Whatever happened to Earth Station at the end of Space Ship Earth?

wem1985 · 06-20-2005, 01:44 PM

I'm sure some of you "old timers" like my-self remember Earth Station. It was a huge communications/reservation/media center for Epcot where you could make dinner reservations, look at interactive guides for the park, and they had these huge screens at the top that showed previews of the attractions. It was at the exit to Space Ship Earth, and it also had some side entrances. Whatever happened to it?

BigDaddyKyle · 06-20-2005, 02:10 PM

SSE lost its sponsorship so they closed it down,

WDW1974 · 06-20-2005, 03:13 PM

^^^Actually, not the case.

Earth Station (Epcot's version of City Hall) disappeared during the last major renovation to SSE ... thinking around 1993-94. That's when AT&T, which sponsored the attraction from 1982 until about a year and half ago, decided to move its exhibit (which was in the old Comminicore West) over to make a post-show at SSE, called the Global Neighborhood. That existed until sometime last year when it was taken out and the area boarded up and ghetto-ized.

The functions of Earth Station were moved in 1994 over to the then-renamed Innoventions East and it was simply called Guest Relations. Originaly they had the touch screens on the side of the building, like they had in Earth Station, but sometime in the late 90s they ripped them out and figured it was better to have guests stand in line (usually behind someone with a very long complaint ... like why won't Disney give me a free trip because it's raining?) to make a PS for dinner at Chefs de France instead of touching a screen and having everything at your fingertips.

TDLFAN · 06-20-2005, 05:49 PM

WDW1974 is correct. Earth station was basically Guest relations at EPCOT. When Astuter Computer review closed and CommuniCore was re-invented (badly I may add) they moved Guest relations out of SSE and into it's present location. I used to like the moving mosaic-style video of EPCOT Center's attractions up above. God, do I miss the good old days at WDW...

figment1986 · 06-20-2005, 07:31 PM

Here is a hint... they still have the touch screen macnines... they are on the side of the building behind bushes... not used.. sitting there...

I wish Guest Relations was in a better location though.. the old location was better and look at what happened when AT&T left.. borded it up...

Coastierox · 06-20-2005, 09:54 PM

What the Hell are they doing with the postshow/sponsorship anyway? I've noticed the last few times that I've rode it that on the desent near the bottom the sign that said AT&T Global Neighborhood now has what appears to be a piece of posterboard covering the AT&T....

WDW1974 · 06-20-2005, 10:21 PM

^^^They are doing NOTHING at all to it because Disney doesn't want to use its own $$$. And for many guests SSE is the first thing they do when they arrive at Epcot, so that boarded up, depressing postshow area definitely doesn't project a positive view of the future -- not to to mention the current status of the park.

And thanks, Figment1986, I thought the WorldKeys were still located next to Guest Relations, but wasn't sure. Not surprising that Disney simply left them there to rot. That's the current MO of the inept management team.

RonNYC · 06-20-2005, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coastierox

What the Hell are they doing with the postshow/sponsorship anyway? I've noticed the last few times that I've rode it that on the desent near the bottom the sign that said AT&T Global Neighborhood now has what appears to be a piece of posterboard covering the AT&T....

Posterboard? That's much better than the duct tape I thought I saw!

captsmith84 · 06-21-2005, 04:35 AM

Did you know you can make dining reservations from any pay phone in WDW using * wdw dine or something like that? It's a free call. No need to wait in line at Guest Relations.

ti2gr · 06-21-2005, 07:22 AM

One of the reasons the touch screens were taken out was that guests were making their own reservations and then not showing up at the restaurant. Many guests would book reservations at several restaurants at the same time and then not show up. By doing so, that prevented other people from booking reservations. A study showed that the culprit was that the reservations were being made at these terminals, therefore once they were eliminated the overbooking problem became less of a problem. It was deemed that people were booking the reservations because they were either unsure where they wanted to eat later in the day, and once they decided, they never cancelled the reservation, or they were making the reservation because of the novelty of doing so on the touch screen terminals.

WDW1974 · 06-21-2005, 03:06 PM

^^^I'm sure that was Disney's excuse for shutting them down. But it isn't valid. Folks still call and make PS and don't show up or make them at multiple places etc ...and when Disney took them out, they were no longer a novelty. And it sure beat standing in line or sitting on hold at Disney Dining/CRO because they don't have enough staff (could be the working conditions?).

06-20-2005, 01:44 PM	#1
wem1985 Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 157	Whatever happened to Earth Station at the end of Space Ship Earth? I'm sure some of you "old timers" like my-self remember Earth Station. It was a huge communications/reservation/media center for Epcot where you could make dinner reservations, look at interactive guides for the park, and they had these huge screens at the top that showed previews of the attractions. It was at the exit to Space Ship Earth, and it also had some side entrances. Whatever happened to it?

