Walt Disney World's Iconic Spaceship Earth to Undergo Changes

Epcot's Spaceship Earth has remained an icon of Walt Disney's dream of showcasing the future within his Florida theme park, Walt Disney World.

The structure, a giant, silver geosphere that towers 18 stories above the theme park, has held an attraction which showcases how humans have communicated with each other since the dawn of time. The building itself was partially designed by Ray Bradbury who also wrote the treatment for the original attraction. Disney now plans to revamp the attraction, adding a time travel aspect to the ride that will allow guests to imagine their own futures.

While many of the historic scenes in the attraction will remain, enhancements will be added to each scene to flesh out the time travel aspect of the attraction. New scenes will also be added as well as new lighting effects, costumes, set decoration, narration and musical score. Currently, the attraction houses scenes that depict scenes throughout time such as the sacking of Rome, the Middle Ages and the European Renaissance.

The attraction will lead guests to the top of the sphere in which guests arrive at the present. New, interactive touch screens will be installed aboard each "time machine" and will enable guests to create their own future staring themselves.

Once guests have disembarked the attraction, they are encouraged to take part in an interactive exhibit, "Project Tomorrow: Inventing the World of Tomorrow." There, visitors can take part in interactive games and displays that help guests envision the world of tomorrow and how medicine, transportation and energy management will evolve.

Project Tomorrow will include an illuminated globe that measures 20 feet in diameter that will display speculative images of tomorrow, Body Builder - a 3D game that allows guests to assemble a digital human body and Super Driver - a driving simulation game that will showcase accident avoidance systems currently in development by Siemens, Spaceship Earth's sponsors.

While Project Tomorrow will open later this month, the new innovations to Spaceship Earth are scheduled to be completed by early 2008.