What to See in Lake Buena Vista - Top Sights and Attractions

Amusement ride. Spaceship Earth is a dark ride attraction at the Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. The geodesic sphere in which the attraction is housed has served as the symbolic structure of Epcot since the park opened in 1982.

The 15-minute ride takes guests on a time machine-themed experience, demonstrating how advancements in human communication have helped to create the future one step at a time. Riding in Omnimover-type vehicles along a track that spirals up and down the geodesic sphere, passengers are taken through scenes depicting important breakthroughs in communication throughout history—from the development of early language through cave paintings, to the use of hieroglyphs, to the invention of the alphabet, to the creation of the printing press, to today's modern communication advancements, including telecommunication and mass communication.

Since its 1982 opening, the ride has been updated three times—in 1986, 1994, and 2008. On February 25, 2020, the Disney Parks Blog announced that Spaceship Earth would be closing for refurbishment on May 26, 2020. However, its refurbishment is currently placed on indefinite hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction that is located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Created by both Walt Disney and WED Enterprises as the prime feature of the General Electric Pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair, the attraction was moved to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Carousel of Progress, remaining there from 1967 until 1973. It was replaced in Disneyland by America Sings in 1974, and reopened in its present home in the Magic Kingdom in 1975.

Steeped in both nostalgia and (in the past) futurism, the attraction's premise is an exploration of the joys of living through the advent of electricity and other technological advances during the 20th century via a "typical" American family. To keep it up with the times, the attraction has been updated five times (in 1967, 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1993) and has had two different theme songs, both written by the Sherman Brothers, Disney's Academy Award-winning songwriting team.

The Carousel of Progress holds the record as the longest-running stage show in the history of American theater. It is one of the oldest attractions in the Walt Disney World Resort. It is also the oldest attraction at Walt Disney World to have been touched by Walt Disney.^[5]

Innoventions was an ever-changing collection of exhibits at the Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World, Florida. It focused on technological advancements and their practical applications in everyday life. Innoventions is a portmanteau of the words "innovation" and "invention".

Innoventions first opened in 1994, replacing Communicore in Epcot. When the attraction opened, it prominently displayed Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Sega 32X, Sega CD, and Sega Pico games in an arcade style. The exhibit also featured "virtual reality" displays. Innoventions is divided into two buildings known as Innoventions East and Innoventions West. In 1999, Innoventions had a major renovation for the park's Millennium Celebration, and added the subtitle "The Road to Tomorrow". In 2007–2008, Innoventions underwent another major renovation, dropped the subtitle "Road to Tomorrow," and changed its general aesthetic again while also launching the companion website innoventions.disney.com.

Today, the building that formerly housed Innoventions East is being used as a temporary MouseGear store. The building that formerly housed Innoventions West is completely demolished to make way for a brand new festival area, Dreamers Point, Creations Shop and the Journey of Water attraction, in the future site of World Celebration and World Nature.^[6]

Tourist attraction in Bay Lake, Florida. Voyage of the Little Mermaid is a live show attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Voyage is an abridgment of the 1989 film The Little Mermaid. Along with a mix of live actors and puppets, the show features effects such as light and laser projections on the auditorium walls and light rain over the audience. Voice actors include Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Pat Carroll as Ursula, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Edan Gross as Flounder, Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, and Frank Welker as Max the Sheepdog. Wright, Carroll, Mars, Edwards, and Welker reprise their roles from the original film. The show replaced the previous attraction, Here Come The Muppets, on January 7, 1992, in the Animation Courtyard Theater.^[12]