Space Ship Earth: A side-by-side comparison

Were you one of the many people who got to enjoy the sneak peek of the newly re-imagineered Space Ship Earth? 

Were you like me and not able to remember with great clarity the way it looked before?

Then go on over to The Magic in Pixels and read Tim Devine's latest photography article.

It appears that he has dusted off the ole quill and produced an excellent article with tons of great dark-ride photography.

The article is a comparison of the old Space Ship Earth with the newly unveiled attraction.

Go over and take a read.

I figured I should mention the article because many people may not realize that The Magic in Pixels provides more than great eye candy (aka photographs) and a great forum community.  Tim has also written some articles about photography and is in the process of working on new content to bring to his site.

As ImagiNerd George would call it, this is a Geek Link :)

Technorati Tags: Space Ship Earth, The Magic in Pixels

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03) Special Report: Space Ship Earth Sneak Peek

SPOILER WARNING:  The following post lists details about what is contained within the new re-Imagineered Space Ship Earth.  If you do not want to know anything about it then do not read this post

We were sitting at lunch when Tim Devine got the phone call from one of his forum members that Space Ship Earth had the doors open allowing people on the ride.  The powers-that-be have been doing this the entire time we have been here, but we kept on missing it. 

So, we wolfed down our food and then sped on over to Space Ship Earth.  After getting through security and getting our annual passes scanned we started walking toward Space Ship Earth at a deliberate pace.

It wasn't very long before one of our party made the statement that they thought the doors were open.  Before they could finish the sentence we were sprinting toward Space Ship Earth.  You would think that we were participating in the annual bridal gown sale by the way we were hoofing it to the door.  We figured as long as one of us got there before they tried to close the door, they'd have to let all of us in. 

Sure enough the doors were open and we were in the queue.  I just had to rub it into George and Andy Taylor (Imaginerding) who were attending the Fantasmic! Dessert Meet at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  I could hear the disappointment in their voices as I gloated about our good fortune.

We got through the queue and onto the ride vehicle fairly quickly. 

The first thing I noticed was that the ride vehicle seemed a bit more roomy and if my memory serves me correctly, a bit more "boxy".  The most obvious difference is the presence of a small LCD screen in the center of the front of the ride vehicle.  It seems to be about a 22-24" display.

As soon as you start your approach up the hill, the narration starts and one quickly finds out that Dame Judy Dench is indeed the new narrator.

As you approach the first diorama, you will start to notice some differences.  It is clear that the new message of Space Ship Earth is technology and it's use for communication.  We start off in the stone age.  I'm pretty sure this diorama was in the old ride, but the Audio-Animatronics have been brought up to modern standards.  In fact, all the Audio-Animatronics have been updated.

Many of the scenes seemed to be polished up versions of the old ones.  Some seemed to be in new locations and expanded upon.  Others were flat out new.

We did get to see the much rumored inclusion of Steve Jobs in the famous garage where Apple Computers was formed.  Granted, his name was never mentioned and it was just alluded to the fact that the ability to have computers in the home originated in a garage.   Now, everyone on the Internet is saying that the figure is supposed to be Steve Jobs, but I'd like to think that it was his buddy and geek-in-arms Steve Wozniak.  The figure appeared to look like more like the uber-geek and Segway Polo Stud Woz than it did Jobs.

When you got the top of the geodesic sphere, where they introduce the term Space Ship Earth to us, we turn around for the descent.  At this point everything is black.  There is nothing outside the ride vehicle to focus your attention on.

This is when the LCD Screens kick in.  You are asked a series of questions about your preferences in life.  Then a little animated story is told based on your answers.  For example, we were asked questions like would we prefer to travel by solar power or wind power or do we most enjoy the planning a trip or the destination.  The animation seems to be computer generated as opposed to hand-drawn.  It is definitely not Pixar, photo-realistic-quality.  It's more of what you'd see lately on the Disney Channel at night. 

When you get to the bottom, you are dumped onto a moving platform and escorted to the post-show building.

