Mission Space

[The Crowthers]

Is Mission Space a simulator ride similar to body wars or is it bigger?????????

 

[rangebob]

It is somewhat similar but it is different. Have you ever seen the centrofuge machines that they use for NASA astronaut training. That is exactly what they are using except they have capsules that can handle 4 people in each of them with 6 arms.

 

[Safari Steve]

There are 8 4-person capsules on each of the 4 centrifuges.

 

[SMHCPA]

I am getting myself all freaked out about this one I must admit.

I have no problem with coaster or drops, could do ToT and RRC all day with no problem at all. Spinning is a whole nother thing! T-Cups or Tilt a Whirl will literally ruin my whole day. Headache, nauseous (but rarely hurl) totally yuck feeling. Buzz Lightyear will do the same unless I shut my eyes during the tunnel part, even then I can only ride it once. Body Wars and Star Wars - forget it. If I am forced to go on (Please Aunt Sue, I REALLY want to go on Body Wars and no will go worked last year) and I close my eyes I can make it thru - barely. No carousels for me either.

I also had no problem at all with Test Track. I want to try this ride and its all my 5 yr old talks about but I am really nervous. How can a mom of a small child know for sure that she can look straight ahead the whole time?

Has anyone who has similar ride tolerances to mine ridden who may have a suggestion. Would closing eyes help or make it worse (definitely makes it worse on tea cups for example).

The only hope for me is that Grandma is going with us and she never reads the boards or does any research so she may be persuaded to take my son LOL! Of course then I would feel like I missed something.

Motion sickness pills are absolutely out - those things make me sick in and of themselves.

Any advice from others who have ridden and have problems similar to mine would be greatly appreciated!

Suzanne

 

[kirby428]

My wife and I rode Mission Space over the Labor Day weekend this year. I loved it and got right back on for a second trip then returned to the park two days later to ride a third and fourth time. My wife became severely nauseated after her first ride and remained so for 30 minutes. It almost caused us to abort our entire day at Epcot, so beware. If you can tolerate Tea Cups, you might be OK.

Here is the thing: the ride simulates G forces by centrifuge. However, your view is that of BLASTING OFF into space. You see movement in a straight line which helps offset the spin that is generating G forces. Do keep your eyes open at all times. It helps. The first ride for me was the most intense because I had no idea what I was about to experience, but on subsequent rides, I began to look forward to the G force sensation. When I ride Tea Cups, I am one of the fools that like to spin their cup just as fast as it can spin. Nevertheless, I did feel a bit off-balance after riding MS the first time. It gave my stomach an un-easy feeling but not nausea.

The ride is not only that of G force from a few seconds of spin to simulate gravity both at take off as well as when passing the moon. There is a flight simulator aspect as well. The ride warns crew members of both while waiting to board. The offset to the flight simulation is that you are made to feel that you are in control of the flight. If you concentrate on the mission and operate your buttons and joystick, it will make the flight and mission more tolerable than, for example, just being a passenger on Star Tours or Body Wars.

There are three lines at the entrance: the standby, the fast pass and the singles. You will board faster if you get into the singles. The capsule is such that one does mind sitting next to strangers. You feel as if you are alone in your seat anyhow. No visual contact with your neighbor is easy nor is it recommended. Get into the singles line if the standby is longer than 15 minutes. All three lines meet at the same place. Cast Members direct fast pass holders into the standing dot zone first. Any dots on the floor not filled by fast pass holders can go to the singles or to the standby folks, but there must be enough dots on the floor for the standby groups of 2 or more which is why it is always possible for one dot to be left over for a single or two to fill. Dots divide the waiting guests into their respective crews. After the Intro movie, the crews walk to their boarding doors and get more instructions. Then the doors open and crews of four enter their capsules. Once seated and secured, the control panel swings into place close to your face and within easy hand reach. The seats tip backward and you feel you are looking up into the sky. The TV monitor shows the doors open to reveal that YEP I am looking up at the sky. Then you BLAST OFF. Grit your teeth, yell but don't close your eyes. You wouldn't want to miss ANYTHING.

Happy Landings!

 

[nancyL]

Ok, I went on this ride once. It was the first ride of the day and I have the exact same reactions as you do to simulator rides- I dont get violently ill, but the teacups kind of set me "off kilter". I love Tot, standard roller coasters, body wars is ok- spiderman kind of left me a BIT queasy...ON MS I was sick the entire day after I went on. Not the kind of sick where I needed a bathroom, nor did I need to go back to the hotel room, but I was definately uncomfortable. My husband turned deathly pale and the two of us kind of walked around not speaking much the rest of the day. For a few days afterward, I would also get like a flashback of the feeling when I watched something spin- like that big gold globe in Tomorrowland? That made me dizzy. Buzz Lightyear- I had to shut my eyes in the red spinny part...Its hard to explain what it did to me- I spoke to one of the CM's in the store while my 7 and 9 year olds went on it over and over again (yes, alone, we went during a true walk on time of year- last week) and she said that its not really motion sickness, its a reaction to the g-force...In other words, Im not cut out to be an astronaut! Lol.
I would do it once just to try it- but definately follow the instructions- keep eyes focused, dont blink, keep head back etc. I did not expect to have the reaction I had.

