Spaceship Earth Reopened at EPCOT With No Noticeable Changes

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Spaceship Earth at EPCOT has reopened after being closed for two months of renovations. With this reopening, all of EPCOT’s attractions are now available for guests, just in time for the holidays.

The ride closed for maintenance on August 25, 2025, and many fans wondered if it would be updated. However, it reopened with a limited preview in mid-October and returned to normal operation on October 25, 2025, with no visible changes for riders. It was just a standard refurbishment.

I heard from WDWMAGIC that they recently updated the ride with a new fire detection system, and they also did some much-needed maintenance on the ride itself and everything that supports it. It’s great to know they’re keeping everything safe and running smoothly!

Classic Animatronics Work

Spaceship Earth is both the famous, globe-shaped building at EPCOT and the ride inside. The ride takes guests on a quick trip through the history of communication, starting with cave paintings and ending in the present day.

During our recent check of the attraction, we were happy to see that all of the animatronics were functioning perfectly! Every figure, from the Phoenicians—whom we thanked for helping us with the alphabet—to Gutenberg at his printing press, was working as expected.

This is different from the more modern, technologically advanced animatronics you see in rides like Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Guests generally prefer seeing older attractions still functioning well over new ones that are broken. However, wasn’t Spaceship Earth also supposed to offer something new and updated?

The Spaceship Earth Upgrade We Never Got

This was the first update to the Spaceship Earth ride since it reopened after the pandemic closures. While many fans were hoping to see some of the changes Disney announced at the 2019 D23 Expo, those updates weren’t included in this refurbishment.

A large update planned for EPCOT, the biggest since the park debuted in 1982, included a significant redesign of the Spaceship Earth attraction, which was to be renamed “Spaceship Earth: Our Shared Story.”

The planned update to the ride would have included fresh narration, music, and scenes, all centered around the power of storytelling instead of focusing on gadgets and innovation. A special effect, called the “story light,” was intended to lead guests through the attraction. However, these changes were never implemented.

Disney Promises Made — Promises Broken

The outside of the geodesic sphere now has new lighting for the nightly “Beacons of Magic” show, but plans to update the ride inside appear to have been dropped. This is part of a pattern of promised improvements for EPCOT that were never completed.

I was really excited to hear about the new Mary Poppins attraction coming to the UK pavilion, but I’ve been a little disappointed by the “Play Pavilion.” They announced it on the ride into EPCOT, but it’s still blocked off. It’s just an empty, gold dome where the old “Wonders of Life” used to be, and it’s a bit of a letdown to see it like that.

Although the cancellations were probably caused by budget cuts after the pandemic, it’s strange that EPCOT hasn’t received the same attention as other Disney World parks. Test Track recently got a major upgrade, and significant renovations are underway in the other three parks, but EPCOT seems to have been overlooked – and it’s a pretty important part of the resort.

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2025-11-10 17:59