Space Mountain being changed?!?!?!!!!

[TPCShauna]

The ride was rough and didn't fit the space theme at all. It was just a roller coaster in the dark, kind of; I could see all the supports and other parts of the track, and only the ceiling with the projected stars and planets (that I found really cheesy, Disney can do better than that!).

The one in Disneyland circles around the building and gets up some pretty good speed, the track is almost invisible, so all you see is stars and glowing rockets (the other cars with blacklight reactive paint) zooming around.

Needless to say, I've only ridden Space Mountain at MK once, and I don't have the desire to ride it again until it's changed.

This is SO us! We LOVE SM at DLR. The track is very twisty with lots of circling and curves. In fact, we saw the model for the ride in the 50th anniversary exhibit and I would be afraid to ride it if it wasn't so dark. You are literally inches away from the track above you on the whole ride once you exit the loading area and the initial hill. The ride is pitch black and the music is great. You can't see your hand in front of your face and it is exhilirating!

DH and I rode SM at WDW on our last trip and couldn't believe how bright it is on the ride. It was so boring being able to see where you are going the whole time. It's sort of a kinda dark, not very exciting roller coaster in a big building.

The rehab in January is scheduled to replace all of the track to make the ride smoother and to darken the building so there won't be as much visibility. As far as I am concerned, it is a MUCH NEEDED change!

 

[orangekid13]

if you're not afraid to ruin the magic, there's a video I've seen on youtube of someone riding Space Mountain at Disneyland where something happened and the lights came on, and someone had their camera running for the whole ride like that but it looks really weird and it's bad quality because they had the night vision settings on
(then they got sent through again without getting off to do it with the lights off)

 

[Alice28]

Yet another Vet of both WDW and DL. I agree, hands down DLR's Space Mtn ROCKS. I LOVE IT, whereas I can skip WDW's. I feel like I need to see the chiropractor after going on WDW's Space Mtn.

 

[orangekid13]

Yet another Vet of both WDW and DL. I agree, hands down DLR's Space Mtn ROCKS. I LOVE IT, whereas I can skip WDW's. I feel like I need to see the chiropractor after going on WDW's Space Mtn.

you just reminded me of the other reason I don't like it... I was in the front of the second car, and I didn't fit very well. I'm skinny but I'm 5'10" barefoot, and my knees were bent and my feet wedged all the way into the nose of that thing; it was cramped! SM at DLR had plenty of room for my then-semi-pooh-sized aunt, and all kinds of extra foot room (even for the adults in our group, I was in 7th grade so it wasn't a problem for me in the least )

 

[dicar123]

Space Mountain has music? All I can remember is that weird rushing sound when you get to the end.

Now I've got to go try to find it...

 

[Diznygrl]

No, WDW's Space Mountain doesn't have music. But DL's does, and it really adds to the experience.

Perhaps Eventer98 was referring to the queue music?

 

[orangekid13]

Don't click these links if you don't want to ruin the magic for yourself!

Here's the video I mentioned about the lights on ride @ DLR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VR_wn2QP8Q (MAGIC SPOILER)

here's a video from october @ DLR of a group of teenagers started taping after the ride broke down and all the cars got stopped mid-ride by the emergency brakes, the commentary is annoying but there are some good shots of the spacious swooping turns of the track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKlxR3XFKJA (MAGIC SPOILER)

 

[Adams1nOnly]

I don't know why they have to change Space Mountain. I mean its good the way it is. Disney has changed so many attractions and shows its crazy But hey its their choice if they want to change it or not.

 

[epcot.girl]

I think SM WDW really needs a refurb - at the very least they need to make the ride smoother, IMO.

 

[Eventer98]

Sorry..I did mean the queue music!!

 

[marc]

If you could choose the music to be added, what would you like to hear. I vote for a compilation from "Dark Side of the Moon".

 

[Interstellar Mickey]

If you could choose the music to be added, what would you like to hear. I vote for a compilation from "Dark Side of the Moon".

I would probably vote for something by Brian Eno. Definitely not for the ride itself, but waiting in queue.. he can make some pretty great ambient music, which I think suits it perfectly.

As to the ride, I'm not sure.

 

[ChrisFL]

The SM in Paris is the same ride track as Rockin' Roller Coaster, so I don't see them making it like the DLRP version. The Disneyland (California) version is very smooth and feels more roller coaster-y than the way WDW is now... that being said, I like the way the WDW one is now, I like the jerkyness and the overall feel of it

That is not correct, the SM in Paris is a completely different track than Rock'n'Roller coaster, they even have a separate Rock'n'Roller coaster at their studios park there.

 

[joshsmom]

I've only ridden SM in WDW, so I can't speak to the other parks. I like SM, I think its a fun ride. I like the queue for it (although sometimes I feel like Captain Kirk is going to pop out somewhere!). I think I like the nostalgia of it. However, I'm usually up for change when it means improvement. I am a little on the Pooh-sized end of the scale and those seats are kind of hard to get in and out of. The ride is also terribly bumpy making it uncomfortable. I still ride it because all of us like it, but a smooth track and better ride vehicle would be awesome!!!

