Any new personal experience on Space Mountain?

[Leslie]

Anyone yet ride the (New and improved) SM and have a comment on it. Is it better, faster, louder, etc? I know about the game buttons to play while waiting. Just havent heard about the ride itself yet unless Im looking at the wrong place.

[stan4d_steph]

Anyone yet ride the (New and improved) SM and have a comment on it. Is it better, faster, louder, etc? I know about the game buttons to play while waiting. Just havent heard about the ride itself yet unless Im looking at the wrong place.Check out this thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=135853). I rode it and really didn't notice any difference in the ride itself.

[Stitch2007]

I got to ride Space Mountain during soft openings last wk. The track layout is the same but it's less jerky. The new que is very nice. There are interactive games to paly while you way and the que is not a dark.

[Cheshire Figment]

They did absolutely nothing to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. Unlike Disneyland where they put in a special load/unload area and then feed the special rocket onto the track (similar to what is also done in Toy Story) you board and exit just as anyone else.

With my bad hip I find it difficult to get into the rocket quickly and extremely difficult to get out quickly. When I rode it I got the impression from the CMs that I was holding everything up as everyone else had cleared from the rocket and I still had about a half minute to go.

[ls3015]

I rode the ride and to be honest I will not ride it again, It scared the He-- out of me, I don't like the dark, not seeing what's to come ahead. :eek:

[wishiwasthere]

When I rode it I got the impression from the CMs that I was holding everything up as everyone else had cleared from the rocket and I still had about a half minute to go.

I can totally see the CMs doing that. I feel like as soon as it comes to a stop you have to jump out immediately. Those cars are very hard to get out of!

[danyoung]

In the CM's defense - there is only so long that they can hold a car without the entire ride going belly up. Spacing is so important on SM that if they slow down beyond a certain point at either loading or unloading they have to hit the big button and scram the whole thing. Obviously that's not something that they want to do very often, so they are in the habit of hurrying you along. It can be done nicely, but after a few hours or days or years of doing the same thing, I'm guessing it gets harder to do it nicely.

[Pammer]

I rode it with a FP last week, and was extremely disappointed as well - it was exactly the same as the previous year...very rough and no soundtrack like they have at Disneyland. I don't plan to ride it again this trip...I'll wait for the smoother ride with the great music at Disneyland in January!

Too bad they didn't tear the track down and rebuild it like they did in CA, espcially since it was down for so many months! :mad:

[petesimac]

I rode it with a FP last week, and was extremely disappointed as well - it was exactly the same as the previous year...very rough and no soundtrack like they have at Disneyland. I don't plan to ride it again this trip...I'll wait for the smoother ride with the great music at Disneyland in January!

Too bad they didn't tear the track down and rebuild it like they did in CA, espcially since it was down for so many months! :mad:


What a shame; I had such high hopes. What about the exit queue? Have they re-done that? I like certain aspects of Disneyland's version, but like the track layout of WDW's version; if they could only combine the two (and they could have done this at WDW), it'd be spectacular. Ah well, you can't have everything.

[PhiSigDuchessCV]

We were at MK on Monday 12/7 and Space Mountain was closed for the day. When we went on the TTA (Peoplemover) you could see the inside with all the lights on. It smelled like they had painted inside SM.

[Pammer]

What about the exit queue? Have they re-done that?

It does have some changes...nothing spectacular IMHO; I remember reading a review of the changes before I went, but I don't remember if that was here on MousePlanet or another fansite. The main entrance queue has some interactive stuff you can do, but since I was in the FP queue I didn't see too much, plus no one seemed to be stopping for it in the stand-by queue (which wasn't too busy at the time I went).

I also forgot to mention that last week when we were riding the TTA in the evening (the same day I had ridden Space), it apparently was down as the lights were on inside & you could see a little bit when your view wasn't blocked. I think they are still working out their kinks, but I do wish they had done a more thorough refurbishment when they had the chance.

[petesimac]

It does have some changes...nothing spectacular IMHO; I remember reading a review of the changes before I went, but I don't remember if that was here on MousePlanet or another fansite.

I still love the original exit queue; it was campy but I wish they still had that version.

[jerseygirl407]

We were there last Saturday -- the ride when down when we first went by late in the afternoon. BTW there were no FPs left and the park was open til
1 am!! Went over to BTMRR - closed *sigh* - and they told us Space Mountain was back open. We stopped by on our way out at 9 or so but the queue was 60 minutes.....we'll wait to try again til after the holiday crush!!

