I know Disney and its Cast Members try to maintain the Magic, but for nerds like me that always wanted to be an Imagineer, this IS the Magic! I would have loved to tour all around, seeing all the systems and geeking-out so hard...
@@SleepExportsif I'm not mistaken back in the day when this was just magic mountain before they transform this area into hyperspace mountain there was an area you could see the coaster pass by you while you were waiting in line.
went on a school trip to Disneyworld in Florida and we got the park to our selves and did a bunch of behind the scene stuff in the park and one of those was space mountain with the lights on and it was the one of the coolest things to watch
As a Fire Protection / Life Safety Engineer it was good to see how well the the exits were marked. The catwalks were equipped with photo-luminescent arrows and marking to help navigate to the, but I was surprised how long it took to get staff up into the ride to begin evacuation.
It's always interesting to see Space Mountain breakdown since you get to see the structure. You can see the outline of the structure from the projection's lights. Plus seeing the the other coasters on the brake runs and watching the other people's reactions. It's also a dark ride in addition to a roller coaster.
As someone with Acrophobia, i would literally sh*t myself in my Pants, if this would happen. That´s like being buried alive - no way out, as much as you want it.
Much better than being caught in the loop on Revolution, like I was twice. Upside down and almost passing out. Terrible and scared to death that the seat bar was going to disengage when they tried to toggle the power off and on to reset.
Everyone gangsta until they spot some fire. I'd be more scared of a fire in the Space Mountain Ride when everything turns dark and hard to find the way out.
My family and I got stuck on Test Track at Epcot and had to be escorted off. The cast member saw me recording and asked me politely to not film. It was an experience for sure!
That's true. I was on a mid course brake run on a B&M stand up once and they e-stopped the ride. I sat up there in the sun for 30 minutes. I'll never forget that out of the many times I rode that ride.
Huge shout out to this dude for not ONLY knowing that the people -mover used to go thru Space mountain but also knowing where its former track location was AND knowing that your car stopped RIGHT IN FRONT of it!!! Absolute legend!
Awesome video! Not many of these exist, let alone that far up / early in the ride, so congrats! Some quick tidbits: Good callout on the Peoplemover track; interesting how they blacked out the old windows. When you said "I think that's the return tunnel", you were actually standing atop the middle of the boarding area roof; the return tunnel would have been ~10-20 ft. behind you (it hugs the right station wall). I'm curious to know what all that orange was on the far wall though. Finally, to answer your friend's question on why it broke down: It likely wasn't a cascade because those are usually resolved without in-show exits (from bottom to top they just release each block break and push the trains down so people can deboard in the station). It likely was a computer or human E-Stop given how quickly the lights came on, which could be caused by a sensor missing a train (by pure happenstance; not by dust as they are "magnet" based) or any small mistake in the station and a cautious cast member. Lastly, that noise you were hearing could have been the brakes air compressor, or, more likely, the hydraulic motor of the elevator in the middle of the building. If it was for the brakes, I'd be curious why it kept running after ride power was cut (9:04). The brakes only need compressed air to open as they are spring loaded closed (fail-safe for power outages).
Its incredible to think that the first time I rode that it was in the 70's. I was a kid and it was awesome, the build up from the other kids warning me about it was the worst part. That was magic, I still remember it.
Very cool to see the structure. Space Mountain has been my favorite dark roller coaster ride since childhood. Disneyland is awesome on a rainy day when attendance can get really low and, if you're lucky, you may be able to ride Space Mountain multiple times without any type of wait!
@@weekdaycycling I'm sure there are several videos available on YT. It was set up like you were boarding a commercial space flight in the future, especially while you waited in the line in the structure with the announcements and such. The projected space environment inside the ride has always evolved and changed. I liked it better back in the day than the overdone Star Wars theme. There was an asteroid that looked like a space cookie. Great ride regardless!
I’ve ridden Space Mountain in themid 90s, when it was just dark, and I think they had glow strips on the side of the other rockets. But mostly it was a roller coaster where you didn’t know where the turns and drops were.
For Many of You Think That Space Mountain Has Fan Machines There are no Fan Machines it's The Weight(Gravity) , Music ,Special Effects like Star Machines and Darkness that gives you the illusion of High Speed This video speaks for itself . Very Nice Video.
