Why is Hyperspace Mountain Still a Thing?

[Henry Mystic]

I'm just going to drop this here.

 

[marni1971]

I'm just going to drop this here.

You’ll have to wait a little longer for mine

 

[Absimilliard]

Efteling is not operating year long, and Space Mountain has a way tighter track layout causing intense efforts on the track elements. Vekoma did warn about that (many other manufacturers refused to take the challenge as the dome was too intricate for them), and the train weight problem @fradz mentioned was also a thing (the speed was reduced in part for this reason during testing). There's already a lot of fatigue on that ride, with regular need for cracks welding, additional gussets or steel reinforcement plates and even some elements replacement. They can maintain it for 10 or 15 more years, but it's getting gradually harder to do so. I would hope that they decide to change the track completely for the 2024/2025(ish) refurb but from what I heard recently, it is not planned.

Some corrections:

In 2000, the original trains had to get replaced due to excessive forces that the compact ride was putting on them. One by one, trains (there were 6 of them) were cycled out of the ride and sent backstage. There, maintenance removed the original chassis and replaced them with new ones from Vekoma, designed and built as a heavier solid block of steel with as few welds and bolted pieces as possible. The original decorative shells and rest of the hardware were reinstalled in those and the train put back into service.

Now, the heavier chassis caused an unexpected problem: they were too fast. When running 5 trains, the pacing is a train launched every 36 seconds, with trains barely a few seconds from causing blocking violations. The indestructible chassis trains as I named them ran faster and caught up to the lighter trains. As a result of that, until every train were replaced, the indestructible trains were loaded with 22 riders, leaving the back row empty. To make it more fun and easier to identify, one of those train even had giant Mickey and Minnie plushes locked into the restraints.

Once every train got the indestructible chassis, another issue popped up: the axle and wheel carriers which had not been replaced at the same time showed premature fatigue. Vekoma had to rush design and production of those and by mid 2001, every train was fully upgraded and running great.

Mission 2 in 2005 saw the elimination of the second cannon block zone to allow a faster launch from the bottom. As a result, no more 5 trains operation. 4 was now the maximum. This reduced wear and tear on the ride a lot.

There was a closure in the mid 2010's where the sidewinder and other sections saw track repairs.

The current vest restraints and fiberglass shells were installed on the indestructible chassis.

The dramatic phone call about slowing down the trains seen on Shoot for the Moon was faked. It was part of the regular test and adjust and they settled on an optimal speed.

 

[sm_dltall]

by mid 2001

Are you sure ? because I've been seeing on some old forum fans complaining about how rough the ride was in 2002/03 and the ride got it's big refurb in 2004 which led to the "new" trains with the new headrest/speakers but maybe the chassis is a whole nother story

The original decorative shells and rest of the hardware were reinstalled in those and the train put back into service.

I think this pic is what you're reffering to ?

 

[aalllllyyyyyy]

The current vest restraints and fiberglass shells were installed on the indestructible chassis.

I don't know about the chassis but the ride did get new boggies during the train update. The chassis beam can still be the same, it can be seen underneath the boggies, and seems to have the same gussets.

As you can see HSM trains just have off-the-shelf MK1212 with the new-gen boggies that are way lighter than the other design, maybe compensating for the weight gained with chassis.

The dramatic phone call about slowing down the trains seen on Shoot for the Moon was faked. It was part of the regular test and adjust and they settled on an optimal speed.

Yes of course pretty much all of the side-stories in Shoot for the Moon are fake. BTW in today's interview of Tim Delaney on , he states that the speed was indeed reduced because of show visibility concerns, but I can assure you, having talked with some of the people involved in the ride conception that there also was a concern about premature wear of the ride with the forces and speed involved. During testing phase prior to opening, they already saw deterioration of ride smoothness.

 

[Absimilliard]

Are you sure ? because I've been seeing on some old forum fans complaining about how rough the ride was in 2002/03 and the ride got it's big refurb in 2004 which led to the "new" trains with the new headrest/speakers but maybe the chassis is a whole nother story



I think this pic is what you're reffering to ?
View attachment 710244

By early 2001, there were two different shoulder restraints running on the ride and the original configuration was no more. This was the 1995 restraint and headrest:

By 2001, this was running on the ride, with foam encased in leather pads to allow guests to lay their head on something soft and that absorbed some of the vibrations. The original restraints had some fabric piled around the ear areas, covered in leather snap on pieces. Some seats had the leather headrests, combined with the Rock n Roller Coaster restraints. You can see the indestructible chassis as well.

In 2005, for Mission 2, Reverchon Rides in France revised the trains and repainted them. The headrests, restraints and audio system were swapped for the Rock n Roller Coaster version, as you can see here:

DLP collaborates with other parks more than Disney does in the US, so Parc Asterix was able to upgrade Goudurix trains to have the indestructible chassis, which were very sorely needed on that infamous ride. They were also able to get the leather headrests from 2001 and this helped that ride a little.

 

[sm_dltall]

OHHHHH you were talking about that the foam headrest... they came in 97' and btw in 2004 the original trains got the revised version here's a pic !

and here's a pic of the trains with RNRC's headrest before installing them permanently:

 

[mrflo]