New Spaceship Earth - a disgrace

[TheGoofster]

I very much agree with pretty much all that's been said. We were so excited that they offered a preview while we were there. I waited by the big ball for over an hour hoping to get in line, and when they finally opened it, I called my family, and we waited another 25 minutes in line.
What repaid our patience was very, very disappointing. The narration was at best passable, and at worst, pathetic. There were many times when there should have been some kind of narration (even the cheesy one that is there now), but there was nothing at all for a long time.
The descent with the computer screens looked like something a fourth grade computer science class might have put together.
I was glad to see many "old favorites" still making appearances, and there were also many wonderful new scenes. But all in all, I was very disappointed in what we saw.

 

[Lancer]

I really cant comment on the new version until I see it for myself, hopefully on Feb 8th, but wasnt the line about the romans being the first world wide web actually part of the previous version? With out seeing it though, I will find it hard to top Jeremy Irons narration. I know first hand that Disney does not accept "Creative suggestions"(If you did, you would get a polite letter from a Disney para legal) but, you would think that Disney would do a little marketing research before making a major change to a fan favorite attraction.
Maybe, they should take a cue from the movie industry, where by a completed movie is shown to test audiences, so changes could be made before the scheduled release. I am hoping that the soft openings and after ride surveys will correct any short commings. Realisticlly though, can we expect them to make major fixes after they just spent a lot of money making major changes?

One other question. I have not read any comments about the changes to the area between the unloading area and the exit. Is it open yet? And if so, whats it like?

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I have a question. Do we still see the Earth from space as the cars turn around? Or is that gone too? It all sounds so disappointing, but this was my favourite part of the ride and I hope it's not gone.

 

[AlwaysLoveDisney]

 

[AlwaysLoveDisney]

i remember when i went to disney for the first time...i was really afraid of rides. my dad said we should go on spaceship earth because that just represents disney. it has the magical feeling disney has and it was nice and relaxing, a good start to the trip. that has become a tradition now, that spaceship earth is the first ride we go on. i hope it's not a let-down, but from what im hearing..

 

[deej696]

I rode SE today and put me down as another one disappointed. I cant really say that I liked the old one better, because it had been at least 10 years since I rode it, but what parts I remembered being different were nothing special. I also agree that the narration was not very good, and kinda cheesy. At one point she said something like "Remember how easy it was to learn your A,B,C's?" I just thought to myself, "when you are 3 years old, your ABC's are hard as heck"

The ending stunk and needs some work. I didnt really pay attention to the screen, and its obviously just a boring journey backwards in the dark. The Imagineers will get it right, they always do, but they have some work still to do...

 

[DW Dad]

Not excited to hear this. This is one of my favorites in all the parks, and I enjoy riding it multiple times with my son every time we go (DS's favorite park, and we spend most of our time in Epcot) So I do hope that they fix all the problems that I read about before March.

 

[raven69david]

Reading the reviews kinda makes me glad i missed it and didn't miss our ADR at Le Cellier or drag my DD3 from MK to Epcot.

 

[girlbomb]

Sad to see so many bad reviews! We just got back this evening (augh!), and I wanted to post right away about how excited I was that my DH and I walked up just at the right time on Sat. the 8th to see one of the "soft previews." I actually thought the first half of the ride was slightly improved -- it really had needed an update in my opinion, what with all the technological advances that we've come to take for granted over the past ten years, and I thought the new narration made sense (though I too was a big fan of the Jeremy Irons version). Agreed that the second half of the ride seems unfinished, and I hope that's the case -- I hope that's not all they're planning there! -- but I sort of enjoyed the nod to the old Horizons, where you could pick your own future. Anyway, I was so grateful and excited to get to see it at all during our trip when i thought it would be out of commission the entire time -- that maybe coloring my reaction -- but I actually thought it was promising.

 

[wings91]

I love SSE, and always ride many times each trip. But to be honest, it losses me on the turnaround.

I can't remember it before the last redo, but the kids in the classroom with the spaceship butterfly or whatever it was, was rather lame. I did like the narration in this section, but the visuals didn't do it for me

I hope the new return to Earth is better then what it was, but if it wasn't, no harm done to me. I will miss Jeremy Irons.

 

[TheGoofster]

I really cant comment on the new version until I see it for myself, hopefully on Feb 8th, but wasnt the line about the romans being the first world wide web actually part of the previous version? With out seeing it though, I will find it hard to top Jeremy Irons narration. I know first hand that Disney does not accept "Creative suggestions"(If you did, you would get a polite letter from a Disney para legal) but, you would think that Disney would do a little marketing research before making a major change to a fan favorite attraction.
Maybe, they should take a cue from the movie industry, where by a completed movie is shown to test audiences, so changes could be made before the scheduled release. I am hoping that the soft openings and after ride surveys will correct any short commings. Realisticlly though, can we expect them to make major fixes after they just spent a lot of money making major changes?

