Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
Spaceship Earth is a dark ride attraction at the EPCOT theme park at the Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. The geodesic sphere in which the attraction is housed has served as the symbolic structure of EPCOT since the park opened in 1982.
Spaceship Earth
- Future World (1982–2021)
- World Celebration (2021–present)
Operating
October 1, 1982
Walt Disney Imagineering
- Edo Guidotti (1994–2007)
- Bruce Broughton (2007–present)
109,375 sq ft (10,161.3 m2)
4
2
2
15:00
- Vic Perrin (1982–1986)
- Walter Cronkite (1986–1994)
- Jeremy Irons (1994–2007)
- Judi Dench (2007–present)
165 ft (50 m)
180 ft (55 m)
518.1 ft (157.9 m)
2,350,000 cu ft (67,000 m3)
15,520,000 lb (7,040,000 kg)
11,324[1]
- Bell System (1982–1984)
- AT&T (1984–2004)
- Siemens (2005–2017)
The 15-minute ride takes guests on a time machine-themed experience, demonstrating how advancements in human communication have helped to create the future one step at a time. Riding in Omnimover-type vehicles along a track that spirals up and down the geodesic sphere, passengers are taken through scenes depicting important breakthroughs in communication throughout history—from the development of early language through cave paintings, to the use of hieroglyphs, to the invention of the alphabet, to the creation of the printing press, to today's modern communication advancements, including telecommunication and mass communication.
An opening day attraction, the ride has been updated three times—in 1986, 1994, and 2007. A fourth update of the attraction was planned for the early 2020s but was indefinitely delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3][4]
History[edit]
Design and construction[edit]
The structure was designed with the help of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who also helped write the original storyline for the attraction.[9][10][11] The term "Spaceship Earth" was popularised by Buckminster Fuller,[12] who also popularized the geodesic dome.
Construction took 26 months. Extending upwards from the table are "quadropod" structures, which support smaller beams which form the shell of the steel skeleton. Pipes stand the aluminum skin panels away from the skeleton and provide space for utilities. A small service car is parked in the interstitial space between the structural and cladding surfaces, and it can carry a prone technician down the sides to access repair locations. The shop fabrication of the steel (done in nearby Tampa, Florida) was an early instance of computer-aided drafting and materials processing.
Spaceship Earth was originally sponsored by the Bell System from 1982 until 1984,[13][14] when it was broken into smaller companies and its parent company, AT&T, became an independent company. AT&T sponsored Spaceship Earth from 1984 until 2004. From 2005 until 2017, the German company Siemens was the sponsor of Spaceship Earth. As of 2023, the ride currently has no sponsor. The private sponsor lounge, located on the second floor above Project Tomorrow, is currently used for special events.
During Epcot Center's opening ceremony William Ellinghaus, then president of AT&T, dedicated Spaceship Earth and stated: "Now as you will soon see, Spaceship Earth’s theme is communications, civilization and communications from Stone Age to Information Age, and I therefore think it is very fitting that we dedicate Spaceship Earth to all of the people who have advanced communications, arts, and sciences, and in so doing have demonstrated that communications is truly the beginning of understanding."[15]
Updates and history[edit]
The opening day version of the attraction featured narration by actor Vic Perrin with a sparse, largely diegetic soundtrack. This version featured a network operations center with a data map of the United States in the modern telecommunications section. The top of the sphere featured a large lighted space station with two astronauts working on satellites and a woman sitting in the station operating controls. During the final descent, vehicles passed several monitors showing various events and activities. This version of the ride closed on May 25, 1986.