Totally OT:Spaceship Earth may be sticking around!

[X-S Tech]

http://www.screamscape.com/html/walt_disney_world.html

I usually don't put much stock in sites that are mostly posting boards for rumors but....

Screamscape is reporting that it's been determined that the cost of gutting Spaceship earth to install the new TimeRacers thrill ride would just be too costly. The current track is so tied into the overall structure of the geosphere that while it is possible to remove, it would be so expensive to do that it would just be cheaper to build a totally new structure. Isn't this great! Now this doesn't meant that the current show will continue to run but PERHAPS it means that whatever goes into this space will have to utilize the existing track, which MAY also mean that it will have to be slower paced, which COULD also mean that it'll involve elaborate AA scenes. So I guess we really don't know anything yet....

A suggestion. Put SSE TimeRacers into the Communicore/Innoventions Space. This way you have a thrill and a Show ride both focused on the Communication theme. You satisfy the purists and the Thrillseekers.

 

[GrizzlyHall]

Involve new AA scenes? Oy...that would be the day!

Actually, Spaceship Earth CAN be gutted...it's structured as one sphere inside of the other - so, no, it's not impossible.

I say keep SE as it is until they can show us they can do something like this right for once... :

Also...the new ride Imagineering has been throwing around (which is now on hold) would have Spaceship Earth remaining as "Spaceship Earth" (name-wise); Time Racers would be the POST-SHOW (almost like Mission Space, perhaps). No thrill ride or the like, either.

 

[xfkirsten]

Yay!!! I loev SE the way it is now. Although I do agree they need more thrill rides to bring in attendance. I like the Innoventions/Time Racers idea!

-Kirsten

 

[X-S Tech]

You mean the only way Disney can possibly get attendance is by adding thrill rides?!!! How did Disney survive prior to the 70's? The majority of EPCOT's supporters and fans could care less about thrill rides and would much prefer well themed innovative Disney attractions. To toss their cares aside in favor of the thrillseekers is to drop the fish you have in hand in favor of the one in the river.

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

We were approached for the exit interview at the MK last January. When I said that they needed more quality Disney Attractions like Pirates, HM and Splash the CM taking the information said that their survey results show people demanding more thrill attractions, and that they don't get many requests for classic Disney attractions anymore. Who is the population? People over 12 and under 25? I find it hard to believe that I am an outlier.

Just more short sighted planning I suspect.

 

[X-S Tech]

I hate to say that the public doesn't know what they want. But let's put it this way. Imagineers, and specifically the great ones who have given us stuff like Pirates, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion, are an extremely rare breed. They create things that other people can't even fathom. Thus when an average guest is asked what they would like to see added to the Magic Kingdom, they think over their trip: Haunted Mansion is totally unique, there is nothing else in the world like it. Pirates, totally unique, Splash Mountain, totally unique. Hmmmm... Space Mountain. Well that's a great roller coaster. Gee there are a lot of other kinds of roller coasters they could build. And then outloud they say, "I would like a few more roller coasters here.". To this guest it seems silly to say, "I want another Haunted Mansion" because the Haunted Mansions innovation is so much of what makes it unique, nor does the guest want it cloned. But their mind doesn't go to the third option of a "totally new attraction of the caliber of Pirates or Mansion". If the average guest walking through the crowd could imagine the great stuff before WDI created it, they'd be Imagineers themselves.

So I wonder what you're Guest Surveyor put as your answer. Did he mark that you wanted more high quality attractions or did he try to sway your vote based on what other people ask for?

 

[X-S Tech]

Oh no I'm not advocating SSE staying the way it is. But I don't want to see something unique and well done taken out for something less so, all in the name of the dollar. High quality and story bring in money too, but the current management has no experience with that first hand so they wouldn't know. I'm all for the growth of EPCOT and the "Discoveryland" design that was proposed looks great. It's all in the execution. If it's done with the care and skill that EPCOT was done with in 82, then it'll be awesome. But Soarin' at DCA is a bare bones attraction with no story and very very minimal theming. It's like the simulators that you ride in vegas. They take you into a black theatre and you can see the hydraulics under the seats and there's no attempt to hide any of the equipment. The fact that they are cloning it, even at EPCOT, makes me think they see an easy cheap way to up attendance and I doubt they will be willing to spend anything they don't have to.

 

[SFMike]

X-S Tech said:
The fact that they are cloning it, even at EPCOT, makes me think they see an easy cheap way to up attendance and I doubt they will be willing to spend anything they don't have to.

