Spaceship Earth!

[PirateLover]

Just to clarify, yes, the Judy Dench narration does include "This, our Spaceship Earth."
I still love the ride, and we make it a point to go on it multiple times, but I preferred the previous iterations.

[hauntedmansiongirl]

I love SSE! And surprisingly, so does my roller coaster loving husband. So we ride it at least 10 times every trip. And it never gets old. I loved the old and I love the new... And we really enjoy the computer screens. We always make a goofy face for the camera and laugh at ourselves both in the computer and afterwords in the exit arcade on the big globe! And we always have to play the 3D skeleton game.

[Gator]

I'm not sure which version you were listening to, but, as far as I can recall, the current Dench version doesn't have this quote. The Jeremy Irons version *did* - and the music peaked for your journey back down to the Global Neighborhood.

I've got it on home video with her saying exactly that line. Look for "Spaceship Earth - Dame Judi Dench" by WDWFacts on youtube. Click to about 18:50 and you'll hear it.

[BhamWriter]

I love SE, too, and it's my youngest son's all-time favorite WDW ride (he's 26 now, but it's been his favorite for years).

I sometimes count the number of time Ms. Dench says "futah" (14, I think).

I miss "Behold, the majesty of the Sistine Chapel" (or something similar). Now, you pass under it without narration (but still hear "The Hallelujah Chorus").

[Main Street Jim]

I've got it on home video with her saying exactly that line. Look for "Spaceship Earth - Dame Judi Dench" by WDWFacts on youtube. Click to about 18:50 and you'll hear it.

*Eh*...doesn't evoke quite the same....*emotion*....as the Jeremy Irons version.

"After 30,000 years of time travel, here we are: a truly global community, poised to shape the future of this....our Spaceship Earth."

[DizneyFreak2002]

Judy Dench does not have that "majestic" voice this attraction should have.... She is monotone and coma inducing... The beginning of the attraction, the first half show scenes are just fine... The last half is a disgrace... WDI should be ashamed... Siemens should be embarrassed they floated the money for this one...

If they didn't want Jeremy Irons back, Patrick Stewart would have been the obvious choice.. or James Earl Jones... Morgan Freeman... Judy Dench? FAIL.... The script? Bigger fail... The script was written, it seems, on a 1st grade reading/writing level.. Seriously, listening to it feels like they are talking to a 5 year old...

[Polynesian Dweller]

I too preferred Jeremy Irons but it was Siemens that didn't. Or rather they wanted everything that had to do with the AT&T version be taken out and that included all the stuff in the final drop. Siemens pays the bills so they got what they wanted.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

Of course the "peak" of the ride doesn't show the kids in two different countries talking and the mom singing her son a lullaby. That time is here. We have that kind of technology already. It would look antiquated if they kept things that have already happened on the portion where we look toward the future.

I like Dame Judi, but I LOVE Jeremy Irons. Funny story: DBF rode it said he liked Dame Judi. I said "Yeah, not bad. Although Jeremy Irons used to do the narr..." and he cut me off and said "BRING BACK JEREMY IRONS!" even though he never experienced that version of the ride.

[Melanie]

Like a grand and miraculous spaceship.......

Ah, yes, SE is a shell of what it used to be. I miss the earlier versions. The script, the (lack of) scenery, the deep voice, etc. It's all lacking, IMO.

I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the original Future World, as I sit here listening to The Living Seas original preshow....the deluge!

Funny story when we first rode SE after the most recent redo, my then 12 yo son immediately says "It's M!" We love us some James Bond. And we love Dame Judi. She's just not right for SE.

[dnickels]

Ah, yes, SE is a shell of what it used to be. I miss the earlier versions. The script, the (lack of) scenery, the deep voice, etc. It's all lacking, IMO.

I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the original Future World, as I sit here listening to The Living Seas original preshow....the deluge!

