New Spaceship Earth - a disgrace

[hismattjesty]

I wouldn't bank on the actual ending changing too much. There might be some sets or scenery added, but make no mistake about it, those touch screens are definitely what Siemens wants the focus to be on. That is also the reason the opening was pushed back from November to mid-February. Early on in their installation, and even during previews, the screen do not work 100%. As this is a high dollar sponsorship deal, Siemens is adamant that things work properly.

I personally don't think the screens were a good idea. Not because of the changes to the ending, but the issue of durability. I can't imagine how many will need to be replaced on a monthly basis. Not only will you have normal wear and tear, but think the about small percentage of people who will maliciously attempt to intentionally damage them.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

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.

In the last version of SSE's narration, in that scene narrator Jeremy Irons said, "The mighty Roman empire bridged three continents with a vast system of roads - the fastest information highways the world had ever known."

The WWW is also known as "the Information Highway" (or Superhighway). So it's not really that much of a stretch from the last version.

 

[ChrisFL]

I wouldn't bank on the actual ending changing too much. There might be some sets or scenery added, but make no mistake about it, those touch screens are definitely what Siemens wants the focus to be on. That is also the reason the opening was pushed back from November to mid-February. Early on in their installation, and even during previews, the screen do not work 100%. As this is a high dollar sponsorship deal, Siemens is adamant that things work properly.

I personally don't think the screens were a good idea. Not because of the changes to the ending, but the issue of durability. I can't imagine how many will need to be replaced on a monthly basis. Not only will you have normal wear and tear, but think the about small percentage of people who will maliciously attempt to intentionally damage them.

I don't have an issue with the touch screens themselves, but of all of the amazing possibilities they could have used them for, this is just repulsive.

As far as durability, only time will tell. I know they're installing touch screen lunch ordering systems at some of the CS places now (like they've had a DCA for a while).

Maybe we're pre-judging it all, but if we all took a "wait and see approach" it's possible that nothing would be changed or improved before opening.

I'm actually more surprised that Siemens isn't more prominently featured in the ending areas of the ride. After hearing about the massive amounts of money they were adding for sponsorship, I would have expected half the ride to be a siemens ad

 

[Minnie]

It is, officially, but as you can see, occasionally they let people in for a sneak peek.

Last week, I checked every day to see if it would open, even asking an attendant if there were any times it might open. She told me that they were aiming for mid-December, but don't give up and keep checking back. One day, when I was in a different park, I got a phone call from some friends of mine saying they had opened it and were letting people on, so I rushed as fast as WDW transportation would take me and found they had removed one of the panels surrounding the refurb and were lining people up. You just had to catch it right.

This was very similar to our experience. DS and I went to Epcot on our own the afternoon of the 12th and walls were up with no expected "sneak peek" opening.

That very evening we walked into Epcot with my DM and the walk way was open to SSE However, it really seemed like people didn't realize it was again open because of the walls and kept walking on past

I don't know what I expected of the ride... just something well more

The project tomorrow area is extremely well done (needs a lot more stations though as during high crowds it would be nearly impossible to get one). We did one of each of the stations and highly enjoyed it As an "energy employee" it was nice to be able to show DS a little of what we do.

 

[Minnie]

I'm actually more surprised that Siemens isn't more prominently featured in the ending areas of the ride. After hearing about the massive amounts of money they were adding for sponsorship, I would have expected half the ride to be a siemens ad

They are featured all over in the Project Tomorrow area at the end though. And it looked like to us in the ending area that a lot of the wall area was left to finish as we saw open rafter and wall like areas. So perhaps something more is yet to come

Also, did anyone catch the new "Illuminations" sign on SSE at the end of the night??? It is really cool. I've got a video that I can try to post later