I always love the structure of these style rides. it's extremely clever how they're able to curl the track back on itself so many times in a confined space, all while staying safe and entertaining. I love seeing the inner workings of such things. And they even have room for that maze of walkways. so cool.
15:56 Very cool! Thank You for the vid. When Space Mountain first opened up, I've always wanted to see inside with the lights on. That was a little while ago... The most I remember was that the shortest the line ever was, was that the line started by the Matterhorn. And the wait time was a minimum of three (3) hours. Unless you got there really early morning and was waiting on main Street, in the front by the rope. As soon as the rope dropped, you ran straight to SM. As soon as you got off if you were lucky, the line might be 1.5 to 2 hours long. Boy we're we stupid.
I got stopped on SM once. The cm pushed each rocket from bottom to top. We had a lights on ride all the through. The CM said there are 13 stops. in the Mt. we were near the top. Best ride ever
I remember riding on Space Mountain when it was just a few days old. I was in junior high school. I grew up 5 miles from Disneyland and went there a few times a year. I often went on rainy weekdays.
Nice. I was there on 4/6/2024 for rope drop. The ride was open for the hotel guests but at rope drop it was shut down. Waited until sometime after 9AM for the ride to be fixed. It's cool to see that much detail of the ride. I don't think I've seen any other video that has had a much coverage. Thanks.
In 1982, I was on "It's A Small World" when it broke down, stuck in the doorway between 2 rooms, for several hours....song blaring in both rooms, with a slight delay, creating an annoying echo effect. To this day, I refuse to ever go on it again. As for Space Mountain, I was the last to ride it the day it closed in 1996. So I enjoy the original version many times from the late 70s until it closed for the overhaul in 1996. I have not been to Disneyland since.
I’ve been stuck on Space Mountain at Disneyland multiple times over the years. I got stuck on it twice in 2024 already. Every time I go on it, I can hear that breakdown announcement playing in my head.
They just have track brakes where they want the cars to stop. You can see them in the middle of the track before they get to where they stopped. It stopped when the lights came on, and each train stops at the next spot with brakes where there's a platform.
I got lucky when I visited Space Mountion many years ago. Rode it once. The next day, shut down for maintenance. But the people mover was active and got to see it all light up. :-)
In the old space mountain, there was a tunnel-like hallway you went through while waiting in the line. I was about 5-6 when I went and I let out the stinkiest, most potent fart, and we could hear people behind us laughing/panicking
@@bricaaron3978 😂 As a kid I had dubbed them “emergency farts” because of if I was being attacked or kidnapped, ripping one of them would make anyone run
One of my biggest fears when I was younger. Breaking down in space mountain terrified me because I know the roller coaster is like in a warehouse with the lights on & feeling the ride stop in the darkness truly haunted me. Scared lil dude in 2012 lol
Happened to my sister and I on the People Movers just after it passes through Space Mountain and passes through a glass corridor over the Space Mountain queue outdoors. The exist wasn't nearly as exciting but it took us through a hallway to the otherside and out through Space Traders. Fascinating tho, looks like where you stopped was facing the windows from the old People Movers into Space Mountain which would electrically close if they had to turn the lights on. To DisneyCo, no expense spared to maintain the magic. Even as a kid, I always found the magic of Disneyland is in the details and the engineering stuff they don't want you to see.
that was way more interesting that the ride itself.... seeing the behind the scenes workings.... kinda surprised it took so long to get guides there... but still a unique experience.
I rode Space Mountain 5x with the lights on during a Summer program during the time that I worked there in the early 2000s. I couldnt believe how lame it looked with lights on haha. Also the tracks are really closed in tight and if you fell out of the cart youd probably die. It really was a once in a lifetime experience.
when I was a little kid, I remember we got stuck on Pirates of the Caribbean ride where the part where they’re singing A pirates life for me And I was stuck for over an hour when they evacuated us. They were walking through the water. We got off the boats through the back where you could see all the old animatronics really creepy and they said we’re never allowed to discuss what we see and they gave us fast pass. 😂
Breakdowns are the best… I’ve been on this with the lights on but never broke down. I broke down in Indiana Jones though many times, it’s super cool with the lights on!
