Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth is a pavilion and an attraction located in Epcot.
| Spaceship Earth | |
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| Spaceship Earth is considered to be the icon of Epcot. | |
| Land | Future World |
|---|---|
| Attraction type | Dark Ride |
| Theme | Communication |
| Opening date | October 1, 1982 |
| Hosted by | Vic Perrin or Larry Dobkins(1982-1986) Walter Cronkite (1986-1994) Jeremy Irons (1994-2007) Judi Dench (2008–present) |
| Ride duration | 13:26 minutes |
| Audio-Animatronics | 57 |
| Sponsored by | Bell System (1982-1984) AT&T (1984-2004) Siemens (2005-Present) |
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Pavilion History
Construction
Spaceship Earth was designed as the icon of all of EPCOT Center. The building was the first geodesic dome ever construct. Buckminster Fuller, who developed the mathematical structure of the pavilion named it Spaceship Earth. Although the pavilion looks like a seamless sphere, Space Earth is in fact made up of two parts. The top half of the dome sits on a steel, square ring which sits atop the "legs" of the pavilion. The second half of the dome is attached below the ring, giving the allusion that Spaceship Earth is a monolithic structure. The legs which support Spaceship Earth were driven 160 feet into the ground. Disney Imagineers also decided to make Spaceship Earth from two separate spheres, and outer and an inner sphere. The inside sphere is made of steel, pyramid shaped pipes. The outside was then covered with Alucobond pyramids, a polyester plastic, covered in two sheets of aluminum. This was done, so that the inner sphere (which holds the attraction) would be protect from the environmental, and also to solve the problem of runoff water. Disney Imagineers did not want water pouring off the sides of the 25 story building. To solve this problem gaps were left between the Alucobond triangles, so that water could run through them and into a gutter system. This system eventually deposited the water into the World Showcase Lagoon.
It took Construction took 26 months and almost 40,800 labor hours to build Spaceship Earth. When it was built, the pavilion was seen as a structural marvel. Disney did worry however, that a wind tunnel would form beneath the pavilion, knocking over guests. Since their was almost no data on geodesic domes, Disney brought in researchers from MIT who determined that the pavilion would not create a wind tunnel.
The structure of the pavilion remained unchanged until 1999, when a large Mickey hand, holding a wand was added to the top of Spaceship Earth. The wand was dedicated "2000", and was added in celebration of the new millennium. In 2001, the dedication was changed so that the wand simply read "Epcot". Although the wand was unpopular with many fans, it remained until 2007, when it was removed in time for the park's 25th anniversary on October 1, 2007. Their has since been speculation that the wand was removed at the instructions of Siemens, however this is unconfirmed.
Attraction History
The attraction built inside Spaceship Earth was designed to be guests "welcome to Future World". On the dark ride attraction, guests travel back in time and witness human advancements in communication. The attraction was themed as a time machine, taking guests back to the dawn of civilization all the way to the near future. In it's history, the attraction has been changed three times. First in 1986, then in 1994, and finally in 2007. Although the scenes stayed the same after each refurbishment, a new narrator was added each time.
Spaceship Earth was initially sponsored by Bell System. In 1984, however Bell was broken up into several companies. AT&T, now its own company assumed sponsorship of the pavilion. They continued their sponsorship until 2004. In 2005, Siemens, a German company became the new sponsor of Spaceship Earth. When Siemens took over, they decided to give the attraction a major refurbishment, which took place in 2007. Disney partnered with many experts when creating Spaceship Earth, those who consulted on it's creation include:
| Consultant | Credentials |
| Ray Bradbury | A science fiction writer, best known for his book Fahrenheit 451. |
| Fred Williams | A professor of communications at USC |
| Carey Bliss | Curator of Rare Books Huntington Library in Los Angeles |
| Howard M. Brown | Professor at the University of Chicago |
| Leonard DeGrassi | Professor of Art History at Glendale Community College |
| John Hoffman | Curator of the Warshau Collection of Business Americana at the Smithsonian |
| Robert Jensen | Retired Engineer formally of NBC |
| Charles Kramalkov | Professor of Ancient & Biblical languages at the University of Michigan |
| Mary Robertson | Curator of the Rare Manuscripts Huntington Library, Pasadena CA |
| Gilbert Wyland | Special assistant at ABC. |
- Information retrieved from www.intercot.com
- Ray Bradbury also contributed to the storyline for Spaceship Earth.