One other question. I have not read any comments about the changes to the area between the unloading area and the exit. Is it open yet? And if so, whats it like?

When we were there on Wed. the unloading area was up and running. It was very impressive. To be honest I don't know how different it is from the original (I don't remember the original enough to compare it), but I did like what we saw. There are a whole bunch of interactive games like a two player
shuffle board on a floor screen, a 3-D game where you have to put the parts of a body in place, and a virtual racing game, to name a few. The only problem will be not enough places for people to play, especially if it starts to get busy. We had trouble finding open kiosks, and there was hardly anybody there. Actually I was more impressed with the technology of the unloading area than I was by the new ride.

 

[klofan]

I rode it twice last week. I don't think the new version is that bad. At the end where you go down backwards, it isn't finished - thats obvious. But with the interactive screen, I think that it has potential. It's really stupid now, but I think Disney can think of something a lot better than a cartoon.

 

[TwitterMouse]

How sad. SE is one of my favorites. I was really, really looking forward to going on it this year. It's usually the first attraction I do when I get into WDW.
Now, it might not be open and even if it is, they've gone and messed it up. Grrr.

 

[CanadianGuy]

And now we know why Disney is LOATHE to do sneak peaks of attractions while they are rehabbing.

While this particular attraction may be 'done' as it is.. I personally doubt it. And I think all the complaints about the ending thus far are misplaced.

Be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Knox

 

[yulilin3]

We went to Epcot yesterday around 12pm and they were letting people into SE. My kids (7-11) loved it, I liked it as well althought the narration is a bit geared up toward younger kids now, in my opinion. They're trying to appeal to the younger audience, I think. The last part, may not be done, but if it is, you're really paying attention to the options on the screen and not to the surroundings.
Two things about the ride: my kids swear they saw a hidden mickey created by the overhead lights in the phonecian scene on your right. You see the reflection of the lights on the floor.
Another that I saw, after the scene of the family watching the moon landing, there is a scene with a skyline, on your left. A building has the windows lights on and they form the number 25 (as in 25th anniversary).
I don't think they killed it, they did improve the animatronics and updated some of the scenes.
Also as we were leaving Epcot they opened it up again, around 7pm.

 

[catherines_mama]

I rode it yesterday and was also very disappointed in the ending. It seemed as if they stopped right where they could have been innovative. Yes, projecting the future, esp. the future of technology can be difficult, but at least TRY! Make the scenes more flexible to be changed without a huge shutdown as technology & the future changes... don't just remove them all together.

The cartoon screens were lame. Pure & simple. Horizons did a better job at interactive future then SSE does.

As others said, the way up was good. The past scenes were good. Lack of drama in narration. I love Dame Judy Dench but she just didn't FEEL it, it seems like. Oh well. I hope they make more changes and we can see a new ending soon.

Bright note: DD LOVED project tomorrow. We had a lot of fun playing some of the games.

 

[CW4DW]

My boyfriend and I rode spaceship earth the other day while at Epcot. Not sure what the point of taking our picture was but okay... I prefer the old narration it seemed more fluid, and not so broken up. I do like the changes to the beginning of the ride with all the vivid colors and scene changes. Also we were wondering why the paper boy is standing in the corner selling papers like he is in timeout... The super computer was a new addition and I liked that part but once you get to the star gazing scene and looking at the earth, I didn't like the interactive part on the time traveler. I hope they aren't done with the end of the ride because it leaves something to be desired. I think it can be better without the computer interaction - I would much rather sit back and star-gaze than watch some animated scene about life in the future. I think once they are completely through with the changes it will turn out okay but right now it still needs some work. Just my thoughts, but I do think everyone should ride it if given the chance.

 

[jenseib]

I really cant comment on the new version until I see it for myself, hopefully on Feb 8th, but wasnt the line about the romans being the first world wide web actually part of the previous version?

I thought that it was in the old version too.

 

[boomhauer]

I don't get it. I was at Epcot 3 days last week and every day, the walls were still up and they were telling people it was closed until February.

 

[ChrisFL]

I really cant comment on the new version until I see it for myself, hopefully on Feb 8th, but wasnt the line about the romans being the first world wide web actually part of the previous version?

The Romans were there, but they never called it "the first world wide web".

It seems like they're trying too hard to compare ancient times with current technology.

Also, Walter Cronkite was NOT the first narrator, he wasn't in the ride until 1986. Vic Perrin was the first narrator.

The space scene used to have a space station and an astronaut in the early years, but that was covered up, I think in the 1994 refurb.

As far as the narration, I wonder if they've recorded a few different types of narratives in case people don't like the first one.