Space Mountain
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Space Mountain is a popular enclosed roller coaster ride at five "Disneyland" theme parks. The enclosed design allows controlled lighting to selectively hide portions of the track. This greatly increases the element of surprise experienced by riders, which can compensate for the absence of some of the track elements typically required to make outdoor coasters exciting. At the time it opened, it was the most expensive roller coaster ever created. Even after inflation adjustment, the attraction surpasses the original Disneyland attractions.
Space Mountain premiered at Magic Kingdom Park in 1975, Disneyland in 1977, Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, Disneyland Paris in 1995, and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. When the Paris installation opened, it became the first completely enclosed, themed roller coaster with a synchronized sound track. The Disneyland installation was upgraded in 1996, making it the first completely enclosed, themed roller coaster with a synchronized sound track in America. The layouts and soundtracks vary from installation to installation. For example, the Magic Kingdom version has two intertwined tracks. The Paris version features a launch and two inversions.
Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom Park
Walt Disney World's Space Mountain was the first Space Mountain built at any of the "Disneyland" parks. It was the world's first rollercoaster ride that was completely controlled and operated by a computer system. It was originally conceived to be partially outdoors, but it was changed after research proved that the Florida weather would not work well with the coaster. The attraction is different from the later version built at Disneyland, in that there are actually two separate tracks (similar in design to Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds) instead of just the one, although both tracks are almost identical. In fact, the overall track design and original rockets that were used up until 1978 and relocated and repainted to Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. Also, the rockets used are single-file instead of Disneyland's side-by-side seating. The queue area inside the Magic Kingdom Park's mountain is also much larger and more open than the Disneyland version. The loading area is in a separate area from the rest of the ride, but has open area to view the actual ride above. Where as at Disneyland, the loading area is located directly below the actual ride itself. The special effects in the Florida version are also very different, including the lift hills, the main ride itself and the exit tunnels. The original rockets also had seat belt restraints, but by 1978 they were replaced by newer rockets with upgraded lap bars restraints. The rockets' safety restraints were again upgraded sometime in 1998 to a more improved T-bar design. Also, since the attraction was designed before Disneyland's, it is slightly slower, not nearly as dark and is also not quite as smooth. These differences are even more apparent after Disneyland upgraded their Space Mountain in 2005.
In the post-ride area, riders used to hear clips from two Esquivel songs: "Music Makers" and "Sentimental Journey". It has since be changed to similar music found on Space Mountain at Disneyland Exit. Which is a modified version of the theme heard while riding up the three lifts at Disneyland. From 1975 to 1994 guests would hear the RCA theme "We Come So Far" while on the Speed Ramp Exit.
For many years, the ride featured extensive theming to highlight sponsors, which included at one time, RCA and later for a time, Federal Express. During the RCA years, the exit showcased the Home of Future Living featuring video baby monitors, large screen projection televisions, video disc players, and other comtemporary electronics that RCA was selling at the time. Later when FedEx was the sponsor, the ride featured two astronauts with a package floating in space, a robot figure and robot dog with a package, "SMTV" queue video with comedy bits and futuristic FedEx ads. As of 2003, this theming had been removed, leaving some conspicuous gaps.
Space Mountain at Disneyland
After the success of Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort's Space Mountain, The Walt Disney Imagineers made plans to build Space Mountain on the west coast. Walt's original "Space Port" plan finally opened more than ten years after the original plans and his death. The ride was different from its Florida counterpart as it features only one track, side by side seating in the rockets, and faster, smoother, more thrilling ride. The onboard audio was added in 1996 after the success of the system at Disneyland Paris. Track fatigue from the heavier weight of the on-board audio systems and improperly manufactured steel track was one of the reasons of the two-year refurbishment.
