Y’all. We have some AMAZING news from EPCOT. Spaceship Earth has soft opened seven days (yep, a whole WEEK!) ahead of its original reopening date.
We’ll admit we’ve been missing hearing Dame Judi Dench’s narration on Spaceship Earth in EPCOT since it’s been closed. The ride closed in August for a refurbishment. Well, Spaceship Earth was not supposed to reopen until October 25th, but y’all, we visited EPCOT today and were met with a lovely surprise: Spaceship Earth has soft opened.
Yep, that’s right, Spaceship Earth opened and we made a BEELINE over to the big golf ball (we know it’s actually a geodesic sphere…don’t come for us) to hop on a ride to see if we could spot any changes during the refurbishment. Granted, we knew the refurbishment was probably just some much-needed maintenance. Either way, YAY! You can bet we’re ready to explore the past, present, and future of human communication.
It’s OPEN!
So, what’s changed? Well, the ride seems mildly refreshed, and it seems like some of the animatronics are moving a little more fluidly. We asked a Cast Member, who told us the ride just got a little routine maintenance. The photo capture part of the ride, though, still isn’t…well…great, so there’s that. Our ride photo had us looking like bits and pieces of a hat and face. NOT flattering, but, oh, well. At least the ride itself is back!
It’s looking a little fresher.
Technically, the only indication we had of an official opening date was thanks to the hours listed on the Disney World website, and, well, those often change. Still, the ride opening a week before it was scheduled to reopen must be some kind of record. So thank you, Disney! Note that you won’t find times on the Disney World website or My Disney Experience app (we checked), so this seems to be a soft reopening. That means it could still be closed the next few days until the official reopening date on October 25th.
Thank the Phoenicians
Now, we have to remind you that this has nothing to do with the Spaceship Earth update that was originally announced with the big EPCOT transformation. That particular project ended up on a back burner, and as of yet, Disney has not announced plans to revive it, even if Spaceship Earth really needs some updating. At least the exterior lighting on the big golf ball got a SERIOUS glow-up.
Look at the colors…
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more news in Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB for more.
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LOVE Spaceship Earth and agree, hope the photo/visit to the future interactive portion is the next thing to get some love. I fear, however, that because that part of the experience has been declining for a long time, that the plan is to eventually remove it altogether. We really enjoyed the interactive options and sending the video postcard home. The tech has come a long way – I hope that this is included (and updated) in the next major refurb. But I hope at a minimum that they will include a ride photo if they do take the interactive piece away.
I heard they didn’t fix the paperboy.
Cautiously optimistic.
We love the big “golf ball” too. On our very first Disney trip, my daughter was six at the time and all she wanted to do at EPCOT was ride the big golf ball. So the name stuck and now some 30 years later we still lovingly say the Big Golf Ball.