Any truth to Spaceship Earth ride closing?

[jimmytammy]

Is this just rumor or is it true? My DD was on Teen forum and read this. She is very sad if there is any truth to it. Pleeze any info would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[WDWHound]

There have been rumors going around on this for a while now. Most of them indicate that next year will be the last year for Spaceship Earth. The rumors intensified when Jim Hill ran an article on speculating on Project Gemini (the proposed retooling of Future World) a few months back.

Supposedly the sphere would remain, but the ride inside it would be replaced. The most common rumor is that the new ride would be a thrill ride of some sort. Many think this will be a coaster (though many here have commented that the structure might not be capable of supporting a coaster). Another common rumor is that Microsoft will be taking over the sponsorship now that AT&T has pulled out.

None of this has been substantiated, its all still at the rumor level. If there is any news on this, you can bet it will find its way to this board very quickly.

 

[wdwfreak]

I believe one rumor for Spaceship Earth is that it would be turned into a ride in the vein of "Soarin' Over California" at DCA.

 

[WDWHound]

Originally posted by wdwfreak
I believe one rumor for Spaceship Earth is that it would be turned into a ride in the vein of "Soarin' Over California" at DCA.

Thats the first time I've heard that one. I've heard talk of a possible Soarin' attraction at the Wonders of Life pavillion or The Living Seas, but never anything about one going in Spaceship Earth.

 

[Disneymoon04]

SSE

 

[civileng68]

This will happen unfortunately. I say unfortunately because I love Spaceship Earth. I am however a realist and realize that Epcot is in need of a major change. The attendances at Epcot have been steadily dropping now for several years and the park realized they had to stop it.

Mission space was actually the first step of the Gemini Project but was pretty much kept separated in the open to the public. Mark my words, Project Gemini will happen and really already has, it's just that MIssion space is being perceived as something completely separate.

I don't know what exactly the new rollercoaster will be like but it will be a coaster. It is supposedly going to be called Time Racers. The name leads me to believe the "Time" element will still be involved, which makes me wonder if many of the props inside will still be used. That's just my imagination though.

I have seen the blue prints of the new "Project Gemini" and during the rollercoaster ride of "Time racers" the rollercoaster will exit the back of the ball and soar over park of Epcot before returning to the ball.

I hate that Spaceship Earth is going to be removed. I wish more that they would do Project Gemini to change the park and leave Spaceship Earth. I hope they keep the music from Spaceship Earth in the ball even during a rollercoaster.

It will be a welcome surprise to see Inoventions gone though. That stuff is just horrible.

 

[Tig-girl]

I hope this never happens............

One of the reasons we love Disney World so much is because it isn't just another "coaster park" full of thrill rides. It would be sad to see SSE go the way of Horizons, WOM, and JII!

 

[Disneymoon04]

Don't know if this helps at all but here is info from Jim Hill's website that includes info about "Project Gemini" and a sketch for the new DiscoveryLand (aka Future World) with some info on the proposed Spaceship Earth: Time Racers ride.

Project Gemini

 

[d-r]

One of the reasons we love Disney so much is that it is never finished and is always growing and changing. Not that I believe this or Jim Hill, but let's face it, as much as we may like it spaceship earth is dated. I started bringing my mp3 player so I could listen to pink floyd on it to make it more interesting. It is cute and all, but it isn't that great. I like the end part with the lights and opictal fiber, but it seems really 80s. If they really did revamp this place with state of the art effects, well, I'd miss the old one, but I'd like to see those new effects, too! I mean, we disney fans miight like it, but it is pretty lame the way it is now, the best thing you can say about it is it is relaxing. It is like when Lisa Simpson said something like what people in the 1960s thought the 1980s would look like. I like the slow pace of epcot, but something new, exciting, and interesting might be a good thing. Its like you can't show Captain Io forever; get rid of that 80s stuff and get some new stuff in there for goodness sakes!! Not that I will be holding my breath or anything.

 

[wdwguide]

Originally posted by d-r
I started bringing my mp3 player so I could listen to pink floyd on it to make it more interesting.

SSE is one of my favorite dark rides as it is now, but that is an EXCELLENT idea!

 

[Peter Pirate]

Thanks d-r, I was feeling pretty sad about this but truly your post has helped me to put it into perspective...IF today's guest aren't seeing SSE with the same vision that I always have then the success of the attractions can't really be measured by my devotion but rather by the lack of succecss of the aged or dated attraction (as measured by those not waiting in its line)..Much lke Horizons and COP...

After all it is easy for Disneyphiles to be enamored with what we know and use reverse projection, but this isn't what'll get new folks into the fold, which is after all the goal of Park management...