Original Incarnation: Vic Perrin or Larry Dobkins (1982-1986)
- NOTE: In 2008 Imagineer Mary Sklar disagreed with the long held notion that Vic Perrin was the narrator of the 1982 version of Spaceship Earth. Marty instead claims that Larry Dobkins was the narrator. With no official credit given, it is currently impossible to for sure who narrated the attraction.
The queue for the original Spaceship Earth attraction began with guests entering the pavilion, and walking up a short ramp. On the walls on either side of guests, large two posters showed Spaceship Earth at night, read "Ride the Time Machine from the Dawn of Civilization to the Beginning of Our Tomorrow. SPACESHIP EARTH.". Nearby, a large mural showed astronauts working on a satellite, with Earth in the background. The mural was framed with small pictures depicting cavemen, Romans, Egyptians, the printing press and finally modern humans. After passing through the queue guests would board small blue ride vehicles, beginning the attraction itself.
After guests boarded, the vehicles guests entered a dark tunnel. Inside, the vehicles would begin to ascend, allowing guests to see a purple cloud with stars all around it. A flash of lightning would periodically strike from the cloud, and the narrator would begin:
Where have we come from, where are we going? In the dust from which we were formed, answers recorded on the walls of time. So let us journey into that past, to seek those walls, to know ourselves and to probe the destiny of our Spaceship Earth.
When the vehicles reached the top of the tunnel, guests could see images of cavemen fighting Woolly Mammoths. The narrator informed guests that they were entering the ancient caves, where humans first interacted. A scene showing an ancient medicine man talking to other humans could be seen here, with cave paintings showing the first humans “writing” their thoughts down. Cave paintings could be seen on the wall behind the medicine man, showing humans first writing down their thoughts. The narrator then acknowledge the Woolly Mammoth scene, informing guests that humans used communication in order to survive. The narration in this scene said:
Where are we now? It is the waiting dawn, where vast things stir and breat the. And with our first words and first steps, we draw together to conquer the mammoth beast. It is the dawn of a new beginning, the dawn of recorded timeOn cave walls we inscribe our greatest triumphs, a growing record of our deeds, to share with others so they too may greet tomorrow’s sun.
As the ride vehicles moved forward, guests could see an Egyptian making papyrus (sometime between 1567 - 1085 B.C.). Across the way, an elaborate Egyptian building could be seen, with Hieroglyphs decorating the archways. Further down the way, a Pharaoh could be seen dictating to a scribe. His wife sat next to him as servants fanned the royal couple. The narrator then spoke, saying:
Ages pass and more walls rise in the valley of the Nile. Man-made walls of hieroglyphics. Then with new symbols, we unlock our thoughts from chiseled walls and send them forth on papyrus scrolls
The scene then shifted, to a seaport in the ninth century B.C. Here, two sailors could be seen trading goods, with two connected boats behind them. On the right, guests could see the ocean with stars shining on the horizon. The narrator then told guests that the Phoenician ships simplified the alphabet and traded the scrolls at various ports.
On fine Phoenician ships, we take our scrolls to sea. Real scrolls simplified by an alphabet, eagerly shared at distant ports of call.
The ride vehicles then moved forward in time, to Greece in 428 B.C. A scene depicting a Greek theater could be seen, with two men acting out Oedipus. The narrator then spoke once again, telling guests that this was the dawn of the theater.
Deep in the shadows of Mount Olympus, our alphabet takes route ... flowering with new expression. Hail the proud Greeks: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides. The theater is born.
As guests once again advanced through time, they came upon a Roman solider riding a chariot. The man was exchanging information with another man (who was wearing a toga). In the background, a painted wall depicted Rome, as another chariot passed by. The narrator then said:
North, South, East, and West, all roads lead from Rome, a mighty network reaching across the land, welding far-flung garrisons into a growing empire.
