Should Disney’s American Parks Reboot Space Mountain?
In 2022, Tokyo Disneyland surprised theme park observers around the world.
One of the most critically praised theme parks in the world unexpectedly announced that it was closing a treasured ride.
At some point next year, Space Mountain will shut down. Afterward, Imagineers will do the unthinkable. They will create a new version.
By the end of 2027, Japan will likely claim the title of owning the most thrilling Space Mountain attraction in the world.
That statement leads to a logical question. Should Disney’s American theme parks reboot Space Mountain?
A Brief History of Space Mountain
Tokyo Disneyland opened to the public for the first time in 1983.
Space Mountain was there to hold down the fort on opening day and has towered over Tomorrowland ever since.
At the time, getting a version of Space Mountain qualified as something of a holy grail for the Oriental Land Company (OLC), owners of Tokyo Disneyland.
The best way I can describe the situation is the inverse of Tron Lightcycle Power Run.
Americans watched with envy when Shanghai Disneyland introduced its new Tron attraction in 2016. Then, we waited seven years for our own iteration.
At Magic Kingdom, park officials worked on Space Mountain during the park’s earliest days.
Ultimately, the groundbreaking attraction debuted in January 1975, four years and three months after the park itself opened.
While Space Mountain wasn’t technically an opening day ride at Magic Kingdom, it might as well have been.
I say this because Disney planned the attraction in the mid-1960s and then waited a decade for computer technology to advance.
The automation for this attraction was that far ahead of its time. By the time Space Mountain opened, its buzz had grown to unprecedented levels.
This attraction quickly earned a reputation as an icon of the industry and a signature landmark at Magic Kingdom.
Nearly 50 years later, guests still view this building from a distance and gaze in awe.
Disneyland would gain its own version of Space Mountain in May 1977, making the Tokyo Disneyland attraction the third variant when it arrived in 1983.
Still, the ascendant popularity of Space Mountain ensured that park officials would make it the hub of their Tomorrowland.
That’s the role Space Mountain has held for generations now, but it’ll change soon.
Disney’s Ride Reboot Diliemma
Imagineers and Disney officials have maintained one fundamental belief about plussing the parks.
Everything should display deference to Disney lore and history.
Even when Disney makes a dramatic change, like with Pirates of the Caribbean’s auction scene, tributes to the past remain.
However, Disney has recently demonstrated a willingness to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch if something is no longer working.
Specifically, The Great Movie Ride anchored Disney’s Hollywood Studios from day one in 1989. By 2017, the park wasn’t attracting crowds, though.
Disney officials chose to redesign much of Hollywood Studios and introduce several new E-ticket attractions.
While many of us lament the decision, Disney closed The Great Movie Ride and re-themed the building as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.I remain devout in my belief that Disney should have kept The Great Movie Ride and built Runaway Railway elsewhere, but that’s a side discussion.
The underlying point is that when a Disney attraction reaches its expiration date, park officials don’t expect anybody to drink sour milk.
Instead, Disney restocks the fridge with new products. And all of us agree that Runaway Railway is rather tasty.
Currently, we’re witnessing the same phenomenon with Splash Mountain, a ride we will all miss. Its negative connotations forced a change.
While I love Splash Mountain – legitimately one of my favorite pictures of my wife and I happened here – I agree with and ardently support the retheme.
Decisions like these are challenging enough on their own, but they’re more difficult with attractions like The Great Movie Ride.
This ride doesn’t exist anywhere else, and it’s an opening-day attraction to boot. The historical significance would have safeguarded it a generation ago.
Disney works differently now, though. That previously referenced deference to lore and history only goes so far.
Park officials can and will reboot something if it’s not drawing crowds now.
We learned this the hard way with Maelstrom at EPCOT as well.
Why Tokyo Disneyland Is Making a Change
Managing Tokyo Disneyland attractions comes with an added layer of difficulty.
The OLC is a Disney licensee and thereby requires approval from Disney before it can make changes.
That’s why the Space Mountain closure is so startling as a story.
Tokyo Disneyland’s version of this roller coaster lacks the history and context of Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain, but the Japanese one turned 40 (!) in April.
Generally, any attempt to reboot this attraction would count as sacrilege…but here we are.
OLC officials have decided that the current look of Tomorrowland has grown outdated and stale. They believe a change is needed to modernize the area.
Magic Kingdom decided the same thing with its Tomorrowland skyline, which explains the existence of the Tron coaster.
The problem with having a themed land called “Tomorrowland” is that you cannot allow it to look dated. By definition, it must be futuristic.
To achieve that goal, the OLC will close Space Mountain next year, deconstruct the ride space and build an entirely new structure.
The artistic renderings for the 2027 version of Space Mountain are absolutely breathtaking and hint at a new roller coaster experience.
That’s vital to this conversation because Space Mountain once defined greatness in the realm of thrill rides. But it hasn’t done that in decades.
Tokyo Disneyland intends to reclaim the throne with a new, visually splendid and presumably white-hot roller coaster.
In short, the OLC has prioritized a better ride and theme park experience over the fabled history of Space Mountain as an attraction.
I love this daring gambit for a park that doesn’t claim the same historical attachment to this attraction…but what about one that does?
Should Disney’s American Parks Reboot Space Mountain?
Here’s the multi-million-dollar question.
How long should Disneyland and especially Magic Kingdom stick with the current version of Space Mountain?
On the one hand, this roller coaster is arguably the most historically significant one still in operation.
While several older roller coasters remain in operation, none of them has the name recognition of Space Mountain.
However, all these ancient coasters share the same issue. They’re nowhere near as fun to ride as more modern offerings.
How much does that matter? Honestly, the answer depends. I quite like Peter Pan’s Flight and often mourn the absence of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
Walt Disney himself had a hand in designing both attractions, which opened in 1955.
Are they modern or fresh ride experiences? Of course not. That aspect doesn’t prevent them from entertaining tens of thousands of guests daily, though.
Space Mountain could continue in its current format indefinitely. It’s a shockingly slow (28 miles per hour) coaster with a sensory deprivation trick.
You feel as if you’re hurtling through space at a much faster rate due to the lack of visual clues about velocity.
That clever conceit has entertained guests for nearly 50 years…and also explains why Magic Kingdom won’t do anything soon.
I’m not going out on a limb with a wild prediction when I say that 2025 will be the Year of Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom Won’t, But Disneyland Could
At Disneyland, the conversation works differently. The historical attachment isn’t quite the same, and I’ll be blunt here. Their version of the ride isn’t as good.
At its core, Space Mountain is meant to be a single-rider experience that demonstrates the isolation of space.
When you sit beside someone else, it defeats the purpose. That aspect of the conversation matters greatly.
Since Disneyland’s Space Mountain isn’t the one true version, so to speak, it’s less tethered to history.
Even if Magic Kingdom could change the roller coaster, it wouldn’t do so until after 2025…and probably not even then.
Conversely, at Disneyland, park officials have hinted that they want to shake up the perception a bit.
A modernized take on Space Mountain would achieve that goal without upsetting the ride’s lineage.
Meanwhile, Disneyland could reinvent Tomorrowland with a 2020s version of Space Mountain that redefines the roller coaster experience.
While I doubt such a project will gain any forward momentum until after the new Space Mountain opens at Tokyo Disneyland in 2027, I do think it’ll happen.
For all its splendor, Space Mountain has grown long in the tooth.
Disney Imagineers have it within themselves to reconstruct the ride concept for modern audiences.
Wouldn’t you love to experience their take on the most iconic roller coaster on the planet?
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