Space Mountain was closed suddenly at Disneyland on April 9, 2003, as the roller coaster inside the mountain was being replaced with a completely new coaster, identical to the original layout. The official reopening was scheduled for July 15, 2005 - two days before the park's fiftieth birthday, although as of June 25, 2005 the ride had been open to the general public yet (this is known as a soft opening).
| Disneyland Park Attractions |
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| 50th Anniversary |
| Main Street, U.S.A. |
Main Street Vehicles
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| Fantasyland |
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| Tomorrowland |
| Frontierland |
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| Adventureland |
| New Orleans Square |
| Critter Country |
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| Mickey's Toontown |
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| Entertainment |
Space Mountain in 1977 - 2003
After being seated in the rocket sleds, riders are first brought to a control tower where they see one or two Disneyland cast members and they listen to a small-recorded warning spiel. The rocket sleds then turns sharply to the right and climb into a long tunnel with fiber optic like projection of comets flying by on the walls. Then after another quick turn the rocket sleds would climb up the second and longest lift filled with a red rotating spot light shining down the entire length of the lift tunnel from the top of the lift. Creating effect as as though the rocket sleds were being pulling up by this red rotating light. At the top the rocket sleds would make a 200 degree turn to the left and pass by a red-orange glowing geodesic sphere, there's a slight calm before the rockets climbed a short third and final lift in the vast openess at the top of the ride's dome.Slowly, the rocket sleds dive and the music changes to a hard-rocking Dick Dale surf guitar rendition of "Le Carnaval Des Animaux: Aquarium" ( The Carnival of the Animals ) by Camille Saint-Saëns. Riders are thrown about in almost complete darkness, faint lighting hinting at the dense metal scaffolding that seems to fly within feet over the heads of the riders. As the ride gets faster with each turn and is building up to a dramatic climax. The ride ends as the rocket sleds take a sudden left turn into a rotating tunnel with red-orange lighting effects to simulate re-entry. Then the music changes to a less foreboding variation of the original theme (Disney's form of a musical happy ending) as the rocket sleds re-enter the station.
Space Mountain in 2005
On July 15, 2005, only two days before Disneyland's official 50th Anniversary, Space Mountain reopened from a major refurbishment that started in April, 2003. The new Space Mountain features new rocket sleds, a new queue, new special effects and a storyline, but the completely rebuilt track is the same layout as originally designed by Imagineer Bill Watkins in 1976. The original track was removed and the foundation was laid 30 feet deeper, making the ride safer than ever.The attraction begins in Space Station 77, a reference to the year Space Mountain opened, where riders board their "rocket". and are sent into a series of tunnels and lifts that are themed to get your rocket sleds energized and sent to the proper "launch coordinates". The first lift and room, is lit with red and orange lighting. At the top of the lift, as you enter a long tunnel, riders experience electrical sounds and light effects presumably beginning to transfer energy to your rocket sleds "power cells". Inside the tunnel is a series of blue strobe lights flashing around the riders, and is definitely a reference to the Magic Kingdom Park's Space Mountain launch tunnel. The electrical sounds and the flashing blue strobe lights tranfer all the "energy" your rocket sleds will need for the journey through space. The rocket sleds then take riders into the second and longest lift with video screens all around. This is where the rocket sleds get their launch coordinates. And on the screens, red bars extend over the stars, and stretch by the riders and begin to spin, making it seem as if the rocket sleds are rotating. Here the rocket sleds are once again being pulled up the by a tractor beam (this time the effect is being done digitally). Riders see a spiral galaxy directly ahead, (some argue it is actually a black hole or worm hole) and when the rocket enters the mountain, the galaxy swirls up and disappears. The rocket sleds ascend up one final lift hill, and then descend into two minutes of sharp turns and dips. The re-entry tunnel was formerly just orange lights spiraling around riders, but now the rocket sleds appear to zoom by stars, but the effect's highlight is when the stars suddenly start zooming forward, implying that the rocket sleds have stopped and the stars are traveling in their normal fashion. At this point, the souvenir picture is taken, with the bright flash causing momentary blindness. Moments later, riders return safely to Space Station 77.
