Time Racers/SSE replacement is as good as dead

[eclipseSD]

Screamscape has confirmed with other sources that the Spaceship Earth geosphere structure just simply can not be gutted and replaced with another ride due to the fact that that the current ride system is critical to the geosphere’s structural integrity. While, from a technical standpoint, it is still possible to go on with the project, the costs involved have likely risen to the point where it is no longer worth the effort and building the same ride in a new building from scratch would likely be a cheaper answer.

 

[d-r]

itys

 

[Planogirl]

I definitely hope that this is true and that Disney considers refurbishing and updating Spaceship Earth now. I never believed that Epcot's icon should be redone with a thrill ride.

I also hope that Disney still builds Time Racers in ANOTHER building. Ah but for lots of money...

 

[ChrisFL]

The only changes I would make is to make the ride smoother, less bumpy, and maybe some headrest pads...it hurts sometimes...

But other than that, they HAVE to keep Spaceship Earth the way it is!!

 

[OnWithTheShow]

DR,

were we the only two who said it couldnt and wouldnt be done?

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

DR,

were we the only two who said it couldnt and wouldnt be done?

I pointed out the building could not possibly be re-engineered structrally to house a thrill ride, and speculated that not even the ride path could be changed without tearing down the whole ball.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Jeff,

Sorry to leave you out, I guess that makes three of us.

 

[freediverdude]

I was watching a documentary about Disney World, and it showed a time lapse video of the building of the Epcot ball, and I can confirm that I doubt that they could tear the ride system out without redoing the whole ball. It looked like the ride system curving around the inside was the major part of the building, and that the walls of the ball were just held up by some steel girders coming up around the outside. It looked like they would have to seriously fortify the ball structure if they ever wanted to take the ride out of there.

 

[mitros]

I just returned from a one day fact finding trip, and one of the things I wanted to check out was that particular rumor about changing Spaceship earth. I spoke to 15 CMs and 3 shirts and ties and they all, when confronted with that particular question, admitted that Spaceship earth could not be used for a thrill ride for exactly that reason. The current structure is apparently interconnected to a certain extent to the ride track itself. A MAJOR re-construction would have to be done which would effectivley change the sphere completley. I was also told that most of the scences are being re-done or changed totally, one at a time. So, if you take the ride watch closely for scenes covered over for re-habs. The most current one appears to be the Phonecians in the boat. Check it out next time you go. I also questioned the same CMs regarding project Gemini. I will post the results of my questioning on a new thread this weekend.

 

[MelissathePooh]

This is DR. I agree with Show of course, and Jeff and Freediverdude. I just stood there and looked at it for a while to come to that conclusion - as Buggs said, I never studied law.

 

[Another Voice]

For the record, the ride system are the tracks and motors that sit on the flooring inside the building. It's the floor that provides structural stability to sphere - just like floors do in any major skyscrapper.

There's nothing preventing someone from replacing the Omnimover track with another ride system (it's been looked at in the past for mechanical issues). And the show elements were designed to be replaced every ten years anyway, just as all the original EPCOT Center pavilions.

What the structure won't allow if the gutting of the sphere to install a pre-fabbed roller coaster track.

 

[mitros]

So, for the record, it can't be done after all no matter what the reason?

 

[TiNkErBeLl51]

Well if i read and interpreted it correctly then yes they could turn it into a roller coaster BUT the entire shpae of the sphere would change and it would be much more expensive to build it in there then to build it somwhere else in the park in a new building. Do i have that right you guys?

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

The scenes themselves (and therefore the story) can be changed with ease. The track could be replaced to accomodate a different train or trains, but the ride path through the ball would stay the same... which would set some limits on the trains' physics. Not to say that good story-telling can't be thrilling, but that's not what people think of when the hear "thrill ride."

SE could be hacked to provide Pirates or Haunted Mansion type eerie thrills, but not ToT or M:S variety physical thrills.

Obviously, if they wanted a "real" thrill ride in that spot badly enough, they could just tear down the existing ball and build something else (I'm pretty sure that RCID's powers have dwindled to the point that not even WDW could get away with building an SE type ball, today...).

I don't think they'll tear out SE... but I also don't think they'll do the scene updates that they can actually do, in a practical sense. I think it's more likely that they'll let the same train run through the same scenes until something wears out enough that it's cheaper to seal up the ball than fix the ride.

 

[Planogirl]

In other words, they may just let Spaceship Earth deteriorate to the point that no one will want to see it and people will talk about how badly it needs to be refurbished and how they never go there anymore because it's so tacky. Like THAT'S never been done before in a place like...say Horizons or somewhere like that.

 

[d-r]

they can put in a series of screens that play "time lapse" photography from the beginning of history to the current time as your "time machine" vehicle (you know, the omnimover) moves through time - this would give the illusion of movement at a rapid pace through time. Oh wait, this is what the plan was all along - the "roller coaster" thing was just an internet rumor because it had the word "racer" in it? Huh, go figure - why hasn't somebody been saying all along that no one who is complaining about this "thrill ride" had seen the plans for what this ride is and that people are only speculating?