One of the most iconic rides in all of Disney is celebrating a milestone this week and the perfect time to ride it!
Disney parks have more than their share of epic and iconic rides. Yet Space Mountain is something special. It’s not just how it’s a great roller coaster, it’s entered the pop culture lexicon.
In the 1980s, pro wrestling star Ric Flair regularly referred to himself as “Space Mountain” on the idea of “an old ride but still the best around.” That worked because it pertains to the ride itself, whose history has always been intriguing.
Disney had long resisted pure “thrill rides” with a notable exception being the Matterhorn mountain in Disneyland. Walt himself had an idea for an indoor coaster in 1964, hoping to make it part of the “new Tomorrowland” as a “SpacePort.”
It never came off as the technology for what was soon code-named “Space Venture” just wasn’t there at the time. Walt’s passing in 1966 also affected all of Disney and put a lot of plans on hold.
Space finally launches
It took the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 for the Imagineers to have the space to realize various ideas. That meant crafting Space Mountain for this version of Tomorrowland, spearheaded by Imagineer John Hench.
It’s interesting how the idea of a dome shape was developed, but in the end, the cone won out. After all, it was a “mountain” so having a “peak” to it made sense.
The logistics were tricky with the interior tracks, the questions of how fast it would be, and the effects. The Imagineers soon landed on what’s become the hook for the ride: That it’s not that fast, but the pitch darkness and the fact guests can’t see the track makes it feel more exciting.
It took a long while, but on January 15, 1975, Space Mountain opened to a huge gala complete with a TV special hosted by Luci Arnaz with Tommy Tune and Lyle Waggoner. The event was spectacular, with a 2000-piece marching band and several NASA astronauts in attendance.
The timing was perfect as just two years later, the success of Star Wars started a new trend for science fiction and thus Space Mountain grew in popularity. Disneyland opened its version in 1977 (the same weekend Star Wars opened) with the intriguing idea of the rockets being side-to-side seating rather than a single person like in WDW.
The ride evolutions
For the most part, the ride has remained the same although Jim Hill Media related there was an attempt to craft a story for the Disneyland version involving a rocket flight. There was even a wild idea to retool the ride for the "Pigs in Space" skits of The Muppets.
There have been versions of the ride in Tokyo and Disneyland Paris. The latter is more intriguing as it was originally based on the works of Jules Verne and featured a “cannon” that launched guests into the thrills.
That ride is now Hyperspace Mountain with a Star Wars theme, which has also been used in Tokyo and the U.S. versions. There’s also Hong Kong’s version, which also uses the Star Wars theme.
More importantly, the success of Space Mountain would pave the way for Big Thunder Mountain and other thrill rides, all with a unique Disney edge.
It’s always fun comparing the versions, as WDW used to have a post-show area sponsored by RCA that looked at futuristic space settings. What’s the same in any version is the ride packs in wonderful thrills and is always one of the best in any Magic Kingdom. WDW agreed as a video showed a nighttime ceremony where Walt Disney World Ambassadors Shannon Smith-Conrad and Serena Arvizu joined the characters with a fireworks show to celebrate the occasion.
Disney will keep this celebration up through January as quite a few new merchandise items will honor the 50th anniversary from t-shirts to pins. This means lines for the ride are going to be even longer than usual to honor this fantastic anniversary for what remains one of the best Disney rides ever.