Space Mountain is a popular indoor roller coaster ride at four Disney theme parks. The indoor 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, at a cost that even surpasses all of the original Disneyland adjusting for inflation.
Space Mountain premiered at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 1975, Disneyland in 1977, Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, and Disneyland Paris in 1995. Hong Kong Disneyland's Space Mountain will open in September 2005. When the Paris installation opened, it became the first completely indoor, themed roller coaster with a synchronized sound track. The Disneyland installation was upgraded in 1998, making it the first such ride 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 inversions.
Space Mountain at Disneyland
Space Mountain is currently closed at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as the roller coaster inside the mountain is being replaced with a completely new coaster, similar to the original. It is being built by Vekoma. The reopening is scheduled for July 15, 2005.
After being seated in the car, 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 car then turns sharply to the right and climbs a long tunnel filled with flickering lights and lasers. At the top, there's a slight calm before the drop as an unearthly theremin hums out the haunting, enigmatic melody to "Aquarium" from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Suddenly, the car dives and the music changes to a hard-rocking Dick Dale surf guitar rendition of "Aquarium". 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. The music builds as the car appears to be gaining speed around a large glowing orange satellite known as FX-1 (FX stood for FedEx, the attraction's sponsor), building up to a dramatic climax. The ride ends as the car takes a sudden right turn, and a less foreboding variation of the original theme is heard (Disney's form of a musical happy ending) as you pass through doors leading back into the loading dock.
Space Mountain in 2005
On July 15, 2005, only two days before Disneyland's official 50th Anniversary, Space Mountain will reopen from a major refurbishment that started in April, 2003. The new Space Mountain will feature amazing new special effects and a storyline, but the completely rebuilt track is the same layout.
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. Rock It Mountain will not use the Dick Dale soundtrack that many Disney fans enjoyed.
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