How Disney Broke Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon | Disneyland Paris

[Music] Space Mountain when the original version of this attraction opened in the Magic Kingdom in 1975 it transformed not only Tomorrowland but the wider theme park industry as well using new computer technology to track multiple trains across its layout Space Mountain helped to Pioneer the modern roller coaster showing that technology had Advanced to the point where a larger capacity considerations could be implemented still what also made this attraction so Innovative wasn't just its technical capabilities but also its theme housed inside its iconic Dome no one had ever experienced a roller coaster like this before flying around in the dark as projections of stars and asteroids zipping by made it feel like you were traveling in a rocket through space in fact it was so popular numerous other Parks attempted to emulate the experience with attractions such as black hole and Alton Towers Space Center at Fantasyland and euroset at Europa Park among many others of course with its immense popularity Disney would build a new smaller version for Disneyland in 1977 it would bring versions of this to other Parks as well the version in Tokyo would open with the park in 1983 based on the Disneyland layouts and the Hong Kong version would do the same in 2005 but would instead be a clone of the new Disneyland track that was installed the same year as part of a rebuild so what's the best version of this attraction they're all iconic in one form or another but there's two that really stand out from the rest the first is Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic rewind and Epcot which you cannot convince me is not just another Space Mountain if you removed the IP very little of the experience would actually change and you would be left with another roller coaster through space however the focus of this video is going to be the version of the attraction that opened in Disneyland Paris in 1995 which manages to distinguish itself not just through its intense track layout but also through its unique julesburn theme the original version of the attraction known as Space Mountain de la Tera alaloon or in English from the earth to the moon was arguably Disney's best version of the ride which is unfortunately been gutted through a massive rebranding and most recently turned into a Dumping Ground for a permanent Star Wars overlay so what's Diamond 200 Disney's saddest downgrades and explore what was once an iconic symbol of how great Disney imagineering used to be [Music] [Music] [Music] a quick reminder but if you enjoy videos like these you can do me a favor by hitting the like button it's no secret that Disneyland Paris which opened with the name of Euro Disney in 1992 didn't meet the financial expectations of the company in fact this extravagantly detailed and Incredibly expensive Park was losing money in its first few years of operation with attendance being far lower than predicted and guests spending not meeting expectations there are a lot of reported reasons for why this was the case but high profile criticism of the time has highlighted how this park was perceived as a form of American cultural imperialism this in addition to not respecting French culture and tradition and not understanding European holiday practice all contributed to its failure in its early years however one thing that I can recognize the part for doing is opting for Discovery Land instead of the usual Tomorrowland in the late 1970s Tony Baxter a high-profile imagineer who had a large hand in the development of Big Thunder Mountain Splash Mountain and a number of other attractions conceptualized an expansion for Disneyland called Discovery Bay inspired heavily by Jules Byrne existing as a steampunk style land with multiple attractions while many of these ideas would manifest throughout Disney parks in one form or another discoveryland is a great spiritual successor and really made sense for Euro Disney since Fern was such an influential French writer one opening day attraction included an ambitious Circle Vision 360 film known as the visionarium which was later cloned to other Parks as the timekeeper other attractions included a walkthrough exhibit of the Nautilus from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and versions of other typical Tomorrowland attractions such as autopia and the Astro Orbiter but with a retro futuristic interpretation Discovery Land also opened with Star Tours and Captain EO which thematically doesn't really make any sense but at the very least they were hidden away in highly themed show buildings that fit with the overall aesthetic however the land itself was conceptualized with something much more ambitious in mind anchored by a massive building known as Discovery Mountain which would have been twice the size of Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom inside it would have been designed around a mysterious island based on Vern's novel The Mysterious Island and under its Dome it would house a number of large attractions originally the Nautilus walkthrough was conceptualized for this space it would have also included an underwater restaurant other attractions include a drop tower coming out of a volcano based around Journey to the Center of the Earth as well as a clone of epcot's Horizons most notable however was Discovery Mountain itself an indoor roller coaster existing as a version of Space Mountain but obviously themed 2 burns from the Earth to the Moon the plan was too ambitiously expensive and so Discovery Land obviously opened without it but the idea clearly lived on [Music] [Music] your destination outer space your speed astronomical your closest encounter Astor [Music] Aston between the Earth and the moon lies the adventure Space Mountain the greatest ride in the universe Disneyland Paris [Music] [Applause] as the park struggled financially Disney really needed to introduce a brand new and exciting headliner that would draw on the needed crowds working off of the discovery Mountain concept this version of Space Mountain was essentially the same thing but had its own single purpose show building opening in 1995 it absolutely did bring in the needed attendance and the park finally turned a profit with its introduction that year the exterior of the building is designed to look like a mountain cannon from which Riders will be shot to the moon and the attraction concept follows the Jules Verne novel pretty closely on entering the queue inside the building guests walk through Stellar way an open area where they could view the coaster flying through its track layout interacting with and looping through its various elements before reaching the station Riders would move through a portion of the queue that is meant to be the headquarters of the Baltimore gun club which was responsible for the construction of the canon in the story from here the queue ends of the open air station which has an iconic steampunk design the trains themselves were called Moon trains designed to look like 19th century vessels that aesthetically fit Vern's science fiction also notable is that these are the first trains to ever feature synchronized onboard audio with a music piece specifically designed to coordinate with different moments in the track layout once the train departs the station it curves around a bend and falls into a small dip then moving upwards into the launch Hill inside the cannon the train parks and the side rotates open as if Riders are being loaded into the barrel the train then ascends a little bit further in and Parks again as the music continues building it suddenly breaks into a new section and the train launches forward through the cannon into the darkness crusting a hill and quickly descending down a