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marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Original Poster
WEDwaydatamover said:
Buried20kLeague- you stated that if they were to widen the vehicles there wouldn't be enough track space to accommodate Alpha and Omega.

WDW's Space Mountain originally ran side-by-side seating in the same rocket configurations on the same tracks as today.

I didn't believe it either. It's true. I've seen photos and read interviews with George McGinnis. Side by side seating was at Walt Disney Worlds Space Mountain at one time.
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Nope. WDW Space never ever had side by side seating. Capacity used to be 8 guests per car but always in a single seat width formation.
 
Adam N

Adam N

Well-Known Member
WEDwaydatamover said:
There are 2 great Magic Kingdom unsolved mysteries to me. The side by side seating at Space Mountain is one.

I'm not being argumentative here and normally I would call b.s. on something like this but I'm really conflicted on this one.

There is a book in The Art of Disney Store at the marketplace at Downtown Disney... I have thumbed through it a number of times in the last year. I don't recall the name because the book was not that good. If it was I would own it. Anyway towards the back of the book there's a page about Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom and it essentially says little known fact: When the ride first opened the seating configuration was side by side then reconfigured. Along with a photo.

I immediately thought of person was a moron and hadn't done their research, but upon studying the photo it was indeed the Magic Kingdom. The launch pad, the costumes, the unmistakable 1975 Walt Disney World rocket.

NOT the DL 1977 rocket.


I've also read an article by George McGinnis or Marty Sklar within the last week that confirmed the configuration when they discussed the design.

I will dig it up. I didn't know I was going to have to defend this or I would have marked it.

Here is a photo from opening of Space Mountain. (Not the photo from the book which seals the argument)

Zoom in. Notice the rider in the front row is sitting completely on the left half of the rocket and seriously? is the guy climbing in going to sit in front of him without breaking his rib cage.

The jury is still out on this one I believe. It's okay to be wrong. And for good measure I will photograph the page from the book when I hit D23 next month. The photo in the book is WDW side by side seating 100%.
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Hmmm. It still looks like lap seating to me. Even so, the because of the size of guests today, the cars would have to be widened, which means the track would have to be widened. I just don't see it happening. They use every inch of space under the dome that they can, so much so that there are many fingertip guards up so guests don't hit stuff that could be unsafe. If they widen the track they lose space and I'm sure would inevitably go down to just one track.
 
RobidaFlats

RobidaFlats

Well-Known Member
Leahbobeah said:
I never got to experience If You had Wings so I was just going with the ride that was there before Buzz Lightyear.

My bad.
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For the record, the ride before Buzz was Take Flight. It was almost identical to Dreamflight, but had all the Delta references removed (because they were no longer sponsoring it) and very minor lyrical changes to the song. It was only around for a couple years and was so similar to the Delta version that many people didn't really notice that the name had changed.
 
montyz81

montyz81

Well-Known Member
Adam N said:
Hmmm. It still looks like lap seating to me. Even so, the because of the size of guests today, the cars would have to be widened, which means the track would have to be widened. I just don't see it happening. They use every inch of space under the dome that they can, so much so that there are many fingertip guards up so guests don't hit stuff that could be unsafe. If they widen the track they lose space and I'm sure would inevitably go down to just one track.
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This is an intriguing mystery!
 
Buried20KLeague

Buried20KLeague

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
I'd doubt it. There is plenty of space in the building but it would require a total redesign and rebuild of everything else from foundations to mother structure to load and unload to the track itself.
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I thought the proposed complete rebuild of SM that never happened was to go to a redesigned single track. Are you saying they were planning on simply rebuilding the 70's wild mouse(ish) coaster? That, to me, would be incredibly disappointing. I like the bobsled style, sure... But I'd gladly give it up for a much more interesting and exciting track layout. So much could be done with the size of that dome compared to DL and HK and TDL.
 
JessieLightyear

JessieLightyear

Active Member
Figured this was as good a thread as any to ask this in... I rarely post, but I've been following along with news for a long time, so please be nice... :)

@CarouselOf on Twitter is reporting that the Buzz ride in Tomorrowland is getting replaced with a "Tron complex." I have no idea how credible this person is, so I thought I would bring the rumor here. Is there any validity in this?

I'm one of the few people on here who actually adores Toy Story - this is a favorite ride of my family's, and we would be so sad to see it go. I know Disneyland's version is better, but it's always still busy at WDW. And I know TSL is coming, and they may want to condense the franchise to just there, but I don't understand why they seem to be so bent on removing those characters from the MK now, when the new land is still a year and a half (at best) away.
 
FigmentForver96

FigmentForver96

Well-Known Member
Buried20KLeague said:
I thought the proposed complete rebuild of SM that never happened was to go to a redesigned single track. Are you saying they were planning on simply rebuilding the 70's wild mouse(ish) coaster? That, to me, would be incredibly disappointing. I like the bobsled style, sure... But I'd gladly give it up for a much more interesting and exciting track layout. So much could be done with the size of that dome compared to DL and HK and TDL.
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Orlando has arguably the best track layout out of any of the mountains. Compared to Disneyland who had a track that pretty much banks left and has a couple drops. A rebuild of the current track with updated effects would easily make it the best.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Original Poster
JessieLightyear said:
@CarouselOf on Twitter is reporting that the Buzz ride in Tomorrowland is getting replaced with a "Tron complex." I have no idea how credible this person is, so I thought I would bring the rumor here. Is there any validity in this?.
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There's been mutter of a Tron something for that area. And no, not the coaster. Maybe an overlay of Buzz? Regardless, nothing is green lit.
 
Jones14

Jones14

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
There's been mutter of a Tron something for that area. And no, not the coaster. Maybe an overlay of Buzz? Regardless, nothing is green lit.
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How would that work? I'm struggling to figure out how Tron could lend itself to a shooter ride.

On the other hand, if Laugh Floor were to be replaced, that would help Wreck It Ralph fit in better by making the front third of Tomorrowland into a futuristic video-game esque area. Is it too much to hope for a new build of some sort?
 
et12830

et12830

New Member
they need more than subtle improvements. i was just there yesterday, and you barely notice it. if anything it's getting worse.
 

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