 

[raidermatt]

Its like deja vu all over again...

SE is still more popular than many of the other areas of FW, and my understanding is it still has a very large daily ridership... the lines are often short because it loads so fast.

Even handing out MP3 players at the doors of The Living Seas wouldn't be enough to spice that up... perhaps that would be a better place to start...

Sure, SE could use an update, but once AGAIN, there are other ways to do it besides making it a coaster.

 

[hopemax]

But there is a difference between redoing a ride to make it more interesting to todays guests, and replacing a ride with an entirely new concept.

During Walt's time, he saw rides wain in popularity as well. For instance the Jungle Cruise. By 1962, the Jungle Cruise wasn't drawing as well, but they didn't scratch the whole attraction. They brought Marc Davis in from the studio, and he felt that the attraction was just too serious. He added the humor, they redid several of the scenes, and more were added in 1964.

I'm not convinced that today's audiences find Spaceship Earth at the bottom of their list of "fun things to do at WDW." But it's age has made it less of a repeatable attraction.

 

[Peter Pirate]

I readily agree that a good 'makeover' would be great and I'm disheartend at the prospect of another thrill ride (especially) at Epcot (seems like a quick fix no matter how expensive it may be)...But the last time they tried a makeover instead of a new project we got that lame Jiyi without Figment...Geez... we sure don't need that again!

Matt, I agree that LS is in a much more grave state than SSE, but as of yet, no one at WDW has called me and asked for my opinion!

 

[nrose101]

I think instead of worring about Epcot attendace, they should worry about Animal Kingdom. That park is really in need of an overhaul (besides the new e-ticket attraction going in there).

They really need to leave epcot alone! Or maybe make a few changes such as put back horizons, put back the old universe of energy, food rocks, and journey into imagination!

 

[Tig-girl]

"!Well Radiermatt and Hopemax, I'm with you!
Let them do a makeover, but leave the attraction alone. Want to build another thrill ride? Fine, but do it somewhere else. I just can't believe that Walt's vison of EPCOT included a coaster zooming out of SSE! Sounds kind of tacky if you really think about it. I also agree about LS. ZZZZZZZZZZ's all the way around! Last two trips, we didn't even bother with it. But I never miss SSE, and whether that's because I'm nostalgic, or because I truly enjoy this dark ride experience, I don't know. But I sure hope they don't turn it into another "screamer

 

[d-r]

I'm sorry Hope, Matt, and Tiggirl, I didn't realize that you were privy to the plans and actually knew what this makeover would be. I'm not, so I just figured that it would be something cutting edge and new. Since you all know what it will be you can evaluate it much better than I can.

But let's face it, folks, really. Would you ever consider waiting in line for spaceship earth? Of course not, because there never is a line except maybe first thing in the morning when it catches some tourists who haven't seen it before. Once WS opens for lunch, there won't be another line, and you all know it. It is dated. Now, me, I'LL miss it. I like it. I like corny old cheeseball disney world rides. I also have blackbeard's ghost and moonspinners on dvd. Now, the general public isn't that impressed with stuff that was already so boring in the 80s that none of us teenagers wanted to go there! Let's get with the program and move on!


Edited to add:
Oh yeah "Walt's vison of EPCOT " didn't include ANYTHING that is there now or a theme park for that matter, but especially not a boring 10 year old version of "SSE" with some creaky animatronics and a cranky omnimover and all those "the cars are about to turn around" warnings and cheesy light effects and those people on the videophones on the end that don't even move at all let alone matching themselves on the phone or a looping classroom of the future video and that fake looking looping cartoon of the Roman chariot going down the road and the same old football game video where the best thing is the smell of Rome burning! Let's get something new and interesting for goodness sakes.

 

[nrose101]

If you follow that logic you will just turn Disney into just another park like Universal or Six Flags.

What makes Disney different is that it isn't just thrills, but thinking rides and also rides to teach us (such as what epcot's vision was after Walt died), also to immerse us in another world, time or place, I don't know about you but I think spaceship earth has some other best animatronics I have ever scene.

 

[d-r]

oh yeah, and it can't be much worse than that stupid hand holding the wand up against it right now can it? I miss how the laser light things used to move around on there after illuminations. But we go on.

 

[nrose101]

I agree I did like the wand during millenium celebration but they should have taken it down afterwards.

It seems that Disney World is the only one replacing old attractions, while Disneyland stays true to Disney's vision I wonder why? (IE Mr. Toad, Tiki Birds, etc)

Yes life goes on and Disney changing things will not be life threatining, but they really need to go back to the thinking of yesteryears of "What would Walt do?"