Spaceship Earth Review

SPECIAL SPACESHIP EARTH REVIEW: Our own Mike from DisneyMemoriabilia.com submitted his own thoughts on the refurb:

I was able to ride SSE about 6 times in one of my last afternoons before I moved from FL. Like you, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the overall refurb. I'll go into a quick list of pros/cons.

PRO:
I loved the new computer scenes (I'm a huge nerd). The new animatronics were good. The new blue light infinity field illusion as you begin the descent is very cool.

CON:
Track smoothness not improved - it's still pretty bumpy. Video-game style ending was weak. It also didn't work when I selected wind power and it kept filling my car with solar power. The in-car LCD screens are too bright and illuminate the "ugly" tunnel components leading to bad-show. Video-game ending doesn't fit-in that well IMO.

Overall, I still love SSE, but the ending has already lost any interest for me after just a few rides. Perhaps that's why I noticed the brightness of the screens illuminating the tunnel and ruining the fiber-optic stars/etc., because I was bored with the screen and looking around instead.

Mike
From Disney Memorabilia

Spaceship Earth

DIZNEWS: Hi All! I am back from a fabulous week at the World! I have
a few interesting things from the trip but I see there has been a fair
amount of reporting while I was gone about Spaceship Earth. I had a
chance to ride the refurbished attraction while visiting and the ride
is now, I believe, open (at least for the holidays). Early in the
week it was only open for parts of days and the construction walls
were still up. By Friday, the walls were down and the ride was open
throughout the day. I rode on Tuesday, there was a line to ride and
people were excited to get on. Many of the ride vehicles were not
working and there were problems with the video screens on several of
the cars around us. The new audio animatronics are pretty
astonishing. Compliance has progressed to the point that they move
like humans and facial expressions are incredibly lifelike. However,
overall I was underwhelmed by the refurb. The new story just doesn't
flow throughout the ride. Enough of the original set pieces and story
line are intact to leave riders thinking that it is about
communications but Disney is stating that it is now the "future was
created" and how we are creating the future. I'm having trouble
articulating it and it appeared that the imagineers were too. The new
part of the ride toward the end, about computers and the future is a
big and abrupt change and doesn't feel or flow from the rest of the
ride. Also, the ending with the computers was not working properly.
Our computer was working and we were able to answer the questions and
see a little video about our future vacations, which was ok but kind
of silly and didn't work conceptually or thematically with the rest of
the ride. At the beginning of the ride they took our pictures and
were supposed to insert it at the end but this did not work. Overall,
it was disappointing and I went in really wanting to like the refurb,
particularly after seeing the Haunted Mansion. I am hoping that they
will do some more work on the ride before it is officially open in
February. Perhaps they are just opening it as a crowd eater for the
holidays but I suspect that it is more likely that they ran out of
money or Siemen's said that it was good enough and that was that.
Only time will tell! What are your thoughts? Has anyone else seen the
refurb and loved it?

Disney Holiday Magic with Samantha Brown and Spaceship Earth

Something different today, Disney Holiday Magic with
Samantha Brown premiered on The Travel Channel last
night. I had a chance to catch it and it really was a bit of
the old Disney magic. The special highlighted holidays in
both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In Disneyland,
It’s a Small World and Haunted Mansion Holiday were
highlighted. In Disneyworld, Osborne lights, the Cinderella
Castle Suite, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, some
of the resorts, and Candlelight Processional were some of
the areas visited.

Last night I received an e-mail from a friend who attended
MouseFest and was able to get a sneek peek at Spaceship
Earth. Here is what she wrote:

"The historical scenes in the first half are basically the same,
but renovated. Most of the audio-animatronic figures have
been updated, to the new type of Captain Jack Sparrow type
of movements. They are so realistic and have so many degrees
of freedom of movement at the same time! They're fabulous.
The Phonecian scene is great in that the two boats are being
held by the figures with ropes and it looks like they're really
bobbing on the water. The Greek drama scene has been
changed to reflect more Greek learning in general, but that's
OK. Then from the modern family watching the television scene
onwards, it's completely different. They have added 2 scenes
about modern computers -- a fellow MouseFest attendee
commented that the mini-skirted/leather booted girl in the
computer main frame room looks very much like Lieutenant
O'Hura from Star Trek! They they go up into the top of the ball
for the space scene. On the way down, they have you interact
with a computer screen in your vehicle. They ask you a few
questions about the previous presentations, then they ask
you what you would prefer for you vacation in the future.
Then they present an animation which reflects your personal
choices about your vacation (including the question do you
worry more about your home or about your pets when you're
away -- we know what we would both answer!) I think the
lighting/scenery on the descent is not yet completed. (At least
I hope they will add more...) The "you choose the animation"
sequence is cute, but not quite what I was hoping for as I had
heard it previously described it as a "horizons" type of next
generation whatever.... They didn't ask for our feedback, but
hopefully they will get feedback, because it was a little
disappointing. So in sum, the audio-animatronic figures were
so fantastic that the renovations are terrific (even if the ending
is a little bit of a fizzle).

Sneak Peek Spaceship Earth

DIZNEWS: There isn't any real news coming out of the Mouse House today. So I thought I would send along a neat little link. The Orlando Sentinel posted a short video about the improvements being made on Spaceship Earth.

Many Bits - Spaceship Earth, Disney Cruiseline to Stay in Port Canaveral, Poppins National Tour and Finding Nemo Van

DIZNEWS: Magical Mountain.net confirms that WDI is having a soft opening to the revamped Spaceship Earth this month.

Disney has renewed its contract with Port Canaveral through 2009. Disney has an exclusive contract with Port Canaveral to sail it's Disney Cruise Line ships out of this port.

Mary Poppins, which is currently running on Broadway, will begin a national tour in 2009. First stop, Chicago.

Finally, Italian car manufacturer Citroen has made a Finding Nemo themed van, which will debut at the Bologna car show in Italy next week.

Court Summons Toons, Rumor about Spaceship Earth and Girl Power

DIZNEWS: In what is reported to be a clerical error, Disney and Looney Tunes
characters were given a court summons to appear in a counterfeiting
case in Italy. The vice president of Disney Italia stated,
"Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of
Disneyland. It certainly pleased us that the characters were
considered real, because that's what we try to do."


I received an e-mail yesterday stating that the Orlando Sentinel is
reporting that Spaceship Earth will be opened for previews in
mid-December. If this is true, it would be a significant change from
the recently announced February opening date. The article is not on
the Orlando Sentinel site but for families traveling around the
holidays, not to mention Christmas crowds, I hope that this is true.


Finally, president of ABC television and co-chair of Disney Media
Network Anne Sweeney has been named the most powerful woman in
entertainment by the Hollywood Reporter's annual poll. This is a move
up from her second place ranking last year.