As the ride vehicles carried on, guests could see ruins of a smoldering building. The narrator informed guests that the excess of Rome had led to its destruction. Fortunately, Islamic wise men preserved the ancient knowledge and they were eventually able to link the East and the West. A scene showing the Islamic wise men sitting in a circle discussing books was then shown. To their left, was a library with unfilled shelves, inside of which two men could be seen reading.
Glorious Rome, until consumed by the flames of excess. Imperial Rome, lost in the ashes of darkness.Far from the dying embers, Islamic wise men preserve ancient wisdom and weave a rich network of new knowledge linking east and west.
Continuing forward, on guest’s right an astronomer could be seen standing on a balcony and investigating the stars. Further down the path, two Benedictine Monks were shown copying text by hand, with the monk on the right having fallen asleep on the job. The narrator once again spoke saying:
In Western abbeys, Monks toil endlessly transcribing ancient wisdom into hand-penned books of revelation.At last! A new dawn emerges. The dawn of the Renaissance. And a wondrous machine performs as a thousand scribes. Now for all: the printed word.
As guests entered the Renaissance scene, Johann Gutenberg and his associate could be seen working on the printing press. Guests then moved forward to Italy in the 16th century. To the right, a man was shown reading a book to two others, while just beyond them, two musicians played music. In the background a small Italian town could be seen. On guests’ left various artists were work. One was mixing paint, one painting fruit, and one sculpting. Further ahead on the left, guests could see Michelangelo lying on scaffolding, painting the Sistine Chapel. A conveyance system brought buckets of paint up to Michelangelo as he painted. The narration for the Renaissance continued:
Our books fuel the fires of the Renaissance. It is a time to discover anew the worlds of poetry and philosophy, science and music. As our minds soar, our hands find new expression in the flourishing world of art. Behold, the majesty of the Sistine ceiling.
Following the Renaissance, the time then shifted to the 18th and 19th century. The narrator spoke of this transition saying:
The Renaissance: a beacon through the mists of time, guiding us to a new era. A time of invention and exploding communication.
The first thing that guests would see in the modern era was a steam powered printing press, which was invented by William Bullock in 1863. A man inspected the newspaper that came out of the press. Further on, a young newsboy stood on a street corner with selling a stack of New York Daily newspapers. As the vehicles continued on, guests could see a man dictating a telegram to another man who sent it, while a train passed by on a railroad. On their left, guests could then see telephone wires stretching all across the scene, as various telephone conversations could be heard.
Moving forward, guests passed by a woman sitting in a cinema ticket booth. Three screens on her left showed old black and white movies. The first screen showed a movie about a runaway trolley, the second showed two people dancing, and the final screen showed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Across the way, guests could see a scene depicting the WDP (Walt Disney Productions) radio station, where a man and a woman could be seen acting out a radio show inside of a sound booth. Outside the booth, an engineer monitored the sound level. To the right of the scene, a radio tower was shown, with waves emanating from it.
As time progressed, the vehicles passed a scene depicting a mother, father and daughter watching TV in their living room. Four other televisions hung on the wall behind the family, which would change channels, showing various television shows. Shows that could be seen here included:
- Ozzie and Harriet
- 1964 NFL Colts vs. Browns Championship Game
- Ed Sullivan with the Harlem Globetrotters
- Walter Cronkite
- Walt Disney introducing an episode of The Wonderful World of Color.
Following the television scene, the narrator once again spoke.
"With each day come more paths, more ideas, more dreams, and we build new machines: computer machines that think, that store, sift, sort, and count, and help us chart our course through an age of boundless information."
At this point, on guests left a 70s bedroom could be seen. Inside, a boy was working on a desktop computer. Behind him a few books and a model airplane rested on a metal shelf. Moving forward in time, the following scene showed a mid-1980s room, with a women working on a laptop. Guests then could see The Network Operations Center, where network lines and satellites were monitored. Here, guests could see a map of Florida, The United States, and even a view of the entire globe (from the North Pole). A man sat in front of these maps monitoring them, while a woman was seated to his right. The narration in this scene said:
With these machines comes a wondrous new network of communications, a vibrant maze of billions of electronic pathways stretching to the very edge of space.
