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The idea for Space Mountain came from Walt Disney himself. After the successes success of the Matterhorn attraction in Disneyland, Walt was convinced that "thrill-rides" had a place in his park. In 1964, With with this in mind, Walt approached designer John Hench with an idea for a new Tomorrowland attraction. Walt called the idea the "Space Port", a roller coaster in the dark that would feature creative lighting and other special effectsto give the illusion that guests were in space.

Concept art for the attraction was created by Hench, Clem Hall, George Mcginnis and Herb Ryman. Early on, the attraction's name was changed to "Space Voyage", and ideas for it continued to be refined. To help make the attraction a reality, WED partnered with the Arrow Development Company, who had helped to design the Matterhorn track. In June of 1966 WED employees voted, and decided to change the name once again, this time to Space Mountain. Plans for Space Mountain were put on hold indefinably however, in 1966when Walt Disney died. After Walt Disney's deathWalt’s passing, a new company wide focus was put on completing Walt Disney World. This, combined with the spatial and technological limitations of Disneyland made the construction of Space Mountain unfeasiblefor the time being. Although the Space Mountain idea was dead in Disneyland, it soon found life in the newly constructed Walt Disney World. The popularity of the new park surpassed even Disney's expectations, and Disney World proved to be especially popular with teenagers and young adults. Almost as soon as the park opened, plans were made for a new thrill ride.

Although the Space Mountain idea was dead in Disneyland, it soon found life in the newly constructed Walt Disney World. The popularity of the new park surpassed even Disney's expectations, and Disney World proved to be especially popular with teenagers and young adults. Almost as soon as the park opened, plans were made Disney’s first choice for a new thrill ride. Although Disney's first choice was a to construct and east coast version of the Matterhorn, . It soon became apparent however that Walt Disney World's World’s Fantasyland was not big enough to house the iconic attraction. It was decided howeverInstead, that Disney World's Tomorrowland would be big enough decided to construct revisit the tabled Space Mountain idea, as Disney World’s Tomorrowland hand more than enough space for expansion. With this the new location in mind, Imagineers back to work on the development of the coaster. It One early decision that Disney made was decided that instead of to develop the track for Space Mountain “in house” as opposed to using the Arrow Development Company and their track ideas, Disney Imagineers would design the track themselves. The idea they came up with was WED Engineers further decided to make the coaster a "pure gravity" ride. This meant , meaning that Space Mountain features would feature no boosters or retarders.  One of the major contributing factors next decisions that Disney had to make involved sponsorship. Like many of the early Walt Disney World attractions, sponsorship money was an intricate part of Space Mountain’s creation . Accepting Disney’s offer of Space Mountain was sponsorship. Disney gave , RCA the opportunity agreed to sponsor the attraction, which they chose to do. RCA paid give 10 million dollars towards the construction of the coaster. Due to help construct this agreement, Space Mountain, and because of this sponsorship the Mountain’s original queue and post show were designed to feature RCA products. The Although the basic concept of the attraction was agreed upon, the final designs of the interior structure, queue and post show all changed various times before Space Mountain was finally built. The shape of Space Mountain was also a topic of debate amongst Disney Imagineers. Some, wanted Space Mountain to look like a dome, while others wanted to use a "cone" shape. The cone shape idea eventually won out, and on January 15, 1975 Space Mountain officially opened.

When Space Mountain was constructed, it was seen by many as a technological marvel. The attraction was the first indoor roller coaster, the first roller coaster to take place completely in the dark, and the first coaster to be operated by computers. Space Mountain also has the distinction of being the second highest building in Walt Disney World. At 183 feet tall, Space Mountain is just 6 feet shorter than Cinderella Castle. The supports for Space Mountain are also unique, in that they are located on the outside of the building instead of the inside. This was done so that the inside roof would be flat, and projections of space would be able to be shown on it.

Space Mountain has the distinction of being the second highest building in Walt Disney World. At 183 feet tall, Space Mountain is just 6 feet shorter than Cinderella's Castle. The supports for Space Mountain are also unique, in that they are located on the outside of the building instead of the inside. This was done so that the inside roof would be flat, and projections of space, would be able to be shown on it.  To create the illusion of stars above the riders, 20 mirrored balls are hit with a spotlight. When the light reflects off the balls hits the roof, it gives the allusion of stars. Other projections include The the "shooting stars" which are created by a moving spotlight, and the asteroids and galaxies which are emitted from dimmed down projectors. In total the construction of Space Mountain required 4,000 pieces of steel, and 12,000 feet of electrical wire. Since every piece of steel had to be accessible by stairs, the inside of Space Mountain resembles a metallic maze.

