What is the Epcot ball made out of?

Crunching the Numbers The panels are made of a material called Alucobond, which is essentially a sheet of polyethylene plastic sandwiched between two thin sheets of aluminum. The Alucobond website says that each panel of aluminum is 0.5mm thick, which is 0.02” thick aluminum.



The Epcot ball, officially known as Spaceship Earth, is a geodesic sphere whose exterior "skin" is made of a material called Alucobond. This is a composite material consisting of two thin sheets of aluminum (each about 0.5 mm thick) sandwiched around a core of polyethylene plastic. In 2026, the structure remains an engineering marvel, featuring exactly 11,324 silvered triangular facets. These panels are specifically designed to be "self-cleaning" and are mounted slightly away from the actual structural waterproof membrane of the sphere. This gap allows rainwater to flow between the panels and into a hidden drainage system, preventing it from shedding off the sides and drenching guests below. The internal skeleton of the 165-foot diameter sphere is composed of a massive steel space frame supported by six legs driven over 100 feet into the Florida soil.

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That's not a lot per sheet, but when you add it up, suddenly you realize that the entire Epcot Spaceship Earth Ball contains 62,035.2 lbs. of aluminum! That is still only a fraction of the weight as the entire ball itself weighs 15,520,000 lbs. That's as much as 1,293 full sized wrecking balls!

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Having realized this, Disney designed the sphere so that the rainwater is collected then funneled away instead of drenching the guests.

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Spaceship Earth is Made Up of More than a Single Sphere We've covered the triangles that pattern the exterior of this Disney World icon, but did you know that it's also not just one big sphere? Spaceship Earth might look like it, but it turns out the park weenie is made from two spheres, actually.

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However, Disney directors eventually decided that it was too risky to venture into city planning now that its biggest advocate was gone. Roy persisted and took the reins on the project, coming out of retirement, but he could not convince the board to build EPCOT.

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The Epcot ball is a 165-ft diameter geodesic sphere that is elevated above the ground to stand 180 feet tall. Each face of the polyhedron is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points.

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EPCOT Acronym coined by Walt Disney in 1966 meaning Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The park was called EPCOT Center when it opened on October 1, 1982.

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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.

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Spaceship Earth opened with EPCOT on October 1, 1982. It was designed by Imagineer Gordon Hoopes, who wanted to “create an atmosphere for our guests that raises their spirit and kindles an excitement for the human experience in the future.”

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It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unrealized concept of the same name developed by Walt Disney, the park opened on October 1, 1982, as EPCOT Center, and was the second of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World.

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#1 – The Best Disney Park – Magic Kingdom Coming in at number one is the original 1971 Walt Disney World park, Magic Kingdom! Home to the most magical castle on Earth and some of the most classic attractions in theme parks.

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The Soviet Union fell in 1991, leading to economic turmoil. The government of Russia decided not to move forward with sponsoring the pavilion at EPCOT.

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Spain Pavilion There also would have been an additional attraction as well as shopping and dining experiences. The market place would have featured both the new and old of Spain. The pavilion was never built because Disney was not able to find a sponsor. Efforts to sign on Spain has been tougher.

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The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure.

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