Space Mountain Exterior Refurbishment

[MisterPenguin]

One more
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It's clearly a new Eiffel Tower for Epcot. They're doubling way down on the forced perspective.

 

[raymusiccity]

I think they're installing new track!

'Fake News' !

 

[Magenta Panther]

I think they're installing new track!

We should be so lucky. Unless that happens, I'll won't ride it again.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Why have they let it sit in two different tones of white for over a decade?

 

[Movielover]

They are installing a giant statue of Henry Winkler to finally prove that The Fonz is king!




What? A guy can dream!

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

Why have they let it sit in two different tones of white for over a decade?

Because that's the futuristic thing to do.

 

[Ricky Spanish]

New "spend a nite in space" room.
Opening 2021.
Small but cozy!

 

[UpDog71]

Back in the day when I was a CM at Space Mountain and Guests had the option to choose which side to ride, I would always get asked, "Which side is better?" My reply, "The outside." Always good for a look of confusion.

 

[GCTales]

Come on.. everyone knows that the spires on Space Mountain actually house the projectors / transmitters for the control system for the "Disney Dome" and the Disney Weather Control System!!!

 

[Brad Bishop]

Beat by 10 seconds. Spot on, sir.

A little weird to think that it was nearly 10 years ago that they had planned a full refurbishment with track replacement and then just skipped the track part.

It's a pretty rough coaster and I haven't been on it in about 3 years so I'm guessing it's even worse.

 

[Maeryk]

A little weird to think that it was nearly 10 years ago that they had planned a full refurbishment with track replacement and then just skipped the track part.

It's a pretty rough coaster and I haven't been on it in about 3 years so I'm guessing it's even worse.

Rode back seat in Feb.. didn't feel track roughness, though our train had at least one wheel with at least one flat spot on it. Most of it was just snappy. I remember more float and less jerk on that ride.

 

[larryz]

I'm guessing it's a new WiFi node because someone complained they couldn't get the MDE app while riding SM... either that, or a death-ray laser to take out people who over imbibe in the MK restaurants serving alcohol.

 

[Monorail_Orange]

A little weird to think that it was nearly 10 years ago that they had planned a full refurbishment with track replacement and then just skipped the track part.

It's a pretty rough coaster and I haven't been on it in about 3 years so I'm guessing it's even worse.

I just rode at the end of June; honestly, it's one of my favorite coasters, so I'm biased. I will agree that our Space Mountain is not the smoothest coaster, but it's nothing like many of the wooden coasters I've ridden. I was actually a little surprised during the first half or so of the run, because it felt like we were moving along much quicker than normal. My suspicions were confirmed when we reached the infamous trim brake just before the longest drop, and it really grabbed our train and slowed us significantly. Typically, I've found that you don't always notice that trim brake unless you know when it's coming and are actually feeling for it. I say this because it makes me wonder if there will be additional trim brakes installed to relieve stress on the structure from other overspeeds. I also want to add that I know eventually there will have to be a full track replacement, I just hope that when that happens, the dual-tracks and the layout will remain unchanged; but we'll get on-board audio. I wonder if the spire work has anything to do with exterior upgrades starting to make SM blend better with TRON?

 

[djdan888]

Over speeds? Doesn't it only top out at a whopping 27 MPH to begin with? Tron is going to put this poor ride to shame. Maybe they trim it more and market it as another family coaster.

 

[Maeryk]

Over speeds? Doesn't it only top out at a whopping 27 MPH to begin with? Tron is going to put this poor ride to shame. Maybe they trim it more and market it as another family coaster.

Yup, and the biggest drop is like, 26 feet. For all the raving about SM, it's a wild mouse in the dark. If you actually see the track, it's a very tame coaster. (Had the lights come up riding it once.. aside from the insane number of head choppers that become apparent, it's basically a kiddie coaster when you can see it).

 

[djdan888]

Yup, and the biggest drop is like, 26 feet. For all the raving about SM, it's a wild mouse in the dark. If you actually see the track, it's a very tame coaster. (Had the lights come up riding it once.. aside from the insane number of head choppers that become apparent, it's basically a kiddie coaster when you can see it).

I do admit that the theming and darkness put it over the top. Pure genius turned that run of the mill mouse into Space Mountain,especially the non trimmed version we all loved back in the 70s and 80s.

 

[MaximumEd]

If SM were under construction today, the hype after seeing nothing but that big dome would be unreal, as would be the huge disappointment after experiencing the relatively tame coaster inside.

 

[Kman101]

We should be so lucky. Unless that happens, I'll won't ride it again.

Same. I haven't been on it since 2008. It never even enters my thought process in planning a day at the MK anymore.

 

[Maeryk]

If SM were under construction today, the hype after seeing nothing but that big dome would be unreal, as would be the huge disappointment after experiencing the relatively tame coaster inside.

The dome went on after the ride was built. Somewhere I have pictures of the dome panels being hoisted up by crane, during my first visit, and the track was assembled inside. The built the support pylons first, then the flat "roof" to the actual ride, then the track, then the skin and roof dome part.

 

[ABQ]

A few of those Spacemountain construction images here http://www.themeparktourist.com/fea...king-walt-disney-world-20-amazing-photographs