Why Disneyland was FORCED to REBUILD Space Mountain
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2023
- In 1996, Disneyland gave Space Mountain a rennovation. But this rennovation would end up doing insane damage to the coaster. What happened? Here's the full story.
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UPDATE: I changed this video's title because I feel it more accurately represents the video's content.
I get it.
Shout outs to the engineer who said "This is not safe, we have to close it" and not succumbing to pressure from above to keep it going out of fear of losing business.
IIRC, it was a Cal-OSHA inspection that noticed the wear and tear and told TDR to close the ride and rebuild, or else.
@@Jed7791Thanks to the Santa Ana State Elevator, Ride, and Tramway Unit for keeping people safe!
This video was reuploaded due to the Mandela Effect. For some reason, I distinctly remember Vekoma manufacturing the track for Space Mountain after it was redone. However, it was actually Dynamic Attractions. Some sources also say that they re-tracked most of the ride and not the whole thing.
did you also know the Mandela effect is the Mandela affect because the Mandela effect causes a Mandela effect and thats why it's called the Mandela effect
That is super crazy though!
@@ALEXXXXX3 the phenomena itself is named after nelson mandela. for some reason, a lot of people think he died in the 60s, or the 1800s, but he passed away in 2011.
@@snoleopard I know
that's not the mandela effect that's just you misremembering something
I miss the glow in the dark rockets and the ride viewing room. Same thing in Florida. It was so retro and cool watching the rockets run around in the dark
I get it.
I remember that...
"Brown Mountain" just might be one of the ugliest exterior re-themes ever in retrospect. The "oxidized copper" look just did not fit with the architectural style of California's Space Mountain at all. It's really no wonder they almost immediately reverted the exterior back to its original color when they started rebuilding the interior coaster in 2003.
Yeah but with the lights, effects and soundtrack. It’s pretty bad ass..
The fact that Disneyland wanted to update the trains but not the track makes clear that they should've thought thing trough before acting out on them, it was just lucky for them that they caught the wear and tear before anything serious happened.
I mean, to be fair I'd never think "hey, adding a few speakers could cause the entire metal structure to collapse under the weight." Honestly makes me concerned about the state of the track even before the speakers.
@@poletooke4691Well it wasn't just speakers that were added, as there had to be extra sensors to sync audio, and large, rechargeable, batteries in order for the speakers to have power, which had to last the whole day, as 1990s battery technology didn't allow for fast enough recharging to charge in the station, plus this older battery technology added a lot of extra weight.
@@olileoli2788 I guess that's true
They did the same crap with People Mover..
This is why theme parks need a third party doing safety inspections.
I was once on Space Mountain when something happened. The lights turned on, and our group slowly came to a stop. Space Mountain with lights on looks like a traveling carnival ride. It was underwhelming.
This happened at the end of the ride, so we were on a flat stretch before the exit. It was terrifying hearing and seeing other cars still moving around above us.
Very cool.
Had a similar experience, for me though it was interesting to see the layout and how the track wove itself around. The artist in me was intrigued, likely the same with my relatives who were engineers, sadly I don’t think the soundtrack was on.
I lived near Disneyland in the mid 90s; I remember being there the first day the new soundtrack was on the trains. It blew us all away. And then I was fortunate enough to be there on re-opening day in 2005 and heard the new soundtrack. While I missed the Dick Dale tune, the new music by Michael Giacchino worked very well with Space Mountain. The onboard audio just enhances the whole ride experience.
While we’re still on the topic of bad ride makeovers, you should try a video on bad dark ride refurbs. There are many dark rides that have been butchered such as Epcot’s Journey into Imagination and Kennywood’s Old Mill and I’d love to see a video highlighting these mistakes.
Yeah, we can also talk about how Space Mountain De La Terre A La Lune was refurbed to mission 2, then to star wars and ruined.
Let's tell the truth: Even without the audio system, park guests are heavier today than they were in the 1970s.
