Recently concluded a quick 5 day trip down to WDW and the thing that stuck out most to me was the condition of the queue at Space Mountain. Granted its one of my favorite rides, so I am attentive to its condition - but this should be noticable to most people.
On the fastpass line side, immediately upon entering there were layers upon layers of dust jammed into the lower portion of the handrail structure where it meets the floor (this is the area right as you walk in, when you are adjacent to the stairs in the standby line) that has likely been building for over a year by the looks of it. The illuminated blue triangles in the silver ball pit in the same entrance area were littered with garbage and junk atop the panels, which remained during the entire stay and if I recall it was in the same condition on our last trip in october. Pretty noticeable when garbage sits upon a lighted area. The star tunnel was generally dirty as well with drink stains on the white plastic structures and general disrepair of the silver siding paneling. The control tower had the window tint peeled back in the same exact spot that it was when I was there last october as well.
In the loading area, the pink decorative tiles along the back wall also had plenty of spots where they were missing paint, again same condition as October.
I didn't take any pictures, as a flash would be needed to highlight the issues, and I will not detract from anyone else's experience by using flash in a dark environment.
Just wanted to throw my observations out there. This was my favorite ride as a child and still remains so in my adult years, and I hate to see it receive such poor attention, especially as one of the 'headline' rides of the Magic Kingdom.
On a side note, how much longer can the track structure survive in its current state without a complete rebuild? I understand it was 'patch' repaired in '09, but you can see how out of alignment and untrue it is when you go through the blue strobe tunnel, its visually warped and out of alignment when you sit in the front position. If the CA version necessitated a complete rebuild already, and the WDW predates the CA version, I have to imagine that it's a ticking time bomb.
On the fastpass line side, immediately upon entering there were layers upon layers of dust jammed into the lower portion of the handrail structure where it meets the floor (this is the area right as you walk in, when you are adjacent to the stairs in the standby line) that has likely been building for over a year by the looks of it. The illuminated blue triangles in the silver ball pit in the same entrance area were littered with garbage and junk atop the panels, which remained during the entire stay and if I recall it was in the same condition on our last trip in october. Pretty noticeable when garbage sits upon a lighted area. The star tunnel was generally dirty as well with drink stains on the white plastic structures and general disrepair of the silver siding paneling. The control tower had the window tint peeled back in the same exact spot that it was when I was there last october as well.
In the loading area, the pink decorative tiles along the back wall also had plenty of spots where they were missing paint, again same condition as October.
I didn't take any pictures, as a flash would be needed to highlight the issues, and I will not detract from anyone else's experience by using flash in a dark environment.
Just wanted to throw my observations out there. This was my favorite ride as a child and still remains so in my adult years, and I hate to see it receive such poor attention, especially as one of the 'headline' rides of the Magic Kingdom.
On a side note, how much longer can the track structure survive in its current state without a complete rebuild? I understand it was 'patch' repaired in '09, but you can see how out of alignment and untrue it is when you go through the blue strobe tunnel, its visually warped and out of alignment when you sit in the front position. If the CA version necessitated a complete rebuild already, and the WDW predates the CA version, I have to imagine that it's a ticking time bomb.
