Redoing the "descent" part of Spaceship Earth or n

GhostHost · Post by **GhostHost** » Mar Tue 27, 2007 12:45 pm

csquare77 wrote:Is it even up to Siemen's to decide if the wand stays or goes?

I really doubt it. I don't think Disney would give that kind of power to a sponsor. Especially if, as one poster said, the sponsor does not totally fund the attraction anyway. Personally, I don't really mind the wand anymore. I would prefer SE without it but it's not that big a deal to me. In fact, anything that might keep SE alive a little longer is a good thing to me.

csquare77 · Post by **csquare77** » Mar Tue 27, 2007 1:58 pm

Yah, Disney must have put the wand up theme selves. I cant see them taking it down for a while... and if that was some top execs idea, even if most people do not like it, it will stay... taking it down would mean they made a mistake, and not too many places or people admit they made a mistake.

GhostHost · Post by **GhostHost** » Mar Thu 29, 2007 9:42 am

I found this on another Disney website. It looks like they will finally be doing something with the post show area which has had ugly construction wall up for so long.

Carnegie Mellon Develops Exhibit for New Spaceship Earth Post-Show
ETC Students Create Video Games for Disney Theme Park

By Michael M. Whiston
The Tartan
3/27/2007

Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) has teamed up with Walt Disney Parks and electronics company Siemens this semester to create a collection of arcade games called Project Spaceship Earth for Disney's Epcot Center.

According to the Siemens website, this project is part of a 12-year alliance between Siemens and Disney. Siemens is a technology company devoted to creating a wide range of products, including communications, transportation, and power technologies. Siemens has agreed to sponsor a post-show attraction for Spaceship Earth at Disney's Epcot Center.

The Entertainment Technology Center's website stated, "The games offer a fun and exciting look at how Siemens technologies make our lives better."

In particular, this attraction will take the form of several exhibits that relate to health care, transportation, and energy. It will occupy 9000 square feet.

ETC master's student DaeHong Kim said that Siemens recruited students from the ETC in Silicon Valley to create web-based games designed to teach gamers about Siemens. According to Kim, the games are intended for individuals between the ages of 10 and 14.

"It's more like an educational, casual game," DaeHong said. He said that gamers are expected to play less than half an hour to get an idea of what Siemens is all about.

Master's student Jake Rheinfrank, who works as an artist on Project Spaceship Earth, said that the biggest perk about working in Silicon Valley is being near Electronic Arts.

"We can see all of their concept art," Rheinfrank said. "We can hear Simpsons dialogue down the hallway."

Kim said that working on a project in Silicon Valley is different from working on a project in Pittsburgh.

"First of all, there's a lot of companies in Silicon Valley," Kim said. "It's really easy to network with people."

While it is possible to work on a long-distance project from Pittsburgh, Kim said, "It's better to talk face-to-face."

"ETC is extending the campus," Kim said. "We were sort of born here for ETC West."

Kim said that his team works closely with Disney producers and game developers on their ideas. "We learn a lot from their feedback," he said.

In addition to having regular meetings with a game designer, Rheinfrank said that the team has also been involved in the brainstorming sessions for the project.

Rheinfrank said, "We came up with what we're working on.... We were given complete creative freedom."

Kim said that his team members — two artists, two programmers, one sound specialist, two game designers, and one producer — work closely as well.

"They're really, really talented, and we learn from them," Kim said.

As the sound specialist, Kim said that he makes music and sound effects for the game.

In particular, he uses a synthesizer, bass guitar, electric guitar, and virtual instrument to create the appropriate sounds. Kim said, "I have to think [in] a new way, a different way to make music — how could this music be interactive, how could this sound be interactive?"

It is also Rheinfrank's first time working on a game.

"This is the first interactive project that I've been able to work on long term," said Rheinfrank.

Rheinfrank, who has a background in film, said that the principles of filmmaking are similar to those of game creation. In particular, he said that it is important to consider what the audience gains from the experience.

"What do you want to show them ... to take away," Rheinfrank said. "That's pretty much the same from video games to film."