Probably 30% or more 😂
That's a lot of heavy asses, LMAO!
Imma guess your like 50 years old
Thats for sure
I'm not sure fastfood back then was cheap a burger from macdonald's was like 60cents
I had zero clue this happened at Disneyland! They sure are good at covering their tracks!
This is really over saturated. It wasn't as dangerous and terrifying as he makes it out to be. The ride just had a shortened time until it reached peak wear.
No pun intended?😂
Lol “tracks” roller coaster pun
As it turned out, the ride reopened just in time for Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2005.
@@leachjason111 Beat me to it.
The Dick Dale soundtrack was so fantastic. The otherworldly beginning through the lift hills was perfectly retro sci-fi sounding, and the little guitar flourishes that synced up with exciting moments of the ride were so great. Disneyland Space Mountain holds a special place in my heart along with that soundtrack. I've only been to Disneyland since they redid it, and I missed the nostalgic guitar tune even though the new soundtrack is good too.
FANT ALERT
I think its so interesting how Disney is painted to be this perfect park where they never mess up, but in reality they screw up just as much as a Six Flags park or something.
Pressler era lol
Yup.
I'd argue that Disney makes more mistakes than Six Flags did. Disney just does it in a cleaner (meaning people don't know) way.
Just went on Space Mountain two weeks ago, and it was still out of this world! Glad to see that younger generations will be able to enjoy it as much as we did.
Magic Key holder here.
Space Mountain in Florida is basically Space Matterhorn. And speaking of Matterhorn, the last ride vehicle refurb gave it Space Matterhorn ride vehicles which hold just 3 per vehicle compared to the old 4 per vehicle where the plus was having your date in your lap. 😉 Finally, despite what one hears, Disney is very focused on safety. My daughter is an Imangineer and one reason both coast's Splash Mountains are closed for re-theming is because they were falling apart.
Interesting. When I worked at WDW right when Space Mountain opened, a problem immediately developed - the curves weren't banked enough and the drops were too sudden and abrupt. The ride ended up being retracked, one side at a time, only a few months after opening. (I rode the original during cast member previous and was thrown around so much the seatbelt actually slid open!. I was like you're not seriously opening this ride like this!)
Sort of like making a coaster in RCT with a rating of intensity: 11 (ultra extreme), excitement (1, low), and wondering why no one goes on it.
@@eloscuro704 The problem was, people DID go on it. I worked Grand Prix at the time and we just watched ambulances go in and out to the ride. Mostly back stuff (people slid down in their seats, unlike at the Matterhorn which had similar cars)
@@eloscuro704does rct still exist? Miss seeing windows 98 logo before even starting the game. These kids have a cell phone telling em what to do and we had RTC what's better?
I almost passed out on the Epcot NASA ride in 2002! I was so dizzy that I crawled to the grass and laid there for 45 minutes!
Just horrible!
My wife, my kids, and I just went on Mission Mars (wife was a bit queezy after but trudged onward) and then went on Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. My wife had to hurl afterward. My kids and I were just fine lol.
@princesspixel3151imo, Mission Space one of my favorite rides at the park, although some do get nauseous, I feel like this is very overdramatized.
@@olileoli2788They’re not wrong. The ride used to be way more intense, and there used to be no “Mission: Earth” Option. It was 6 Gs or nothing. Now, they’ve made it better, because too many people were, you know, hurling.
@@anishraja9655Wow, I never actually knew that it was ever so intense. I just thought that it was always at the current 3.5G for normal and ~1.5G for Mission Earth.
The brown paint made Space Mountain look like Jabba's Palace. Maybe they Star Wars theme it.
I was in CA Disney in Feb. 2000 for a Make-A-Wish trip & even though it was freezing rain, I was thrilled & Space Mountain was my FAVORITE in the park, I rode it at least 6 times! Even if it was my only big trip, my only trip to a major theme park & my last trip to anything fun ever since, I LOVED it, and getting back on the plane home to Michigan was the hardest thing I've ever had to do (that's not health related)...
