Slow Progress Continues for Spaceship Earth Exterior Updates at EPCOT

Progress on the exterior panel refresh at Spaceship Earth continues, but slowly. One side of the building is nearly finished, with crews yet to begin on a similar section on the other side of the building. We stopped by EPCOT recently to check on the project’s status. Here’s a look around!

Spaceship Earth Shiny Panel Refresh Update

The panel refresh on the west side of the Project Tomorrow post-show building looks close to finished. Nearly the entire section we photographed has the newer, shinier finish. Only a narrow strip of older panels remains along a lower portion of the facade. We reported when Disney resumed work on the panels back in April that the project had reached roughly 60 to 70 percent completion. Recent progress on the west side would move the project closer to the 70-80% mark.

Wouldn’t it be great if the reason Disney seemingly sanded down these sections of panels right above the walkway would be to install some GEO-82 signs? An experience as great as GEO-82 deserves something better than A-frame signs. A blogger can dream.

Across the way, the matching section on the east side tells a different story. As of our most recent visit, that stretch of panels shows no sign of work at all above the Project Tomorrow area. Panels closer to the geodesic sphere were worked on a while ago and are finished. The panels above this Project Tomorrow entrance still carry the dirt streaks and dulled finish that have marked the building’s exterior for years. That’s a sharp contrast to the bright, shiny look of the finished west side sections.

It’s still unclear whether crews are cleaning the panels, refinishing them, or replacing them outright. Whatever the process, it’s produced a noticeably brighter, more uniform look wherever it’s done. The work continues to focus only on the flat panels along the sides of the Project Tomorrow building. Disney has made no changes to the triangular Alucobond tiles that cover the main geodesic sphere.

The Project Tomorrow entrance sign and surrounding graphics haven’t been part of this project either. Spaceship Earth continues to operate normally for guests throughout the refresh, and there’s no timeline yet for when the remaining panels, including the east side section, will get their turn.

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!