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[Owain]

hello, i was just wondering. Why is paris space mountain so unique and diffrent to other disney parks around the world and much more of a thrill ride than the other versions (aka: the launch and loops) ?


Florida Space Mountain



Paris Space Mountain



Floridas Trains (I think)



Disneyland Paris Train


Its not that i wish we had the more common space mountain, to be honest ours is much more better and thrilling.

[Anthony]

I hate to self-promote, but you might find this page interesting:
http://www.dlrpmagic.com/guides/disneyl ... eering.htm

Disneyland Park in Paris opened on 12th April 1992 with state-of-the-art versions of many classic Disney attractions. The park took Imagineering to a new level with its sumptuous design and intricate details, and attempted to connect the stories and dreams of Disney with European heritage. This was evident more so than anywhere else in Discoveryland, a new twist on the classic Tomorrowland theme. The Imagineers working on the project knew that, in developing the new park, they had to address the problems caused by the Tomorrowland theme at other magic kingdom parks. Every ten or so years, the attractions, themeing and visions of the future would become wildly out of date as technology advanced faster than they could renew the attractions. They were also aware that the ultra-clean-cut American optimism and loud, bold white designs of Tomorrowland might not wash too well with European tastes. And so, the 'Discoveryland' concept was born. A land that would present visions of the future from throughout the ages, with the classical European visionaries such as Jules Verne and Leonardo Da Vinci taking centre stage.

The Space Mountain story is looooong... Basically, it looks different because the land has a different theme (the future as seen from the past), and it's much more thrilling because WDI knew guests (and particularly Europeans for some reason) expect higher thrills these days.

Above all, ours was built 1995 - Florida's was the first, back in 1975.

[Owain]

Does anybody no if the florida version is bigger and is it any good?

And thanks for explaining the topic Ballo

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

The Florida version is 'bigger' in that the mountain is wider and taller, because there are two tracks inside the building. Space Mountain in Orlando is considered the worst(though still good), as it goes the slowest and lacks an onboard soundtrack like all the others do.

Baloo makes the valid point that time plays an important part in quality, but Space Mountain Mission 2 was created ten years after Space Mountain: De La Terre A La Lune and it's nowhere near as good.

[Lozzie]

In my opinion i found the Florida Space Mountain very boring. Its just a rollercoaster in the dark, no music, no lights or planets etc. And i felt like i was gonna bang my head on the bits of track overhead everything felt so low :S

The only two rides i preferred at DLRP than FLorida was Space Mountain and POTC.

[Patrick]

Baloo makes the valid point that time plays an important part in quality, but Space Mountain Mission 2 was created ten years after Space Mountain: De La Terre A La Lune and it's nowhere near as good.

Mission2 is not really any different to de la terre a la lune, apart from projections and the altered storyline, everything else is the same such as track etc :wink: .  So not really created, more of a kind of rethink of the creation suppose you could say :wink: .

[Maarten]

One of the reasons why our Space Mountain is more thrilling is that thrill rides are quite popular here in Europe. Ofcourse they are aswell in the US, but back in the 70s Space Mountain was thrilling in its own right. Nowadays its a popular classic so they wont change it too much.

In the 80s and 90s Disney investigated what people in Europe were looking for in a themepark. The result was that a combination of thrill and a strong storyline are the perfect mix for most Europeans. Think about it; Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Rock 'n RollerCoaster, Crush's Coaster, Tower of Terror etc. We have the most thrill-oriented Disney Resort of all.

So, thats my version of the story. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but as far as I know it's no coincedence that we have such a thrilling Space Mountain.

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

Mission2 is not really any different to de la terre a la lune, apart from projections and the altered storyline, everything else is the same such as track etc :wink: .  So not really created, more of a kind of rethink of the creation suppose you could say :wink: .

