Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

After visitors enter the building, the queue opens into a large room filled with small, silver, ball-pit like balls. The room also contains a "star map" The line then dips into the "star tunnel", which takes guests under the Walt Disney World Railroad and into the cone containing the actual ride. At this point, the post-show tunnel is running parallel to the queue. The queue then begins to ascend to a second floor, and passes by "space windows" in the walls featuring planets, astronauts, and a model of the spaceship from the lift-hill. The queue continues to turn until riders are deposited in the loading station. Previously, stand-by riders could participate in various 90-second long video games that were hosted by a robot that operates Space Mountain's mission control center. These games included blasting asteroids to clear a path for spaceships leaving the spaceport, sorting the lost and found items into the proper bins, and controlling spaceships that expand the spaceport. The screens that were used for these games now show images of space, and riders can play games using the Play Disney Parks app on their own devices.

Guests are then deposited in the load area, where they can see guests aboard their trains departing every few seconds, all while mission control can be heard via speakers as they monitor spaceport activities. The queue splits up into lines for the two separate tracks: Alpha (left) and Omega (right). Both tracks are approximately 90 feet in height and are identical mirror images of one another, although Alpha's track is ten feet longer than Omega's, at 3,196 feet as opposed to 3,186 feet.

Before 2009, it was possible to view the interior of the ride dome from the loading station when the work lights were on. (These turnarounds are still visible when riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover through Space Mountain when the lights are on.)

Visitors board the trains in the Starport: Seven Five, which is enclosed within the mountain itself. The cone is hollow and 300 ft in diameter, allowing waiting people aboard the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover to see many of the different effects used in the attraction.

As the rockets leave the loading station, they make a 180 degree turn past the loading area, the queue, and the Mission Control booth, and come to a stop at a holding brake, where they wait for the train in front to clear the block on the lift hill. After a few seconds, the holding brake is released and the trains roll down a drop into a strobe tunnel of pulsating blue lights, which flash at a gradually increasing frequency as the train progresses down the tunnel. A repetitive warping sound signifies an energy charge as the riders roll towards a blue orb. At the far end of the tunnel, a field of stars appears as the blue strobe lights turn off. The train then makes a 180 degree turnaround and climbs the lift hill. During the turn, the on-ride photo is taken.

The lift hill is designed in the form of a launch bay and contains a large, narrow spaceship which was based on the Discovery One spaceship from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Full size figures of astronauts are suspended upside-down beneath the ships engines to give the illusion of zero-gravity. As trains climb up the lift hill, projections of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, stars, comets, meteors, asteroids and the Milky Way can be seen when looking past the lift hill bay's open ceiling. It is possible to make out trains climbing the lift hill on the other side and also rockets passing through on the side, as well as the trains of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover passing between the two tracks. Once at the top, the trains then make a small and quick dip before plunging into numerous twists and turns as they travel around the mountain in near-complete darkness, including the coaster tracks' steepest drop of 39 degrees. The ride ends with the trains passing through a red swirling wormhole, before hitting the final brake run and entering the unload station, located underneath the loading station. After unloading, trains then travel around a short turn and climb a short lift hill to return empty to the loading station.

Prior to the 2009 refurbishments each train had luminescent stripes that would glow during the ride.

The same trains above after the 2009 refurbishment.

The ride has 30 two-car trains, with 15 for each track, though only 13 are usually in operation at any given time. Each train consists of two single-file rocket-shaped cars. From 1975 to 1989, the trains featured two seats, each seat designed to hold two passengers (the front passenger rode in the rear passenger's lap, again like the Matterhorn Bobsleds), for a total capacity of eight passengers per train. Each rider had their own restraint.

In 1989, the current trains were first introduced. They are externally and cosmetically very similar to the originals, and still consisted of two rocket cars joined together. While still seating riders single-file, the current trains have three seats per car, with one person per seat, reducing each train's potential capacity from eight riders to six. The 1989 vehicles introduced the use of lap bars, originally using a design with horseshoe shaped bars until 1998, when the current T-bar style design was introduced.

The trains were originally painted white. In the 2009 refurbishment, the trains received new seat fabric and were repainted in a blue and gray paint scheme.[10]

From 1975 to 1993, Space Mountain was sponsored by RCA. The left entrance wall had the words "Space Mountain" displayed in bold, blue colored letters. The RCA logo was above this, and under the Space Mountain lettering was the slogan "A Journey Through Time and Space", beneath which was the phrase "presented by RCA".

The ceiling and flooring for the entrance building was done in reds, yellows, and oranges. A large white pylon structure had the RCA logo placed above it in three areas, and four passengers, dressed as astronauts, were placed in an original four seater vehicle, which was attached to the pylon. Below the pylon, in a planter was Space Mountain's dedication plaque which read: "ONE GIANT STEP... Dedicated to the men and women whose skills, sacrifice, courage and teamwork opened the door to the exploration of man's exciting new frontier...outer space. Because they dared to reach for the stars and the planets, man's knowledge of his universe, earth and himself has been greatly enriched. Presented by missile, space and range pioneers. January 15, 1975."

Inside, riders entered the spacious lobby, which did not feature the current mural of the Milky Way, but was simple black and blue walls with various yellow and orange angular designs. There were also floor to ceiling mirrors, support columns, and blue lighting under the floor. The floors themselves were made out of a combination of plastic and vinyl and featured black textured circles sticking out of the flooring. The rest of the inside of the structure, with the exception of the warning film, and the changes made to the vehicles, remains nearly the same from 1975.

For the first year or two of operation, a model of an RCA communications satellite was on display. After that, a flying saucer with RCA's Nipper mascot ("His Master's Voice") replaced the satellite.

