The giant geodesic sphere in EPCOT, also known as the EPCOT Ball and sometimes the Golf Ball, serves at the icon of EPCOT, but many are left wondering what is inside the EPCOT Ball. EPCOT, or the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, is centered around the future and was originally Walt Disney’s vision for a, well, community of tomorrow! The EPCOT Ball is a marvel of engineering that stands as the centerpiece of EPCOT. As impressive as the EPCOT ball is to look at, there is even more going on inside! Many visitors to Disney World are surprised to learn that you can actually go inside the EPCOT Ball! Keep reading to find out what exactly is inside the EPCOT Ball at EPCOT in Walt Disney World.
How Big is the EPCOT Ball?
You might’ve guessed just from looking that the EPCOT Ball is absolutely enormous, but do you know exactly how big it is?
The EPCOT Ball is 240′ tall with a 165′ diameter. To support the EPCOT Ball, there are 3 different steel beams at 15′ a piece. There are exactly 11,324 triangles composing the giant geodesic sphere that is the EPCOT Ball!
Want to guess how much the EPCOT Ball weighs? The EPCOT Ball weighs a whopping 16 million pounds.
To put the size of the Epcot ‘Golf Ball’ in terms of actual golf balls, that would be a lot of golf balls. The average golf ball weighs 45.9 grams, or roughly .1 pounds. This means that the EPCOT Ball, or EPCOT Golf Ball, weighs as much as 158,114,953 regular golf balls!
The gargantuan task of constructing the EPCOT Ball took just over 2 years and over 40,000 man hours to complete. The construction of the EPCOT Ball was finally finished on October 1st, 1982.
Inside the EPCOT Ball
Many are surprised to learn that there is actually an entire ride inside the EPCOT Ball! The EPCOT Ball is home to one of my favorite attractions in all of Disney World: Spaceship Earth! It might be hard to believe, but the entirety of the Spaceship Earth ride takes place inside of the EPCOT Ball. Spaceship Earth uses the room inside of the EPCOT Ball very wisely, with many visitors to Disney World not even realizing that they have been inside of the EPCOT Ball the entire time they were riding Spaceship Earth!
While Spaceship Earth is the main draw inside of the EPCOT Ball, Spaceship Earth does not account for all of the space available inside of the EPCOT Ball. There is actually a hidden lounge available inside the EPCOT Ball only for the sponsors of Spaceship Earth. There’s also an elevator system inside of the EPCOT Ball to access the hidden lounge and parts of Spaceship Earth.
Heading to EPCOT? Here are some more of our favorite rides!
Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth is an indoor slow ride themed around the progress of humanity, allowing you to watch some of humanity’s greatest moments in the luxury of air conditioning. When we say Spaceship Earth is an indoor ride, we mean inside the EPCOT ball!
Spaceship Earth is an all encompassing ride that will allow you to see, smell, and hear history! See paint dripping down on Michelangelo as he paints the Sistine Chapel, smell the distinguishing scent of burning parchment as the Library of Alexandria crumbles, and hear authentic music ripped from time and delivered to your ride vehicle.
Before riding Spaceship Earth, it is worth keeping in mind that Spaceship Earth is one of the longest rides in Walt Disney World at 15 minutes. If you have an interest in history or just want a break from the heat for 15 minutes, we highly recommend Spaceship Earth!
Conclusion
The EPCOT Ball is more than just a pretty sight and an icon of EPCOT, there is actually an entire ride available to ride inside the EPCOT Ball! Spaceship Earth is housed entirely inside the EPCOT Ball, which in itself is 240′ tall with a 165′ diameter! Whether you have a passion for the history of humanity or just want to take a 15 minute break in an air conditioned ride, we strongly encourage you to try out Spaceship Earth and see what is inside the EPCOT Ball for yourself! Make sure to carve out some time on your next trip to EPCOT to discover what is inside the EPCOT Ball!