From 1973 until 1994 Space Mountain was sponsored by RCA. Guests entered Space Mountain through an entrance building located in Tomorrowland which featured three large RCA logos as well as a an original "four seat" ride vehicle, encased in a clear case. Inside the vehicle sat a family consisting of a father, mother and two children. Before guests entered the "entrance portal", they would pass a large quote on the wall which read:

Just after entering the building, guests boarded a descending, moving ramp. On the right side of the ramp, guests could see RCA's mascot, Nipper the Fox Terrier and a phonograph machine inside a flying saucer. At this point in the attraction, RCA's Space Mountain theme song- "Here's To the Future and You" would begin to play. Further down the ramp guests could look out convex windows and see the Star Corridors, a series of different space themed displays. One display for example, showed an astronaut riding his moon buggy in space. On the left hand side of the decention descending ramp, a series of RCA products were displayed. The reason for the rampthat guests had to be lowered, was to take guests because the queue actually ran underneath the [[Walt Disney World Railroad]] to the lot where Space Mountain is actually located. After guests finished descending, they reached the "zig -zag corridor". Here windows allowed guests to see out into space. Things that could be seen out these windows included:

After passing through the Zig Zag Corridorzig-zag corridor, guests finally reached the loading area. Here they watched a safety video featuring Astronaut Gordon Cooper and then boarded , before boarding their ride vehicles on either the Alpha or Omega track. The (the two tracks were identical except for the fact that Alpha track was ten feet longer).

Space Mountain begins began with guests boarding their "rockets". The rockets then take rocket and taking off passing past the Space Port queue and the Mission Control booth. The jets the go then went up a lift hill and down a small slope. This leads , which lead to a circular tunnel lined with blue lights. Here energy can “energy” could be heard building up, and eventually propelling guests to the other end of the dome. The rockets then do did a 180 degree turn and go went up another lift hill. A , where a mirror positioned at the end of the track, gives gave riders the illusion that they are were about to collide with another rocket. If At this point, if the riders look looked up, they are were able to see projections of the Earth, stars, comets, meteors, and asteroids above them. This adds - adding to the feeling illusion that the rockets are indeed they were flying through space. As the rockets continue continued on, they would go down a quick dip and then a series of twists and turns. At this point in the attraction, the ride is taking place in almost complete darkness. In the dark, guests then fall fell down a 38 degree drop, ( the steepest in the attraction. Space Mountain ends with guests ) before passing through a red, swirling, wormhole before and finally reaching the unloading area.

From 1973 until about 1985 Space's Mountains post show was known as the RCA Home of Future Living. After unloading from their ride vehicles. Guests , guests would board another moving ramp which took them up. On the right side of the ramp guests would begin to see scenes of how future homes would look. The first scene depicted a father wearing a blue jumpsuit and lounging in his hairchair. In front of him was a TV the size of a briefcase which showed a female business associate. The , showing that the man was able to conduct his business meeting , while in the comfort of his own home. Continuing on , guests saw a model of the house. All of the houses were which was shaped like hexagonsa hexagon, and with each room was connected by stairways..

The next room that guests saw in the Home of Future Living was the nursery. Here, while a baby stood in her crib, a clown with a camera was broadcasting her to the rest of the house. This allowed her family to keep an eye on her even though they were not in the same room. Continuing on, guests passed the family room. Here , where an unidentified female could be seen taking a pottery lesson over her TV. She was able to talk and communicate with her professor who was being displayed on the TV. The next scene, guests saw showed a boy named Billy who was wearing an orange jumpsuit. He was standing outside of his house with a frog and a dog. Billy would talk into a camera mounted next the door saying "Don't you like frogs Mrs. Brown?” The and his mother would then tell Billy that he would have to stay outside with his pets.

Going back inside the house, guests could then see the recreation room, which was located above the family room. Here a teenage boy could be seen taking a ski lesson from the SelctaVision. His younger brother , who was also in the room, would be was shown building a model rocket using instructions from the television. Next, to the recreation room was the kitchen. Here, where the mother of the house and a neighbor sat in front of a large TV. In this room, the mother was shopping for dishes directly on the television. In the corner of her screen, Billy could be seen, still pleading to bring his pets inside. Moving on, guests would come across the teenage daughter's room. Here a teenager was watching a classic SelctaVision disc (usually featuring Elvis, Kurt RusselRussell, or Blondie). While she was watching, she was on the phone with Judy, who she would always tell to come over. The final room of the house, was the entertainment room. This room , which housed the biggest TV in the post-show, which was being watched by a young girl and boy.

After viewing the home of the future, guests would see various RCA products as the attractions theme song played againplayed. Before finally exiting the attraction however, they would also get one final encounter with Billy, who was now holding a video camera and (pointing it at them). A monitor about above would show the allow guests to see themselves, on TV (this was considered one of the highlights of the attraction). Finally, guests would arrive back in Tomorrowland having completed their journey into space.