Glad you've healed and around! Hope you can visit disneyland soon!!
Get out and live time only ticks away
I didn't realize Disneyland's space mountain had to be reconstructed because of severe damage from the heavy vehicles. At least on the plus side, it gave the ride special visuals and effects that Disney world s doesn't have.
I doubt it was the trains' weight...
I'm glad things happened the way they did, because the reimagined version is an absolute masterpiece
Very cool.
I’ve got one Disney theme park ride failure: Superstar Limo, that infamous dark ride at Disney’s California Adventure that closed in 2002, 11 months after opening.
I loved riding space mountain in Disneyland Magic Kingdom, Florida in 2021! Covid seriously hit that Hour and a Half wait with a person testing a positive result😂! It was worth the wait because we saw a big Rollercoaster going off for test rides the entire wait time! Either way, it was a good ride with fun drops, twists and turns! And awesome video, thank you for all of those details!
I used to have recurring dreams about Disneyland and during the refurbishment in the early 2000s the ride would be closed in my dreams, too. How sad is that! Was lucky to go to the park for real on a school trip in 2006 when it was open again.
Oh hey! Thanks for the shout out! Caught me off guard hearing my name lol 😊
This video was actually the first time I learned something new about DL history and issues in an extremely long time so much appriciated as well!
I wonder if the rising weight of humans on the ride was also taxing the track as well. 🤔
I never expected a Lulu reference from this channel. Very nice.
With these two videos, and Schaffrillas doing the Disney sequels, it feels like everyone seems to be focusing on the Disney Decade (of fail) and I'm all for it.
I was a Disney Firefighter working the day the ride was shut down. The track was worked on every night by welders re-welding the track. During an engineer inspection it was discovered one of the main supports had moved from its base plate by about an inch. The engineer tasked with the inspection would not sign off on the inspection and ordered the ride to closed. The ride was completely gutted and dug about 20 feet deeper to accommodate the new track. Construction crews worked 24/7 to complete the ride for the 50th anniversary but missed the 50th by about 6 months. I watched the entire tear down and rebuild and have pictures of the project. Paul Presley was responsible for the complete refurbishment of Disneyland on stage and back stage. Before he arrived the previous presidents let the Park deteriorate to save money. Their motto was, `run it till it breaks’.
"More outhouse than outer space" is poetry!
I was working TL attractions when they shut her down. There were constant groans from the structure. Some of us called it Creak Mountain. So, when they shut her down, we were relieved since it seemed inevitable something would adversely happen involving guest safety. Nevertheless, it was harder to find hours with Rods and Space down for the count. Auto, Mono, Tours, Astro, and Honey were the only TL attractions available (Nemo and Buzz hadn't opened yet). It was a weird time for TL CMs, but offered some great memories with the back wall of Space being down and watching new track moving in. I loved working there; the most fun I had ever had at a job.
Edit: Oh, and Thunder went down for a couple months during that time, too (fatal accident). So, for a time, two of the three coasters at DL were closed. We felt bad for guests.
Ghost Galaxy actually made a reference to this in one of the dome cycles, where the titular Galaxy trashed the dome
I believe that Disney also made a similar mistake when they discontinued the People Mover at Disneyland and made it into something else, but the track was not engineered to handle the added speed and load, so it started to fall apart. Disney has a history of doing things on the cheap as their ride systems wore out. Journey into Imagination with Figment and Dream Finder and the Universe of Energy at EPCOT comes to my mind.
It's a good day when Theme Park Crazy uploads!
6:50 The next update to space mountain in Disney World should have a soundtrack mixing an epic John Williams esque orchestra piece with the music of Florida natives Limp Bizkit.
Despite it not matching the rest of the land, I think Space Mountain actually looked good in that color scheme. Kinda reminds me of my favorite indoor coaster, SM: Mission 2.