On June 25th, 2005 Disneyland surprised its guests by announcing the early reopening of Space Mountain to the general public. While the complete storyline was not introduced, the ride ran much smoother and faster.
Rockin' Space Mountain
Also part of this major "new" Space Mountain is a nighttime transformation of the attraction to Rock It Mountain, in which the calmer soundtrack of the attraction in daytime hours will be replaced at night by a driving rock soundtrack, and different special effects. A special version of Rock it Mountain premiered for Grad Nite 2006. The general public opening will not be until 2007, as a soundtrack artist is still not found. Rock it Mountain (Rockin' Space Mountain) is scheduled to premier during the "Year of a Million Dreams" Celebration.Rock It Mountain will not use the Dick Dale soundtrack that many Disney fans enjoyed, but the Dick Dale Space Mountain theme makes one final appearance on Disneyland's 50th Anniversary 6-CD box set. During the FedEx years, the Space Mountain queue entertained guests with the futuristic but funny "SMTV" with its space news program, Crazy Larry's used spacecraft dealership ads and the Dick Dale Ghost Riders in the Sky music video, but SMTV left Space Mountain after FedEx ceased sponsorship of the American Space Mountains in 2003, shortly after the closure for refurbishment of Disneyland's version.
More recently commentors on Disney-fan sites and videos taken from Grad Nite 2006 has revealed that the full effects for ROCK IT Mountain are not in place and that Walt Disney Imagineering has not fully completed the project. [][]
Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland's Space Mountain is a clone of Disneyland's Space Mountain as it was in the early 1980s. Its track layout is exactly the same, but does not have any of the new elements of Disneyland's new Space Mountain, which is similar to Hong Kong Disneyland's. Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland opened with the park on April 15, 1983.Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris
Opened on June 1 1995 as a revival of sorts for Discoveryland, Disneyland Resort Paris' interpretation of the traditional Tomorrowland, Space Mountain was recently dramatically refurbished for the Happiest Celebration on Earth and is now officially called . It fits the Discoveryland theme perfectly with the storyline being a look at space travel from a Jules Verne-era perspective.
In original plans, it was to be known as Discovery Mountain and would have featured more than one ride, all based on different books written by Jules Verne, including Journey to the Center of the Earth and From the Earth to the Moon. The giant dome would have also featured restaurants and shops. The plan was scrapped after Disneyland Paris ran into financial difficulties and Space Mountain was built in its place.
It is repeatedly featured as the favorite Space Mountain version for many Disney fans, and is the most outlandish of them all, featuring a 1.5G up hill launch at 42MPH, two inversions (sidewinder and corkscrew) and an partial inversion known today as an "Overbanked Turn" It was the first Space Mountain with onboard music (known as a "S.O.B.A.T" which stands for Synchronize On-Board Audio Theme) with the first SOBAT written and composed by Steve Bramson, and the new soundtrack was written by Michael Giacchino, along with a new SOBAT for the Space Mountain in Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Space Mountain was the basis for the 1995 BBC2 documentary, "Shoot for the Moon", which looked at the creative process and the history of Imagineers, technicians, and musicians of The Walt Disney Company, featuring project manager Tim Delaney and Disney Legend Ward Kimball.Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland
The newest Space Mountain (not counting the two recent refurbishments of the Disneyland and Disneyland Paris) is based on the refurbished Space Mountain at Disneyland, with the same soundtrack and layout. It will not feature the Rock It Mountain configuration that is featured in Disneyland's Space Mountain.
