Spaceship Earth Rehab

[Kerry823]

Just got back from 8 days at the World. I personally love Spaceship Earth...well, the old version. I was very disappointed with the rehab. Here is why....The new scenes are good, however, Judi Dench does not fit here. Jeremy Irons was awesome as the narrator. The music score behind him was fantastic and his narrating ability was far superior to hers. I found myself tuning her out and with little or no background music, the ride has lost its sense of majesty in my opinion. I went in with an open mind, but only rode it once this trip and truthfully can say I don't care if I ever go on it again. This was one of my favorites in the past and would ride it at least twice each day I was in EPCOT...sometimes more. I am sad. Let's just say...change is not always good.

On a brighter note, I think that the Haunted Mansion Rehab was great! I liked everything about it. The maze of staircases and Leota's floating head were awesome! I also liked the new bride area much better. This attraction has only gotten better!

[Disdude]

I would not say that I'm a purist and that I generally have liked what Disney has done to freshen up or plus attractions. I will however, say that I was very disappointed with Spaceship Earth as well. The new scenes are okay but I really don't understand the new interactive portion. I guess I went in with hope that it would be like the old Horizons but it just seemed pointless to me.

[Von-Drake]

I thought they did a good job with the rehab, the new scenes were good, everything looked sharper, probably the result of good dusting and cleaning. Judi Dench did not do a bad job, though as stated, no Jeremy Irons. The interactive portion seemed part survey, part entertainment and did take the focus off the boring, poorly decorated descent part of the ride. My son, thought it was hilarious to see his face on one of the people in the interactive portion.

[Marker]

For me, I still enjoy the ride. I think the upgraded scenes look great, I really like what they did with them. I will agree that I like the old narration better, but I do not dislike the new one. Although for me, it's not so much the voice difference, but rather the tone of the narration. I think the new version sounds aimed at a younger audience. Some of the wording sounds a bit more elementary. But I'm ok with that. Perhaps it will better catch the ear of younger folks, and still get the message out for us no as young folks.

And I also enjoyed the interactive addition. Granted for frequent return riders it will probably get a old, for the audience that does not return as frequently ( likely the significant majority ) I think it's a really nice addition. And coupled with the riders face being used, is certainly a huge draw for younger riders.

So all-in-all, I think it will have a greater appeal than ever before for younger and less frequent riders. And, I liked it too.

Except I still wonder about the paper boy being back in the corner.

[brewcrew26]

I didn't mind Judi Dench as the new narrator. But for a few minutes, DH and I were joking how "M" from James Bond was taking us on a journey through communication's history. I do miss Jeremy Irons, though. He had that certain je nais sai quo.

The new computer screens on the time travelers were somewhat annoying. I felt like they were trying to keep track of where all the riders were coming from and using it as a research method. It could definitely get old because there are only so many options you can probably choose and, for us, it seemed like it took forever for the scenario to load.

I did enjoy some of the post-ride games like the 3-D bone surgery thingy. It was kinda entertaining.