The ride vehicles then entered a tunnel, in which lights flew by. Here the narrator said:
Verged on the threshold of infinity, we see our world as it truly is: small, silent, fragile, alive, a drifting island in the midnight sky. It is our spaceship, our Spaceship Earth.
This narration marked the point where guests were at the top of the sphere. From here, they could see Earth in the distance, surrounded by stars. As the ride vehicles began to descend, guests could see more clouds of dust (similar to the one at the beginning of the attraction) on their right. Further down, guests saw various scenes on connected monitors. Scenes shown on the monitors included:
- Children from around the world holding hands.
- A human using a telescope.
- DNA chains
All of the monitors were connected by fiber optic strands, showing how everything was connected now through communication. Guests could also hear people around the world, talking to each other and exchanging information. Before unloading, guests would also see a series of dots which resembled circuit, and hear one final narration:
Now our Future World draws near, and we face the challenge of tomorrow. We must return and take command of our Spaceship Earth. To become captains of our own destiny. To reach out and fulfill our dreams.
Our journey has been long. From primal caves we have ventured forth traveling the endless corridors of time seeking answers to our tomorrow. With growing knowledge and growing communication, we have changed our lives, changed our worlds.
From the reaches of space to the depths of the sea, we have spun a vast electronic network linking ourselves as fellow passengers together, on Spaceship Earth.
Today our search for understanding is unbounded by space and time. Vast stores of information, knowledge from everywhere, standing ready at our beck and call to reach us in an instant. With our great network, we harness our knowledge, give it shape and form to serve us, to help create and communicate a better awareness of ourselves, and our world.
Ours is the age of knowledge, the age of choice and opportunity. Tomorrow’s world approaches, so let us listen and learn, let us explore and question and understand, let us go forth and discover the wisdom to guide great Spaceship Earth through the uncharted seas of the future. Let us dare to fulfill our destiny.
Second Incarnation: Walter Cronkite (1986-1994)
Changes
In order to expand the appeal of Spaceship Earth, the attraction was closed from May 25 to May 29, 1986. During this time, a new narration was installed for the attraction. The new script was written by Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald, and narrated by Walter Cronkite, giving the attraction a warmer tone. Other changes to the attraction in 1986 included:
- The Hebrew people's contributions to communication were now recognized.
- A new scene near the end of the attraction depicted the creation of the PC. The Audio Animatronic used in this scene was actually moved from the Printing Press scene.
- The “Paperless Office" scene was added and it featured an Audio Animatronic that was previously found in the Network Communication Map scene.
- The attraction's finale was changed so that instead of showing projections of new technology, images were instead projected of the more provocative "Tomorrows Child". Visualizing the idea that the children of today would be the leaders of tomorrow, the finale gave the attraction a more climatic ending and also conveyed the message of hope for the future.
- In this scene, the attraction's new theme song "Tomorrow's Child was added". The song was written by Ron Ovadia and Peter Stougaard, and performed by Sally Stevens during the decent ramp.
- In the decent ramp, new star effects were also added to give the scene more depth.
