In today’s attraction spotlight, I am going to feature my favorite attraction on all of Disney property, Spaceship Earth. This attraction is near and dear to my heart because, during my time as a Disney Cast Member, this is where I got to create Disney magic. Spaceship Earth is a large geodesic sphere and is the icon of Epcot theme park. It opened with the theme park on October 1, 1982. Spaceship Earth stands at 180 feet tall, 160 feet wide, and is covered by 11,324 triangles. Many Disney guests comment about how it looks like a large golf ball. If you were to hit Spaceship Earth like a golf ball, you would need to be 7,714 feet tall!
A concern many guests always inquired on was how it holds up with the Florida hurricanes and rain. Spaceship Earth’s 6 legs are connected to pile groups that go down 160 ft underground! Florida is known to have quick rain showers pop up. The designers of this attraction took this into consideration. If you happen to get caught in a Florida rainstorm during your visit to Epcot, you can stand under this attraction to stay dry. Rainwater is collected within the facets of the exterior and channeled into a gutter system that recycles the rainwater into the World Showcase Lagoon.
Within this iconic attraction, there is a slow-moving, 15-minute ride that takes you through the evolution of communication in our society. When you enter the boarding area of the attraction, you will step on a platform that is moving at the same speed as your time machine. You will board your time machine and be taken up into the geodesic sphere. As you travel through time you will encounter scenes depicting how technology has changed and so has our communication styles. At the top height of Spaceship Earth, your time machine will turn slowly around and you will ride backward for your descent back down to the current day. After you disembark from your travels, you will be invited to Project Tomorrow. This is a large open space filled with activities and games that encourage your family to learn and participate more in communication. This is also a great place to come to in the event of rain or if you need to cool off from the Florida sun!