Space Mountain

Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

The Space Mountain concept was a descendant of the first Disney "mountain" attraction, the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland, which opened in 1959.[3] The Matterhorn's success had convinced Walt Disney that thrilling rides did have a place in his park.[4]

WED partnered with Arrow Development Company, the same company that had helped design the Matterhorn's roller coaster systems years before.[5] The initial concept was to have four separate tracks, but the technology available at the time, combined with the amount of space required versus that which was available within Disneyland, made such a design impossible.[5]

By 1969 the concept was moved to Walt Disney World. The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland had the right amount of available land, and computing technology had improved significantly since the initial design phases.[6] However, it was decided the mountain would be built outside the park, on the opposite side of the train tracks that act as the perimeter of the park. To help cover the cost of developing and building Space Mountain, Card Walker, the CEO of Walt Disney Productions, convinced RCA chairman Robert Sarnoff to sponsor the new attraction; RCA was contracted by Disney to provide the communications hardware for the Walt Disney World Resort, and their contract stated that if Disney presented an attraction of interest, RCA would provide US$10 million to support it.[7] Space Mountain then opened on January 15, 1975.

A musical-variety episode of NBC's Wonderful World of Disney celebrated the opening on March 23, 1975. Starring actor Lucie Arnaz, it was the first Walt Disney World network special, the previous one being syndicated.[8]

• When the Walt Disney World version first opened, the post-show featured new home technology created by its then-sponsor, RCA. One of the innovations was a laser disc home video system, seen playing a clip of Kurt Russell singing The Archies' hit song, "Sugar, Sugar" in a clip from The Wonderful World of Disney Haunted Mansion preview episode. Russell had also recorded "Sugar, Sugar" for his own Capitol Records LP.

Space Mountain (Disneyland)

The success of Walt Disney World's Space Mountain prompted designers to revisit their original plan to build one for Disneyland. After two years of construction, the $20 million complex opened on May 27, 1977, including the roller coaster, 1,100-seat Space Stage, 670-seat Space Place (fast food restaurant) and Starcade.[9]

Six of the original seven Mercury astronauts attended Space Mountain's opening: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Senator John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The lone exception was Gus Grissom, who had died in the Apollo 1 fire ten years earlier.[10] Due in part to the opening of Space Mountain, the Memorial Day day attendance record was set, with 185,500 guests over the three-day period.[9] Space Mountain at Disneyland was designed by Bill Watkins of Walt Disney Imagineering, including a tubular steel track design awarded U.S. Patent 4,029,019. Due to space limitations, Disneyland's Space Mountain consists of only one track as opposed to the Magic Kingdom's two, and is of a completely different layout than either track of the latter park's.

Space Mountain (Tokyo Disneyland)

Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland opened with the park on April 15, 1983. It was the first version of Space Mountain to open concurrently with the park. From its opening in 1983 and until late 2006, Tokyo Disneyland's Space Mountain was an almost exact clone of Disneyland's Space Mountain. The ride was then redesigned to have a more sci-fi futuristic look to it similar to refurbished Walt Disney World version, with new effects, and a new spaceport which features a futuristic spaceship hanging from the ceiling. Like its Walt Disney World counterpart, there is no ride audio to the seats.

On April 27, 2022, The Oriental Land Company announced that the current version of the attraction will close in 2024, in order to be completely rebuilt as part of a wider redevelopment of the park's Tomorrowland area. The new version of the attraction is expected to open in 2027.[2]

The version at Disneyland Paris opened on June 1, 1995, three years after the opening of the park. It was originally called De la Terre à la Lune, and was originally designed as a view on space travel from a Jules Verne-era perspective, based on the novel From the Earth to the Moon. The track is significantly different from the other four, as it's the only one to include a launch and 3 inversions (Sidewinder, Corkscrew, Horseshoe). It underwent modifications in 2005 and became Space Mountain: Mission 2. This journey was slightly different to the first as it took riders beyond the Moon, to the very edge of the universe. In January 2015 the ride closed for yet another refurbishment and was reopened in August 2015. The ride temporarily closed on January 8, 2017 and was replaced with Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain on May 7.

Space Mountain prior to Star Wars "Hyperspace" retheming (Hong Kong Disneyland)

Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland was based on the refurbished Space Mountain at Disneyland, with a similar soundtrack and the same layout. It also featured new show elements not presented in the refurbished California version (i.e. a "hyperspeed" tunnel). It did not feature the Rockin' Space Mountain configuration that was featured in Disneyland's Space Mountain in 2007.

Unlike most Space Mountains, the boarding area for the attraction is quite small. Not present is a Space Station of its two most similar counterparts at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. Instead, a dark queue featuring neon earth-tone colored planets along with star patterns decorate the area. Lining the walls of the station are colored neon light bars that are used for lighting and decoration.

Similar to the Disneyland Paris version of the ride, its Star Wars "Hyperspace Mountain" overlay theming, originally meant to be temporary, has become the permanent theme of the ride. The queue area has been fully refurbished with the addition of a full-sized replica X-Wing, a Character meeting area as well as a grey and white Star Wars queueline theme, although some elements of the original queue have also remained intact such as the planet models and star patterns. The ride's storyline is identical to the Disneyland Paris version.

With the refurbishments to Space Mountain, Ghost Galaxy had some significant changes.

• The soundtrack echoed the attraction
• The red lights at the top of the first lift hill were an eerie green.
• The flashing blue light tunnel between the first and second lift hills were pitch black.
• Instead of the spinning galaxy beyond the second lift, a giant ghost nebula electrified the lift.
• Projections of otherworldly wisps could be seen before the final lift, along with the ghostly nebula.
• The ghosts popped up unexpectedly. Two places that were notorious for this were at a steep drop near the end as trains narrowly avoided being "clawed" by an unseen arm. The other spot was a ghostly head that popped out of the wall after the onride picture is taken when the train makes the final right turn to reenter the station.

• The line queue has special Star Wars themed lore and safety videos.
• The launch tunnel includes voiceovers of pilots speaking and a projection of stars.
• The car accelerates at the end of the launch tunnel to simulate entering "lightspeed".
• John Williams' music from Star Wars plays throughout the duration of the ride.
• A projection is displayed of a journey to the planet Jakku where the riders encounter TIE fighters and X-Wings.

• The soundtrack is changed to the song "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Colored, flashing lights are along the track
• "Uncle" Joe Benson, a radio disc jockey from the Disney-owned 95.5 KLOS, welcomes riders