As times have changed, the Spaceship Earth attraction at EPCOT has changed with them. Opening in 1982, the ride received massive overhauls in 1986, 1994, and 2007, usually with the departure or addition of a corporate sponsor. With over a decade since the last reimagining, coupled with the 2017 departure of Siemens, Walt Disney Imagineering is ramping up for another round of changes to the park’s icon attraction.
Spaceship Earth is more than just the physical icon of EPCOT – it’s a symbol of how the park continues to evolve. The attraction is a crucial piece of the historic transformation already underway at EPCOT, and the team at Walt Disney Imagineering will officially begin implementing their new vision for Spaceship Earth starting May 26.
We first announced the closure back in October 2018, and still expect the closure to last about two and a half years as part of the park’s massive overhaul, which includes a new building for the exit of the attraction, and potentially a new name, as revealed during the 2019 D23 Expo: “Spaceship Earth: Our Shared Story.” As with all the changes overtaking the park, this reimagining promises to make the attraction––in newly-appointed CEO Bob Chapek’s words––“more Disney, more family, more timeless, and more relevant.”
The overhaul will be so thorough that it will require the ride to close at least until the park’s 40th anniversary in the second half of 2022, possibly leading into 2023. That’s basically two and half years without Spaceship Earth in our lives. Why would a project like this take so long? Well, needless to say, there’s a lot to it. Spaceship Earth is aging, and it’s about time for the entire ride track to be overhauled.
As we’ve previously reported, the ride inside of Spaceship Earth will also see a refreshing of all scenes leading up to the Industrial Revolution portion (where newspapers are being printed as a young boy sells them steps away), with changes on a greater scale coming to every scene following that, all the way to the end of the ride. Today’s announcement comes paired with a new piece of concept art, which shows a heavily-altered Egyptian scene from the ride.
Here’s the full announcement from WDI:
This means Spaceship Earth in its current form will close for a time starting that day, and the ideas we are working on inside that geosphere will be well worth the wait. As we shared at last year’s D23 Expo, the next iteration of Spaceship Earth will focus on the story of humanity, following our long journey from prehistoric humans to today brought to life with magic and depth that only Disney can deliver. Many of the moments you know and love will be updated in amazing ways, blended with brand-new scenes to tell a story about our human experience.
Today we’re excited to share a few additional details of what you can expect when this icon returns. You’ll visit Egypt, which is part of the current version of the attraction, but it will be an Egypt like you’ve never seen before, transformed through the power of light.
Throughout the attraction, you’ll hear new narration and see how light plays a central role in our shared human journey, coming to life in dynamic ways in a celebration of the magic that’s possible when we all come together.
Walt Disney once said EPCOT “would always be in a state of becoming,” and Spaceship Earth has lived up to that vision for generations. This will be the attraction’s fourth – and most ambitious – update since the park’s grand opening on Oct. 1, 1982.
Did they give an estimate on the downtime?
Read the article.
Will they replace the ride vehicles and track? I mean its been the same since like 1982.
One would hope so, but with the Chapek announcement, I wouldnt be surprised if all they get is a new paint job. :-(
So long old friend :(
I’m not going to like this!
Why? You literally know nothing about the refurbishment to like it or not like it.
Maybe instead of being a story that follows the journey of humanity, it is rethemed as “Spaceship Disney”. We travel through the history of Disney, climbing through the sphere with the evolution from the cartoons, to movies, to film studio, theme parks, marketing machine, etc. And then at the very end, when we think we have reached the top, we plummet into the fiery depths of Chapek-hell. But I think he’ll get us there faster than 2 1/2 years!
That’s an excellent idea!!!
Here’s my thought. Why shut down a major ride before a new major ride opens (Remy)? Why not wait to close it once Remy opens? We have a trip planned for June 3-10. So Spaceship earth will be down, yet there won’t be an alternative! Glad we are only planning one day at Epcot.
Who says it’s before Remy opens?
Remy’s earliest estimated opening time is the summer.
Memorial Day is considered the start of the summer season for the parks.
Who spends an entire day at Epcot? 1/2 at Epcot and 1/2 at Animal Kingdom is enough for us.
I hope Chapek doesn’t turn Spaceship Earth into a t-shirt stand.
Oh, man. I was silly enough to be optimistic about this, but I can tell from what they’ve put out here that they. Do. Not. Get. It.
Ok, but can Dame Judy Dench continue to provide narration and tell us to thank the Phoenicians?
“Those window blinds you love? You can thank the Venetians!”
Ugh! Seriously disappointed to see this. We have a trip planned at the end of June and were looking forward to riding this for the first time since we were last there in 2003 and with our kids. Why can’t they wait until after summer to start?!?!?!
I have fast passes for this ride on the 27th. What will they do about that???
Of May? Are you from the future because those aren’t available yet.
Coach Fred could have fastpasses in May if he is staying in a club level room and purchased the extra fastpasses, unless they discontinued that service since last year.
I thought they did.
Why would you waste a fastpass on spaceship earth? The line is like 2 minutes long.
I hope they dont change too much of the narrative in the first half. There is a great question to ponder during the fall of Rome. “Where would we be if Rome didn’t fall and lose all of that information?” That question always sticks with me.
Thank you Phoenicians
I will judge this refurbishment by one metric: Will Foxy Brown survive the update or not?
Just one question, may 26 will still work and the 27 wont?? Thank you
No, May 25th is the last day
I will miss this ride but am always optimistic about new changes. Glad I got to ride one last time in December. Good bye old friend.
It’s a shame I don’t get there in time to ride it one last time. But given we knew it was closing this year I made sure to take extra notice of how awesome it is back in August…I’m surprised they are even keeping it open until May TBH.
On one hand I am looking forward to a new update, but on the other hand I’m not getting my hopes up.
We’ve had other lengthy closures in the past and the versions that followed have been underwhelming. Yes, there have been some cool new scenes added (like the garage), but they also just made pointless changes (like moving the newspaper boy) or removed all the end scenes (which seem to still be there but behind a curtain).
Also, getting a new narrator, recording it all over but not bothering to change the script felt lazy.
When we get closer to the fall trip we’ll have to check and see how much of Epcot is closed before deciding if we’ll bother to go there.
Suddenly I feel something, something I have felt back in January 1999, this dread!!!
A much needed improvement but I agree it’s hard to let go of such traditional rides/shows etc. I often think, what if the parks have never brought in new ideas? Just think if every single ride was exactly the same since each park opening? Would we visiting critics ever think “why don’t they add something new?” or for that matter would our love for Disney stay as deep as it is right now? I would move on from Disney if they stopped being creative. Each new ceo/pres/exec who comes in has proven to have great ideas and strengths, I support them and their direction at the given time, they are there for a reason. Change is a good thing and it’s ok, hakuna matata!!!!