I touched something on Space Mountain

[Josh Hendy]

Being a bit of a showoff (and maybe a fool) I rode Space Mountain last week with my arms in the air. I was amazed that about 1/3 of the way through the descent, one of my fingertips brushed against something. Oooops! I pulled my arms in pretty quick. I'm not talking about the tunnels at the beginning and end of the ride where anyone could touch the ceiling, but somewhere in the dark at high speeds.

I'm sure I rode it on my last trip about 4 years ago with my arms up, and never touched anything. This was the first time since the rebuild that I tried raising my arms.

I'm a little taller than the average male (5'11) and possibly my arms are also a little bit long in proportion to the rest of my body ... but surely there must be even taller people who have tried this before? I think that if you are over 6' there is a good chance that you could bruise a finger or smack your hand or something if you try to be a show off (in the dark, LOL)

I mentioned it to a CM when I got off the ride, who told me that she didn't think it was possible to touch anything during the ride. Not sure if it is related, but about 1/2 hour later we were on TTA and Space Mountain was shut down with the lights on. If you were one of the people that we saw stuck on the coaster ... sorry!

I should mention that on my first trip to MK ever in the early 1990s, a local I was chatting with in the SM queue told me a story that I now know to be an urban legend. He said that on the opening day of SM, a roller coaster enthusiast stood up during the ride and had his head taken off which supposedly caused the ride to be shut down until it could be modified.

 

[Robo]

I touched something on Space Mountain

 

[DustyPixie]

MNSSHP rehearsal??

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Honestly, when you see the ride with the lights on it's rather shocking how close the tracks are to each other (side to side and above/below).

 

[WantToGoNow]

There are signs saying to keep your hands and arms inside. My dd5 was wanting to raise her hands and even though I know her little arms couldn't possibly touch anything, I told her the sign said not to.

 

[Pikezh638]

I'm 6'1"-6'4" and space mountain always scares the mess outta me, just feels like the tracks are RIGHT ABOVE ME. So I almost always hunch down.

 

[Schmeck]

Honestly, when you see the ride with the lights on it's rather shocking how close the tracks are to each other (side to side and above/below).

Actually, when my daughter rode it with the lights on, she told me the tracks were pretty well spaced - as two of her friends, over 6'3" in height, had been trying to touch stuff.

 

[LunchBox]

I'll have to remember to bring a flash light the next time I go on Space Mountain

 

[KeroKero]

I'll have to remember to bring a flash light the next time I go on Space Mountain

hmmmm...interesting thought

 

[Schmeck]

I'll have to remember to bring a flash light the next time I go on Space Mountain

I'm sure the people on the ride with you would really appreciate that... NOT!

 

[Robo]

I'll have to remember to bring a flash light the next time I go on Space Mountain

hmmmm...interesting thought

I'm sure the people on the ride with you would really appreciate that... NOT!

Killjoy!

 

[drgnfly30]

My absolute worse fear at WDW... Seriously! So much so that I hunch down in the ride.. and I'm only 5'5"!!

 

[thestevied]

I'm 6'4 and try holding my arms up high. Only manage it for a few seconds though, then I end up ducking down as low as I can in fear I'm gonna hit something. I have never ever touched anything whilst riding though, so as Robo says, it was probably a web, or a bug maybe.

 

[cbate717]

I'm 6'1"-6'4" and space mountain always scares the mess outta me, just feels like the tracks are RIGHT ABOVE ME. So I almost always hunch down.

My DBF is 6'4 and I was having concerns about whether he'd smack his head on SM. I am only 5'1....so Ive never had an issue. But I assumed people that are taller than 6ft can ride.

 

[Suellen]

I seriously doubt that Disney would design a ride that would potentially decapitate someone. Just saying. Seems pretty doubtful that you could touch anything while whipping through the dark.

 

[whitneyNC]

Yeah... of course you touched something! They built the ride so you never know if you'll hit the track above you with your hand or head. Surprise, you lost a hand! Surprise, you're decapitated!

"Keep your hands inside the ride vehicle" obviously means don't reach over the sides. Roller coasters are designed to throw ya hands in the aya.

 

[DaisyMaisie]

Could someone you were riding with have touched your hand to spook you?

 

[maryj11]

I seriously doubt that Disney would design a ride that would potentially decapitate someone. Just saying. Seems pretty doubtful that you could touch anything while whipping through the dark.

 

[dizanimator]

I'll have to remember to bring a flash light the next time I go on Space Mountain

I wish I could ride with the lights on to better see how close things are. I also want to ride it with the TTC worklights off so I can experience it the way I'm supposed to. I know if it was the first time I got to the top of the lift hill and the TTC worklights were finally off, and someone wanted to have a fliashlight on I'd be mad. I rode several times on my last trip, and every single time the TTC worklights were on and you could see the tracks and supports. Not really well enough to know exactly how far away they were, but better than they should be seen.
I'm around 5 feet tall, and while I have my hands up when I ride, they aren't as high as on rides where I know I can't hit anything. I think I'm fairly safe if they're slightly above my head, but I'm not sure that I would want to ride with my arms straight up like for other rides. Except for when the photo is taken, if it's properly dark nobody could really tell if I'm holding on or not, and I like being able to use my hands.

 

[Jennasis]

A friend INSISTS her son touched the ceiling in the launch tunnel and he was shocked/zapped by electricity.