Despite having never made music for a game before, Kim said that it is not difficult to bring it all together. He said, "It's quite fun and quite easy."

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Mar Thu 29, 2007 11:46 am

So basically it will be another version of Innovations, but with Siemans being featured everywhere. I still love the idea of sprucing up the end of SE.

PureCerium · Post by **PureCerium** » Mar Thu 29, 2007 6:08 pm

I would have to agree that they should redo the end of SE. I think this is one of my favorite rides and it would be a shame if they redid the whole thing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens and hope for the best!

disneyinfopage · Post by **disneyinfopage** » Mar Thu 29, 2007 7:53 pm

should they work on the descent par of Spaceship Earth which doesn't look too futuristic... or should they leave it the way it is... or should they redo the whole ride.

I'm on the fence with this one... can you say Journey Into Imagination?? I'm still very angry over the fact that they redid that attraction (I know... I know... I need to get over it!). But my concern is that if they redo an attraction, will they take too much of what makes the attraction a "classic" one, or not update enough? It's a "catch 22", to be sure.

However, I do feel that a lot of the older attractions need to update the animatronics. Some of the older ones (I'm thinking, for example, of the Pharoh scene in SE) -- while still charming and awesome -- are starting to show their age.

Judy

Post by **subsonic** » Apr Mon 02, 2007 11:02 am

The arcade games? Sound like Innoventions as well. Great, so it'll be fun and up-to-date for about 3 months.

inkydog · Post by **inkydog** » Apr Wed 04, 2007 10:19 am

Horizons1,

That's pretty funny!

Seriously, SE has always been one of my favorite rides, even more so now that Horizons is gone. One of the most distracting things for me now, though, is how they stop the attraction about 3 times per ride. I assume that this is to let a handicapped person on the ride, but I hate sitting in those uncomfortable seats on the descent waiting for the ride to start up again. I sure wish there was a better way to handle that.

Inkydog

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Apr Wed 04, 2007 5:54 pm

they stop the attraction about 3 times per ride

I was reading a Disney trivia book and one of the questions was something like "Why does SSE stop frequently during the ride?" I assumed this was just for people who needed a little extra time to board the vehicles, but after seeing it as a trivia question, does anyone know if there is another reason for stopping SSE so often?

disneyinfopage · Post by **disneyinfopage** » Apr Wed 04, 2007 6:27 pm

does anyone know if there is another reason for stopping SSE so often?

I don't know of an ongoing reason, but when I was there in February during the EM hours, I was talking with the Cast members there. They were giving me ALL KINDS of trivia about SSE. It was quite interesting.

Anyway, as we were talking (I was standing at the entrance, right where you'd be walking onto the moving platform), an alarm went off, and the CM's looked at their console. They said, "We've got a 'jumper' in the Mosque area." The ride stopped. Two CM's took a flashlight with them and ascended the 80 flights (I'm thinking there MUST be an elevator because neither came back winded).

Anyway, also during this time, seemingly out of the woodwork, two Engineers emerged from somewhere and were ready to start trouble-shooting the ride.

The ride was down for quite a while (about 15 to 20 minutes). The two CM's came back and said that a guy dropped his cell phone and jumped out of his car. The supervisor was p*** and said she was going to "meet the kid at the end of the ride." All of the CM's said, "Oh, you DO NOT want to mess with HER!"

Like I said, this was probably a more "unusual" ride-stoppage event, but it was pretty interesting. It makes you wonder, how many times a day/week do people "jump" from their moving vehicle??

Judy

joefox97 · Post by **joefox97** » Apr Thu 05, 2007 2:56 pm

Not as often as one would think... considering an intentional jumper or a repeat offender often find themselves on the way out of the park... Disney is intent on keeping the experience magical for all Guests... even if it means one guest needs to leave to keep the place magical... the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, especially if the one is hellbent on doing stupid things for entertainment.

The systems used for keeping people in the vehicles get more intelligent everyday... cameras aren't the only precaution, so you don't even know you're being monitored, necessarily.