Left Bank to turn past spinning asteroids the train then flies through more asteroid fields and finishes this section of the track by twisting out of control through its first inversion a sidewinder it quickly snaps out of this into a transition that brings it through an asteroid mining machine from the novel which is an element you can see pretty clearly from the queue almost immediately the train blasts through an asteroid which uses smoke effects to simulate impact and the train then continues descending to the right flying past asteroids and moving through a corkscrew Riders slow down quickly as they lose momentum and climb another small left till with a projection of the Moon with a face simulating their rapid approach this may seem strange but if you've ever seen the 1902 silent film adaptation of the novel known as a trip to the moon this is what it is intended to reference the train quickly crests the hill and descends again flying through more asteroids and its final inversion a cutback before lighting effects simulate burning in the atmosphere on the return to Earth the train then pulls into a brake run through a machine called the electro Dave velociter which absorbs the momentum of the projectile terrain and from here Riders pull back into the station Space Mountain from the Earth to the Moon is certainly one of the more unique Disney coasters out there and while its intensity with the launch and three inversions is more akin to rock and roller coaster and its intensity isn't for everyone I think it made sense specifically for Disneyland Paris as a much needed thrilling attraction while there's a lot to love about the other versions of Space Mountain the jewels burn theming here is so unique and distinct from the others yet manages to still maintain that Space Mountain spirit I also like how it successfully brought Riders through such an interesting queue that let people look directly into the coaster track itself which is such a unique element that could only happen in the Eisner era Space Mountain from the earth to the moon was arguably not only the best version of Space Mountain but was an example of the best then imagineering had to offer so what happened to it and why does it now exist with a permanent and half-baked Star Wars overlay [Music] in 2005 the exterior of the Dome was repainted the interior changed and the ride now renamed to Space Mountain mission 2 as part of a refresh to remarket the attraction with the failure of the obligatory Walt Disney Studios Park opening across the way in 2002 Disney's Paris Resort found itself needing another Financial boost to keep it afloat and what better way to do so than introduce a brand new e-ticket or I suppose in this case changing out some signs and removing space Mountain's interesting theming in favor of a more generic Rebrand Space Mountain certainly saves Disneyland Paris once but it was stupid to think that a new coat of paint would do it twice on entering the queue fans of the previous ride would immediately notice that the former Stellar way was now enclosed removing what was once an iconic element of the experience the theming and queue aesthetic itself also changed to be more akin to the generic space mountains found throughout the other parks while this isn't necessarily a bad thing it is disappointing because the jewels burn theming was an interesting way to differentiate this version from the others and the external steampunk ornamentation and Canon were still in place despite not playing into the story of the ride anymore the ride experience itself is also immediately different using a new score composed by Michael giacino who also did the updated soundtrack for the new retract Disneyland version as well admittedly I actually preferred this audio track over the previous one because it's just really good as for the interior itself many of the elements such as the asteroids stayed the same but this time use new lighting to make them feel more dynamic moving further in former fans will notice that the asteroid mining machine was removed and the left Hill where you approach the moon was replaced by a projection of a supernova the area where you re-entered the Earth's atmosphere was also upgraded using a much more effective lighting effect before then concluding again with the electrody velociter which wasn't removed for whatever reason while Space Mountain mission 2 was not a bad version of the attraction and actually improved the impact of certain elements throughout the ride many of the decisions made in this Reverb were just strange such as closing off Stellar way or removing some of the jewels burn thematic elements while still keeping many of the others it seems clear to me that a lot of the positive lighting changes would have made sense with the previous theming still while this new reefer above the ride stinks of late Eisner era cost cutting you can also count on Bob Iger and Bob chapek to somehow make things worse the attraction closed in January of 2017 and reopens in May of the same year introducing completely new trains which you will notice are distinctly steampunk themed in sporting a temporary overlay as Star Wars hyperspace Mountain to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ride by temporary I mean that this Jules Verne themed structure with new appropriately themed trains has now been running this Star Wars overlay into 2023 which is ridiculously stupid I'm very much a fan of overlays like these as hyperspace Mountain at Disneyland is a nice change for the month of May and I really like the Haunted Mansion holiday at the end of the year however these temporary overlays are appropriately temporary and you're not at all better than the core experiences while Space Mountain mission 2 had its thematic issues it's still a much stronger version than hyperspace with shoehorns and Tie fighters Star Destroyers and x-wings in a way that doesn't really gel with the pacing of the ride again stuff like this is fine if it's a temporary or seasonal overlay but it's clearly not a good fit for a ride it wasn't designed for is it not bizarre to walk into this Jules Verne themed land and structure only to experience a forgettable Star Wars overlay that has long outstated to welcome like many things to find in this era shaped by Iger and shape hyperspace Mountain exists as a reminder that there's absolutely no care for the Integrity of the theming or quality of the park experiences as long as you can slap a marketable IP onto something so this is the story of Disneyland paris's Space Mountain which premiered as an incredibly unique attraction not just because of its intensity but because of its unique theming it was then first rebranded cheaply and has most recently been turned into a billboard for a film franchise that Disney has run into the ground I hate how current leadership does not trust consumers to want to experience something cool but instead had to slap some marketable gimmick onto it resulting in the last half decade of forgettable mid-tier attractions they'll leave a stain on the Disney parks brand once known for its abundant creativity and high quality if you're frustrated and you agree that this is the wrong course for Disney to be on then one way you can help change the narrative is by leaving a like if you haven't already done so boosting this video and allowing this sentiment to gain more exposure as always if you enjoyed this video or others on the channel you can also hit the Subscribe button with bell notification so as to be alerted to new videos as they release [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Poseidon Entertainment

Views: 87,692

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Id: LrylxqpAF_w

Length: 17min 17sec (1037 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023