Narration
| Scene | Narration |
| Loading Room | "AT&T welcomes you to Spaceship Earth and invites you to explore the story of communications. And now your host, Walter Cronkite." |
| Ascension Tunnel | "For eons our planet has drifted as a spaceship through the universe. And for a brief moment, we have been its passengers. Yet in that time we've made tremendous progress in our ability to record and share knowledge. So, lets journey back 40,000 years to the dawn of recorded history. We'll trace the path of communications from its earliest beginnings to the promise of the future." |
| Woolly Mammoth and Cave Men | "We have reached the dawn of recorded time, an age when mammoth creatures roam the land. But with spoken language, the ancient hunters learn to work together and meet the challenges of this hostile world." |
| Medicine Man in Cave | "In primal tribes, the skills of survival are passed on to new generations through the art of storytelling. Not trusting this knowledge to memory alone, our ancestors create a lasting reminder with cave paintings." |
| Egypt | "Ages later, stories and knowledge are transcribed in complex pictures and symbols. Hieroglyphics mark the rise of written language and soon with papyrus scrolls, the written word begins to travel out across the land." |
| Phoenician Ship | "The value of writing for accurate record keeping appeals to Phoenician merchants. They create an alphabet, simple enough for any to learn and share this new tool at ports along the Mediterranean." |
| Greek Theater | "In classic Greece, the alphabet grows and flowers with new expression and a new stage of storytelling emerges. A stage on which we examine our world and ourselves. The theater is born." |
| Rome | "The Romans build a mighty system of roads, a long distance network to carry laws and tidings over a far-reaching empire." |
| Rome Burning | "Glorious Rome falls victim to the flames of excess. Ages of knowledge are lost or forgotten in the ashes." |
| Islamic and Jewish Scholars | "But all is not lost, for Islamic and Jewish scholars continue to preserve ancient wisdom in noble libraries. In their travels, they record knowledge, and share their findings with cultures East and West." |
| Benedictine Monks | "In western abbeys, monks toil endlessly transcribing ancient writings into hand penned books of revelation." |
| Renaissance | "The dawn of the Renaissance brings a wondrous new machine, the printing press. Now books and authors flourish as never before." |
| Sistine Chapel | "The Renaissance, a time of renewed interest in the worlds of poetry and music, science, philosophy, and art. Behold, the majesty of the Sistine ceiling." |
| 19th Century | "On this wave of inspiration, we sail into a bold, new era. An age of astounding inventions and ever increasing progress in communications." |
| 20th Century | "With electronic communications, we can send messages instantly over long distances. Signals and voices criss-cross the nation. Radio and movies inform and entertain millions. Then television brings the world into our homes, profoundly changing our perceptions of life itself." |
| Modern Times | "Today, we're merging the technologies of communications and computers to store, process and share information. And we're creating a vast electronic network stretching from our homes to the reaches of space." |
| Top of the Sphere | "We have entered a wondrous new age, the age of information. A time of new promise and new hope for ourselves and Spaceship Earth." |
| Final Descent | "In the information age, our knowledge and tools of communication will continue to grow and improve. We'll discover new ways to share our ideas and dreams, to create a better world for today, tomorrow and tomorrow's child." |
| Final Descent | "Yes, tomorrow's child. Embodying our hopes and dreams for the future, a future made possible by the information age. The technologies of this new era will extend our reach, expand the capabilities of the human mind and help us shape a better tomorrow. |
| Conclusion | Ours is a time of unprecedented choice and opportunity, so let us explore and question and understand. Let us learn from our past and meet the challenges of the future, let us go forth and fulfill our destiny on Spaceship Earth. |
| Unloading Area | (Female announcer) "The people of AT&T thank you for traveling through Spaceship Earth and look forward to serving you in the Information Age. For a look at today's Information Age technologies, we invite you to visit FutureCom in CommuniCore West. When the doors of your vehicle open, please gather your personal belongings, and step out onto the moving platform up ahead. The platform and your vehicle are traveling at equal speed. |
Third Incarnation: Jeremy Irons
In 1994, Spaceship Earth was once again refurbished. The only major change to the attraction, was that the final three scenes were removed. The 1970s scene, in which a boy worked on his laptop, the scene with a women on her computer and the scene with the network operators were all removed. A scene, depicting a young boy from America, communicating instantly with a young girl from Asia was added. After that, Music played as fiber optic lights traveled to a sphere, representing Earth. Guests would then go through a sphere as instrumental music played (replacing the song Tomorrows Child). Guests then entered the descension tunnel. Here a video showing a classroom could be seen. As a teacher taught her three students, children from other countries were listening on a video chat. Further down the tunnel, guests could see four dioramas depicting how telecommunications could help humans in the future. Two scenes where then shown, one showing a man in a cave and the other showing a women in a jungle. Both people were sending information to a futuristic city through fiber optics. Other minor changes during the refurbishment include:
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was added to a screen in cinema scene.
