space mountain needs a new track

[aristo_cat]

Space Mountain is thematically one of my favorite rides--if not my favorite ride in WDW.

However, I can relate to the OP. I haven't been able to ride it recently because I feel like I've been in a car accident by the time I get off the thing. They definitely have to address how "jerky" the ride has become. I'm fairly certain it has not always left me with bruises on the side of my hip. I also feel like Thunder Mountain has become far more unstable as well. Of course, it makes more sense thematically for TM to be rickety but nevertheless, I recently rode it and I was just bouncing up and down in a bad way.

 

[Zman-ks]

A lot of people like and prefer the rickety track.

I do...its part of Space Mountain's charm...

 

[rsoxguy]

While I have grown quite accustomed to Space Mountain's rickety track system, I personally would enjoy a major overhaul that included new tracks.

 

[Bairstow]

No.

Disney themselves built Space Mountain, Rock'n'Roller coaster was an 'off the shelf' coaster made by Vekoma with about 30 years of technology improvements between them

I thought Space Mountain was by Arrow Dynamics, same as the Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion.

 

[AllyInWonderland]

I rode Space Mountain last year, and I hadn't been on it since I was little. I was about 8 or 9 when I first rode it and I was terrified. Last year, I got really excited because I thought I was just too wimpy when I first rode it. I figured it would be like BTM in the dark. I had fun the first couple of seconds, then it just got really jerky. I felt like I was gonna hit the track. I was praying to God to get me off of the ride, and I was honestly terrified. After we got off, I felt motion sick, and I don't normally get sick from rides. It really surprised me.

 

[englanddg]

I didn't ever see the issue with Space Mountain track at WDW....until I rode the one at Disneyland.

 

[ChrisFL]

I thought Space Mountain was by Arrow Dynamics, same as the Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion.

I may be incorrect but I believe Disney borrowed the designs from Arrow Dynamics but built it themselves

 

[aristo_cat]

My favorite part of Space Mountain is now admiring it from the comfort and smooth ride of the People Mover !

 

[Californian Elitist]

I rode Space Mountain last year, and I hadn't been on it since I was little. I was about 8 or 9 when I first rode it and I was terrified. Last year, I got really excited because I thought I was just too wimpy when I first rode it. I figured it would be like BTM in the dark. I had fun the first couple of seconds, then it just got really jerky. I felt like I was gonna hit the track. I was praying to God to get me off of the ride, and I was honestly terrified. After we got off, I felt motion sick, and I don't normally get sick from rides. It really surprised me.

That's kind of how Matterhorn is, especially since we got these new, stupid bobsleds. There's less space, now, and your knees sit up (if you're tall, like I am). I honestly felt I was going to fall out. Not very fun.

 

[aristo_cat]

I rode Space Mountain last year, and I hadn't been on it since I was little. I was about 8 or 9 when I first rode it and I was terrified. Last year, I got really excited because I thought I was just too wimpy when I first rode it. I figured it would be like BTM in the dark. I had fun the first couple of seconds, then it just got really jerky. I felt like I was gonna hit the track. I was praying to God to get me off of the ride, and I was honestly terrified. After we got off, I felt motion sick, and I don't normally get sick from rides. It really surprised me.

Right? I'm not so sure that SM is supposed to feel like a wooden coaster.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Because the ride is based on kinetic energy or "weight in motion" I wonder how much of this is thanks to us being a more portly society than we were 10 years ago...and growing!

 

[ChevisMickey]

I noticed the tracks on the left as you walk in are bumpier than those on the right. It was painful, as bad as a wooden coaster overall. Of course, many people like that. So, maybe they should have it set up like M:S and refurb one side to be smoother, and let the other side be a teeth rattler.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Back before the most recent partial defurb (not misspelled) the cars used to have glow in the dark areas on them along the sides and when you went through SM on the TTA you could see them zooming around inside the dome.

That's what is missing! There was something bothering me about the ride for several years now. Something that was missing, but I knew that they refurbed it, so I chalked it up to some of the subtle things they modified.

 

[Shadowgate]

I have stated this before but I first rode this at age ten in 1995 and LOVED it and rode it many time over that stay and it was MUCH smoother. It continued to be much smoother over the next at least 10 years of visits and I didn't ride it again until 2000 and it was alot rougher then. Then the next time I rode it was was the end of 2012 when my daughter was was finally old enough to want to go on it and my family and my sister and brother-in-law all came off it saying never again! Even my daughter who initially came off it happy later when the adrenaline wore off said she didn't want to go on it again and she was ten at the time.

They really need to get the track smoother as I am fine with the quick turns and such but not with the roughness and as others have said it doesn't fit well with the theme of the ride or with MK as it isn't kid friendly. This should "in my mind" should be a kids first "real" roller coaster experience and shouldn't shake your brains out of your head.

 

[AintNoOtherMan]

I always thought it was supposed to be like that, but I guess it wasn't. I do agree that it needs a new track though. It really hurts my back every time we go on it :/ I still do it though.

 

[Victor Kelly]

Steel tube coasters are not supposed to be bumpy. Wood ones yes, but not steel tube. This condition will eventually rip the cars to pieces, and the track will need complete replacement. The last refurb only saw limited track repairs, not replacements.

If Disney gets enough complaints about it, they will have to fix it. That or they wait until the track crumbles, and costs 30 million to fix all the damage. I expect they could assemble a coasters with inversions in that building. But in any case, probably a 2 year down time for a major top to bottom overhaul, maybe more.

 

[allgiggles]

Back before the most recent partial defurb (not misspelled) the cars used to have glow in the dark areas on them along the sides and when you went through SM on the TTA you could see them zooming around inside the dome.

I was just telling my kids about those glow-in-the-dark stripes when we were riding TTA (or whatever it's called this year) last week. They were asking what the point was of going through Space Mountain because it was so dark you couldn't see anything. I told them you used to be able to see the stripes on the cars as they zoomed around the track.

 

[matt9112]

argument aside can somebody chime in why the stripes were removed? LED stripes of some kind wold be neat and match the new look of load area. i would love them to redo it entirely with one track in the entire space and build it around a higher capacity load/unload to offset.

 

[Duke of Disney]

It is a very bumpy ride, to the point that I didn't get on it the last few years. Especially if you've just eaten, which is hard not to do with all the treats there.

 

[Bairstow]

argument aside can somebody chime in why the stripes were removed?

They threw off too much ambient light, I assume.
Most of the recent renovation was focused on eliminating light pollution from the load/unload areas into the track.