WDW 35th and Epcot 25th Rumors

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 2:47 am

Mr.ToadWildRider wrote:I've been thinking a lot about EPCOT and all the nostalgia I have around it, and I sincerely believe that in a lot of ways many of the changes are necessary for what the park supposedly stands for.

Change is absolutely necessary, but recent changes have largely been crap. Nothing modern or futuristic about singing fish or fossil fuel powered cars.

...they can't rely solely on AA technology that Walt himself helped create almosr 1/2 a century ago.

I don't think anyone's asking for that, but changing everything to video screens isn't technologically impressive, isn't a new idea, and is much less interesting than real 3-dimensional objects, especially for a generation that's grown up with CGI and video games.

Video screens don't look any more convincing than creaky mannequins. Spider-Man gets around this by incorporating interaction with real life sets and the 3D element, but Disney hasn't even attempted anything like that yet.

You could watch the new Mexico ride on a small YouTube screen and get almost all the new effects. The things worth seeing on that ride were put in place in 1982.

Post by **rdeacon** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 11:55 am

Mr.ToadWildRider wrote:
I didn't see anywhere in there where it said that the actual story line of the ride was being altered. SSE has always uses Time Travel Vehicles - it's nothing new.

rdeacon wrote: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.

That feels like a story change. How drastic will remain to be seen. The current SE focuses on communications and its effect on mankind. The new SE sounds like a broader approach to how each generation has help to improve the other.

I think the biggest clue, is the new soundtrack and narration. To me that means whole scale changes.

Rich

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 2:13 pm

SSE has always uses Time Travel Vehicles - it's nothing new

Rant, sorry

:

In the years of EPCOT Center, nearly all the pavilions explored a trip through time from the past to the future, but it was the different themes and how people used those themes to advance technology that made each pavilion unique(communication, energy, transportation, humanity's relation to land and humanity's relation to the sea). WoL was built to explain how humans themseleves develop and Communicore was supplemental to learm more about each individual theme. Imagination explores the 'spark' and begining of any great innovation. Finally, Horizons was built to tie all of these together and focused soley on the future and how all of these themes will act together.

It amazes me how much careful thought and planning was put into EPCOT Center as a whole rather than making a group of isolated, unrelated pavilions (that we now know as Epcot).

What I'm trying to say (in probably too many words, sorry

) is that it sounds as if they are now trying to incorporate all of the themes from the original pavilions into one time travel adventure, essentially replacing SSE with a new version of Horizons.

Sorry for sounding so pessimistic, it's just that SSE is the last attrcation that has been left pretty much the same as it was on opening day. Once we lose SSE, we lose EPCOT Center.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Mon 23, 2007 7:47 pm

While I'd like to see a communication-based attraction stay in Epcot, I think Horizons was always a better thematic center of Epcot than SSE.

If the net result of this change is that SSE gets replaced with Horizons 2.0, that would be fine with me. I think it'd be a better use of the geosphere. I don't think we should be considering the sponsor at all when weighing the merit of an attraction.

However, since I don't trust Disney to do anything right these days, I can certainly sympathize with the "the less they change, the better" mentality. My feeling is that after the dust settles, we'll have lost SSE and had converted it into something that falls far short of Horizons.

Once we lose SSE, we lose EPCOT Center.

We lost that a long time ago...

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Apr Tue 24, 2007 5:54 pm

We lost that a long time ago...

i knew that was coming

Esmeralda · Post by **Esmeralda** » Apr Thu 26, 2007 10:40 am

Wow, I didn't even notice that all the attractions used to be time travel. That really pulled the theme of Future World together, much better than today.

Take World of Motion for example. I don't mind Test Track, but it the travel from the early days of transportation to today seemed to fit so much better.

Hopefully they'll be gentle with Spaceship Earth. It does need an update, but I'm not holding my breath.

bamafan19 · Post by **bamafan19** » Apr Thu 26, 2007 12:49 pm

Concerning SSE...Is there confirmation that Jeremy Irons is not going to do the new narration?