In our case, Tim asked the Cast Member if we could ride again and we just got to stay in the vehicle and go again.  What a Magical Moment!

Now that I've given the description I feel I should give my opinion.....

First, I need to say that it is quite obvious that the attraction is not complete.  I wouldn't even classify this as a "soft opening".  The signs outside were saying that Space Ship Earth was scheduled to be re-opened in February 2008.  That means we are over 2 months away.  I would classify what we got to experience as a sneak peek.  More of a tease.  You could almost say the Imagineers were saying, "Oops, did we leave the door open in the construction wall?"

Part of me is wondering if this "event" was really just a nice "thank you" to all the MouseFesters.  We'll have to wait and see if they are still letting people on after MouseFest is over.

It is obvious the attraction is not complete.  I was very prepared for this fact when I got on the attraction.  I knew there was no way the ride could be even remotely close to being completed if it is scheduled to open in February and it is now December.

I was not even remotely sold by Judy Dench.  It really seemed like she "phone it in" when it came to her narration.  I don't really have a complete memory of Walter Cronkite's narration but I do have vague memories.  But, I do have a good memory of Jeremy Iron's narration.  Both seemed to have a very resonating voice with lots of intonation and sold you into what they were saying.  Just as with an audio book, the chosen voice is very important.  Judy Dench's delivery just seemed to blend into the background and didn't add anything to the show.  I found myself not even noticing that she was talking. 

I was very hopeful that it was Patrick Stewart when I had heard the rumor that he was in the running.  But the Disney Corporation may have had their mind on selecting a woman for this incarnation (you never know).  I am just lost on a good suggestion for female voice-over talent.  As much as I am not a fan of Oprah as a talk show host, she does have a great voice.  Personally, since the theme seemed to be technology, I think they should've found someone who is closely tied with the field.  Someone, when you hear their voice, you think technology and/or communication.  That is why I thought Patrick Stewart would be a good fit.  He has loyal fans in the Science Fiction genre.

Who's to say it had to be a well known person.  Pixar, for example, works with tons of voice talent every day and not all of them are household names.  Heck, some of them were the animators who stood in until it was decided that noone else could voice the character.

But, I digress.

The various diorama sets we see are awesome.  They are clean and tell a great story by themselves.  I really liked the scene where the town is being burned and you could really smell burning wood.

The Audio-Animatronics seemed much smoother and that is what caused me to conclude they were updated.  During a scene of Rome where a soldier was talking to another person, you almost could swear they were real people much like the Jack Sparrow audio-animatronic in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Is this attraction an abysmal failure?  That would be an emphatic no!

All in all, I think when another couple months go by this attraction will definitely be another home run for Disney Imagineers just like with the Haunted Mansion's Re-Haunting.  I don't know what they are going to do about the less than engrossing narration, but it's amazing what they can do to audio in post production.  Heck, there is even enough time that Disney could just decide to bring someone else in. 

Needless to say, I cannot wait until my trip next year to see it completed and until then I'll reserve final judgement.  Right now, we are seeing the equivalent of a film's rough cut.  Much can change before it's unveiled to audiences as a final product.

If you want to see all the pictures I took of Space Ship Earth you can see them in my Flickr account:

Space Ship Earth Set

But, if you want to see really good pictures, then head over to Tim Devine's The Magic In Pixels and check out his album devoted to this ride:

Space Ship Earth 2007

 

Technorati Tags: Trip Report, Space Ship Earth, Soft Opening, Review

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03): Enchanted Rose's Lucky Day

When we woke up this morning, we got to log a few more hours of sleep than previous days.  Today we really didn't have anywhere to be for MouseFest before noon when the Mega Mouse Meet began.

We had made plans to meet up with Tim's friend will and his girlfriend.  Since Tim was tied up with a webmaster's breakfast, we needed to do something to keep us busy while we waited.  So, we were going to go to EPCOT Center and hang out until it was time to go to the Mega Meet.  Since that park was close to The Dolphin it made most sense.

