Disney announced that Spaceship Earth at Epcot will close on May 26th for an extensive refurbishment turning it into Spaceship Earth: Our Shared Story.

Sure, it has been overhauled before, but the big changes have come with narration and the descent at the end. Frankly, they can change that again because it is not the best it’s been at the end.

And for the most part the attraction has remained the same with minor tweaks. But now that the focus is turning from technology and communication to “stories” fans are starting to worry about how much change there will be..

The general understanding has seemed to be that it would mostly remain the same until the Industrial Revolution scenes. The changes would be more about the story light and some projection.

Well that is apparently not the case.

Sure the basic scenes might remain the same, but the story and even animatronics are going to change if the concept for the Egyptian scene is any indication.

Here is the current scene

But the concept art given to us by Disney shows something vastly different:

If you look closer you will see that is now a female ruler, like Cleopatra with someone who looks like they are in Roman garb.

Clearly this isn’t going to be the same. The scenes aren’t going to be as they were with just some “updates.”

The Disney Parks Blog had said, “Many of the moments you know and love will be updated in amazing ways, blended with brand-new scenes to tell a story about our human experience.”

Bob Chapek told us at D23, 2019 “Many of the scenes you know and love will remain, but we’ll bring them to life in amazing new ways.” During that presentation he showed the audience the cave scene, with what looked like enhanced projections.

Then he said “We’re also adding new scenes to reflect the universal nature of the human experience.” And showed something that looked like a scene straight out of Moana, and I’m still trying to figure out how flying sting rays “reflect the universal nature of the human experience.”  It seems more like a way to shove their IP into an attraction that didn’t have it for years.

Change in inevitable, and I’m hoping it’s going to be great. EPCOT has been something I have loved since I was a child and all the changes are worrying me. Mostly because the more we hear, and the more we see, the more the clearer it becomes that Epcot is becoming more and more about IP. The Malestrom is now Frozen. The Universe of Energy is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy. The Living Seas has Nemo. The Wonders of Life Pavilion is going to be the Disney Play IP pavilion. And now France is going to be home to Rataouille and the United Kingdom will end up with a Mary Poppins attraction.

Hopefully it will all work out and be amazing, but right now I’m just feeling leary.

But one thing’s for sure, Spaceship Earth is going to change. It seems it will do so far more than Disney has been saying. Does it need some change? Yes. But can change pushed too far? Yes.

I’m just hoping they find a good balance. The Egyptian scene, although changed, does look pretty neat.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Sources: Eddy Alvarez, Disney