For some reason, this Space Mountain refurb has really brought out the absolute craziness in some people (including a few who have already demonstrated that nuttiness on this thread).
Disney under-hyped this rehab as much as a company possibly could (those early comments to the Orlando Sentinel about "retaining the classic attraction" were about as blatant as they come that nothing significant was happening.)
Why this attraction and not something like "Country Bear Jamboree", which also had a lengthy refurb recently?
I guess the Disneyland 2005 rehab set some expectations. But it shouldn't. That attraction was in much worse condition than WDW's, both structurally and aesthetically. Just because something is done at one park does not automatically mean it should (or will) be done at another. No one expects Expedition Everest to be built in California. Likewise, no one expects WDW's "It's a Small World" to get cartoon characters.
The other thing that set expectations high (or at least fueled complaints) were the few knowledgeable posters here who made very generic statements like "you should see what they planned, but cut." I mean no insult to those people, but those comments are a bit unfair. Every attraction originates in a spectacular "Blue Sky" phase, with elements getting chipped away for various financial and technical reasons. Even if these never-before-described SM enhancements were eliminated at the very last moment strictly because of cost, their absence is no different than the countless other decisions made by Disney over the years (no 3rd or 4th track inside John Hench's original plans for SM, no SM vehicles that leave the building, the decision to bring POTC to WDW and build just a mine train coaster instead of the Thunder Mesa complex)
But the biggest thing that sets expectations high is the unrealistic (and immature) imaginations of some people. Start with the fact that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE anticipated that SM's entry plaza would be redone. Then a circular concrete ring unexpectedly appears. Someone thinks it resembles a fountain, so they expect it to be a fountain. When it turns out to be just a planter, tempers explode because Disney was cheap and "cut" the fountain... when in fact there never was a fountain planned, and no one expected otherwise.
That leads us back to those well-informed posters who hint "you won't believe how awesome this could have been." Those statements automatically open up the floodgates for imaginary fantasies that no company on earth could fulfill.
I'm dying to find out what those "could-have-beens" really are. Because I have a feeling that some of those enhancements would get attacked by the very same people now lamenting their loss (even though they don't quite know what was lost). For example, what if one Blue Sky possibility was to rip out both SM tracks and replace them with a single, modern steel coaster, akin to Rock-n-Roller Coaster? In other words, completely eliminate the original WED design of SM, and in essence build a new version of SM from scratch. People would go CRAZY! These boards would be lit up with people demanding boycotts of WDW and the firing of Imagineers stupid enough to destroy a classic attraction they apparently don't appreciate like fans do.
:lookaroun