Before we headed out, we all grabbed some breakfast snacks down at the Dolphin's lounge. 

At some point during the eating conversation switched to shopping.  So, we altered course and went shopping.

By the time we got done shopping and standing in line for 30 minutes to pay, it was an hour before the start of the Mega Meet.

So, it was decided that we wanted to go to Beaches & Cream to get a burger.  It was nice that we are DVC members because it allowed the person who was driving the ability to park there since it was a DVC Resort.

On our way to Beaches & Cream, we stopped to take a look at the giant gingerbread carousel in the lobby of the Beach Club Resort.

When we got to Beaches & Cream, we discovered that Jonathan Dichter's Kitchen Sink Meet was going on.   Fortunately, we were able to get some seats at the bar.  Jonathan had quite a turnout for his meet.  A good 20+ people were there.  They were enthusiastic but not obnoxiously loud which is easy to have happen in such a small place.  You could definitely tell these people love Disney.

We got done with our food and paid about 10 minutes before the  start of the Mega Meet but we didn't rush back.  The Mega Meet lasted a long time.

We got back to the Dolphin and headed to the location of the Mega Meet.  Once my wife and I knew where it was, we decided to go up to our room first and drop stuff off and change into something a bit more comfortable.  Well, actually, I wanted to show off my Yoda T-Shirt I bought at Tatoonie Traders in September.

The Mega Meet was something else.  The room was huge and it wasn't too hard to meet all the people that you wanted to. 

As can be expected, there were tables that were constantly packed with people and you had to be patient to get to meet them.  Some of those people were Lou Mongello and Jeff Pepper at the Disneyworld Trivia/WDW Radio Show table, Paul Barrie and Patrick Hurd's table for Window to the Magic, the WDW Today table, Passporter's Table, the table selling the books, Nathan Rose and Tim Devine at The Magic in Pixels/Magical Definition Podcast table, and any table near the raffle location.

I really spent too much time catching up with George and Andy and  not as much time snagging swag off tables as  I should've.  That I regret now.  But, I did somehow step outside my comfort zone a bit and get to talk to some of the community personalities.  This is something I normally would've been incapable of doing without the assistance of my lovely wife as my wingman. 

I got to thank Mike Scopa for his great keynote speech at the last Magic Meets (I heard it on the WDW Today podcast).  I got to say hi to Lou and Jeff several times and even asked Lou to sign my books (I got to buy the first volume of his book which now completes my set).  I asked Steve Barrett for his John Hancock inside his Hidden Mickeys book which he graciously obliged.

I also got to spend a little more time chatting with Jessica from If we can Dream It.  She brought her mother and her grandmother to the event.  It was a 3 generation representation.

The exciting part was the raffle.  Unfortunately, the facility wasn't equipped with an overhead speaker setup so the microphone they were using wasn't powerful enough to really do anything.  So Dave Marx and his entourage had to yell out the numbers. 

My lovely wife, Enchanted Rose, actually won something.  Her number came up on the XM Satellite Radio that Fred Block contributed.  This allowed me and my wife to get to meet Fred who is the founder of the Magic Meets event in Pennsylvania every year.  We are hoping that we'll get to go to Magic Meets next year.

It was at the Mega Meet that Jeff Pepper finally divulged to George that I had been inducted into the Crate Appreciation Society.  But, much to his chagrin his application was still being rejected and we was relegated to the role of groupie.  This was sealed when Jessica gave him his Crate Appreciation Society card with the title of "Groupie" under his name [ed note:  These cards were grumptastically awesome].  Sadly, my induction occurred too late to go to press.

Lou came through with is promise to play Santa and I was gifted a copy of his Audio Tour CD and I am excited to be able to mainline some "Vitamin M" into my earbuds.

I only got to speak to Tim a little bit because he was constantly swarmed with people who were interested in looking at his album of pictures.  I hope all his hard work is finally paying off and his name is getting out there.  His work is phenomenal and the 4x6 prints he had on display at his table really didn't do his talent justice.  To really appreciate his work you need to see them at a minimum of 8x10.

