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Spaceship Earth Review

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Spaceship Earth

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Category: Amusement Parks
Location: Epcot

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Fodor's Review:

Duration: 15 min.

Crowds: Longest during the morning and shortest just before closing.

Strategy: Ride while you're waiting for your Mission: SPACE or Test Track appointments.

Audience: All ages.

Rating: ***

Balanced like a giant golf ball waiting for some celestial being to tee off, the multifaceted silver geosphere of Spaceship Earth is to Epcot what Cinderella Castle is to the Magic Kingdom. As much a landmark as an icon, it can be seen on a clear day from an airplane flying down either coast of Florida.

Inside the ball, the Spaceship Earth ride transports you past a series of tableaux that explore human progress and the continuing search for better forms of communication. In 2008 Disney Imagineers upgraded the ride to present new and enhanced scenes with more vibrant sets and lighting effects. Most of the Audio-Animatronics figures received hair and costume makeovers, and their movements were tweaked so they appear noticeably more lifelike. The script, by science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, in the past was narrated by Walter Cronkite and, more recently, Jeremy Irons. For the updated experience, Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench narrates the journey that begins in the darkest tunnels of time, proceeds through history, and ends poised on the edge of the future. For the first time on a Disney ride, the narration also is offered in French, Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Ten-time Emmy winner Bruce Broughton composed the new musical score.

Audio-Animatronics figures present Cro-Magnon man daubing mystic paintings on cave walls, Egyptian scribes scratching hieroglyphics on papyrus, Roman centurions building roads, Islamic scholars mapping the heavens, and 11th- and 12th-century Benedictine monks hand-copying ancient manuscripts. As you move into the Renaissance, Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel, Gutenberg invents the printing press, and in rapid succession, the telegraph, radio, television, and computer come into being. New scenes depict a family viewing the moon landing on TV, a massive two-story computer room circa 1960s, and a '70s garage where the personal computer was born. As your ride vehicle swings backward and descends slowly, there's new interactive fun for riders. Touch screens quiz guests about how they envision their own future, then play back an animated, "Jetsonesque" scenario based on the answers. Siemans, which presents the higher-tech attraction, created a fun-packed post show with high-demand interactive games that involve simulated driving, piecing together a digital human body, and managing a growing city's power grid. As you exit the ride and enter the post show, watch the giant digital map screen to see your photo taken during the ride and posted in your hometown location.

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