The track may be the same, but the experience is really different. Mission 2 is completely emotionless and has absolutely no atmosphere(pun not intended  :wink: ). The vital difference is that while Mission 2 is thrilling, De La Terre A La Lune was exciting- the emotionally detached Mission 2 could never take us to the heights of the original. Space Mountain Mission 2 also attempted to removed the whole Jules Verne theme of the ride, leaving a mix and match of Victorian(mountain, Columbiad, Electro De Velocitor) and modern(sattelite photos, radios) with even a few retro 70s elements(disco ball stars, projections in the mountain). This creates a completely nonsensical view of the future- Why are you being loaded into a Victorian cannon while a modern radio system plays a countdown?
The genius of the original lay in the idea that you weren't going into space itself, but a stylised Victorian vision of space. By giving the ride a destination to reach, it allowed a rollercoaster to have a three act structure(the launch, trip to the moon, journey back to earth), and it made you feel all the more triumphant when you made it back to the station. Space Mountain De La Terre A La Lune may be gone, but I'll never forget the short ten years when Disneyland Paris had the Greatest Ride In The Universe.

Oh yeah, and Mission 2 has rubbish music...

[Owain]

Baloo makes the valid point that time plays an important part in quality, but Space Mountain Mission 2 was created ten years after Space Mountain: De La Terre A La Lune and it's nowhere near as good.

Mission2 is not really any different to de la terre a la lune, apart from projections and the altered storyline, everything else is the same such as track etc :wink: .  So not really created, more of a kind of rethink of the creation suppose you could say :wink: .

I never went on Space Mountain: De La Terre A La Lune, but have they changed the music on Space Mountain: Mission 2 or is it the same as the old ride?

I love the Music to Space Mountain: Mission 2, its amazing how it fits the ride. I dont no what id think of Space Mountain: Mission 2 without the music.

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

The music for Space Mountain De La Terre A La Lune is really quite different from Mission 2. It's performed by a full orchestra and on a much more grand, epic scale. You can download it from The Sound Of Magic here:

//http://www.soundofmagic.com/sounds/dlp/discoveryland/SpaceMountainTheme.mp3

Some reference points:
00:00- The trains leave the station. Unlike Mission 2, the original has music before launching.
00:18- The trains reach the first parking point in the cannon and wait there.
00:28- The trains move up the cannon to the launching point and wait there.
00:49- The trains are launched into the mountain.
00:56- The trains enter into the first helix around the edge of the mountain.
01:04- The trains go down the large swooping curve into the loop.
01:07- The trains enter the sidewinder loop
01:09- The trains exit the sidewinder and go through the Blue Moon Mining Company machine.
01:15- The trains enter the first brake run and go through the Mother Of Meteors.
01:19- The trains drop down from the MOM and gain speed.
01:24- The trains drop down and into the corkscrew.
01:28- The trains exit the corkscrew, making a sharp upward turn to the right.
01:33- The trains start on the lift hill, going up to see a projection of a moon with a smiling face.
01:42- The moon's smile turns to a frown as the trains leave the lift hill and gravity begins to take hold of them again.
01:51- The trains enter the tongue loop.
01:53- Leaving the tongue loop, the trains enter the final helix.
02:03- The trains hit the Electro De Velocitor brakes then make their way back to the station.
02:15- The trains arrive back at the station.

I personally prefer the original, as it brought so much more emotion to the ride, and made it feel more epic and adventurous.