- The sounds of drums could be heard in the Rome scene.
- Cave painters were added to the cave men scene.
The attraction was also given another new narrator, this time Jeffery Ions. His narration can be read below:
| Scene | Narration |
| Loading Room | "AT&T welcomes you aboard Spaceship Earth. Journey with us now, to the dawn of recorded time as we explore the amazing story of human communication." |
| Ascension Tunnel | "Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time. And for a brief moment, we have been among its many passengers. From the very beginning, we have always sought to reach out to one another. To bridge the gaps between us. To communicate." |
| Wolly Mammoth and Cave Men | "Across a lonely, hostile planet, our early ancestors spread out in search of food and shelter." |
| Medicine Man in Cave | "With the development of language came a vital key to our survival. For the first time, we could share and learn from one another. We bonded together in small tribes and prospered. No longer isolated, no longer alone" |
| Egypt | "Ages later, the Egyptians invented the first written communication. A complex language of hieroglyphic pictures and symbols. With the creation of papyrus scrolls, came the world's first piece of paper. Now, without ever leaving their palaces, pharaohs could deliver proclamations and decrees to subjects across the land." |
| Phoenician Ship | "Phoenician merchants established the earliest commercial highways trading goods and information at distant ports of call. To aid in record keeping, they created the first common alphabet and shared this new tool across the Mediterranean." |
| Greek Theater | "In ancient Greece, the spoken word was elevated to a fine art. Philosophers debated with one another in plazas and storytellers found a new forum for personal expression. The theater was born." |
| Rome | "The mighty Roman empire bridged three continents with a vast system of roads, the fastest information highways the world had ever known. East, west, north, and south, all roads led to Rome." |
| Rome Burning | "But these same roads were turned against Rome by invaders whose destruction left ages of knowledge and wisdom in the ashes that would become the Dark Ages." |
| Islamic and Jewish Scholars | "But all was not lost. For far across the land, from Cairo to Cordoba, Jewish teachers and Islamic scholars continued the quest for knowledge. In libraries of wisdom they debated ideas and shared new discoveries with all who would listen." |
| Benedictine Monks | "In western abbeys, Monks toil endlessly in lonely isolation copying ancient books of wisdom and revelations for future generations." |
| Renaissance | "Finally, from the depths of the Dark Ages came the Age of Enlightenment, the Renaissance. And with this era, came a powerful new invention, the moveable type printing press" |
| Renaissance | "Scientists, explorers, and scholars spread their discoveries in books and essays. Poets, musicians, and artists fueled by the passion of the age created timeless works of beauty and majesty" |
| 19th Century | "On this wave of inspiration, we sailed into a bold, new era of communication bringing an explosion of tools and technologies which would bridge people around the world as never before. And as our appetite for information and knowledge grew, the world began to shrink." |
| Modern Times | "Today, we possess the ability to connect with one another instantly anywhere on the planet." |
| Modern Times | "A new communications supernetwork is being built before our eyes. Spaceship Earth glows with billions of interactions carrying news and information at the very speed of light" |
| Top of the Sphere | "But will these seemingly infinite communications become a flood of electronic babble? Or will we use this power to usher in a new age of understanding and co-operation on this, our Spaceship Earth." |
| Final Decent | "Physical distance is no longer a barrier to communication. Today, the entire world is our next door neighbor. Our news is their news, their news ours. We share our hopes and concerns with the whole planet. We truly live in a Global Neighborhood." |
| Final Decent- Classroom scene | "Wondrous new tools will help us learn more about ourselves, each other, and the planet we share. Spaceship Earth will become our virtual classroom." |
| Final Decent- Telecommunications dioramas | "As we greet the 21st century, yet another revolution in communication is upon us. As profound as all the progress that has come before. By using our new communication tools to build better bridges between us, we will discover we all share the common bonds of hope and sorrow, dreams and joys" |