That's pretty much the way I feel about Spaceship Earth and most of Future World. The prime Future World attractions told a story that described the beginning, the present, and the future of whatever field or technology the ride/pavilion was geared towards. Now they're almost entirely cartoons or celebrities and the scripts that remain have been dumbed-down to the point of absurdity.

[Mickey'sGirl]

A little off topic ..... but, I remember going through as a teenager (during the Cronkite era) and then going outside and booking our dinner reservations at one of the interactive kiosks right there!

[Melanie]

A little off topic ..... but, I remember going through as a teenager (during the Cronkite era) and then going outside and booking our dinner reservations at one of the interactive kiosks right there!

Oh yeah Jen, I remember that well. We would go first thing in the morning and book our reservation. The good old days before PS's.

[Dulcee]

Like a grand and miraculous spaceship.......

Ah, yes, SE is a shell of what it used to be. I miss the earlier versions. The script, the (lack of) scenery, the deep voice, etc. It's all lacking, IMO.

I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the original Future World, as I sit here listening to The Living Seas original preshow....the deluge!

Funny story when we first rode SE after the most recent redo, my then 12 yo son immediately says "It's M!" We love us some James Bond. And we love Dame Judi. She's just not right for SE.

DH was just laughing at me the other day for listening to that. All I can say is that preshow may have had a lot to do with me pursuing a research career in science.

[Altair]

"Behold, the majesty of the Sistine ceiling." - Walter Cronkite.

I really miss that line.

[Bruegge]

A little off topic ..... but, I remember going through as a teenager (during the Cronkite era) and then going outside and booking our dinner reservations at one of the interactive kiosks right there!

1989... I don't know how long the kiosk with video of your reservation CM was around .. but it was in 1989.. I booked upstairs at Chefs.. don't remember what it was called.. bistro maybe... To THAT date.. most expensive Lunch the Wife and I had together...$62.00... We still mention that place today.

[BlueDorrie]

I love SSE and I adored the Jeremy Irons naration. Judi Dench, not so much. I love her as an actress but she sounds so condesending on the naration. But I will still ride SSE as many times as I can because its still so fantastic and relaxing.

[Spang88]

I'm not 100% sure, but I thought the quote "this...our spaceship earth" is still in there at the peak (as of last November when we most recently rode the ride).

I love SSE because of what it means to the whole Epcot concept. I may be biased a bit being a high school Social Studies teacher lol.

I must admit my two kids 6 and 8, love this ride as well. They also really enjoy the interactive computer segment on the way down, so maybe it appeals to that generation. While I do miss what they have taken out on the way down, I understand the current version's place in the ride as it is a hands-on look at recent communication developments.

Very cool ride then and now in my opinion.

Great discussion everyone!

[BhamWriter]

"Behold, the majesty of the Sistine ceiling." - Walter Cronkite.

I really miss that line.

Ah, thanks for reminding me of the exact line. I believe Irons used the same line.

[Ian]

I hate the new version and loved the prior versions. I find the Judy Dench narration to be one of the worst they've ever done. First off her voice and tone is completely wrong for a ride as majestic and epic as Spaceship Earth once was. She comes off as pedantic and condescending and it just totally ruins it.

Disney managed to take an attraction that was once in my top ten and drive it through the floor.

Like a grand and miraculous spaceship.......

Ah, yes, SE is a shell of what it used to be. I miss the earlier versions. The script, the (lack of) scenery, the deep voice, etc. It's all lacking, IMO.

I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the original Future World, as I sit here listening to The Living Seas original preshow....the deluge!

[Gator]

Disney managed to take an attraction that was once in my top ten and drive it through the floor.

See, this is what I just don't get. Now if Ellen, Kelly Rippa, or Oprah did the narration, then I'd get the disgust. But I'm not getting the hate for M. Such a cool voice. Plus, the music is so much better than it once was. When the music changed, it was "about time" as it had become dated.

Sorry for being disagreeable but I was shocked by the "hate" word. Seems pretty strong for a great attraction. But that's just me.