Spaceship Earth

[X-S Tech]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/cu...0,4780999.story

Orlando Sentinel reports Judi Dench also and soft openings in Mid December!

 

[Horizons]

I was lucky enough to ride it twice this morning.

- Score is fantastic! I wasn't too pleased with Broughton's score for O'Canada (except for the load music), but I think he hit it out of the park with this one (sorry Bill). My only complaint is that it wasn't being played loud enough.

- Entrance BGM is very short, maybe 3 - 4 minutes, but looped.

- First half of the attraction is amazing. Lot of updates and new scenes.

- I'll let everyone else decide on the 2nd half.

- Narration was ok in my opinion. I prefer Jeremy Irons.

 

[diegorivera2]

Good news, Horizons,

I was excited by the news from MouseFest that a sneak-peek (can't even call it a soft-opening) had been made available. Did you notice if the music spilled over to the Siemens exhibit? When I was there in Nov. there was nothing at all in the exhibit area.

 

[Horizons]

The same music in the post-show was playing today that has been playing since the post-show opened.

The exterior BGM plays all around SSE, except the back of the building, as well as throughout the exterior queue (approximately 2:10 long).

 

[Magic Music]

I rode Spaceship Earth twice last night. The new score is forgettable at best. And, as far as the new ending goes, I wish I could forget it! What a nightmare! All of the improvements on the way up are completely negated by the trip down!

The new script is awful! A joke about taxes... Rome as the first world wide web... Arabic scholars as the first back up system... Ugh!

Be sure to keep your eyes fixed on the pointless cartoon on your LCD monitor for the four minute descent if you don't want to see the ugly remnants of the previous fiber optic effects that are still there but no longer working.

They need to have a Bean Bunny figure at the bottom of the ride saying, "Heh! What a lame ending!"

The message boards are filling up with complaints...

 

[Magic Music]

"forgettable at best"

Hmm...what is it at worst?

Bill, I'd love to tell you... but I forgot everything about it the second I was out of there!

Believe me, it's forgettable. Lest you think I'm the only one who thinks so, check the various Disney message boards, and those who bother to mention anything about the music are saying the same thing as me, that it's "forgettable."

Whatever Horizons was smoking before he got onto Spaceship Earth... that prompted him to say the new score is "fantastic"... all I can say is that it must have been some high quality stuff!

Some quotes from WDWMagic:

The musical score feels bland.

there is no audible score traveling with you through the attraction

The score is forgettable. It's OK, but doesnt stand out like the previous versions, and doesn't seem to flow through the attraction.

The 180top. The music should feel grand, sweeping, a climax unto itself. As a soundtrack lover, how it is now is very underwhelming.

When I think of Epcot's music I always think of Grand and Powerful and Majestic and Inspired. This music was just, nice.

I also agree that the music is just "eh".

I am longing for the previous version.

As for the music, another big dissapointment in my opinion, was not expecting it like that.

The current composer is great but I don't think his style fits right with SSE.

whats so disappointing is that I'm a HUGE FAN of Bruce Broughton

I don't remember and can't whistle a single thing...

Boo to the new music

But the score, narration, and descent portion of the ride are an absolute joke.

The music in the Sistine Chapel is so out of place; it sounds like there's a renaisance radio playing on set. It just dosn't match the rest of the score. Speaking of which it is a definate groaner.

The soundtrack. Well, not great. Forgettable for sure. My main music taste in life is movie soundtracks and rides and I've probably listened to hundreds so I know what to me is a good music score and not. And this...well not. I really didn't like the transition from the choral type music in the european scene to the factory jolly music. That really just confused me.

The score is unappealing; I couldn't remember a single bit of it within 2 minutes of leaving, while the previous would remain for days.

AA's and the computer room were great. Music, descent, and Judy Dench were not.

The musical score, from a musician's perspective, doesn't fit in as well as I would have liked (either that or I'm so used to the old score and it will just have to grow on me).

The music for the attraction was overall quite bland. In many parts the music felt too happy-go-lucky, which gave the feeling of not taking anything too seriously. There is no grand climax at the apex of the sphere as the ride vehicles turn for a view of the distant earth, nor is there any sort of grand finale (as there once was) as you make your descent.

DISLIKE - The new music. It's completely forgettable and lacks the punch of the previous version.

I found the music mediocre at best

I have no problem with the narration changes .. but the music? What the heck happened?

...and a musical score that is almost non-existant and soooo forgettable.

 

[Horizons]

Not smoking anything. I just know good music when I hear it. The fact that you have a contrary opinion does not make my opinion incorrect (or vice versa). Obviously, it's a subjective matter. I doubt that I am the sole person who likes it just as much as the previous version.