Wow! I never knew and went to the park all through this! Love your content!
Yep! The ride was old too. People heavier + copper wiring in speakers are heavy,. Small World had to get a new trough. It was decades old. All that patching caused heavier boats at get stuck. I rides wear out due to near non stop running. Only 2-3 months refurb. Glad I got on new version.
You should do a video on the evolution of ExtraTERRORestial Alien Encounter to Stitch's Great Escape.
I distinctly remember the big red thing in the middle and was so sad when it was gone after the refurb.
It was neat looking. I was never sure what it was supposed to be----- a satellite, or something-- but it was neat. They need to bring it back.
Crazy how Disneyland has 2 out of 3 Dynamic Attractions coasters now...
Now, how's aboot you tell us aboot Dynamic Attractions, EH?
7:02 I AM THE TABLE!!
If the lights are on you can still see the old track on the final breakrun lol
I had almost forgotten about this closure. I was a cast member at the time they shut it down for two years.
I do miss the OG soundtrack with Dick Dale’s guitar work. I think it was 1996 or 97 when I rode Space Mountain for the first time, and that soundtrack stood out along with the rocket trains glowing in the dark.
it isn't a TPC video without a reupload 😅
At least they caught the wear and tear, prevented a serious accident and remade it safe to ride.
Now that Magic Kingdom has Tron open, I wonder if they would consider updating Space Mountain. It could really use a freshening up with some new tech!
A cast member once told me that when it was down for a couple years, they tried to put a loop in it. But not enough space was available
I hate Disney but I will give them credit. They fucked up and literally rebuilt it from scratch, that's pretty awesome
That was the quickest re-upload I've ever seen
6:47 YES A LULU REFERENCE LMAOOOO
Space Mountain's music is some of the hypest music I have ever heard. As someone who doesn't like roller coasters much with few exceptions, I wouldn't care half as much about Space Mountain if not for that soundtrack. If Disney doesn't make a movie for Space Mountain like they did for Jungle Cruise and Pirates, and/or doesn't include that music in it, I will be absolutely baffled and somewhat heartbroken. I even have an idea for what the story could be, and I would pitch it to them if I was any sort of filmmaker.
Thanks for explaining this in detail. It seemed odd to rebuild the ride entirely, but makes sense due to the weight issue. In the early 2000's we were always excited when we would go over the 5600 lbs. and go left into the maintenance bay 😂
The Dick Dale soundtrack was the BEST Space Mountain, ever. Absolute perfection, synced with every twist and drop. Space Mountain with no surf guitar is just not a proper Space Mountain. It's just a sad shadow of its greatest glory.
(Aerosmith wasn't too bad either, I guess.)
Here in Australia, our rides and designs are incredibly out of date compared to the rest of the world. Seeing all these types of rides in other countries makes me want Disney to consider making a theme park here or even sponsor Warner Bros. Movie World/DreamWorld to make our attractions look more attractiony
I wanna see a video based on the original Euro-Disney & the Indiana Jones rollercoaster
Some ideas for next videos:
1. Tiki room under new management fire. 2. Big thunder mountain accident in 2003. 3. Skyway accidents in 1994 (Disneyland) and 1999 (Magic Kingdom). 4. Superstar Limo failed attraction. 5. The recent dragon fire in Fantasmic!
Thanks for telling us about Space mountain being destroyed!
Something you forgot to mention about the soundtrack is that it rarely ever worked. The charging pins on the batteries hardly ever made contact with the charging pins on the block zones intended to charge them after the park closed for the day.
You got it.
Just glad that Disney made the right call and fixed it instead of just winging it as if putting a band aid with solve it. Probably for the best, consider instead of the extra weight due to the speakers, keep in mind more people are heavier today than considered in the 70’s. It’s good to get new tracks to at least prepare for this extra load.
YAY! New corrected Theme Park Crazy!