[Dlrpfan]

i think space mountain in WDW is better (no offence DLP lol) coz not every 1 likes high action thrill rides and plus theres the historical background with it but i love the theme of DLP and the outside design is out of this world

[jortlaban]

Some reference points:
00:00- The trains leave the station. Unlike Mission 2, the original has music before launching.
00:18- The trains reach the first parking point in the cannon and wait there.
00:28- The trains move up the cannon to the launching point and wait there.
00:49- The trains are launched into the mountain.
00:56- The trains enter into the first helix around the edge of the mountain.
01:04- The trains go down the large swooping curve into the loop.
01:07- The trains enter the sidewinder loop
01:09- The trains exit the sidewinder and go through the Blue Moon Mining Company machine.
01:15- The trains enter the first brake run and go through the Mother Of Meteors.
01:19- The trains drop down from the MOM and gain speed.
01:24- The trains drop down and into the corkscrew.
01:28- The trains exit the corkscrew, making a sharp upward turn to the right.
01:33- The trains start on the lift hill, going up to see a projection of a moon with a smiling face.
01:42- The moon's smile turns to a frown as the trains leave the lift hill and gravity begins to take hold of them again.
01:51- The trains enter the tongue loop.
01:53- Leaving the tongue loop, the trains enter the final helix.
02:03- The trains hit the Electro De Velocitor brakes then make their way back to the station.
02:15- The trains arrive back at the station.

I personally prefer the original, as it brought so much more emotion to the ride, and made it feel more epic and adventurous.

you forgot to mention that the two stops in the launch are there so you can actually be loaded in the columbiad..
and ever since it opened I never saw the moon turn in a frowny face, just the friendly smile that rotated slowly as you got closer.

either way you're right that the original is better in a way that it actually had a story, instead of an excuse to go really fast in outer space...
though I like both versions just as much, the changing of the story from "de la terre a la lune" to "this time we recalibrated the canon to shoot you past the moon to the reaches of outer space" did not work for me... M2 is just a great thrill ride what makes it good, but the original was a lot more "emotional" due to the original story and epic soundtrack...
and lets not forget the queue that used to look into the ride, with the track going over it, under it and around it... sensational thrillbuilder, which was replaced by the, too dark to be comfortable, emotionless, closed up, covered with sat pics, dull queue...

Anyway... back to topic... The original Space Mountain in WDW is actualy nothing more than an exact copy of the matterhorn over at Disneyland, when this was a succes, they made a smaller SM in Disneyland as well, which has been updated recently by a similar soundtrack as Disneyland Paris' version and the same lighting effects (they wanted a same experience as DLRP), but without the projections and props, making this an enjoyable ride (its really fast and the music helps to fool your brain it's even faster), but just kind of a pathetic version of the paris missed chance Mission 2 update.
[sarcasm]The new space themes are SOOOOO cool in disneyland[/sarcasm], that the Rockin' version of space mountain is actually better fitting to it, than the star field design.

so all that being said, Tim Delaney did a great job designing DLRP's eleborate beauty, but the new imagineering crew messed up a great opportunity to redo the new classic that opened up a whole new level of coasters around the world.

[Owain]

I was just wondering, on space mountain when it launches you. You go fast then when you get to the top of the mountain you slow right down, why is this ?

[Lordofthemightybeasts]

I was just wondering, on space mountain when it launches you. You go fast then when you get to the top of the mountain you slow right down, why is this ?

If the trains continued travelling at the speed they were launched at, the following ride inside the mountain would be uncomfortably as well as unsafely fast. When you enter the mountain you have plenty of potential energy to gain high speeds. In fact, most of the ride takes place below the dome section of the mountain to keep it going fast.

Originally you weren't to be slowed down as much at the top, but soon before the ride opened in 1995 the French government deemed it unsafe, so it had to be slowed down.

[Patrick]

I was just wondering, on space mountain when it launches you. You go fast then when you get to the top of the mountain you slow right down, why is this ?

If the trains continued travelling at the speed they were launched at, the following ride inside the mountain would be uncomfortably as well as unsafely fast. When you enter the mountain you have plenty of potential energy to gain high speeds. In fact, most of the ride takes place below the dome section of the mountain to keep it going fast.

Originally you weren't to be slowed down as much at the top, but soon before the ride opened in 1995 the French government deemed it unsafe, so it had to be slowed down.

Also it is known as a trim break, if you wanted to know that slows a rollercoaster train down like happpens at the top of the cannon.