Space Mountain

Description

Space Mountain is a totally enclosed roller-coaster ride at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It is located in the Tomorrowland section of the Magic Kingdom.

Entrance

You enter at the base of a futuristic looking mountain after manuevering through a stroller farm. There are two entries, one for FastPass and the other for the normal line.

Line

You then follow a twisty tunnel into the depths of the mountain. Along the way, you will be subjected to warped looking holograms of space scenes, including space stations, ships, and the occasional star cluster or three. Once in the central area of the mountain where the line splits, tickets are taken if you are using FastPass. At this point there are a couple more turns of line, and you are then given a number to stand on to get onto the ride itself. The cars hold six people total for each run, so if you are in a party greater than six, you will have to split up.

Riding the ride

This roller coaster has such a short train that the Roller Coaster Whip Effect really doesn't occur. As such, the seat to be in for this ride is going to be the front for the best effect. Once you are seated, the train goes back a bit of the way in which you came and into a staging tunnel, where you will wait until the track is clear for the next run. Once you are cleared you move onto the next stage of the ride, which I feel looks like the launch sequence from Buck Rogers. After this you do a 180 degree turn and start the climb upward for the rest of the ride. As you climb, you will pass by where the Tomorrowland Transit Authority ride passes through Space Mountain. Sometimes you will even be lucky enough to wave at the folks on one of the trains for that ride as you pass by. The rest of the ride is pretty standard fare for a ride of this size.

Exiting the ride

Once the ride is over, you get out and are shuttled out via a moving walkway. There are only three of these in the park, the other two being in Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Along the walkway there are some futuristic scenes which have been updated over the years, and then a video wall where you get to look at yourself as the camera sees you.

Opinion

I think that if I ever saw the ride with the lights on, it would be much smaller than it seems in the dark. That is what makes this ride so much better than a similar ride in the normal light.