Space Mountain hurts me too much to ride it again until it's repaired. Anyone else feel this way?

[dieboy]

I see allot of 'he/she has back issues (etc etc) is it okay to ride'? Well .. your going to hurt yourself. The signs clearly state before the ride, whom should avoid it and that list encompasses allot of people with allot of issues.
I feel like anyone that isn't in decent shape shouldn't ride it. And folks in decent shape may still notice how rough it can be. Pretty simple thing.
Also there is allot of 'back in the day it was smoother'. No. It wasn't. Your young body just didn't notice it at the time. I recall my dad whom is in great health, and shape, commenting how crazy jerky that ride was, and that was well over twenty years ago.

 

[LukeS7]

Something I haven't seen mentioned here is height. This ride is not meant for tall people, I'm 6'0" (so not even that tall) and it takes a bit of effort (especially with a bag) for me to squeeze into the seats. Normally I'll be fine riding it, just a bit uncomfortable, but there was one time on my senior trip for high school that it injured my back on one of the final turns. I must've been leaning forward a little, but the turn slammed me back into the seat and due to my height, the seat back hit right under my shoulder blade. I was in pain the rest of the day from it.

 

[Trackmaster]

A good solution would be to replace the aging, rotting, rough as heck, track.

That would be my vote. You actually need to do that with steel coasters. The coaster itself has a finite service life. The same track won't last forever.

 

[StarshipDisney]

That would be my vote. You actually need to do that with steel coasters. The coaster itself has a finite service life. The same track won't last forever.

Concur on that. Its often called "metal fatigue". No way that track is as 'tight" as it once was.

 

[TestTrack99]

I find that the smoothest ride is the middle seat in either car. The roughest ride is the first seat of either car due to the seat overhanging past the front wheels.
View attachment 341790

That's the seat I've gotten the last two times I've gone on Space Mountain (The 5th seat, to be exact). I didn't remember it being rough (I went up front in 2012), but that could be my age (I was 18 when I last rode it). I'm 20 now.

 

[Trackmaster]

That's the seat I've gotten the last two times I've gone on Space Mountain (The 5th seat, to be exact). I didn't remember it being rough (I went up front in 2012), but that could be my age (I was 18 when I last rode it). I'm 20 now.

The best seat for me by far is the front seat. On any car with three rows, the middle will always be the smoothest (you're off the wheel) but with Space Mountain, its helps a lot to be able to see where you're going. Its also a coaster where I think it would be a lot more ridable if the brakes were actually engaged. I don't say that often on coasters, but it really does seem like the ride was designed to use to use the brakes. I'm not even sure if some of them qualify as blocks at this point with how lightly they're used and with the gap between the dispatches.

 

[cheezbat]

I see allot of 'he/she has back issues (etc etc) is it okay to ride'? Well .. your going to hurt yourself. The signs clearly state before the ride, whom should avoid it and that list encompasses allot of people with allot of issues.
I feel like anyone that isn't in decent shape shouldn't ride it. And folks in decent shape may still notice how rough it can be. Pretty simple thing.
Also there is allot of 'back in the day it was smoother'. No. It wasn't. Your young body just didn't notice it at the time. I recall my dad whom is in great health, and shape, commenting how crazy jerky that ride was, and that was well over twenty years ago.

I’ve ridden hundreds of roller coasters over the years and have ridden quite a few recently, and yet Space Mountain is still one that can give me the most trouble. I’m not old by any means...in my 30’s...but I was in a wreck a few years back that compressed vertebrae in my spine and Space is one of the only rides that has messed me up. I find it pretty sad that I can ride old wooden roller coasters and not get beat up as badly as I do on Space.
That being said, I’ve ridden Space Mountain for a long time, and while it’s always been a bit jerky, there have been far tougher transitions over the years. Track wears down. Wheels wear down. Things need to be replaced. There’s a reason the track was completely replaced in Disneyland....MKs version is well past when it should’ve been replaced, not just welded and welded and welded until the thing eventually falls apart.

I hope it gets a huge refurb after Tron opens.

 

[TestTrack99]

I’ve ridden hundreds of roller coasters over the years and have ridden quite a few recently, and yet Space Mountain is still one that can give me the most trouble. I’m not old by any means...in my 30’s...but I was in a wreck a few years back that compressed vertebrae in my spine and Space is one of the only rides that has messed me up. I find it pretty sad that I can ride old wooden roller coasters and not get beat up as badly as I do on Space.
That being said, I’ve ridden Space Mountain for a long time, and while it’s always been a bit jerky, there have been far tougher transitions over the years. Track wears down. Wheels wear down. Things need to be replaced. There’s a reason the track was completely replaced in Disneyland....MKs version is well past when it should’ve been replaced, not just welded and welded and welded until the thing eventually falls apart.

I hope it gets a huge refurb after Tron opens.

The track was SUPPOSED to be replaced almost ten years ago in 2009. That was cancelled.

 

[Andrew M]

You can make a coaster more enjoyable and less rough, but still make it extreme. BTW - Space Mountain is not an extreme coaster, its just an aging rough coaster. Part of the problem is that its in such a small footprint, so you really feel the roughness.

There are extremes on the other end where the coaster is so smooth that it looses some of its thrill factor. Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ is so smooth that even through multiple inversions and corkscrews it doesn't feel intense at all.

I love Space Mountain's jerky wild-mouse coaster feel, like wooden coasters that have a little play in the wheels so it really feels like the car is flying off the tracks.