[Samrain]

It was closed off and on the time we were there (Dec 2-7) but we finally got to ride it on Saturday the 5th. To be honest, there weren't many changes and I'm not certain why it was closed so long. It seems darker again in places (like it was in the early 90s) - I couldn't see the track the entire time although it did come into view every once in awhile. Personally, I like it darker, so that's an improvement. Without the black-light stripes on the side of the cars, you couldn't see the other cars whizzing by either.

The did install "gates" at the loading area to keep people back from the track - they open and close to let people load at the appropriate time, but they aren't helpful for physically getting in and out if you're not exactly nimble. Aside from those small changes and the new games in the queue area, that was about it.

Somewhat disappointing seeing that it was closed for so long, but it's still one of my favorite rides and I'm glad it's open again!

[KarenW2]

We just got back from our 2 week WDW visit and unfortunately, because the "world" was so darned crowded (not like it's been in the past, when this time of year has been much less crowded, one of the main reasons we go the first 2 weeks in December, to be able to see the holiday decorations with fewer humans!), at ALL of the parks, we weren't able to go on SM, on the days we were at MK.

Hearing that they haven't made the entering/exiting of ride vehicles handicap-friendly, like they have at Disneyland, would've made it even harder for me, since I am in a wheelchair/scooter for the parks, because of knee and back challenges, it sounds like it was a good idea to skip it this time. I don't go on it very often at home, since the HA line is usually too long (there is no fast pass available for us), there isn't a very good amount of leg room in the ride vehicles and the last time we went (for the Halloween version), it was more jerky and uncomfortable than in the past.

[Avacrand]

My 14 year old son and I just returned from a long weekend on 12/14. We rode several times. We thought the queing area was beautifully done, nice and updated. The games in the line were neat, but we never we in line long enough to really play them, but it was cute. The ride cars are much softer with more cushions. The ride seemed the same but more comfy due to the ride cars, perhaps the track rode a bit smoother, but it seemed like the ride itself was the same but with nicer seats.

[petesimac]

Bumped for a new and very, very important question: do the oatmeal cookies (asteroids) still fall from the sky as you're waiting in the inside queue?

[Leslie]

Being just there on this ride for 4 straight times in a row one morning I looked up and saw something falling from the sky while in line but didnt pay to much attention or study it to see what it actually was. As I was watching the people load into the ride cars or whatever there called now.

[Drince88]

Leslie,
Do you have any of the answers to the questions you posed in the initial post?

[Leslie]

Well Cathy to be honest I only noticed just a few small ones. 1 being the game you can play on left while standing in line. For us we couldnt play because we walked right up and past them so early in the morning. But I did tap a few to see what happens. No biggie for me but good for kids who might be ansy waiting in line. 2 was the ceiling had a blue lighting. Didnt remember that from 2 years ago. 3 no music in ride car and the track is jerky as ever. Didnt notice a difference there and seemed to go as fast as I remember. To me it was the same. But still loved it and rode it over and over and over...Now there was a difference on the people mover going through SM. Cant really see anything but black going through. We didnt like that to much.

[petesimac]

Being just there on this ride for 4 straight times in a row one morning I looked up and saw something falling from the sky while in line but didnt pay to much attention or study it to see what it actually was. As I was watching the people load into the ride cars or whatever there called now.

Sounds like "oatmeal cookies" to me!

[teri]

About a month ago, I tore my rotator cuff (right shoulder) getting out of row 2, where there is no grab bar in front of you. Didn't have my cane with me that day to lever myself out. I reached back to the bar between row 2 and 3, and *pop*. Ouch, still. Note to self and others with arthritis in hips, knees and ankles: don't sit in row 2.

[mxrapu]

The only difference I noticed in the ride itself is that it was darker, which I prefer. There was no line when we were there in December, so I didn't even see the games. I'm surprised no one has mentioned the exit queue, which is a huge improvement over the glorified Fed Ex ad that was there in the past.

[danyoung]

I thought the exit queue was OK, but it's what, the 3rd or 4th version of the same sets? I really liked it when it first opened, and was the depiction of colonizing a planet way out there in space. Very cool, very science fiction. It's time for a complete re-do.

[Goodnplenty]

I agree with you Dan. I would really love to see a complete redo for the exit. It really can't be that hard to come up with something new and cool to put in there. But then I would also like to see them add, change or "plus" some of the scenes you go by on the TTA.

I was just on Space Mtn last week and I really didn't notice the old oatmeal cookies in the sky. The ride was darker but to me seemed slower? I really enjoy the DL Space Mtn, so I think my opinion is a little jaded.

GnP