In an sudden marvel, Walt Disney Global reopened Spaceship Earth to visitors this night, finishing its multi-month refurbishment at EPCOT. This covers main points of the comfortable opening, which is happening a complete week forward of time table!
As background, Spaceship Earth quickly closed for a regimen refurbishment starting August 25, 2025. When pronouncing that closure over the summer season, Walt Disney Global declined to proportion a particular go back date, however did point out that Spaceship Earth was once anticipated to reopen in overdue 2025.
For the reason that plus rumors on the time, the existing expectation was once that Walt Disney Global would reopen Spaceship Earth across the get started of the EPCOT Global Competition of the Vacations on November twenty eighth, which kicks off the busiest month-plus of the yr on the park.
As an alternative, Walt Disney Global introduced previous this month that Spaceship Earth would reopen on October 25, 2025. The timing didn’t make a ton of sense, as Spaceship Earth was once reopening after the busy Columbus Day/Fall Wreck window however some distance ahead of Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and so forth.
Rapid-forward a few weeks from that announcement, and Spaceship Earth has comfortable opened as of October 18, 2025.
As a result of this is a comfortable opening, it implies that Spaceship Earth may well be closed with out realize at any level within the subsequent week. (However that may occur with any appeal–sudden breakdowns are a not unusual incidence, particularly with rides which can be late for refurbs, like SSE was once!)
It additionally implies that, no less than in the meanwhile, Spaceship Earth isn’t posting a wait time within the My Disney Revel in app. The appeal nonetheless does now not display working hours on Disneyworld.com. On the other hand, that would exchange at any level–probably once the following day. Comfortable openings from refurbishments frequently ‘change into’ into early reopenings as soon as it’s transparent no further downtime is wanted. An in a single day calendar exchange may lead to a posted wait time, and so forth.
Spaceship Earth gained regimen paintings all over the closure, which means repairs and generalized maintenance versus a fully-fledged reimagining or any subject material adjustments. This will have to come as no marvel, as Walt Disney Global again and again referred to the challenge as a “regimen” refurbishment and didn’t state or counsel that there could be any improvements, tale adjustments, and so forth.
We aren’t at the floor at EPCOT this night, however reviews throughout social media verify all of this. The display scenes noticed no subject material adjustments, the interactive options and monitors at the journey automobiles seem unchanged, and there aren’t any results that have been mounted or another way modified.
In different phrases, there are not any adjustments to Audio Animatronics or the substance of the appeal, and indubitably no “Tale Mild” or new display scenes. This was once precisely as anticipated, each because of the tight time frame and its regimen nature, which was once Disneyspeak for announcing it received’t surround primary substantive adjustments.
One slight marvel is that Spaceship Earth’s refurbishment didn’t entail the recovery of damaged results, an stepped forward descent, upgraded cameras, or display scene lighting fixtures. There have been rumors swirling that Disney would switch out the monitors at the journey automobiles for OLED, which had in the past happened with a check automobile. It doesn’t sound like that came about, both.
With that stated, we do know that one thing came about all over the refurbishment past simply elementary TLC as a result of Walt Disney Global filed building lets in.
A type of was once assigned to Engineering Design Services and products, a company that “focuses on the technical spine of themed points of interest.” That implies Spaceship Earth gained infrastructure paintings on its underlying journey device.
Even supposing it’s disappointing that there have been apparently no visual enhancements or improvements to Spaceship Earth, the appeal badly wanted the invisible roughly repairs, too. In order that’s excellent information!
The opposite excellent information is that the fully-fledged Spaceship Earth journey reimagining would possibly nonetheless be at the horizon. This now not even 2-month refurbishment doesn’t shut the door on a reimagining within the quick or medium-term. If anything else, it will increase the percentages.
Whilst we haven’t any insider data, our suspicion is that that is very similar to the Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster refurbishments over the past couple of the years. The ones happened in two stages and addressed the underlying journey device with out reimagining the curler coaster.
That laid the groundwork for the transfer from ‘Starring Aerosmith’ to ‘Starring the Muppets’ to happen in a extra condensed time frame in 2026; that challenge can now center of attention at the thematic window-dressing versus the underlying infrastructure.
It’s been our figuring out for some time that Walt Disney Global has refurbishment and reimagining tasks coated up for EPCOT. The primary of the ones was once clearly Take a look at Observe, which reopened from its year-long reimagining previous this summer season. Take a look at Observe 3.0 is a ruin good fortune, averaging the perfect wait time (75 mins) at Walt Disney Global within the final month. This larger recognition may bode smartly for the potentialities of different journey reimaginings.
