One of EPCOT’s most recognizable attractions is preparing for its next chapter. Disney has announced that Spaceship Earth will be reimagined for the first time in nearly 20 years, updating the attraction’s story for the internet age and beyond while maintaining a theme that feels very much at home at EPCOT.
The news was revealed during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, where Disney Imagineer Ali Rubinstein joined Neil Patrick Harris and YouTuber Mark Rober to discuss the future of the attraction.
Spaceship Earth Will Focus on Human Connection
Spaceship Earth currently takes guests through thousands of years of human history, with communication serving as the thread connecting many of its most memorable scenes. The reimagined attraction will broaden that idea.
According to Disney, the new storyline will focus on human connection, taking Spaceship Earth into the internet age and eventually beyond it.
That distinction is interesting. Rather than abandoning the attraction’s original purpose for an entirely new concept, Disney appears to be expanding upon it. Communication has always been about connecting people, whether through cave paintings, written language, the printing press, telephones, computers, or whatever comes next.
For longtime EPCOT fans, that could be an encouraging direction.
A New Chapter for an EPCOT Original
Spaceship Earth has been part of EPCOT since the park opened in 1982, although the attraction itself has changed several times over the decades.
Disney noted that Spaceship Earth has had four narrators during its history, including Walter Cronkite, who took over narration duties in 1986. The attraction’s current version, narrated by Judi Dench, debuted following a substantial refurbishment in 2008.
That makes this upcoming project particularly noteworthy. Nearly two decades have passed since Spaceship Earth received an update of this scale.
Disney has not yet revealed exactly which scenes will change, whether the narration will be replaced, or how extensively the attraction’s Audio-Animatronics and technology will be updated.
Spaceship Earth Is Moving Into the Future
Disney has not yet announced an opening date or refurbishment timeline for the reimagined Spaceship Earth. For now, we know that the attraction’s next version will take its story into the internet age and beyond, with human connection at the center of the experience.
For an attraction that has always been about looking backward to understand how we move forward, that feels like a fitting starting point.
We’ll continue following the Spaceship Earth reimagining at EPCOT as Disney reveals additional details.
What do you think about the changes? What scenes from the current Spaceship Earth are absolutely untouchable? Let us know over in the DVC Fan Facebook Group!
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