Rumor MK Space Mountain REVISED in 2026? (One track? side-by-side seating?)

[larryz]

gauruntee

 

[K&KDizFreaks]

Dlr space mountain basically has CMs yelling like militants at guests

100% True. We were there a couple of weeks ago and were surprised by the efficiency of their SM dispatch. They weren’t even using the unload portion. Load and unload at the same point. People were flying in and out of the ride vehicle, CMs were loudly “motivating” guests to exit and load quickly. It was impressive. As an older larger guy, I was not as nimble as the CMs would have liked, but I got a kick out of it. Great ride, fun experience, but would not want it to replace WDW. Single seat, tight tunnels, hairpin turns, and the lasting back pain make it memorable and a classic.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Dispatch interval absolutely must be known to calculate cycle time. You can’t know cycle time without knowing the minimum dispatch interval. You can’t know load time without knowing minimum dispatch interval.

The cycle time is designed. It is made up by the designers. They decide how long they want the experience to last. Even before ride design begins, someone working on the park or land program spreadsheet can just make up a number based on the types of experiences desired.

You are. Minimum dispatch interval is not an observation. It’s a limitation of the ride system. And your formula does not let you “work through” those limitations and constraints. That is the exact reason some times ride systems need to change.

Yes it does. With the process you have agreed is correct.

1) Capacity Goal: 1500 people per hour

2) Determine the Experience: Groups of 6 doing an experience that has a total cycle of 5 minutes

Put those into the formula
1500 = (60 min / 5 min) * (6 Seats per Ride Vehicle * Ride Vehicles)
Ride Vehicles = (1500 / (60 min / 5 min)) / 6 Seats per RV
Ride Vehicles = 20.83 which we'll round up to 21

3) Figure Out How

We now have Cycle Time and Ride Vehicles which means we can plug that into

Dispatch Interval = Cycle Time / Ride Vehicles
Dispatch Interval = 5 min / 21 RVs
Dispatch Interval = 0.24 min = 14.4 seconds

We can now take that number and see if the ride system is capable of meeting that demand. We can work with Operations to see if they can meet that demand. We can review the show intent to make sure there are no specifics of the show that cannot meet that demand. If the answer to any of these is "No" the design team can go back and review. We can look at other ride systems. We can look at changing the cycle time or seats per ride vehicle. We can explore a dual load situation. All-in-all have an experience goal and from that we derived an operational goal that can be assed outside of a vacuum of just what the ride system can technically achieve.

Yes, absolutely this. And the length of the track or cycle time doesn’t prevent your ability to “figure out how to achieve it”

If you agree this is the right process, and have admitted that dispatch interval isn't a starting point for design, then give us the right formula. What that can be used for tracked rides, flat rides and shows. One that can utilize and provide just as much data.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Additionally, DL’s Space Mountain is a notoriously high-stress attraction for CMs, with dispatch intervals as fast as 16 seconds when running at full capacity. While waiting to board, I’s not unusual to hear the alarm that the ride is starting “cascade” (back up due to slow loading), at which point a vehicle will be sent for a second trip without giving the guests and opportunity to unload, in order to try and clear the brake zones behind it. They have found a lot of ways to keep guests moving quickly at that attraction, but it requires everybody to pay attention in a way that WDW’s more tourist-focused crowds would likely struggle with. It seems like a lot of WDI’s recent loading area designs have had downright-leisurely load times (Rise, Tron, and especially Ratatouille), so it’s difficult to imagine a modern attraction require such rushed loading, or that WDW’s guests and CMs would be able to keep up.

This is a good example of why just because a ride system can do something it does not mean it should be chosen. In a sort of paradox maintaining Safety, Courtesy and Show requires actually prioritizing Efficiency over Courtesy and Show.

If Space Mountain was to be replaced by a single track, the larger dome could potentially hold a dual load configuration to meet tighter dispatch intervals. That though negates a nice chunk of your daily operational savings.

 

[flynnibus]

DLR is such a great total experience for sure. You just can’t have guests act like they are on vacation

It doesn’t have the thrill element like wdw’s design… but it was so smooth and the sound was a great touch. I will miss the memorable elements like seeing the glowing stripes moving around above… the constant feeling like things are close… and the variety of path wdw’s ride had tho. Dlr is basically just diving curves over and over.

I just can’t see today’s disney focusing on those unique elements of the past.

It’s still mind boggling what toyko is doing… and hard to think that they can justify a new exterior build… and if wdw doesn’t…

 

[TrippedUp]

Id just love to see what RMC could do with this attraction and raptor track. Shame Disney wont touch them.