I really wanna see a video about:
- Another 10 WEIRD Rollercoasters
- Top 10 WORST Rollercoaster Rethemes
- Top 10 BEST Rollercoaster Restraints
- Failed Coasters: Skytrak at Granada Studios
If you do another annoying park guests video, you should include the people that scream at the calm parts. While screaming on the ride when in full swing can be a bit annoying, I can't blame anyone for that. The people that scream at the top of their lungs when barely anything happens, like when the ride moves at all, or, in my case yesterday, AT THE WAITING AREA TO GET OFF. And you can tell it's not a thrill scream, but a scream just to annoy people. I'm not sure if they were in the first one, but they should be in one.
Before Space Mountain closed for its rebuild, the coaster had become an extremely rough ride. Also, while the Dick Dale track was amazing, the audio on the trains frequently malfunctioned.
Vekoma was contacted due to Hong Kong, but without the need for spares and a ton of retraining, Dynamic got the contract to basically build the ride to the original spec of Space Mountain 1.0 (banking, rails, keeping all lift, station and transfer sections). Only the track and supports for the gravity zone was rebuilt.
There are a lot of details being purported as fact when in fact, much of it is uninformed hearsay. The actual reason for the abrupt closure was interestingly omitted.
Also Eddie Sotto is "Saw-toe" not "So-toe."
I think you should do a video on the rise and fall of DisneyQuest and the failure of the NBA Experience at Disney Springs
I would love a video on how Disney mucked up the yeti and will never fix it and we a re stuck with disco yeti
Dick Dale worked on the soundtrack? He basically invented surf rock, wow! There isn't a single person out there who hasn't heard Misirlou. That's crazy that they got his help.
Ha, I knew it!
I predicted when watching the video that it was going to be the on-board audio, that caused extra weight on the trains and that’s compromised the structure of the ride, I totally call that!
Glad that they rebuilt it. Could have saved lives in the long term with rider weight increasing over the years.
Amazing. This is the exact same thing that happened to Rocket Rods in California. In that case, they did not rebuild the ride and it remains abandoned. Thank goodness these crazy upgrades were avoided in Florida as both Space Mountain and the People Mover still operate to this very day. Another disaster for Disney was their water park they had to abandon due to disease I believe.
While the Dick Dale soundtrack was awesome, I also love the Giacchino version we have now.
space mountain was my late moms fav ride and now its mine too! i love they have the star wars overlay hyperspace mountain. the soundtrack for both is bomb!
Can you do videos on more Disney failures? I’d like to see a video on Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Managament.
Space mountain is 🔥. The soundtrack is AWESOME
disney world is my home park but my roman empire is that my parents took me to disneyland for the first time in 2003 and space mountain was the main ride i wanted to ride. we walked up to the ride only to be turned away. the big thunder death happened the day after we left too.
even though i wanted to go back and experience disneyland after the 50th, i didn’t go back to for 15 years until a gig flew me out to LA and i was able to take myself there.
I know that.
They may have saved it once already, but I think Ghost Galaxy needs a saving of its own.
I just finished watching the original upload and found this in my feed lol
Actually, Space Mountain's 2003-2005 rebuild was announced months in advance. So far in advance, I had the opportunity to travel to DL from NYC the day before the planned closure, to try and ride the OG version one last time on its last day. But when I got to DL, the ride had closed one day early, due to the fatigued track that had been discovered. But the overall damage to the track had been known for some time, and the rebuild plan was already longstanding public knowledge. In fact, so many people were at DL trying to get in one last ride, that they sent CMs out on Segways to guard the entrance to the queue. (The idea being people would ask about the Segways and have their attention diverted from the closure.) I was disappointed for months after, too!
Sounds like Disney took a good course of action to improve the ride. Glad they caught it before anything really bad happened.
I was reading old posts on Theme Park Insider and it sounded like it closed very suddenly based on what I looked up. I'd be interested in seeing sources that say it was already due to close though.
