Space Mountain Appreciation Station

It's such a simple concept. Take an okay roller coaster with an admittedly boring layout (hope you love right turns), place it in the dark, and like magic you have yourself a crazy headlining attraction.

Though the first version of the ride would not be built until about a decade after his death, the idea for Space Mountain has been attributed to Walt Disney himself. To follow-up the Matterhorn, Walt wanted Disneyland's second coaster to be themed to space travel. A concept of the ride even showed up on 60s-era Disneyland "fun maps" as a future attraction.

Imagineer John Hench later explained, "Walt didn't call it Space Mountain at that time, but he felt we needed an attraction in Tomorrowland that would present the future through space travel... Walt wanted to build a roller coaster-style ride, but in the dark, which no one had done before."

According to Imagineer Marty Sklar, the technology wasn't quite there yet in the 60s, and "there was no technology for ride controls systems...to accomplish what we wanted to do." (Walt's Disneyland, Smothers, 2021)

Fast forward to 1977, and the second version of Walt's "roller coaster in the dark" debuted at Disneyland. We'll go through the pros, cons, and some of the changes the ride has gone through over the years

Pros

• The Roller Coaster Database lists Space Mountain's top speed at 32MPH, but it certainly feels faster. The darkness makes it difficult to discern just how close the surrounding supports are, and many riders are afraid to put their hands up.

• It's smooth. Buttery smooth. After riding 1975's version of Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, which is merely the Matterhorn in the dark, Disneyland's version is like riding on a fluffy cloud. As such, many people who refuse to ride MK's version multiple times or at all have no problem riding Disneyland's version.

• The soundtrack, added in 1996 and modified in 2005, plays right in speakers embedded into the train and is synced up to the track, compared to the Magic Kingdom's version that plays throughout the interior structure.

Cons

• While the structure is that beautiful, classic Space Mountain shell, it lacks the sheer scale of other versions. The foundations had to be sunk into the ground so the "mountain" would not dwarf Sleeping Beauty Castle.

• It's prone to breakdowns due to cascading. This is when a string of guests are too slow to sit their butts down and there is not enough room on the final brake run for another incoming rocket. The safety mechanisms then kick in and the ride is e-stopped. That being said, it's one of the most fun rides to be e-stopped on, as they usually let riders coast the rest of the way as the trains are released one by one.

• As one of the most popular rides at the resort, it typically gets slammed, which makes multiple rides difficult. If a lot of "multi-experience Lightning Lane passes" are handed out throughout the day, they are most likely going to be used on Space Mountain at the end of the night, and the standby line will slow to a crawl.

Changes

• Space Mountain was the first roller coaster I've ever ridden, and what I remember as a kid was being able to look into the ride from either the People Mover or the queue itself. Rockets with glow-in-the-dark side panels would whizz by people in line. In an attempt to make the ride darker, these windows were boarded up.

• With the controversial 1998 makeover of Tomorrowland, the ride was painted in a retro-futuristic style dubbed "Brown Mountain." It was reversed in 2003. One of the few bright spots of the New Tomorrowland was the additional of a surf-style soundtrack to the ride, but the addition of speakers to the train cars has been rumored to have led to the next item.

• Because of the weight of the audio system, the track was in need of replacement. In the early 2000s, most of the track was re-built. I had the pleasure of seeing some of the construction, as I worked at Disneyland at the time and was able to walk behind Space Mountain with its barn-like doors wide open. When I had an evening shift, the setting sun would illuminate the inside.

I have ridden Space Mountain hundreds of times over many decades and it has never gotten old. It's funny how such a simple idea, turning off the lights, can go so far and be replicated in some way in multiple Disney parks around the world. The newest Space Mountain in Tokyo will open in the next couple of years, and it'll be interesting to see just how far they can take Walt's original idea.