This happened to me and my cousin when we were on space mountain at Disney World in Orlando. Some guys hat fell off and landed on the track 😏 After 10 minutes and a bunch of people being totally disappointed by seeing space mountain lit up, the hat was found, the lights went out. waaaa waaaa waaaaa……. It totally took away from the Disney magic.
At 1:35 the whole building lighting system came on before the rides shut down and 10 seconds later the ride stops right at the nearest exit stairwell. If I am guessing right this is the way the emergency system is designed to work in case of a glitch in the system when an error occurs. I also hear a number of hydraulic systems running trying to correct an issue.
The "rockets" are free rolling. The only way to stop then is with external brakes. The ride stopped at the next set of brakes. All brake stations, that I know of, always have a way to exit the ride in case of e-stop.
I had this happen on the train rollercoaster at Disneyland in LA many years ago. It rained and the track got very wet and the coaster was no longer spinning its wheels on the track but sliding and it was violently going around corners and felt like it was going to detach from the track then it suddenly came to a stop and they had to come get us and we had to walk the line and go out. There were so adamant about people not taking pictures or videos because people aren’t supposed to see that happen. It’s bad for business. Never got to ride it again but it was an interesting experience being rescued from a rollercoaster
That's interesting to see. How compact the system is. In the tightest of spaces. In our company, the illusion is as perfect as if none of this existed.
It's been about 10 years since I've been to Disneyland. Last time I went on to this ride I had a similar stop like this granted they were able to fix it and they were having to release each consist from the brakes cuz the emergency brakes hold it until a cast member comes by to re-release it. To me it was amazing seeing the ride when it's not dark. I love seeing behind the scenes stuff around Disneyland since I've been going to for about 25 years before I stopped going 10 years ago. During my childhood, my parents would take me to Disneyland once a year and when I started working in the mid-2000s I would go to at least twice a month close to 5 years stopped going in 2015 when I quit my job
@theangryfireball1023 Who cares? People with asthma or allergies, plus it causes slip and fall hazards for cast members and people who, like in the video, need to evacuate from the ride. AND that much dust poses a fire hazard with all the electrical equipment like the video projectors and lighting effects. I worked at Knotts and if any of our areas looked like that, it was written up by the supers. If it wasn't corrected, people got fired. Ride area's safety were a priority.
@@mxslick50 That's the difference between a company that cares about its customers (Cedar Fair) and a company that just cares about their stock price (Disney).
When I went to Disney in California for grad night the Indiana Jones ride broke down and we had to get out to walk the rest of the way. It was actually really cool and seemed like a behind the scenes walkthrough.
You weren't evacuated from the very tippy top of the ride, however, you were still evacuated from the top 1/3 of the structure. I want to say you're roughly about 15 to 20 ft down below the top of the 3rd lift at Zone 8.
@@troypin- The original Space Mountain operated from 1977-2003. It closed from 2003-2005 for a complete overhaul & retracking. The current version has been operating since 2005.
@@pinball541 I was told that the original version was too fast and they had to slow it down. The track structure does not seem like it is set up for the ride to go very fast. It reminds me of the "Flying Coaster" that went no faster then 20 miles per hour and had shallow dips.
@@istankimjong-unbutcantstan3398 - The reason for the 2003-2005 overhaul was the trains weight, because of the addition of the on board audio in 1996. The weight of the sound system installed on the trains compromised the track & structure. That was the reason for the eventual overhaul.
My sister and I went on it the first day it opened. It went a thousand miles an hour! Scared the heck outta us, but so fun! 99.9% of the people were white as sheets. My sister and I couldn't stop laughing. The next month we went on it, they had slowed it down. 😢
@@griffith211 The "thousand miles an hour" part is exaggeration, but the ride WAS slowed down a lot from the speed it first ran at. There were issues with stresses on the track and structure, and the computers (PLC's) were having trouble with keeping up with the sensor data.
This exact thing happened to me and my best friend Nina. Only exception was that when our car abruptly stopped, the lights were still out and not all cars stopped at the same time. it was absolutely terrifying because all we could think about was that somebody was about to crash into the back of us.
![[4K] Space Mountain - Breakdown & Evacuation | Disneyland Park, California](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