Boy are you right X-S Tech! And the proof in the Soarin' pudding is they are not even producing a new film that will fit into the "The Land" theme and are just using the California themed film already in use. I'm sure a new film for this attraction would cost a fraction of the money spent on such cinematic classics as "The Country Bears" movie and would be in use for a lot longer but they are just to cheap. Here in California, Soarin' is as you say a "bare bones attraction" There is minimal theming. If one looks at the original design for the attraction, which was at one time on the Disney site, there were some cool effects in the waiting area and an exhibit about the history of the aviation industry in California that was all stripped from the attraction to save money before it was finished. Now there are some historic pictures on the walls of a huge empty room. Thats it. So I would'nt get your hope up for anything special from whats left of Imagineering. Look on the bright side. You guys have the cool version of the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." We are getting the budget version of that great attraction without the forward moving cars or even the words "Twilight Zone" in the title because they would have to pay for that.

My question is how come they don't clone any of the new attractions designed for Tokyo Disney Seas in the US parks? I guess the quality level is just to high. Anyway you'll enjoy soarin' over California in Florida. Just keep your expectations at the current low Disney level in regard to the ride building. At least there are no plywood cutouts.......yet.

 

[Disney Bean Counte]

Those are the differences in the DCA TOT?

You know...I can see rebuilding a favorite attraction in another park, but what is wrong with trying to improve on the original? God...what a concept, eh?

And don't sell Disney short by complaining about the plywood flats...After all...sometimes they give us day-glo painted plywood flats. :'(

 

[X-S Tech]

Speaking of Plywood flats and the Soarin' queue....If you look closely at the pictures and captions in the interior Soarin queue they look like they are mounted on foam core. Apparently Plywood was an unecessary expense.

 

[GrizzlyHall]

Good news. A few weeks ago, the plan was put off. However, the plan was recently "killed" just a few days ago, so I'm told, as far as actually restructuring the ride.

Time Racers, the POST-SHOW, may still be built.

 

[cop4ever]

was down at wdw in augest and me and my wife meet another couple in there 30's like us and we both were talking that we seem to be a dying breed the ones who love classic disney rides like the peoplemover and carousel of progress.I feel that to add thrill rides whould be killingthe parks for me if i want thrill rides i can go to ant six flags park inthe country theres one almost everwhere and if not there is a thrill ride park in almost every town.I go to wdw and disneyland because i'm not a big fan of the thrill rides and disney has the classic story tellind rides i like.

 

[X-S Tech]

Regarding Tower of Terror at DCA, is it just in the title that they've dropped the Twilight Zone reference or will the preshow video and show elements be altered as well?

 

[s8ntmark]

No "twilight Zone?" Is this fer sure??

Hey XS, personally I think it will still be Twilight Zone inside solely because I doubt they would want to pay the amount it would cost to completely retheme the attarction...It would be a heck of a lot cheaper to just reuse the dvd of the presho video then to go to the trouble of getting new actors, a new story line, audio, music, etc.

Maybe TZ actually WILL be used when it comes down to it....we shall see

 

[Zarpman]

Interesting to note that before the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened at Disney-MGM Studios all of the promotional materials and such touted the "Twilight Zone" theming. Same goes to both Florida and Paris Rock n' Rollercoasters with their "starring Aerosmith" tags.

So far, none of the teasers or officialy released materials from Disney have mentioned "The Twilight Zone" story line for their new Tower of terror at DCA. This could be that they are installing the show but don't yet want to fork out the money to actually use the name, or (given the apparently scaled back nature of this ride from the Florida counterpart anyway) that it could truly not use the Twilight Zone elements altogether. They might then base it on that horrible "Tower of Terror" movie Disney made back in the 1990's (with Steve Guttenberg).

On a side note, it's interesting to mention that on official guide maps and such Disney always uses the full names (including their trademarked sponsors or affiliations) while Pal Mickey seems to omit them (calling Disney-MGM Studios the "Movie Studio", and the other rides simply "Rock n' Rollercoaster" and "Tower f Terror".) I'm sure there's some legal reason for the inconsistancy, so perhaps the fact that everyone thinks the Twilight Zone won't be used in the new California attraction could be side-effect of that very reason.

Okay, my head hurts now.

 

[Jessica L]

I know this has been long forgotten and I apologize for beating a dead horse (er, topic) - but I just wanted to say that not all teenagers are thrill-ride crazy. I am probably one of the biggest Epcot fans around - pre-1994 Epcot that is. My favorite attraction has always been the original Journey Into Imagination, with World of Motion and Horizons coming in close behind. Yes, I love Space Mountain, ToT, and RnRC, but I love the slow, AA-full rides even more. And most of my friends feel the same way. It's a shame all teens have been painted with the same brush - just wanted to step up and add my voice to the matter.

Jessica