I didn't even come close to meeting every attendee at the Mega Meet nor did I meet everyone who was working   the tables.  But I have to say that from what I've observed these first 3 days, Lou has the coolest wife who is stuck as a Disney Widow.  I constantly saw her working the room.  She is vivacious and energetic and always had a smile on her face.  You'd think she had gone through Disney's Traditions Class.  When we made it to Lou and Jeff's table she very warmly congratulated my wife on her win of the XM Satellite Radio.  Good news seemed to have traveled fast. 

If I ever get to the point where I have a table at an event such as this, I know my wife is the same type of person that will be doing the same thing.  My wife is my biggest cheerleader and supports all that I take on inside and outside of my paying job, I know how lucky it is to have a spouse like that.  You rock Deanna!  You and my wife should be the founding members of the Men of Shorter Stature Appreciation Society (MOSSAS).

By the time the meet was over my feet were sore, but there was still time to kill before we could call the day done.

So, we went to grab some food at a restaurant in the hotel before heading to EPCOT Center.  I got a hot dog and it was one of the best dogs I've gotten outside a ballpark.

When we got to EPCOT Center we were able to get onto Space Ship Earth for the "Sneak Peek" Opening that has been going on the whole time we were here [ed note:  I have done a separate post in more detail in regards to this part of my trip].

After riding Space Ship Earth twice, we had to move on because Tim had a meet to get to about night time photography. 

I must say, that I just wasn't that much into the meet.  I don't know if it was because my feet were sore or because I have gotten a lot of this same information directly from Tim over the past 6 months. 

So, during Tim's meet, I sat on a nearby wall talking to my wife and some of Tim's non-participating friends.  At some point, my wife decided to go to Mouse Gear and do some more shopping.  This was a short lived endeavor but I'm sure it helped kill some of the monotony for her.  After awhile, it was decided that we were going to ride some attractions before we left the park that night.

Tim did his thing for about an hour.  The one thing that forgot to mention was that Tim hurt his toe sometime before MouseFest.  He was fine until after all that time he spent in dress shoes during the Mega Mouse Meet.  Now he was walking around like I was after my blisters set in during our September trip.

So, Tim was in no mood to walk around the park taking pictures either.  It was decided that we were going to go do Soarin'.  There really wasn't that big of a wait to get on.  We got to get on the vehicle that we wanted (you want to be on the front row of the vehicle so that you don't have anyone obstructing your view).

Both Tim and I tried to take pictures inside this attraction which is difficult because you are shooting pictures of a movie that is on a curved screen.

After Soarin' we decided to hit up Test Track.  There was absolutely no one on this ride.  We just walked right on.  It was decided that we were going to ham it up for the photo.  Since we had the whole car to ourselves, we were all going to pretend to be dead for the camera.  It turned out pretty hilarious when we saw the final product.

When we got back to the disembarking point, we asked the Cast  Member if we could ride again.  There was absolutely no one in line so we thought for sure that he'd say that it was alright.  Every time we asked, we were just told, "Please exit to your left".  We begrudgingly got out of the ride vehicle and headed for the exit.  Tim muttered to us, "The word you were looking for was....No".  This got a rousing round of laughter out of us.  The way he said it was just hilarious.

At this point, it was time for Illuminations! which meant that if we were going to get out of the park easily now was the time to go.  We got to see a few of the fireworks as they shot over Space Ship Earth as we were leaving the park.  I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to see much of the usual stuff but I'm having a blast hanging out with friends.

We went from EPCOT Center to Downtown Disney.  The ever so lovely Enchanted Rose has a checklist of stores she needed to mark off in order to feel like she properly shopped.

We hit up the 25 Days of Christmas and we were able to add a few more ornaments to the rather extensive Disney Ornament Collection we have at Casa De Grumpwurst.

It was at the 25 Days of Christmas that the Taylor Boys caught up to us again.  We had planned on going to the Adventurer's Club again, but after much review it was discovered that Tim was really the only one up to doing a back to back showing.  So shopping was chosen as the new past time.