 

[Trackmaster]

There are extremes on the other end where the coaster is so smooth that it looses some of its thrill factor. Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ is so smooth that even through multiple inversions and corkscrews it doesn't feel intense at all.

I love Space Mountain's jerky wild-mouse coaster feel, like wooden coasters that have a little play in the wheels so it really feels like the car is flying off the tracks.

Nah, smooth coasters never get old, as long as the ride layout itself is fun. When a coaster is rough its just a poor design and/or bad maintenance. There's nothing quite like a coaster with an extreme design with glossy smoothness. And while I do like Medusa a lot (I refuse to call it by its new theming), I do not like it when the B&M floorless/sitdown designs get rough. I think in general the lay-outs are kind of dull by today's standards, and the big clunky OTSRs hurt the rides too. I prefer inversions capping out at 3-4, and I'd prefer each other to add value. On Medusa and Kumba, the corkcrews are unnecessary and the cobra rolls are not needed.

I'd replace the cobra rolls with an overbanked turn, I'd replace the corkscrews with airtime hills, I'd put hangtime on the loop and zero-G rolls and give the coaster lapbars. That would be a more modern approach that has proven to work better.

I've just been so spoiled by RMC. What at time to be alive.

 

[gobstoper27]

I consider myself to be in great health psychically, and tend to ride coasters more thrilling than Space Mountain. With that being said, during my last trip in November, I was so stoked to ride SM as it had been a few years. OMG it hurt soooo bad. My ride photo says it all, lol. I came off with the worst headache and was highly disappointed. It was nothing like I remembered from my previous visits and the husband agreed. #NOWIMP

 

[cheezbat]

I think part of my problem with Space Mountain being rough is the theme...SPACE mountain. When I think of space, I think of sleek, fast, silky smooth travel...think of warp speed or lightspeed...

Not clunky/jerky-crashing into meteors.

 

[righttrack]

It's the way your body reacts to not knowing which way it's going next. When you anticipate a right turn, and you brace your body for that event, and it doesn't go right, it feels like it's tossing you around. Try to relax more. Ride it like a child would rather than a nervous adult like we all are and perhaps it won't feel as jarring? Just a thought.

 

[Leahbobeah]

I rode Space Mountain last Monday & while I thought it was rough, it wasn't bad enough to make me not want to ride it until its fixed. That being said, it does need work.

 

[Demarke]

Something I haven't seen mentioned here is height. This ride is not meant for tall people, I'm 6'0" (so not even that tall) and it takes a bit of effort (especially with a bag) for me to squeeze into the seats. Normally I'll be fine riding it, just a bit uncomfortable, but there was one time on my senior trip for high school that it injured my back on one of the final turns. I must've been leaning forward a little, but the turn slammed me back into the seat and due to my height, the seat back hit right under my shoulder blade. I was in pain the rest of the day from it.

I know the feeling, shoehorning my 6'9" 265lb. frame in the back seat is a special kind of difficult (knees spread to each side of the seat in front, lap bar wedged as best I can to about mid-quadriceps), but I think I've got it down pretty well from my last two trips.

I still tend to get a few giggles or "I can't believe he fit!" comments during the process, which, if I imagine it myself, I can only assume are totally justified!

 

[Stanley Winner]

Hey all. I know there is a thread about Space Mountain repair ideas, but I think this is a bit separate. The last time I rode Space Mountain, it jangled me so badly that I had a headache for the rest of the day, and I was completely miserable. I couldn't tell you which side I went on, but it was just really bad. I used to love riding Space Mountain, and honestly the ride was more or less a rite of passage for me. I was too scared to ride it until I was about 11 or 12, and then after I finally worked up the courage to do it, I fell in love with it and never wanted to not ride it.

Now, I can't see ever subjecting myself to the ride until it's undergoes a major overhaul, and I wonder if that will ever happen. It's really sad, but I don't want to go through what I went through again. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I alone?

I have found that as I get older coasters bother me more. I don't ride any anymore.

 

[zucchero]

Hey all. I know there is a thread about Space Mountain repair ideas, but I think this is a bit separate. The last time I rode Space Mountain, it jangled me so badly that I had a headache for the rest of the day, and I was completely miserable. I couldn't tell you which side I went on, but it was just really bad. I used to love riding Space Mountain, and honestly the ride was more or less a rite of passage for me. I was too scared to ride it until I was about 11 or 12, and then after I finally worked up the courage to do it, I fell in love with it and never wanted to not ride it.

Now, I can't see ever subjecting myself to the ride until it's undergoes a major overhaul, and I wonder if that will ever happen. It's really sad, but I don't want to go through what I went through again. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I alone?

Try riding The Rock n Rollercoaster. That one will beat you up.

 

[hapihart]

I was really glad to see this post. Last time I was on Space Mountain I decided that wasn't for me. I thought it might be my advancing age (yup I actually said that) but now I realize it may be more than that. I hadn't ridden it in years, it has never been one of my favorites, but this last time was rough! I ride Rock n Rollercoaster all the time and love it, so it's not roller coasters. Glad to hear it's not just me.

 

[Minnie1976]

I am 68 and love it. Ride it every chance I get.

 

[jaklgreen]

You're not alone. I avoid Space Mountain for that very purpose, and typically go chill on the PeopleMover while I wait for my family members who want to ride it.

The entire ride track needs to be replaced.

Same with me. I just can't ride SM anymore, it gives me a horrible headache. My daughter is young and so it does not bother her. I much prefer people mover.