Exterior of the ride as seen from the Monorail.

In 1989 RCA had the entrance cosmetically refurbished. The entrance door now had a yellow and black pattern around it. The entrance walls were repainted with the 1975 white and blue color scheme, but with solid and different patterns. The roof was still the same blue and white, as was the roof border, a solid white, but the ceiling was now also a solid white. The left entrance wall still featured the RCA logo, but a new font was selected for the phrase "Space Mountain", still bold, but was more angular, and now colored white. This was reflected in the phrase underneath it, "A Journey Through Time and Space", and "presented by RCA" was not included in the 1989 refurbishment.

Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom as viewed from the monorail

The RCA logos atop the pylon were removed, and a new three seater vehicle replaced the old four seater vehicle that was attached to the pylon, a result of the original trains on the ride being replaced by the current trains. Everything else, including warning signage and other features dating back to 1975, remained the same. RCA once again had the entrance refurbished in 1992, this time all the entrance walls were covered over with blue vinyl covers. Some patterns were different from others. The 1989 left entrance wall lettering was simply placed on top of the new wall coverings. The yellow and black pattern around the entrance door remained the same. The ceiling and flooring remained the same, but the roof was now solid white, and the border to the roof was now red, white, and blue.

As part of the 1994 overhaul of Tomorrowland, both Space Mountains at the American parks received sponsorship from FedEx. The 1989 entrance remained very much the same, but now the entrance and exit building was partially demolished, forcing exiting riders to exit into an arcade and gift shop that occupies part of the still vacant space left for the proposed but never built Tomorrowland railroad station. The left hand entrance wall, that served for years as the signage for Space Mountain was demolished in the 1994 refurbishment. The right hand entrance wall was now used for signage and simply had the ride name in a tall, thin, orange font, that was meant to reflect the architecture of the New Tomorrowland.

The large entrance door was kept, but now had storm shutters placed within the frame, creating a smaller entrance. New warning signage and warning spiels also came in 1994. A new, but different pylon tower was placed over the site of the old one. It too featured the new Space Mountain font and FedEx sponsorship. The warning film was also changed in 1994 for updated footage and to also feature FedEx Sponsorship. In the queue, while guests waited for their rockets, monitors above them played the futuristic but funny "SMTV" video, which featured Space Mountain mission control notifying them on the status of the vehicles and channel surfing to find a newscast to keep them up to date on what's happening around the galaxy. The loop also features commercials for Crazy Larry's Used Spaceships, which featured Charles Fleischer, the voice of Roger Rabbit, as the titular dealership owner, and several sci-fi themed ads promoting FedEx's delivery service. The warning film has so far changed only three times. The original in 1975, and two updated versions both in 1985 and 1994. The FedEx footage was removed in 2005.

The entrance lobby was refurbished with an orange and brown color scheme, but still maintained the blue floor lights, and black vinyl flooring, while adding in a FedEx sponsored intergalactic tracking network mural of the Milky Way. In 1998, the original flooring was removed and a staircase was added in the left hand queue, which is now the Stand By queue. The right queue, which has a ramp instead of a staircase, making it wheelchair accessible, is for the FastPass return line. FastPass machines were also added outside of Space Mountain at this time.

In 2004 FedEx left as sponsor, leaving Space Mountain sponsorless; the majority of FedEx logos and sponsorship themes were removed in 2005, but some were not removed until 2009. In the 2009 refurbishment, the Skyway terminal was partially demolished after sitting abandoned for years, to create an expanded entry plaza. The existing infrastructure was not changed significantly, although the orange tones in the pylon were replaced with a lime green. The murals in the entry building were also changed accordingly to fit the boarding station's new theme.

From April 19, 2009 to November 21, 2009, Space Mountain received a major refurbishment.[11][12][13] It was the first extensive renovation since a previous closure in September 1999,[13] and was estimated to cost $12.3 million.[14] The refurbishment gave a ride a sci-fi futuristic look similar to the Tokyo Disneyland counterpart.[15] While the ride experience itself was unchanged, the sound effects in the energy and wormhole tunnels were updated, and an on-ride camera was installed on the turnarounds from the energy tunnel to the lift hill. The most significant change to the ride was in the loading station. The loading station, which originally had no ceiling, was roofed over, to reduce the amount of light visible inside the dome (the TTA's exit from the mountain was also modified with an extended wall, to achieve a similar effect). Gates were also added to the platform where guests board the trains.

In August 2010,[16] the ride received "Starry-O-Phonic Sound" effects. These new sound effects play throughout the mountain, to further enhance the ride experience.[17][18] The underlying musical score was composed by Mike Brassell,[19][20] who also serves as the current narrator for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover and Living with the Land attractions. The score incorporates motifs from Michael Giacchino's score for Disneyland's version.

When Space Mountain was refurbished, a number of tributes to the defunct Epcot attraction Horizons were added into the ride.

• One of the bags in the baggage claim (located on visitors' left at the start of the exit moving sidewalk) features the words "Mesa Verde" written on it.[25]
• The undersea post-show scene after the desert scene is reminiscent of a scene in Horizons. This scene was the only new scene added to the post-show in the refurbishment – all of the other scenes were tweaked or redressed. The flatscreen display in the new scene describes the scene as "20,000 Light-years under the Sea", a pun on "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", which is a reference to both the original 70s post-show scene depicting a futuristic family watching the Disney movie of the same name, as well as to the defunct Magic Kingdom attraction 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage.[26]
• The robot valet and futuristic city skyline, which is the last post-show diorama, are similar to a scene in Horizons and to the lounge that Disney used to operate in LAX.[25]