There was a rumor awhile back that Mission:Space would be toned down due to the results of the early testing. Does anyone know if in fact M:S was toned-down? The reason I ask is that I rode it three times during my 7 day vacation in WDW last week. The ride was less intense than I expected based on all of the reviews on these boards and other places on the internet. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the ride and think it is a good addition to WDW. It's just that the G-forces didn't seem as intense as I expected. In fact, after riding it, I decided that my wimpy 5 year old duaghter could handle it. So if it has been toned down, it has become more of a family ride.
Other miscellaneous thoughts on M:S:
The building is beautiful. I really like the material they used to cover the planets at the entrance.
The queue was very good and set the stage for the ride quite well. I thought the sound in the background added to the drama well.
I'm a big guy and the seat and harness were very spacious and comfortable for me. You'd have to be pretty big to not be able to ride M:S. But I did notice that tall people cannot see the top 1 or 2 inches of the video screen. This was only an issue during certain scenes (most importantly the slingshot around the moon where the moon is rolling around toward the top of the screen).
The G-force effects were very good and timed nicely with the video. The movement is very smooth. However, the one negative about the movement is that when it should be jolting and jarring, it is not. I was thinking of the crash landing. It was not jarring at all.
The ending was a bit disappointing. When you are teetering over the edge, since you signed-up for an action ride, you WANT to fall and glide to safety on the ravine floor or something. Why did they make you expect more action and thrills at the very end of the ride and then not give it to you?
I still wish that the story behind the ride was not that you are training in a simulator but that you are actually flying to Mars. The story could have been that Earth was going to be destroyed by a meteor and was being evacuated to humanity's new home on Mars that had been terraformed when we learned of the meteor 50 years earlier.
Overall, I thinks it's a good ride with a good re-rideability factor. I think it's one of the best at WDW and should stand the test of time pretty well. (But I still don't think it beats Spider Man as a cutting-edge, all-encompassing, top-of-the-heap, thrill ride.)
Other miscellaneous thoughts on M:S:
The building is beautiful. I really like the material they used to cover the planets at the entrance.
The queue was very good and set the stage for the ride quite well. I thought the sound in the background added to the drama well.
I'm a big guy and the seat and harness were very spacious and comfortable for me. You'd have to be pretty big to not be able to ride M:S. But I did notice that tall people cannot see the top 1 or 2 inches of the video screen. This was only an issue during certain scenes (most importantly the slingshot around the moon where the moon is rolling around toward the top of the screen).
The G-force effects were very good and timed nicely with the video. The movement is very smooth. However, the one negative about the movement is that when it should be jolting and jarring, it is not. I was thinking of the crash landing. It was not jarring at all.
The ending was a bit disappointing. When you are teetering over the edge, since you signed-up for an action ride, you WANT to fall and glide to safety on the ravine floor or something. Why did they make you expect more action and thrills at the very end of the ride and then not give it to you?
I still wish that the story behind the ride was not that you are training in a simulator but that you are actually flying to Mars. The story could have been that Earth was going to be destroyed by a meteor and was being evacuated to humanity's new home on Mars that had been terraformed when we learned of the meteor 50 years earlier.
Overall, I thinks it's a good ride with a good re-rideability factor. I think it's one of the best at WDW and should stand the test of time pretty well. (But I still don't think it beats Spider Man as a cutting-edge, all-encompassing, top-of-the-heap, thrill ride.)
