Changes

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 Venture", as ideas for it continued to be refined <ref name="mouseplanet_space"> http://www.mouseplanet.com/7135/WDWs_Space_Mountain</ref>. 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 1966, when Walt Disney died. After Walt’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 unfeasible for 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 <ref name="mouseplanet_space" />.

Disney’s first choice for a thrill ride was to construct and east coast version of the Matterhorn. It soon became apparent however that Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland was not big enough to house the iconic attraction. Instead, Disney decided to revisit the tabled Space Mountain idea, as Disney World’s Tomorrowland had more than enough space for expansion <ref> http://disneylandreport.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-history-of-space-mountain.html.</ref> With the new location in mind, Imagineers got back to work on the development of the coaster. One early decision that Disney made was to develop the track for Space Mountain “in house” as opposed to using the Arrow Development Company. WED Engineers further decided to make the coaster a "pure gravity" ride, meaning that Space Mountain would feature no boosters or retarders <ref name="mouseplanet_space" />.