| Conclusion | "Since the dawn of recorded time, communication has revolutionized our lives and changed our world. We now have the ability and the responsibility to build new bridges of acceptance and co-operation between us, to create a better world for ourselves and our children as we continue our amazing journey aboard Spaceship Earth" |
| Unloading Area (1994-1999) | (Female announcer) "AT&T thanks you for traveling with us on the superhighway of communications. We are dedicated to bringing people together providing you with easy access to each other and the information you want and need anytime, anywhere. We invite you now to preview the future of communications at the AT&T Global Neighborhood. And then at Innoventions, discover how AT&T is turning tomorrow's visions into reality today. Your vehicle doors will open automatically. Please gather your belongings and watch your step on the moving platform." |
| Unloading Area (1999-2004) | "AT&T thanks you for traveling with us on the superhighway of communications. We are dedicated to bringing people together providing you with easy access to each other and the information you want and need anytime, anywhere. We invite you now to preview the future of communications at the AT&T Global Neighborhood. And then at Innoventions, discover how AT&T is turning tomorrow's visions into reality today. Your vehicle doors will open automatically. Please gather your belongings and watch your step on the moving platform." |
Current Incarnation: Judi Dench
Changes
In 2004, AT&T chose to end its sponsorship of Spaceship Earth, leaving the pavilion sponsorless for the first time in its history. Spaceship Earth was not without a sponsor long however, because in 2005 Siemens announced that it would assume sponsorship of the pavilion as part of a 12 year 100 million dollar “strategic alliance” with the Walt Disney Company. In late 2005, the outside walls of the pavilion were painted light blue, and Siemen’s logo was added. Although the company planned to update the attraction, the refurbishment did not come until 2007 when Spaceship Earth closed for the most extensive renovation in the attraction’s history. Changes to Spaceship Earth during the 2007 refurbishment included:
- The addition of touch screens to the ride vehicles. Early in the attraction, the screens take guest’s picture for later use.
- The Woolly Mammoth and Cavemen scene was updated using CGI mammoths and cavemen.
- CGI was also used in the following scene; so that they cave paintings now seem to come to life.
- The Greek Play scene was removed and replaced with a new scene which focuses on the mathematical advancements and philosophies of the Greek thinkers. The scene now shows an elderly Greek thinker teaching his students about math. One of the students appears uninterested however, as he as fallen asleep.
- In the Renaissance scene, two musical players were removed, and the statue that the Italian is sculpting has been slightly altered.
- In the Printing Press scene, the man reading the printed newspaper was changed. He now wears glasses and has sideburns, as well as a new facial structure.
- The paper boy who was shown selling newspapers on the corner is now turned away from guests.
- The various screens in the Cinema scene (which once showed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) were removed.
- The Radio scene was altered, so that only a single man is now shown recording by himself.
- The scene that showed an American boy and Japanese girl communicating was removed. Replacing the scene was a new scene that focused on the early pioneers of the home computer (such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs). The scene now shows a young man with long hair and glasses working in his garage.
- Every subsequent scene in the attraction including: the view of Earth, the fiber optic lights, the researchers in the jungle and cave, the cities by the ocean, the four dioramas, and the video screens showing children were all removed and not replaced. At this point in the attraction guests now use their touchscreens to answer preference questions. After answering the questions, guests see a cartoon that shows different depictions of the future. The image of guests’ heads that was taken earlier in the attraction is superimposed on the cartoon bodies. After completing the interactive experience, the attraction reaches the unloading area and guests disembark.