Attraction facts
Magic Kingdom
- Grand opening: January 15, 1975
- Designer: WED Enterprises
- Building height: 183 feet (56 m)
- Building diameter: 300 feet (91 m)
- Track height: 65 feet (19.7 m)
- Steepest drop: 39 degrees
- Track length:
- * A) 3,186 feet (971 m)
- * B) 3,196 feet (974 m)
- Top speed: 28.7 miles per hour (46 km/h)
- Height requirement: 44 inches (1.12 m)
- Ride duration: 2:30
- * Former Sponsors:
- **RCA (1975-1985)
- ***RCA/GE (1983-1985)
- **FedEx (1996-2003)
- Ride system: Roller coaster
Disneyland
- Grand opening: May 27, 1977
- * Grand re-opening: July 15, 2005
- Closing date: April 9, 2003
- Designers: WED Enterprises
- Manufacturer: WED Enterprises and AMEC Dynamic Structures
- Vehicles: 12
- * Vehicle theme: Rocket
- Building diameter: 200 feet (61 m)
- Track Height: 75 feet (22.7m)
- Largest drop: 15 feet (4.6 m)
- Building Height: 118 feet (36 m)
- Track length: 3,450 feet (1052 m)
- Volume: 1.8 million cubic feet (51,000 m³)
- Top speed: 32 miles per hour (52 km/h)
- Height requirement: 40 inches (1.02 m)
- Ride duration: 2:45
- Ticket required: "E"
- Music: Space Mountain, composed by Michael Giacchino (2005-Current)
- *Previous Music: Camille Saint-Saëns' Aquarium, performed by Dick Dale (1996-2003)
- Ride system: roller coaster
Tokyo Disneyland
- Grand opening: April 13, 1983 (Opened with Tokyo Disneyland)
- Designers: Walt Disney Imagineering
- Vehicles: 12
- * Vehicle theme: Rocket
- Building diameter: 200 feet (61 m)
- Largest drop: 15 feet (4.6 m)
- Building Height: 118 feet (35 m)
- Track length: 3,450 feet (1052 m)
- Volume: 1.8 million cubic feet (51,000 m³)
- Top speed: 30 miles per hour (48 km/h)
- Height requirement: 40 inches (1.02 m)
- Ride duration: 2:45
- Ticket required: "E"
- Ride system: roller coaster
- Sponsor: Coca Cola, Ltd. of Japan
Disneyland Paris
- Grand opening: June 1, 1995
- Closing date: January 11, 2005
- Grand re-opening: April 09, 2005
- Designers: Walt Disney Imagineering, Vekoma
- Vehicles: 5
- * Vehicle theme: Rocket
- * Rockets per train: 6
- ** Passengers per train: 24 (or 4 per Rocket)
- Building diameter: 200 feet (61 m)
- Height: 141 feet (31 meters)
- Track length: 3280 feet (1000 meters)
- Top speed: 43.5 miles per hour (70 km/h)
- Height requirement: 51 inches (1.32 m)
- Ride duration: 2:27
- Music: Mission 2, composed by Michael Giacchino (2005-Present)
- *Previous Music: De la Terre à la Lune, composed by Steve Bramson (1995-2005)
- Ride system: Roller coaster
Hong Kong Disneyland
- Grand opening: September 12, 2005 (Opened with Hong Kong Disneyland)
- Designers: Walt Disney Imagineering, Vekoma
- Music: Space Mountain, composed by Michael Giacchino (2005-Present)
- Ride system: Roller coaster
In popular culture
- The attraction will be seen along with the Astro Jets in the upcoming Disney film Meet the Robinsons.
- Star Command headquarters as seen in the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is a modified version of Space Mountain.
- Refrenced frequently on an episode of The Golden Girls, in which Sophia Petrillo, a character in her 80s, tries to get her daughter in her 50s to take her on all weekend during a vacation to Disney World.
External links
- [Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom Official Page]
- [Space Mountain at Disneyland Official Page]
- [Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland Official Page]
- [Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris Official Page]
- [Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland Official Page]
- [Space Mountain Worldwide - Detailed Fan Site]
- [Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris - fan site]
- [Disney Mountain Rides - Space Mountain]
| Roller coasters at Walt Disney World |
|---|
| Barnstormer - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Expedition Everest - Primeval Whirl - Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - Space Mountain |
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