Post by **rdeacon** » Apr Thu 26, 2007 12:57 pm

No, but no confirmation that he is either. Just know its a new narration.

Rich

Jacca5660 · Post by **Jacca5660** » Apr Thu 26, 2007 2:29 pm

A close friend of ours is a long time tech at EPCOT and here is his take on SSE's new exit area.

Space Ship Earth and SIEMENS
I'm so glad they got rid of that hideous ugly aluminum wire tree that AT&T had in there. It was gloomy and creepy and it looked like something Tim Burton would design. They sold it to a museum in China.

The new area looks great. Lots of colored lights (LEDs, actually) and futuristic shapes. The big spherical screen in the middle is rear projection. How do they do that? The screen is inflatable! Unfortunately, a few days before opening, the screen got a pinhole in it (no one's 'fessing up to THAT one!) and the hole quickly grew to a huge gash. The $17,000.00 screen had to be replaced.

There are a few games to play, a racing game where you drive a car of the future outfitted with existing and future Siemens technology, and a 3-D game called "Body Builder" where you have to take different parts of the body and assemble them in the correct places. This game features the voice talent of one of the characters from Star Trek Voyager, but I don't know which one. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

There are four screens all in a row? That is a Windows extended desktop image! Yes, those four borders are really one giant bitmap! When we turn on the computers, there is one giant desktop. There are a few icons on the left screen, and one heckuva long taskbar stretching all the way across the four screens!

There's not much to do besides the two games, but it is a nice rest area and is a helluva lot less tacky than the construction wall!

Also; I know the one big disappointment among EPCOT techs, is that Disney is not going to upgrade the ride cars at SSE. It may be the only thing not changed...oops...I mean upgraded!!

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Apr Thu 26, 2007 7:45 pm

Jacca5660 wrote:I'm so glad they got rid of that hideous ugly aluminum wire tree that AT&T had in there. It was gloomy and creepy and it looked like something Tim Burton would design. They sold it to a museum in China.

That tree used to scare me horribly, so this is good news to me. I wonder what the museum plans to do with it...

There are four screens all in a row? That is a Windows extended desktop image! Yes, those four borders are really one giant bitmap! When we turn on the computers, there is one giant desktop. There are a few icons on the left screen, and one heckuva long taskbar stretching all the way across the four screens!

Am I the only one looking forward to seeing a giant bluescreen some day? *sheepish grin*

Silliness aside, this all sounds sort of promising though. If nothing else, it sounds like they're dumping a lot of money into it... Not that that always promises 'better', but at least they're not doing it on the cheap?

sgrfunk · Post by **sgrfunk** » Apr Fri 27, 2007 12:15 am

I liked the France video. The music was great and the scenery is beautiful. I'm kinda ify on the update for El Rio though. I like the tune, its catchy. It would be cool to see a new video for soarin'. I rode that ride about two or three times when I went in May 2006. Its my favorite in all of Epcot.

Post by **rdeacon** » Apr Fri 27, 2007 8:20 am

Offical Closing Dates

Disney has released the refurb schedule of Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Earth will be closed for the refurbishments on the following dates

May 7-10
June 22-23
July 9-November 1, 2007

Thinking the last set of dates is going to be where the bulk of the changes are made.

Rich

fecns · Post by **fecns** » Apr Fri 27, 2007 12:30 pm

I just returned from my trip to Orlando and went on the Spaceship Earth Ride you can already see some improvements, The ride seems cleaner and you can see the scenes better with more light they have added I rode it twice in a row just to see it before the changes the ride will close after the Fourth of July. The new pavilion at the end is cool for what they have there now but understand its not finished yet. If you get a chance go see it before the renovations.

FlatlandMounty · Post by **FlatlandMounty** » Apr Fri 27, 2007 10:34 pm

New post show stuff is pretty cool. Not finished, and definately needs some polish. But a great start. The new 3D body builder is actually pretty fun

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Apr Sat 28, 2007 10:33 am

July 9-November 1, 2007

Ah! SSE and HM are both going to be closed this summer!

(gasp)