After the 25 Days of Christmas we temporarily parted with the Taylor Boys and headed to the Earl of Sandwich to get some Cannonballs! (toasted meatball sub).  All I have to say is YUM YUM YUM.

While I was noshing, my wife was shopping.  She acquired some more scrapbooking supplies and did some looking at that Art of Disney.   Apparently, there is a new Beauty and the Beast painting that has been added to her wish list.  She also acquired a cute magnet that goes on your dishwasher that lets you indicate if the contents are clean or dirty.  That is something we desperately needed since we often ended up dirtying the entire contents when it wasn't known that they were already clean and then dirty stuff was introduced.

After getting her shopping done, she then darted off to Ghiridelli to get a fudge brownie sundae after which she re-joined us at the Earl of Sandwich to enjoy the spoils of her journey.

The whole time Tim was entertaining us with stories from his days playing baseball in college.  He had us busting up the entire time because he really knows how to tell stories.

After they kicked us out of the restaurant (by kick I mean politely influenced us to leave by putting up all the chairs onto the table around us), we stood outside and talked for awhile.

Then, once we realized it was 12:30AM, we all headed back to our respective rooms to go to bed.

Well, not all of us. Yours truly had some SD Flash Cards to dump and a blog post to write.

If you want to view all 306 pictures taken on the 3rd day of MouseFest go here:

MouseFest 2007 (Day 03)

Technorati Tags: Trip Report, MouseFest, Mega Mouse Meet, EPCOT, Beaches and Cream, Downtown Disney

The Grump's Opinion - The Giant Golf Ball

As anyone who's keeps up with the goings on in this extremely exciting, entertaining and niche market known as the Disney Community knows, it has been officially announced that the Mickey Arm, Wand and Epcot sign is coming down from the centerpiece of the Epcot park, the Geodesic Sphere known as Space Ship Earth (SSE) or as I like to call it, the Giant Golf Ball.

The Giant Golf Ball

This has sparked conversations all over blogs and web forums through the ether. One such location was Mouse Extra with their posting entitled Disney Announces an end to the Wand.

In many ways, I’m in the same position as Dave who wrote the article. But I think the best bit from his piece was this:

Now I get it!!! Well purists, you got your 25th Anniversary celebration after all! No more belly-aching about a lack of “Epcot 25” snowglobes or pins. No more whining that there isn’t a special parade for the quarter century milestone, or an eighteen month long celebration with special figment hats. You’ve got the ultimate birthday present this year. The wand is coming down. What more could you have asked for?

Now, some people may wonder where the Grump’s opinion lays. Well, I am a purist but not in the same sense as the others that call themselves “purists”. I am a purist from the standpoint that the theme, purpose and message of the Disney Theme Parks, AS A WHOLE, remains intact. Wand or no wand, I think Epcot is still remaining true to that.

As a child, my family wasn’t big on staying put. We moved about every 5-7 years. It may have been a short move across town or across state boarders. But, we moved. My mom likes to tell the story about how my brother or I would come to them and ask if it was time to move after we had been in one place to long.

Having said that, I had to learn two lessons at an early age:

1. Change is unavoidable
2. You can never go home again.
   

Yeah, they are clichés, but they do hold true. With me, I was always in a new town, new school, or just plain new. But the other one, “You can never go home again.” Was the hardest to swallow.

I would often go back to my old towns to see my friends that I had to leave behind. After the excitement wore off of being back, it was quickly realized that this person, who was your best friend, is not the same person you knew a few weeks or months prior. They had moved on without you. They have changed and done what they need to do to get by.

Well, I guess you are wondering what this means in regards to all of this Disney talk.

Change is unavoidable. Charles Darwin is credited with saying,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

These parks cannot remain stagnant. Stagnation will lead to death.

