Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
| Space Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Park | Magic Kingdom |
| Land / area | Tomorrowland |
| Type | Indoor steel roller coaster |
| Opened | January 15, 1975 |
| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Height req. | 44 in (112 cm) |
| Status | Operating |
Space Mountain is an indoor roller coaster in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. Opened on January 15, 1975, it sends riders on a simulated rocket flight through near-total darkness inside a white, conical mountain 180 feet in diameter and 183 feet tall. It is one of the most famous roller coasters in the world and the oldest of the six Space Mountains built at Disney parks worldwide.
The Florida ride contains two separate tracks, Alpha and Omega, each carrying single-file six-passenger rocket trains. Because the ride's structure was designed before personal computers could simulate the layout precisely, the coaster's computer-controlled braking system — allowing multiple trains to run safely on one track — was itself an innovation: Space Mountain is often cited as the first fully computer-controlled roller coaster.
History
Walt Disney conceived a space-themed indoor coaster after the success of the Matterhorn Bobsleds in 1959, sketching a "Space Port" mountain for Disneyland. The technology of the day could not build it, and the project was shelved after his death in 1966. In the early 1970s the concept was revived for the new Florida park, whose young audience demanded more thrill rides than Magic Kingdom had opened with. The electronics company RCA sponsored the attraction and its computers shaped the design: the ride is built around computerised block control of its trains.
Space Mountain opened on January 15, 1975, promoted with a television special and attended by astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes. It was an immediate success and the direct cause of Space Mountains following at Disneyland (1977), Tokyo Disneyland (1983), Disneyland Paris (1995), Hong Kong Disneyland (2005) and Shanghai Disneyland (as the TRON-themed successor concept took the headline slot there instead, Shanghai has no classic Space Mountain).
The ride has been refurbished several times, most substantially in 2009, when the track was partially rebuilt, a new queue with interactive games installed, on-ride audio added to the trains in 2010, and the loading area enclosed. Its post-show once featured RCA and later FedEx and home-of-the-future scenes; the exit speed ramp remains a feature of the attraction.
Experience
Guests board rocket trains in the Starport Seven-Five loading station and climb a lift hill past projected starfields and a glowing energy core, accompanied by a pulsing electronic score composed by Michael Giacchino (added 2010). Cars then race through darkness in near-silence broken by screams, dipping and banking around glowing planets and shooting stars shown by projection. The ride reaches a modest top speed of about 28 mph (45 km/h); darkness, sudden turns and the feeling of speed do the rest.