Narration
| Scene | Narration | ||||||
| Loading Room (Where guests get their picture taken) | - | Ascension Tunnel | - | Wolly Mammoth and Cave Men | - | Medicine Man in Cave | “It takes fifteen thousand years to come up with the next bright idea: recording our knowledge on cave walls. There was only one small problem: when we moved, the recorded knowledge stayed behind.” |
| Egypt | " Now let’s move ahead to ancient Egypt, because something is about to happen here that will change the future forever. This unknown Egyptian pounding reeds flat is inventing papyrus, a soft paper. Papyrus in turn creates better record keeping of plans, designs, and unfortunately taxes. But it also brings with it the dawn of great civilizations.” | ||||||
| Phoenician Ship | "At this point, each civilization has its own form of writing which none of the others can understand. But the Phoenicians, who trade with all of them, have a solution. They create a simple, common alphabet adaptable to most languages. Remember how easy it was to learn your ABC’s? Thank the Phoenicians. | ||||||
| Greece | - | Rome | - | Rome Burning | - | Islamic and Jewish Scholars | " It turns out there were copies of these books in the libraries of the Middle East being watched over by Arabic and Jewish scholars. Call it the first back up system. The books are saved, and with them our dreams of the future." |
| Benedictine Monks | "In the meantime, here in Europe monks toil endlessly recording books by hand.." | ||||||
| Renaissance | " But that is about to change. In 1450, Guttenberg invents the movable type printing press. Now knowledge can travel as fast as these new books, and travel they do. Books make it easier to invent the future in every field, and the result is an incredible explosion of innovation we call the renaissance." | ||||||
| 19th Century | " Now communication technology races headlong into the future, and soon people all over the world are sharing life’s most important moments faster than ever before. By now we’re all communicating from anywhere on Earth, and in 1969 from somewhere else.." | ||||||
| Modern Times | "Today, we possess the ability to connect with one another instantly anywhere on the planet." | ||||||
| 1950s-1960s Computer Scene | "To send a man to the moon, we had to invent a new language spoken not by man, but by computers. At first very large and very expensive computers, but we see the potential. What if everyone could have one of these amazing machines in their own house? There’s just one problem- they’re as big as house." | ||||||
| Home Computer Scene | "After 30,000 years of time travel here we are. A truly global community networked online poised to shape the future of this, our Spaceship Earth." | ||||||
| Interactive Screen Narration- Instructions | “For the first time in history, all of us can have a say in the kind of world we want to live in. The choices we have made for the past 30,000 years have been inventing the future one day at a time.
And now it’s your turn. On your computer screen, answer a few questions. Then we’ll add a little future technology and show you a new world custom made just for you. Are you ready to create the future? Let’s get started.” | ||||||
| Interactive Screen Narration- After Choosing Preferences | "Well done. And now I believe your future is just about ready. Let’s take a look shall we?." | ||||||
| Interactive Screen Narration- After Seeing Vision of the Future | " Well, I think the future we’ve created looks very promising, don’t you? So here’s to the next the years on Spaceship Earth. While no one knows for sure what we’ll see or do, I do know it will be quite an adventure. An adventure we’ll take and make- together. See you in the future." | ||||||
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PostshowThe original Spaceship earth postshow was known as Earth Station. Here guests could visit guest relations, dining reservations or even preview some of Epcot's other attractions. The WorldKey Information kiosks allowed guests to video chat with a cast member who would assist them. Seven large projectors, projected previews of Epcot's other pavilion's onto the ceiling. The Earth Station postshow furthered the idea that Spaceship Earth was guests "welcome to Future World". In 1994, after renewing their sponsorship AT&T decided to redo the postshow. The new postshow featured five interactive exhibits, and was known as the Global Neighborhood. The exhibits in the postshow were:
In 1999, the postshow was renamed the "New Global Neighborhood". The only major change was that the Ride the AT&T Network simulator was replaced by a neon tree. The floor beneath the tree was transparent allowing guests to see it's roots. In 2007, following Siemens sponsorship and the refurbishment of the attraction, the post show was renamed Project Tomorrow: Inventing the Wonders of the Future. The post show opened with two interactive exhibits, but it is now up to five. The exhibits in the current postshow are:
The large globe in the post show also shows guests ride pictures, on the location that they said they were from. Fun Facts and Trivia
Referenceshttp://allears.net/tp/ep/e_spe.htm http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/misc/spaceshipearthscript.htm http://www.intercot.com/edc/SpaceshipEarth/spscript.html http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id183.htm http://boingboing.net/2012/06/07/ray-bradburys-original-conce.html http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/attractions/spaceship-earth/ |