 

[kirby428]

<The capsule is such that one does mind sitting next to strangers.>

Whoops: correction...The capsule is such that one does NOT mind sitting next to strangers.

 

[Synonymous]

I have never read a report by anyone who got sick on this ride which mentions whether or not the person followed the directions not to look to the sides. Are people who are careful to only look straight ahead still getting sick?

 

[PixieMagic]

Does anyone know? I'm guessing (and hoping) there's a "dump out" prior to the ride loading. I'd like to see the ride and I think that's about as far as I dare go. If I get sick, and I get pretty motion sick even with Dramamine or Bonine, I'll end up spending the day "sleeping it off." It's not worth it for me. Although it makes me a little sad, this will be the first Disney ride I won't try.

 

[PammyK]

Originally posted by Safari Steve
There are 8 4-person capsules on each of the 4 centrifuges.

Actually, there are 10 capsules per centrifuge.

 

[n2mm]

Here another take on MS. My husband and grandson rode it 5 times over the last couple of months and both love it and have no problems.

However, my daugthers (both in the their twenties) rode it and it made both sickly feeling. Also the BF rode it and felt the same way. Now all of these kids (big ones) can ride teacups, simulators and all roller coasters and ToT with no problems, but all three said never again! They came out holding their stomachs and never got "sick", but did not like the queasy feeling and not ONCE did any of them look out. They knew to keep their head back and watch the screen. So that is it for me. They came out and said, "mom, you can never ride that ride" knowing I can't do teacups or the simulators. As I wait for the family to come out of the ride, I heard folks ALL of the time coming out saying the same thing....never again! I was looking forward to a new adventure at EPCOT, so am disappointed--give me Horizon back.

 

[nancyL]

And still didnt feel well. Yes, there are a few opportunities to leave, right up till the last minute.
Its a pretty cool building etc and there are things to do in the "baby swap" end area as well.
Good luck!

 

[Safari Steve]

Buh! You're right... no more counting in my head...

 

[Metallicat]

Does mission space give you that take your stomach kind of feeling you get when you go down a big drop? I'm concerned about the G forces because on Rock N Rollercoaster you don't drop off anything, but the takeoff "gets your stomach" in the worse way. is it a similar feeling? if it is I would rather avoid it but if its just spinning around, I definitly want to ride. thanks, Linda (who happens to love RNR but anything worse, no way!)

 

[Safari Steve]

The G-forces involved in Mission:Space are much more intense than Rock 'n Rollercoaster.
There is a portion of M:S that gives a very realistic sensation of landing an aircraft (like the feeling you get when on a plane as it makes it's final descent... as if you could fall through the bottom of the plane).
This attraction is very realistic and VERY intense.

 

[erikthewise]

I'm not afraid of extra G's but is there a "zero-G" (weightlessness) portion of the ride? That would be more likely to get me, but I'd do it anyway.

 

[Testtrack321]

The ride is smooth and it's acceleration isn't as intense as RnR, but the G's are there.

As for sickness, I found that women have more trouble with M:S than men. Why? I don't know. Also, kids can handle it better than adults. It's wierd, but that's what I've found.

 

[TDC Nala]

I've ridden Mission Space six times and have no problem whatsoever with it. I enjoy it. The last time I rode it was with two friends, both of whom felt queasy for hours afterward and said they'd never ride it again, and they knew to follow the directions. It is interesting how some people are affected that way and some are not.

 

[Dad]

I had the exact feelings as NancyL, for days after the elevator in the hotel gave me flashbacks to the ride.
I took Bonine an hour before the ride and was so looking forward to it, I followed the directions exactly, head back, eyes straight ahead focused on the screen. I did not get naseous but definitely did not feel well for 2 hours after. I had to leave the park.

The best way I can describe the sensation during the ride is how you feel when a plane is descending for landing and banking, that sinking feeling when the plane drops in altitude only about 10 times more severe.

My 28 year old son rode with me and it didn't bother him but I will never ride it again and am so disappointed because the building and concept of Space travel is so cool. I wish it would have been a more family oriented ride.

As far as it's comparison to a simulator ride, I've ridden all of them from Body Wars, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Race to Atlantis and the others in Vegas and it is nothing like any of those. At one point during the ride it became difficult to focus on the screen as my eyes started darting back and forth.

I guess it's an individual thing as some people are not as adversly affected but if you are the least bit worried about getting sick you probably will.

I think this will be a major disapointment for Disney. There will be a large percentage of people who will either never ride it or ride it only once. I like TOT, and RRC and all the other Disney thrill rides but this one is a yuck for me. And I so wanted to enjoy it.

 

[TimeWarp]

NancyL:
I know that "funny dizzy but not actually sick" feeling. I've been dealing with that my whole motion sickness life. I know it's difficult to explain to people who have never experienced it. I'm fine on fast rides, it's the slow up and down rides that bother me. I am troubled to hear that people don't recover in a short period of time afterwards. I really can't decide on Mission Space.