 

[Magic Music]

Obviously, it's a subjective matter.

Very true. Baskin-Robbins doesn't sell 31 flavors of ice cream for nothing. And I understand record stores actually do sell CDs containing hip hop and rap music.

Note the after my comment about your smoking something before you went on the ride.

 

[s8ntmark]

I just watched it on Youtube and I agree, Judi Dench's voice sounds very shrill....if only i could have understood anything she said

I actually kind of liked the music, its just that there weren't any strong themes.

 

[Dr. Know]

Its amusing how people's intial reactions to a new score will often be negative, and then as the years go on, they will become attached to it. Mark my words, when Spaceship Earth is overhauled again in 2013, these same complainers will bemoan the replacement of Broughton's score with something different.

From what I've heard of the new soundtrack, it sounds terrific. Wouldn't it be nice of Mr. Thornton provided us with a nice long track on the new official album, something akin to the infinitely less deserving "Lights, Motor, Action" cue on the last OA. I am cautiously optimistic that we'll get some of Broughton's score, given Disney's presumed desire to suck up to the attraction's new sponsors, and the lack of a drippy song that would otherwise be showcased on the album. Time will tell....

 

[Horizons]

I was wondering when you would be getting into the debate!

 

[Dr. Know]

Cue Bill with some smart-alecky response to my comment.....

 

[Horizons]

Wow - right on cue. Good timing Bill.

I rode it again a few times this evening and I think the score just keeps getting better (imo of course).

 

[X-S Tech]

I got to ride it once a few nights ago. Musically, I didn't notice anything memorable except for the exterior score. I remember thinking that it seemed to incorporate the general theme of the 2006 Epcot Main Entrance loop, but I could be totally wrong about this. I liked the overall tone of exterior music but would really have to sit and listen to it to judge it well.

As for the ride itself----SPOILERS AHEAD-----------------------------











It's tragic what they've done to the last half. They seem to really have taken loving care to improve or at least preserve the quality of the ride up to the top, but as son as you head down, all you have are the screens in front of you. The rest is just boring starfield, meant to be boring so you can pay attention to your screens. The video that you see is the sort of thing that has been done elsewhere in the resort at free kiosks where you send an animated postcard of your face on an animated body- this is supposed to be the big finale?! Is it a thrill for anyone that a computer can take answers that we gave and incorporate them in to a short cartoon, superimposing our faces onto the characters? This would have been perfect for the postshow, but it seems beyond rediculous as part of the attraction. What's mindboggling is that just when I think that WDI has "got it" again, putting together an otherwise nice refurb, they pull something like this, where the appeal of a buzz word like "interactive" obviously blinded a lot of people to the oft forgotten mantra- "quality".

 

[Horizons]

X-S - Do you think the score was not memorable because it was difficult to hear? I noticed on the first day I was able to ride it, the music seemed to be playing rather low. Last night, it seemed to be louder and really, to me, made a big difference.

 

[Steve LeVine]

I am all about memorable songs.  The odds of me listening to a score in my car are about zero.

 

[X-S Tech]

Yeah Horizons it could easily be that I just couldn't hear enough of the score. It was audible enough at the top with the earth projection, but what with trying to videotape, sitting next to my daughter and all of her questions, and just still trying to absorb that I was actually on SSE again, one ride just wasn't enough to adequately judge the music. I'll have to see if I can tell from my video.

 

[Dr. Know]

I am all about memorable songs. The odds of me listening to a score in my car are about zero.

I am all about memorable score.  The odds of me listening to a song in my car are about zero.

 

[X-S Tech]

Maybe you do it all the time and just don't remember.

 

[Zarpman]

Was at WDW last week and got a chance to try out the new SSE. Without giving away any spoilers, I can echo the voices of many of you who have experienced it. The beginning of the ride is such a thrill to see, especially in the eyes of a Disney "fanboy", but the second half of the attraction pales in comparison to its predecessor. Perhaps if we could have kept the second half of the ride, replaced the first half with what we have now, then we'd have something special.

The music wasn't very loud during my ride-through, but I suspected they were still adjusting audio levels, lighting, etc. What I heard was very nice, although without the same "power" of the previous pieces. Then again, if they are to match the tone of the second half, I'd say they were too powerful. I don't generally expecting a rousing orchestra when watching an animation that is better suited for the side bar of a website than a signature theme park attraction.

Tomorrow's child is apparently a vector-based animated graphic that has less optimism than Disney did in 1966. Now THAT'S progress. Blah.