Happy Birthday Space Mountain....

Rollback says that Space Mountain turns 27 today....."youngster", hehe. But I thought it'd be nice to say a little something about the ride since it is, and has been for MANY people, an introduction to coasters. It is even the first one I can clearly remember, and the theming, the darkness, the unpredictable (at the time) drops and turns, all at WDW. The park back then was kept up to Walt's *exacting* specs, and was truly a MAGICAL place for me...

Just wanted to congratulate Space Mountain on its birthday, and give people an opportunity to share their feelings about the ride, since it really is a big piece of OUR history...

I was at WDW when I was 11 years old, and I was scared to ride it, because, as I recall, out in front there was a representation of a train of passengers. The track they were going down was *much* steeper than anything in the actual ride.

Of course I didn't know that. So it wasn't until the third day of a 3-day ticket that I got up the nerve to ride it.

The only thing I remember about the ride itself is the dual lift hills and the neon tunnel.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

When will the people at Disney take the time to put in a true state of the art coaster that will draw in the masses. I know some of you may say "What about RnR at MGM" Its cool but know where near groung breaking ! If Disney spent the money on somekinda record breaking monster it could help them recapture some of that "Thrillseeker " crowd they are sending to Universal IOA ...Your right about SM at the time it was mind blowing ...its still there best coaster over 20 years later ....come on Mickey impress me again????

Ok Iggy. What about California Screamin'? The ride is amazing, good airtime, a nice launch, a loop. And for innovation- a LSM lift hill. No chain lift. The ride is excellent, and will please the thrillseekers as well as the average park visitor.

In comparison to IoA, I'd take Screamin' over the Hulk. ;)

Space Mountain was the first coaster I ever rode....which was a long time ago! I went when I was little and SM was the only thing I wanted to ride. ( This was in the days before they added MGM Studios, etc.) That is why on my track record, you see Space Mountain, but no other coasters from that park. I was little and that was about all they had to offer as far as coasters! Same thing with Busch Gardens Tampa. I went before the B&M era. I definitely need to get back to those parks!

Long live Space Mountain.

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Go Jr.!!!

CFMatt ... I will have to give the nod to the big mouse on that one! When I was out west for ACE coater con I missed my chance to ride it .Its does look cool , I was thinking about WDW inperticular...

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Is the urban legend about SM (that the ride was much wilder when it debuted) true?

CFMatt ...CS vs Hulk ...I think you may be in a crowd all your own on that one???!!!!

If you think WDW should have a thrill coaster, you're missing the point. That's not the demographic that Disney is going for. They are looking for families with young children and retired Floridians, neither of whom will go near a 200 ft coaster.

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http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com

Space Mount. will always be one of my favorite coasters... 2 steel coasters under one roof w/ themeing that even today is not duplicated by most parks.. what a great piece of engineering or should I say imagineering….. I would love to ride the one in Paris to see what the new version is like??

Iggy - Disney is not looking to court the enthusiast community. All of their coasters, even the more extreme like R-n-RC and Cali Screaming, are suitable for most of the family to ride together.

The amount of business Disney looses to thrillseekers going elsewhere is miniscule, I'd bet.

Moosh

edit - opps...Mark B said the same thing. Oh well....

*** This post was edited by Mamoosh on 1/15/2003. ***

Anastasia BeaverHausen, Although I am "only" 30 and did not ride SM in its opening year, I don't think it was any wilder in its debeut than it is today. There have been several rehabs and modifications to the queue, station, building, and onride theming, but I think the ride (track) itself remains the same.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

IGGY "THE KING OF COASTERS" said:

CFMatt ...CS vs Hulk ...I think you may be in a crowd all your own on that one???!!!!

Maybe so...lol. Then again, I should probably ride Hulk just to make sure before I make such a statement. :)

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California Screamin- it's good!

Um, your not alone. CS blows Hulk away in almost every way other than overhyping IMO... ;)

*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 1/17/2003. ***

I'd say Hulk and Screamin are about the same in my book. Then again, I've only done Hulk a handful of times and have over 300 rides on Screamin

*** This post was edited by ThePhantomLives on 1/17/2003. ***

'Screamin is way superior to Hulk in my opinion. It's one of the most fun and thrilling rides I've ever been on out of 350+...

....and Hulk bored me. Other than the launch, it was a typical B&M...not that there's anything wrong with that. ;)