10 Little Known Facts About Spaceship Earth That May Surprise You

Spaceship Earth is one of Disney World's most iconic landmarks with it's large, spherical, and golf ball-like appearance. Many Disney World guests often ask about the logistics and ideas behind building this incredible attraction that has stood the test of time. While it is a beautiful sight to take in during the day, guests are even more mystified by it's beauty at night with it's many lights that are sometimes accompanied by a musical soundtrack. Spaceship Earth truly represents the vision and idea of EPCOT with it's futuristic design that is bound to hold up for decades to come.

Spaceship Earth is a slow-moving dark ride that takes guests through the ages with a focus on developments in communication and technology. The ride vehicles are built on an omni-mover track system which moves along a track that spirals up and down through the sphere. At the top of the sphere, the vehicles make a 180 degree turn, and guests are transported backwards through space. There is also an opportunity for riders to build their own futures and dream about what the world could eventually look like! The ride in total lasts about 15 minutes and is considered one of the best rides at EPCOT.

As a frequent visitor to EPCOT, I love learning about Spaceship Earth's overall history and little known facts. It is still amazing to me that it was built in 1982 when the park first opened it's doors. Read more below to learn 10 facts about EPCOT's Spaceship Earth attraction!

1. A Previously Unoccupied Lounge Inside Spaceship Earth Will be Accessible to All EPCOT Guests in 2025

The most recent D23 event had TONS of exciting announcements including upcoming Disney movies and expansions to the Disney parks all over the world! One of these announcements included two new lounges coming to Disney World, including one located inside the Spaceship Earth attraction's show building that pays tribute to the attraction. The second lounge will be inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean located at Magic Kingdom.

The Spaceship Earth lounge is described as being “inspired by the stores, shapes, and enduring legacy of this timeless icon. Taking inspiration from the geometric sphere, the zen space to gather and enjoy refreshments will be draped with rich textures and warm metallic tones, giving it a mysterious and elegant intimacy”.

Prior to this announcement, this space was a VIP center for Siemens employees to enjoy a relaxing area with refreshments. Siemens was previously a sponsor or Spaceship Earth and EPCOT's previous nighttime show, Illuminations, until July 2017. Since then, this space has been unoccupied and closed off to all guests. We can't wait to see how Disney transforms this space into a lounge that all guests can enjoy in 2025!

2. Previously Planned Renovations Indefinitely Delayed Due to COVID-19 Pandemic Closure

Spaceship Earth has seen three different renovation periods since it opened in 1982. These updates primarily consisted of new narrators (more on narrators below), scenes, and musical soundtracks. Updates were made in 1986, 1994, and 2007.

The most significant updates were made in 2007 when Siemens took over as the sponsor for Spaceship Earth. Notably, the beginning scene with the wooly mammoth and cavemen was remade with CGI, and the touchscreens within each car were added which affected several of the previous scenes throughout the ride. The touchscreens currently allow guests to select their preferred language and country of residence at the beginning of the ride. Towards the end, guests can use the touchscreens to build their ideal lifestyle in the future which are used with photos taken of each guest.

At the D23 event in 2019, Disney had announced that another significant update was coming to Spaceship Earth. However, when the park reopened in July 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic closures, they announced that these updates would be postponed indefinitely. Four years later, we still haven't heard if these updates will ever happen or not.

3. Spaceship Earth Has Had Four Different Celebrity Narrators

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It's hard to imagine any other voice besides Dame Judi Dench on Spaceship Earth, but there have actually been three other voices before she took over in 2007. Many often quote her famous line on the attraction: “Remember how easy it was to learn your ABC's? Thank the Phoenicians, they invented them!” The other celebrities that provided their voices included Jeremy Irons, Walter Cronkite, and Vic Perrin.

Jeremy Irons, who you know as the voice of Scar from The Lion King, was the narrator between 1994 and 2007. Walter Cronkite, the famous CBS Evening News anchorman, narrated the attraction between 1986 and 1994. Lastly, Vic Perrin, a famous 1980s actor, provided the narration on Spaceship Earth between it's opening in 1982 through 1986.

Currently, Spaceship Earth's soundtrack includes Dench's signature narration along with a beautiful musical score written by Emmy winner Bruce Broughton. The soundtrack includes a 63-piece orchestra and 24-voice choir which features styles and instruments appropriate to each era shown throughout the attraction. I will be curious to see if there will be a new narrator if Disney does proceed with their previously planned renovations to Spaceship Earth.

4. How Many Tiles Make Up Spaceship Earth's Giant Sphere?

One of the most common questions I get is: how many tiles were used to build the giant sphere and how much does it weigh? There are 11,325 alucobond tiles that make up Spaceship Earth and it is estimated to weigh approximately 16 million pounds! Alucobond is an aluminum composite material that is strong, lightweight, and weather resistant. This material was the perfect choice for Spaceship Earth. Not only is it visually pleasing to the eye, but it must be able to sustain central Florida's heat and frequent storms.

