Inside Disney's Space Mountain: Everything You Don't See When the Lights Are Out

In the 70+ years since Disneyland opened, Disney has built some truly iconic theme park attractions. Rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and “it’s a small world” have become culturally ubiquitous. However, there’s perhaps no more pop-culturally iconic Disney attraction than Space Mountain.

The lift hill illuminated

Everything from the coaster’s exterior to its theme is known well beyond the bubble of Disney’s fans, particularly because the ride maintains an air of mystery since it takes place entirely in the dark. However, we’re here to shed some light on this 50+ year-old favorite.

Despite opening 8 years after Walt Disney’s death, the original concept that became Space Mountain came from the company founder’s creative mind in the early 1960s.

At that time Walt, fresh of the success of building the revolutionary steel coaster the Matterhorn at Disneyland, approached Imagineer John Hench with the idea of basing the park’s upcoming New Tomorrowland (a renovation of the somewhat underwhelming opening day land) around a “Space Port” attraction that would include a “roller-coaster-style ride in the dark, with lighting and other special effects.” Sound familiar?

Walt with the model of the Matterhorn

Concept art for the “Space Port” (sometimes called “Space Voyage” was developed by WED Enterprises (the future Imagineering), which was developed by Hench, Clem Hall, George McGinnis, and Herb Ryman. 1966 saw the name “Space Mountain” first used for the project.

Due to Walt’s death that December, as well as the technological limitations of the time, the ride was dropped from the New Tomorrowland lineup. However, that wasn’t the end of Space Mountain.

©Disney

As work began on the project that came to be known as Walt Disney World in the late 1960s, RCA was contracted by Disney to provide communications hardware and infrastructure for the massive Central Florida resort. Built into that contract was a provision that Disney could pitch RCA an attraction to sponsor at the resort, which RCA would be required to provide $10 million in support for if they agreed to the sponsorship.

Fast forward to Disney World’s early years following its 1971 opening, and Disney desperately wanted to install a thrill ride at the nascent resort. Imagineers decided to revive the Space Mountain concept, and then-CEO E. Card Walker was successfully able to sell RCA on the Concept.

In fact, not only did the company give the $10 million and sponsor the attraction upon its 1975 opening, but Imagineers partially used RCA technology to settle the technical issues that had initially proved a problem a decade earlier.

“Card” Walker @The Walt Disney Company

The Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain, which is the first Space Mountain overall, opened at Walt Disney World in January 1975. The revolutionary-for-the-time indoor coaster was an immediate smash, becoming the resort’s first true thrill attraction, and ushering in a new era for both Disney and the theme park industry overall.

Space Mountain under construction.

While Space Mountain may FEEL like a high-speed journey through the cosmos, the coaster only reaches a top speed of approximately 27 MPH. The ride fools riders into thinking it’s moving much faster thanks to blasts of cold air, the space travel thematic elements, and, of course, the darkness in which it takes place.

View from the top

In fact, to this day, there are few bigger “white whales” to chase for major Disney fans than riding Space Mountain with the lights on.

Looks a lot more painful with the lights on.

While this is rare, it does sometimes happen if there’s an issue with the ride, though it has been offered on a few special occasions as well. Of course, as cool as riding with the lights on is in concept, it’s also a reminder of how important the theming and darkness are to the attraction, as once it’s stripped away, the track is simply that of a typical wild mouse-style coaster.

Space Mountain lit up

Space Mountain has, of course, become iconic in the 50+ years since the Magic Kingdom attraction opened. Versions have been built at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Stay tuned to DFB for more dives into Disney history.

5 Magic Kingdom Secrets Disney Doesn’t Want You to Know

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Have you ever ridden Space Mountain with the lights out? Let us know in the comments below.