Well, if you insert WDW into the cliché as being “home”, my other kernel of knowledge about not ever being able to go home again can apply to WDW. Everyone has a first trip to WDW. You don’t come out of the womb a highly experienced WDW visitor. There had to be a beginning. That beginning, no matter your age, embeds feelings, images, smells into our psyche. I’m sure neurons are rewired just for Disney. Some day, I’m sure, scientists are going to be talking about the discovery of the Disney section of the brain.

Well, those indelible marks shape each successive return to Disney. But, guess what? It’s never the same. Unless you are in that rare minority that gets to travel there several times a year, something is always different. That difference may be minor, or it may be major (i.e. a giant arm sprouting out of the Giant Golf Ball). This goes back to point #1, that Change is unavoidable. Well these differences sometimes grate annoyingly against those memories stored in the Disney section of your brain, thereby causing it to cramp up and fight back. Some people accept point #1 and just deal and force the neurons to continually rewire, others side with their memories and nostalgia and fight for the way things were. Those are the “purists” in the more traditional sense. I have nothing wrong with that. Disney is one of those things in all of our lives that makes us really, really, really happy (why else would be be reading blogs such as this). With things such as Disney that bring much pleasure, there is always a part of every one of us that doesn't want anything messing up a "good" thing. But that is always a subjective observation.

Just like I couldn’t force my childhood friends to stay just like I remembered them, I cannot force Disney to stay the way I remember it.

Some people may have been asking themselves since it’s inception why would Epcot allow this to happen to itself. Here is the grump’s take on this….

When the Giant Golf Ball decided to sprout a wand bearing arm and giant 2000, Epcot was transitioning into it’s 20’s. With the exception of one’s teenage years, the early 20’s has to be one of the most dangerous times. It’s when we really start experimenting with new things to set us apart. Well, Epcot went through this. Trying to figure out where it stood in the family.

So, why an arm and a wand? If I could offer a guess, it would be whimsy. Maybe Epcot was tired of being Alex P. Keaton in a family of liberal ex-hippies. Maybe Epcot was tired feeling like the guy who forgot it was casual Friday and showed up in their suit while everyone else was sporting Hawaiian print shirts and sporting shorts.

Epcot was in really lacking whimsy and it was the key of the other parks. You had the whimsical Cinderella Castle with it’s Fantasyland, zany skippers on the Jungle Cruise and Hitchhiking Ghosts. In the Animal Kingdom, you had a gigantic tree built around an offshore oil rig which has animals carved into it’s exterior and contains a 3D movie house in it’s interior. Finally, you had MGM-Studios which was the home of the Muppets, Indiana Jones and, of course, "The Hat" (another point of contention amongst purists).

Epcot is the geeky child amongst the hip, cool ones. And like many geeky kids, they often want to fit in better than they do. It’s only natural. So it made a valiant effort. This grump doesn’t fault Epcot for trying and doesn’t think less of it for trying to do so. I kinda liked it. I think it gave the Giant Golf Ball some life, but us geeks need to stick together and remain true to who we are.

Well, as much as the purists hated it, I don’t think they were the ones who influenced Epcot to put down the gigantic wand. It’s more of a product of growing older. Epcot is turning 25 and has most likely come to grips with it’s role as being the more geeky member of the family and has decided it’s time to stop trying to be something it’s not and put down the wand and focus on what it brings to the family…education, entertainment, and the occasional heavily sponsored glimpse into the future.

To this grump, Epcot was and still is the Mr. Wizard and the Alton Brown of Disney. It took dry boring subject material and rolled it in Disney Magic and made it palatable. As long as it remembers that is what it’s purpose and message is then I’ll be happy. I think they are starting to remember that.

Maybe the wand was just a gigantic reminder that there is Magic in Epcot. Maybe we don’t need that reminder anymore.

But don’t ever underestimate the geeks. They have their secret desires to be Fantasmic! So every now and again they will do something that makes you shake your head but remember that they may be happy with it. The Wand may be going away, but Epcot’s desire to fit in will not and will break out the whimsical every now and again (aka Nemo, Mission to Space, Figment).