .

Is not even this thread sacred?

Anyway, to the original topic, I’m curious whether SSE was designed to accommodate a refurbishment to the extent of the upcoming. They can’t exactly cut into the side of the domes like you could a box, right? Is this where the civil engineering challenges come into play?
Cutting into the side of a sphere is not all that different than cutting into the side of a cube or any other shape for that matter.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Uh, how much support does the rest of the dome rely on from whatever structure will be cut out?
It all depends on where it is, what loads are going through it, and what exactly is being cut out. The odds that every structural element is uniformly loaded are pretty slim. A section could be supporting next to nothing to the whole freaking thing and everything in between.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
😳 I am utterly lost as to what provoked that absurd response but in any case, not cool, @WDW862 .

Is not even this thread sacred?

Anyway, to the original topic, I’m curious whether SSE was designed to accommodate a refurbishment to the extent of the upcoming. They can’t exactly cut into the side of the domes like you could a box, right? Is this where the civil engineering challenges come into play?
Think more big changes at ground level.
 

MrHappy

Well-Known Member
Probably.

Possibly whole scale load and unload changes too. Why is beyond me.
Would it be for purely for aesthetics? I'm sure they'd want to incorporate the entrance into the new design of FW (the space between the unload and the fountain of nations. From the renderings, it looks like the load would be this "back" area, and the front is basically closed off. Am I anywhere near close on this one ;)
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Would it be for purely for aesthetics? I'm sure they'd want to incorporate the entrance into the new design of FW (the space between the unload and the fountain of nations. From the renderings, it looks like the load would be this "back" area, and the front is basically closed off. Am I anywhere near close on this one ;)
We could quite possibly be looking at changes in load and unload positions, queue location, a preshow and more.

Quite how this ties in with the whole point of a building on legs so guests can “walk under, up and into it” I don’t know.
 

MrHappy

Well-Known Member
We could quite possibly be looking at changes in load and unload positions, queue location, a preshow and more.

Quite how this ties in with the whole point of a building on legs so guests can “walk under, up and into it” I don’t know.
Goes with the trend: more pre-show, no post-show. Works for me.
I don't quite get the building on legs comment though. Hmmm.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Goes with the trend: more pre-show, no post-show. Works for me.
I don't quite get the building on legs comment though. Hmmm.
The reason they went to so much time and money to have the building on legs was to be able to walk under and up into it. Rerouting the queue so you don’t do this would make the 1979 design intent pointless. They could have stuck with the original grounded version with the entrance at the rear.
 

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