 

[tomerin]

as i am a bit of a WDW purist when it comes to certain WDW attractions i am always worried when WDW decides to do any so-called refurb. i do however feel there is definite need for a refurb and an update here. Space mountain was one of my first WDW attractions that i ever rode and is something that is special to me. my greatest WDW memories are riding it over and over again with my youngest son on those greatly missed e-ride nights. this was a bonding moment for us. having great discussions on what side was better, faster, was so much fun. i used to kid my wife that i felt taller from all of the shaking and being tossed from side to side that this ride has but after this last trip i realized that i could no longer ride this because SM just seemed so much of a rougher ride and really was hurting my back.

well my son did have the chance to go to DL and ride their version of SM and he did like it but it just didnt have the same appeal that WDW has. could it be that WDW's version has a lot of nostalgic appeal for him, could be, but he did remark that while DL was great and was a really fun ride but he felt that sometimes just the simplicity of a ride can add to it fun. you dont need too many of the bells and whistles to make an attraction attractive .

does the queue line need updating, oh yes it cetainly does. on those long waits it can be incredibly boring in there. while i would keep those existing exhibits that are currently there, those small ships seemingly floating in space, there is plenty of room on those walls to place screens or other more easliy updated exhibits detailing our current space exploration. i would give the task to joe rholde. i know he is an AK guy but he sure knows how to do a queue line!!

the track definitly needs to be replaced but not changed. i like the fun of sometimes not knowing which way you are going to turn, the headchopper effect when flying down a straight track. the cars do need updating. i dont mind the single file cars but if you are tall, like a previous poster stated, it can be a bit wierd to have your legs stick out very close to a stranger. or if you are a wide person, like me, the current cars are also a bit tough for me to get in and out of. just a teeny bit wider please. maybe they can update the ceiling projector system so they can show something other then the floating chocolate chip cookies in space. the exit area seems like they ran out on money when building it and just decided to have a dimly lit corridor that just leads into the gift shop.


i love SM in its current form. yes it sorely needs much TLC, updates and a major refurb. honestly what worries me is that the refurb would change much of the character that SM has and it would no longer have that nostalgic appeal that it has for me. WDW still has the minds to do it, i just hope that they will do it. why cant they just update the place a bit, replace the track system with the same layout and just build another coaster in a different place in MK and call it night on bald mountain.

 

[blu3d3vil]

SM is the only ride that I really don't like at WDW. The technology doesn't hold up well over time. Back when I was a kid it was the best ride there but now many Coasters have passed SM in technology. I think of the RRRC as the 'New' SM. The outside of the building needs a refurb, it looks too '70's and the entire track and cars all need to be replaced with an updated experience. IMHO.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

i love SM in its current form. yes it sorely needs much TLC, updates and a major refurb. honestly what worries me is that the refurb would change much of the character that SM has and it would no longer have that nostalgic appeal that it has for me.

That's all they really did to the DL version, though. They replaced the track, so it's smoother and faster, made it darker, and added the music (which I think is awesome and fits with the ride theme perfectly). They also changed the queue and that tunnel when you first "take off", but not significantly enough to change the feel of the ride. The character of the ride hasn't changed a bit, IMO, though of course, opinions will vary.

I'm a nostalgia lover, too (hence my screen name), but the update to the DL version only improved the ride, so hopefully it would be the same with any update to the WDW version. There were always differences between the two, and I'm sure there will continue to be. Though I prefer the current DL ride, I wouldn't want them to take the flying Chips Ahoy cookies out of the loading area of the WDW version, either!

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

If Walt was still here, all of those "beloved" attractions would be gone. He himself said that the park will always change, it will never be a museum. Just look at Disneyland when he was around. Walt put up the Viewliner in 1957:

and closed it in 1958 to replace it with what he thought was better, the monorail:

Imagineers are following the same concept Walt himself created. Create an attraction and continue to "plus" it or replace it. Just look at the great things that have been done to Pirates and Haunted Mansion. Remember that these people working on these attractions are the people that have created this place we all love. So why don't we trust them when they say they've got something better for us?

Just as a side note, Walt didn't have anything to do with Space Mountain. It was created 11 years after his death in Floridas' Magic Kingdom and then eventually recreated in Disneyland. So other than it being an old attraction, its not part of Walts legacy.

 

[Poohbear123]

Saw the YOUTUBE Videos and I LIKE the ride cars in it, hope that they make ours in Fl. like that, than I can ride it again!

 

[orangekid13]

Saw the YOUTUBE Videos and I LIKE the ride cars in it, hope that they make ours in Fl. like that, than I can ride it again!

To clarify a couple things about the cars, they have individual lap bars, so a pooh-sized person can sit next to a kid, and both of them can still feel safe and comfortable at the same time.
IIRC there were mesh bags in front of you to put your stuff in so it didn't get away from you, but I don't know if those are still there. RnRC doesn't have anything like that and it's a more wild ride...

I also seem to remember the seats being padded, but I could very well be wrong; after all, that was over EIGHT years ago! (I should really get back to Disneyland...)