We’ve been hammering in this level since even ahead of the Spaceship Earth refurbishment was once introduced. And now, simply within the span of a bit over every week, Walt Disney Global has introduced upgrades coming to Remy’s Ratatouille Journey over the approaching months (together with a short lived closure in November to take away 3-d) and that Frozen Ever After is being enhanced with subsequent era Audio Animatronics of Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff.
All of this does appear to improve the animating thought at the back of that ‘items of a puzzle’ way, which was once very similar to what was once achieved at Magic Kingdom final summer season and fall ahead of the final year-plus Large Thunder Mountain Railroad closure.
Our hope is that Walt Disney Global is taking a phased option to an overhaul of Spaceship Earth as was once achieved with Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster. Get started through carrying out infrastructure paintings all over the low season, then deliver the journey again on-line all over top season dates, knock out different quick-hit tasks that received’t take as lengthy, after which shut Spaceship Earth for the year-plus reimagining someday in 2026.
It’s most definitely wishful considering, however we sincerely hope that’s what’s going down with Spaceship Earth. That Walt Disney Global acknowledges that Spaceship Earth badly wishes extra than simply regimen repairs, and did this refurbishment to put the groundwork for a fully-fledged reimagining.
Then again, the plan could be to perform a ‘duct tape’ refurbishment of Spaceship Earth to stay it coasting via 2026 and 2027, all over which period Adventure into Creativeness in the end will get the year-plus journey reimagining remedy. If we’re actually having a pipe dream, would possibly as smartly throw that during because the best-case situation!
As it’s possible you’ll recall, Spaceship Earth’s “Tale Mild” reimagining was once introduced on the 2019 D23 Expo after over a yr of rumors. In overdue February of the next yr, Imagineering published that Spaceship Earth would shut a few months later. Sooner than that would occur, all of Walt Disney Global closed because of COVID and remained closed till mid-July. When EPCOT reopened, Spaceship Earth returned with it.
When EPCOT reopened after its 4 month closure, Walt Disney Global had quietly got rid of idea artwork and scenes from the Epcot Revel in assessment video and launched this remark: “As with maximum companies all over this era, we’re additional comparing long-term challenge plans. The verdict was once made to put off building of the Mary Poppins-inspired appeal and Spaceship Earth right now.”
That was once the final legit replace at the Spaceship Earth reimagining. Clearly, so much has modified within the final ~5 years.
The idea that for the eventual reimagining of Spaceship Earth will indisputably ‘evolve’ from what was once in the past introduced. It’s been over 5 years because the Spaceship Earth reimagining idea was once evolved, and so much has modified since then–from management to budgets to era.
Whilst there may well be parts of the Spaceship Earth: Our Shared Tale challenge that come to fruition, it’s additionally most probably that there are primary adjustments to what’s deliberate. About the one factor we will be able to make certain of is that the descent can be overhauled.
Expectantly, Spaceship Earth’s descent in fact have display scenes once more, relatively than resting at the crutch of screen-based interactivity. Truthfully, I’d be advantageous if Disney didn’t even contact the primary three-quarters of the journey except swapping out the narration, monitors, and possibly updating the woolly mammoth hunt scene. It’s actually simply the finishing that wishes assist–and numerous it.
In the end, we’re nonetheless left questioning when the inevitable Spaceship Earth reimagining challenge would possibly occur. Take a look at Observe is done and is proving to be a ruin good fortune and the 2 Global Exhibit headliners are getting TLC within the subsequent ~6 months, however there’s not anything else on deck for EPCOT between mid-2026 and 2027.
The reimagining of Spaceship Earth may then be a part of a 2d segment of the EPCOT overhaul, becoming a member of Adventure into Creativeness and [insert whatever else is on your personal wishlist here]. With not anything introduced at Vacation spot D23, it doesn’t appear to be both of those tasks are at the horizon within the close to time period, however we’ll stay you posted as extra turns into recognized!
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Your Ideas
Excited that Spaceship Earth has reopened every week forward of time table or do you would like it had stayed closed longer for exact substantive upgrades and improvements? Ideas on when the reimagining challenge will in fact happen–if in any respect–now that the Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Journey tasks had been introduced? Do you compromise or disagree with our ideas right here? Any questions we will be able to can help you solution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas beneath within the feedback!
