EPCOT Spaceship Earth refurbishment coming soon?

[LittleBuford]

The ride is full of inaccuracies, which is to be expected. To name another: Michelangelo never painted the Sistine Ceiling on his back!

 

[DisneyCane]

The ride is full of inaccuracies, which is to be expected. To name another: Michelangelo never painted the Sistine Ceiling on his back!

That one is a common misconception. I wonder if the original designers knew they were representing it wrong or thought that's how he painted it? I do enjoy the lighting and music in that scene!

 

[HMF]

The ride is full of inaccuracies, which is to be expected. To name another: Michelangelo never painted the Sistine Ceiling on his back!

This is true though some creative license isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[LittleBuford]

This is true though some creative license isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I agree! It’s a theme-park ride, after all, not a textbook. I do wish the story it told were a bit less Eurocentric, though. China’s role in inventing paper and printing isn’t even mentioned.

 

[LittleBuford]

That one is a common misconception. I wonder if the original designers knew they were representing it wrong or thought that's how he painted it? I do enjoy the lighting and music in that scene!

They probably knew, but it’s what people expect to see, so that’s the version they (understandably) went with. I really enjoy that scene too!

 

[jah4955]

That one is a common misconception. I wonder if the original designers knew they were representing it wrong or thought that's how he painted it? I do enjoy the lighting and music in that scene!

I recall that being taught in school...along with things like people thinking the world was flat before 1492...

 

[LittleBuford]

I recall that being taught in school...along with things like people thinking the world was flat before 1492...

That one is particularly strange given that we have ample evidence that most educated authors since antiquity realised the world was a sphere.

 

[jah4955]

That one is particularly strange given that we have ample evidence that most educated authors since antiquity realised the world was a sphere.

exactly.

 

[HMF]

I agree! It’s a theme-park ride, after all, not a textbook. I do wish the story it told were a bit less Eurocentric, though. China’s role in inventing paper and printing isn’t even mentioned.

I do agree though I don't know where a scene would fit. Also, it is an American created experience for both better and worse. China has never been our best friend and I think the only reason China has a pavillion in World Showcase was because it was designed in the 70s not long after Nixon's tour and trade agreements. The American Adventure is worse in the sense that there were people living here long before 1620. Heck they weren't even the first Europeans here and neither was Columbus. The Vikings had been on this land centuries before that.

 

[HMF]

They probably knew, but it’s what people expect to see, so that’s the version they (understandably) went with. I really enjoy that scene too!

It really is a factor of does the staging work better for the attraction even if the historical accuracy is questionable.

 

[LittleBuford]

I do agree though I don't know where a scene would fit.

It could have come before the shift to medieval Europe, right after the Islamic scene.

 

[HMF]

It could have come before the shift to medieval Europe, right after the Islamic scene.

So we would be getting rid of the monks?

 

[LittleBuford]

So we would be getting rid of the monks?

I'm not sure you interpreted me that way given that the monks count as medieval Europe.

 

[HMF]

I'm not sure you interpreted me that way given that the monks count as medieval Europe.

I understand but there really isn't much room to create a new scene. I am strongly of the opinion that the sculptor vignette in the renaissance scene should be replaced with a new vignette. Anyone who rode before 2007 knows that the statue has been modified to be family friendly and putting a new vignette there would distract from the obvious censorship job the statue got during the 07 refurb.

 

[LittleBuford]

I understand but there really isn't much room to create a new scene.

I was just musing about how the design could theoretically have been different.

I am strongly of the opinion that the sculptor vignette in the renaissance scene should be replaced with a new vignette. Anyone who rode before 2007 knows that the statue has been modified to be family friendly and putting a new vignette there would distract from the obvious censorship job the statue got during the 07 refurb.

I had to compare ride-throughs on YouTube to understand what you meant. Very interesting! Since I didn't remember the pre-2007 version, the current statue never struck me as being censored. To me, neither version looks especially good or true to the period, and that goes also for the still-life painting that appears seconds earlier in the same scene (still lifes weren't really a thing before the seventeenth century).

 

[Alice a]

Er, it is actually a bit out of date.

Releasing Ladybugs to control pests has largely fallen out of favor. The LwtL ride still promotes the idea as a solution to pest control.

There was a time when WDW used to release LOTS of lady bugs. Children were regularly invited to participate in ladybug releases at WDW. (2007ish)

I'm not an expert on gardening, but I am under the impression that the practice has now fallen out of favor. Introducing too many ladybugs can throw an ecosystem out of whack. One problem is the introduction of non-native species, another risk is accidentally introducing a disease/pathogen (to native populations), which then harms the native population. A third problem is that the introduced ladybugs often out-compete other beneficial native insect species, like lacewings. Lacewings also eat aphids. So again, having multiple beneficial species and supporting the natural ecosystem ends up being better for pest control ($) than throwing it out of whack.

Interesting. We run a small garden center and treat all plants in it, whether they come in as such or not, organically.

So we use garlic sprays and citronella incense to discourage pests, concentrated vinegar and hand-pull for weeds, and we release ladybugs once a year to deal with aphids, etc.

Our Garden Center Manager has a Master’s degree in horticulture and worked for the FDA in soil science and food crop pest control before joining us.

When we order ladybugs at certain times of the year, there is frequently a wait because the supplier has so many orders.

So ladybugs are still a thing to some degree, I think? They hang out for awhile, then move on or get eaten.

They haven’t interrupted our little environment- we still have lots of species of native bugs, lizards, and bird families that live in the garden center. Even a little opossum!

 

[Touchdown]

Spaceship Earth is basically Intro to Western Civ, for better or worse, and is framed from an American perspective. It’s focused on the through line that created the United States as we know it today. That means most Asian History, African History, Native American History and European History post 1700s is glossed over. The ride is already 20 min long, you add them the ride more then doubles in length or it’s messaging becomes jumbled and un focused. There is only so much you can do.

 

[DisneyCane]

Spaceship Earth is basically Intro to Western Civ, for better or worse, and is framed from an American perspective. It’s focused on the through line that created the United States as we know it today. That means most Asian History, African History, Native American History and European History post 1700s is glossed over. The ride is already 20 min long, you add them the ride more then doubles in length or it’s messaging becomes jumbled and un focused. There is only so much you can do.

The descent could be used for some storytelling although it wouldn't fit great after the space scene. Although I'm not sure that the story flow is great that we went to the moon and then invented the PC and then we go into space.

 

[ChrisFL]

I do agree though I don't know where a scene would fit. Also, it is an American created experience for both better and worse. China has never been our best friend and I think the only reason China has a pavillion in World Showcase was because it was designed in the 70s not long after Nixon's tour and trade agreements. The American Adventure is worse in the sense that there were people living here long before 1620. Heck they weren't even the first Europeans here and neither was Columbus. The Vikings had been on this land centuries before that.

I remember the EPCOT Center TV special regarding filming the China 360 movie how it was difficult and that some areas were never even seen before in the west. Our perspective and knowledge on things have changed so much since the mid 1970's.

 

[LittleBuford]

Spaceship Earth is basically Intro to Western Civ, for better or worse, and is framed from an American perspective.

The Chinese invention of paper is very much part of that story. (The relevance of Chinese printing technology is more debatable.)