While visiting EPCOT recently, we stopped by to check on the Spaceship Earth exterior refurbishment. We took our first look at the shiny update just over a week ago, and Walt Disney World continues to make progress on the project. The exterior refurbishment comes ahead of an interior refurbishment planned to begin later this month. The interior refurbishment will wrap up sometime later this year. Here’s a look at the work taking place outside of the building!
Exterior Refurbishment Continues at Spaceship Earth
While our previous update mostly focused on the eastern side of Spaceship Earth, today’s update focuses on the western side of the building. As we noted during our previous update, the refurbishment is focused on either refreshing or replacing the exterior panels for the building behind the geodesic sphere. This building houses the load/unload area and the Project Tomorrow post-show. It also houses the new GEO-82 adults-only lounge.
As you can see in the photos below, the panel refresh project has recently expanded on this side of Spaceship Earth. The work now encompasses dozens of panels, creating a shiny matte finish on the exterior of the building.
As far as we can tell, the work is limited to the panels on the side of the structure. It doesn’t look like any work is taking place on the triangular Alucobond tiles on the main sphere.
Walt Disney World has not released any details about the upcoming refurbishment for Spaceship Earth beyond a closing date and rough reopening timeline. Back in 2020, Spaceship Earth was getting ready to close for a multi-year reimagining. Unfortunately, COVID-19 shut down the theme parks, and the update was scrapped.
It is very unlikely that we will see any substantial updates to the ride during the upcoming refurbishment.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!