Spaceship Earth officially reopened on October 25, following a two month refurbishment. There have been a lot of questions about what has changed, so I thought I’d share my observations.
As I stated, Spaceship Earth was closed only for two months. That’s not nearly enough time for any major changes. I think that part of the confusion stems from an announcement of a major refurbishment back in late 2018. The icon was to close in 2020, and would be closed for two and a half years. Those plans were scrapped because of the Covid shutdown, never to be mentioned again.
Two months isn’t enough time for major changes. It isn’t really enough for minor ones! I joked with my daughter that the biggest change that I noticed was that there is now a white arrow on the floor of the ride vehicle. I don’t think that was there before, but it might have been. If it was, it’s been reapplied.
The audio-animatronics were all in top working order when we rode. The movements seemed more fluid to me. I also noticed some subtle differences with the lighting. The biggest difference to me was the paper boy, who was really in the dark. He’s still facing backwards. If I didn’t know the ride, I probably wouldn’t have seen him there at all.
Rome is still burning. The scent was stronger than the last time that we rode before the refurbishment. I’ve noticed over the years that the amount of the smoke scent varies, so this might not be a change.
For those who are worried, Judi Dench still narrates. That hasn’t changed at all. I’ve added some videos on Facebook and Instagram, and you can’t hear the narration all that well on them. Rest assured, you’ll hear it just fine when you ride. It’s hard to hear on the videos because my phone wasn’t near the speaker.
The other thing that might be different is the “your future” segment at the end. My daughter and I have ridden Spaceship Earth probably more than any ride at Walt Disney World, with the exception of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. We had a “future” that we’ve never had before. I don’t know if more scenarios were added, or if we just somehow hadn’t picked those choices before.
We never spend time in Project Tomorrow. I can’t tell you if anything in there changed.
Those are my observations after riding the recently refurbished Spaceship Earth. For those of you who were worried, it’s still the ride that you know and love. There weren’t any major changes. The refurbishment was routine, just a chance to clean things up and make sure that your journey through time runs smoothly.