The materials are what make Spaceship Earth so iconic and it is amazing to see it still standing tall at 180 feet with a fully functioning attraction inside over 40 years later!

5. Reimagined Characters from Other Disney World Attractions

With such an enormous undertaking of creating Spaceship Earth, there were bound to be a few scratched plans in the building process. In the original plans, there was supposed to be a moon base scene towards the top of the dome. Unfortunately, the creators were unhappy with the depiction of this scene and instead scrapped the plans altogether. With the 1994 renovation, all of the props and characters, including two astronauts, were permanently removed from Spaceship Earth. However, these astronauts can now be seen on the lift hill for the Space Mountain rollercoaster at Magic Kingdom! This was a great way to reimagine these original characters from Spaceship Earth on another Disney attraction.

Disney has been known to re-use molds of certain animatronic characters in several attractions, and Spaceship Earth is no different. One of the monks seen in the Christian monastery scene in Spaceship Earth was used from the same mold as the John Adams animatronic seen in the The Hall of Presidents attraction at Magic Kingdom.

6. First Use of the “Smellitzer” Scent Distribution System

One of my favorite smells in all of Disney World is the faux scent of smoke in the burning of Rome scene in Spaceship Earth. It is strong, yet surprisingly pleasant, and truly makes it feel as if you are immersed in a piece of history.

Spaceship Earth was the first attraction to use what is called the “smellitzer” scent distribution system which was invented by Disney Imagineer Robert McCarthy in 1981. The name smellitzer was coined because it was inspired by the Howitzer cannon because the system shoots out puffs of smells. The smellitzer system was used again in the now defunct Universe of Energy attraction at EPCOT to create a volcano and swamp smell.

7. Sorcerer Mickey Magic Wand Was Added to Celebrate the New Millennium

In the year 2000, a 25-story depiction of Mickey Mouse holding a magic wand was built next to Spaceship Earth. Originally, the number “2000” could be seen at the top of the structure, but it was eventually changed to “EPCOT” in 2001. This structure was supposed to appear until the end of the decade, however, it was removed in 2007 for the park's 25th anniversary. Many believe Siemens was behind the removal of the tower because they became the attraction's sponsor in 2007, however it could not be confirmed.

Either way, the removal of the wand was probably for the best, as it was a bit of an eyesore. The idea was unique in theory, however the actual execution of the tower was not quite up to Disney's normal standards. It was also odd to see Sorcerer Mickey holding a magic wand, as he did not actually use a wand in Fantasia.

8. It Has It's Own Rainwater Distribution System

Another incredible design aspect of Spaceship Earth is it's ability to distribute rainwater in a purposeful and sustainable way. There are various channels on Spaceship Earth which direct rainwater into a large storage container. This rainwater can then be used for irrigation throughout EPCOT's beautiful landscaping or used within their cooling systems. Additionally, some of the rainwater is sent back into the World Showcase lagoon.

Spaceship Earth's rainwater distribution channels is just another way EPCOT was built with the future in mind over 40 years ago!

9. New Innovative Lighting System Installed for Disney World's 50th Anniversary

If you've seen Spaceship Earth at night, you may have noticed it looks significantly more beautiful than it has in past years. This is due to the incredible new lighting system developed for Disney World's 50th anniversary celebration in 2021. There were a total of 1,861 Points of Light installed on Spaceship Earth, which comprised of approximately 60 total miles of cable!

Not only does Spaceship Earth look even more beautiful with these powerful and colorful light fixtures, but the technology brought two special edition light shows as well. These shows could be experienced during EPCOT's International Festival of the Holidays and during the International Festival of the Arts. Both included beautiful light displays that were synchronized with classic Disney songs. This new lightning system truly took Spaceship Earth to the next level, and hopefully we'll get to see more new light shows during EPCOT's various festivals throughout the year.

10. Actual Morse Code Used During Telegraph Scene

Throughout the attraction, there are various scenes displaying historical events as well as depicting realistic scenes from various time periods. Most of these scenes use actual depictions of history, such as an exact replica of the William Bullock steam press.

In another scene, you can see two gentlemen translating what appears to be Morse code into a message regarding the linking of the transcontinental railroad. Not only does this scene depict an actual historic event of linking the railroad at Promontory Pike in 1969, but they use the accurate Morse code language during this scene.

These and other unique facts about Spaceship Earth make this attraction seem even more amazing than just the attraction itself. It is a true testament to the love and care Disney Imagineers put into each attraction at Disney World.

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