About a month and a half ago, I posted my then-rudimentary plans for Space Mountain in my Magic Kingdom park. Since I have never been to WDW or any other Disney theme park (yet), I only have a rough understanding of the designs and track layouts of various rides, but I have done a little more research since then, which will give everyone more of an idea on what to expect! So far, Space Mountain in my MK-like park will be sort of a combination of Disneyland's (and Tokyo Disneyland's, which has the same exact design) and Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain rides. DLP's ride's music, sound effects, and possibly a similar storyline to Disneyland Paris' ride will be used. The track layout, however, will be basically the same as Disneyland's (and Tokyo Disneyland's) ride (a longer single-track ride with side-by-side seating as opposed to WDW's 2 tracks and in-line seats), with a few of the less-intense features of Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain track; for example, the ride through asteriods! The ride's intensity will remain the same as Disneyland's, however, since Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris seems a bit intense to fit into a Magic Kingdom-like park to me, particularly in a U.S. theme park.
As for the external design, I decided on using Disneyland Paris' design, which includes the metallic gold roof with turquoise trim and neon lights-- minus the external launch tunnel that goes up the roof, since it didn't fit my Space Mountain's track layout at all! This was chosen, since EVERY other Space Mountain has the same white roof with plain, white beams (Disneyland's was repainted white earlier this year after being turquoise, gold, and bronze for 6 years, and Hong Kong Disneyland's SM will be white as well; modeled directly after Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland's ride). Also, the Disneyland Paris exterior design would fit in MUCH better with the EPCOT Future World-like attractions I have in Discoveryland; which are The Image Works (not including Journey Into Imagination and possibly not even Honey I Shrunk the Audience, since I may move HISTA to Disney Studios), Innoventions, The Living Seas, and an original attraction called The Earth; which is similar to EPCOT's The Land, but focuses on The Earth itself and its relationship with people, animals, and plants that live on it; as opposed to The Land, which focuses mainly on food, as far as I know!
Originally, I had planned the "mountain", or ride building to be 123 feet tall and 200 feet in circumference, which I thought would give it the same dimensions as WDW's (183 feet X 300 feet), but smaller, due to the track layout. However, upon further research, I learned that the figures for WDW's and Disneyland's were not directly compatible! Disneyland's was listed as being 75 feet, but that was only of the "mountain", or ride building itself, minus the spires. The total height of Disneyland's Space Mountain is 117 feet, including the spires. The 183 foot height of WDW's Space Mountain includes the spires, as I was unable to find the height of the "mountain" itself. Likewise, Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain is 141 feet tall, including the spires, as no statistic of the "mountain" height could be found either!
I had also planned to have all track above ground like WDW's ride (Disneyland's has 17 feet of track underground). With that in mind, this would bring the total height of my Space Mountain ride building to 134 feet. Since I had chosen the Disneyland Paris exterior, and their ride building is 141 feet-- only 7 feet higher, I decided to make the height of my Space Mountain 141 feet, the same as theirs; since this would make it a lot easier for the actual design, and would greatly help avoid distortion of the ride building by cutting out a few extra feet!
I modeled the actual ride on the coaster's track after Disneyland's (with a dash of Disneyland Paris), since nearly everything I have read says that Disneyland's Space Mountain is better than the one in WDW's Magic Kingdom, as well as the fact that WDW's Space Mountain is much more closely related to the Matterhorn Bobsleds (which I also have in my park, in Fantasyland to be more specific!) than Disneyland's Space Mountain.
If anyone has questions, comments, and/or suggestions, please feel free to post!
As for the external design, I decided on using Disneyland Paris' design, which includes the metallic gold roof with turquoise trim and neon lights-- minus the external launch tunnel that goes up the roof, since it didn't fit my Space Mountain's track layout at all! This was chosen, since EVERY other Space Mountain has the same white roof with plain, white beams (Disneyland's was repainted white earlier this year after being turquoise, gold, and bronze for 6 years, and Hong Kong Disneyland's SM will be white as well; modeled directly after Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland's ride). Also, the Disneyland Paris exterior design would fit in MUCH better with the EPCOT Future World-like attractions I have in Discoveryland; which are The Image Works (not including Journey Into Imagination and possibly not even Honey I Shrunk the Audience, since I may move HISTA to Disney Studios), Innoventions, The Living Seas, and an original attraction called The Earth; which is similar to EPCOT's The Land, but focuses on The Earth itself and its relationship with people, animals, and plants that live on it; as opposed to The Land, which focuses mainly on food, as far as I know!
Originally, I had planned the "mountain", or ride building to be 123 feet tall and 200 feet in circumference, which I thought would give it the same dimensions as WDW's (183 feet X 300 feet), but smaller, due to the track layout. However, upon further research, I learned that the figures for WDW's and Disneyland's were not directly compatible! Disneyland's was listed as being 75 feet, but that was only of the "mountain", or ride building itself, minus the spires. The total height of Disneyland's Space Mountain is 117 feet, including the spires. The 183 foot height of WDW's Space Mountain includes the spires, as I was unable to find the height of the "mountain" itself. Likewise, Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain is 141 feet tall, including the spires, as no statistic of the "mountain" height could be found either!
I had also planned to have all track above ground like WDW's ride (Disneyland's has 17 feet of track underground). With that in mind, this would bring the total height of my Space Mountain ride building to 134 feet. Since I had chosen the Disneyland Paris exterior, and their ride building is 141 feet-- only 7 feet higher, I decided to make the height of my Space Mountain 141 feet, the same as theirs; since this would make it a lot easier for the actual design, and would greatly help avoid distortion of the ride building by cutting out a few extra feet!
I modeled the actual ride on the coaster's track after Disneyland's (with a dash of Disneyland Paris), since nearly everything I have read says that Disneyland's Space Mountain is better than the one in WDW's Magic Kingdom, as well as the fact that WDW's Space Mountain is much more closely related to the Matterhorn Bobsleds (which I also have in my park, in Fantasyland to be more specific!) than Disneyland's Space Mountain.
If anyone has questions, comments, and/or suggestions, please feel free to post!