@@ThemeParkCrazy the rebuild was part of the preparation for Disneyland‘s 50th anniversary. You can probably Google around for news articles related to that? But yeah, the only part that was a surprise when the ride actually closed was that it closed slightly early. Not the fact that it was going to close for two years.
Back then, I'm pretty sure that the structure was unable to handle trains going through at such a speed, and when it was re-tracked in 2005, it was substantially sped up, and seemingly smoother.
Well when it was retracked from 2003-2005 the retracking included using CAD and other new technologies to smoothen the ride out. Another thing they did is put fans blowing at the riders to increase their sense of speed while on the ride.
@@olileoli2788 Yeah they definitely used cad here. I have known about the fans for a while, but when comparing lights on povs side by side, there is a notable speed difference between both old/new versions of the ride.
The structure was completely fine handling the trains, considering it did for 26 years with no issues and 6 even with the heavier trains. Its the same layout, so they go the same speed.
Never knew about this before. Amazing how a seemingly minor change can have huge consequences on a ride's operations.
I get this.
Space Mountain is one of my favorite roller coasters ever!
Wow I didn’t know that. I remember going on Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain and noticing that it was very old. Must’ve had problems throughout the years. I could say the same for Disneylands SM even though I haven’t been on it yet.
I FINNA your videos all day err day
I've always thought they should get Buckethead to do a new ride soundtrack. He's a massive Disneyland fan, and has reportedly made his own compositions for rides that he listens to through his headphones when he rides them. He's a perfect successor to Dick Dale.
Space mountain is such a good ride, am glad the ride is still at Disneyland to this day
“Paint scheme that was more outhouse than outer space”!!! Sick burn!!!🤪 accurate, tho! 😎
8:52: This also happened to The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal's Islands Of Adventure and Nemesis at Alton Towers.
During the last time I was on this ride (late 90's) I was disapointed that the lights had been turned up during the ride to the point where you could see the track ahead and the noise with the lights was turned off when comming into the end. Apparently this was when the FED-X changes were made.
3:29 I love how much fun that black guy is having
Great video very informative, I remember this as kid. My family would go to Disneyland at Christmas time from 00-02. I never rode space mountain as a kid, my dad and brother would always ride it. I was to little between that time period, My mom and I would hang out by the starcade and watch the neon Mickey sign, waiting for my dad and brother.
I heard they close Space Mountain in 2003 without warning, because the ride became unstable. I was wondering how severely the damage was to the ride structure that warrant the imminent closure of the attraction. Thank goodness the closed the ride before anything tragic happened. Had they not closed it, the ride could have collapsed dozens would have been killed, and this incident would tarnished Disneyland’s reputation, via the numerous lawsuits forever.
This was a long time ago.
this means that I had my first ride on it with the dangerous track/vehicle combination in 04, and my second with the all new track, in 07 quite the accident of timing.
Anyone else part of the 5600# club? Before it closed, they were weighing cars to not exceed 5600 pounds. If you went over, you'd be sent to the left to the maintenance area and would be helped out of your rocket. Because thy were 'lightly' loading the trains up to the closure, this is why the lines were notably longer because they simply couldn't put 12 large adults into the cars without exceeding the weight limit.
Their was some help with Budget for the track replacement as Hong Kong disneyland was recieving a exact clone of Space Mountain for it's opening in 05, So they just doubled the order... I think Vekoma made the track itself as they fabricated Hong Kongs and Dynamics did the actual construction / modifications for the location.
Ooo I’m excited to watch this.
You should do Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster. History, events, and all that stuff.
Dejavu...They did the same thing with People Mover with changing a heavier faster cart which damage the track. Disney never really learn from their mistake. If it aint broke, don't upgrade.
Nicely done! I was wondering what happened and why WDW's version is so different!
@ 8:30 - You might add (the reality) people got heavier, too from the 1970s.