06-20-2005, 02:10 PM	#2
BigDaddyKyle Miranda Lambert and Me! Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Trenton, GA Posts: 3,733	SSE lost its sponsorship so they closed it down, __________________ Listen to me on the radio! us101country.com Fridays- 9p-12m ET and Saturdays- 7p-10p ET 981thelegend.com Monday-Friday - 12m-6a ET rock105.net Sundays - 10p-12m ET You can also visit my DJ blog HERE! Also, I have a Myspace- CLICK HERE

06-20-2005, 05:49 PM	#4
TDLFAN Xmas cheer at HKDL Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Orlando Posts: 13,352	WDW1974 is correct. Earth station was basically Guest relations at EPCOT. When Astuter Computer review closed and CommuniCore was re-invented (badly I may add) they moved Guest relations out of SSE and into it's present location. I used to like the moving mosaic-style video of EPCOT Center's attractions up above. God, do I miss the good old days at WDW... __________________ Check out the Micechat Weekend Update every Saturday morning! Go there or be squared!!! http://micechat.com/forums/blogs/weekend-update/ This week 11/21st/09 featuring TOKYO DISNEYLAND'S CHRISTMAS FANTASY 2009 photos.

06-20-2005, 09:54 PM	#6
Coastierox Mostly Harmless. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Viva Las Vegas! Posts: 1,345	What the Hell are they doing with the postshow/sponsorship anyway? I've noticed the last few times that I've rode it that on the desent near the bottom the sign that said AT&T Global Neighborhood now has what appears to be a piece of posterboard covering the AT&T.... __________________ He felt like his life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it. http://www.myspace.com/coastierox

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06-20-2005, 03:13 PM	#3
WDW1974 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,992	^^^Actually, not the case. Earth Station (Epcot's version of City Hall) disappeared during the last major renovation to SSE ... thinking around 1993-94. That's when AT&T, which sponsored the attraction from 1982 until about a year and half ago, decided to move its exhibit (which was in the old Comminicore West) over to make a post-show at SSE, called the Global Neighborhood. That existed until sometime last year when it was taken out and the area boarded up and ghetto-ized. The functions of Earth Station were moved in 1994 over to the then-renamed Innoventions East and it was simply called Guest Relations. Originaly they had the touch screens on the side of the building, like they had in Earth Station, but sometime in the late 90s they ripped them out and figured it was better to have guests stand in line (usually behind someone with a very long complaint ... like why won't Disney give me a free trip because it's raining?) to make a PS for dinner at Chefs de France instead of touching a screen and having everything at your fingertips.

06-20-2005, 07:31 PM	#5
figment1986 Banned User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Within 78 miles of WDW... Posts: 8,948	Here is a hint... they still have the touch screen macnines... they are on the side of the building behind bushes... not used.. sitting there... I wish Guest Relations was in a better location though.. the old location was better and look at what happened when AT&T left.. borded it up...

06-20-2005, 10:21 PM	#7
WDW1974 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,992	^^^They are doing NOTHING at all to it because Disney doesn't want to use its own $$$. And for many guests SSE is the first thing they do when they arrive at Epcot, so that boarded up, depressing postshow area definitely doesn't project a positive view of the future -- not to to mention the current status of the park. And thanks, Figment1986, I thought the WorldKeys were still located next to Guest Relations, but wasn't sure. Not surprising that Disney simply left them there to rot. That's the current MO of the inept management team.

06-21-2005, 04:35 AM	#9
captsmith84 Suspended Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Retired from MC Posts: 2,072	Did you know you can make dining reservations from any pay phone in WDW using * wdw dine or something like that? It's a free call. No need to wait in line at Guest Relations.

06-21-2005, 07:22 AM	#10
ti2gr Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lake Buena Vista Florida Posts: 535	One of the reasons the touch screens were taken out was that guests were making their own reservations and then not showing up at the restaurant. Many guests would book reservations at several restaurants at the same time and then not show up. By doing so, that prevented other people from booking reservations. A study showed that the culprit was that the reservations were being made at these terminals, therefore once they were eliminated the overbooking problem became less of a problem. It was deemed that people were booking the reservations because they were either unsure where they wanted to eat later in the day, and once they decided, they never cancelled the reservation, or they were making the reservation because of the novelty of doing so on the touch screen terminals.

06-21-2005, 03:06 PM	#11
WDW1974 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,992	^^^I'm sure that was Disney's excuse for shutting them down. But it isn't valid. Folks still call and make PS and don't show up or make them at multiple places etc ...and when Disney took them out, they were no longer a novelty. And it sure beat standing in line or sitting on hold at Disney Dining/CRO because they don't have enough staff (could be the working conditions?).

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