Spaceship Earth... closing?

[Unofficial627]

I have read a few things about Spaceship Earth closing... does anyone know if this is true? I heard it is going to replaced with a space race-type ride or something like that. I really hope that they don't close it, because it has to be one of the best rides there!!

 

[wdwguide]

I'd be very surprised if they changed it before 2005. I am not sure when AT&T's contract expires though, and what the chances are of them renewing it. I was under the impression that the last renewal was signed at the last second.
In any case, my guess is that either SE or TLS will be the next pavilion to be updated once Soarin' gets finished.

 

[tripletvan]

WHAT????/







what will the do with the gigantic golf ball?

 

[Prince Eric1]

I love this ride. Something about being inside it and the relaxation, no spinning, jerking, etc, and it being continuous the lines go so quick. I hope they don't close it or if they do, keep it the same principle with a new sponsor.

 

[grinningghost]

I'm all for keeping things fresh, but come on, the Living Seas needs help waaaaaaayyyy more than SE. I hope Disney thinks twice before they start fixing something that isn't broke, while turning a blind eye on something that is.

 

[ohanafamily]

I thought that the ATT sponsorship ended 2/1/2003. We rode it on 2/2/2003, and wondered how they would remove all of the ATT stuff from the ride.

Weren't they going to revamp it into "Time Racer's" for the 2005 celebration? and wasn't Microsoft going to sponsor it?

WDWGuide or anybody else, please let me know if this information is no longer current.

 

[SnackyStacky]

As I heard, they'd scrapped the plans to re-do Spaceship Earth because the ride track currently in place is a major part of the structural integrity of the geo-sphere, and that ripping it out to put in something new would be WAY too much money....

 

[Testtrack321]

FOR THE FINAL TIME, SSE IS NOT CLOSING.

The problem was found with some structural problems with removing the ride system. SSE will probably be re-habed, but otherwise, the whole theme and ride system will stay the same.

 

[ohanafamily]

Thanks Testtrack321, I must have missed the thread about it not closing, my apologies for raising your blood pressure.

I would hope that someone else would pick up the sponsorship, and change the movie up a little; I love the ride, but it is one very long ATT ad, even after the sponsorship went away...or did aTT renew?

I also liked it better Dark in the beginning...

 

[Testtrack321]

Originally posted by ohanafamily
Thanks Testtrack321, I must have missed the thread about it not closing, my apologies for raising your blood pressure.

I would hope that someone else would pick up the sponsorship, and change the movie up a little; I love the ride, but it is one very long ATT ad, even after the sponsorship went away...or did aTT renew?

I also liked it better Dark in the beginning...

Your welcome, as anyone knows, I just worry people around here.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

In any case, my guess is that either SE or TLS will be the next pavilion to be updated once Soarin' gets finished.

My guess is TLS, then WOL, then SE.

 

[LarryM]

I also dion't believe it is closing. The sponsorship on the other hand? While there 3 weeks ago I noticed on the EPCOT guide map it listed no sponsor for SSE. The other attractions listed sponsors though.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Didn't FedEx sponsor SSE first??

 

[mitros]

The talk of changing SE has been going on for some time. The biggest problem seems to be that in order to put in the Time Racer ride, they would have to use all of the walkway to the left of the entrance to SE as the "launching point" for the new ride, which would involve building an additional structure that would take up the area from the camera and gift shop back to guest services, effectively eliminating the walkway on the left side of SE, and having all of the bodies both entering and leaving the park pushed to one side of the sphere. Anyway, next time you go to WDW and ride SE, you will notice that they have already re-habed several of the scenes, and chances are good that you will see another scene curtained off while they re-do another area. They have apparentley dropped the Time Racer idea for the immediate future in favor of a re-vamp of all of the dioramas inside SE.

 

[dpic]

Originally posted by grinningghost
I'm all for keeping things fresh, but come on, the Living Seas needs help waaaaaaayyyy more than SE.

Boy, I agree with this. Our family loves SE, and normally ride it two or three times in a row. Also, we think Living Seas looks extremely worn and dated. When we were there, fungus was growing on things and looked very tacky.

 

[sters]

This is a great family ride. I"d hate to see it go the way of "thrill" Let's leave something for the families.

 

[hackwith1965]

It is closing for Rehab in 2005. It is a bit outdated and needs a big overhaul - the mold and dust is enought to make anyone gag