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{{Template:Infobox Disney ride || land=Tomorrowland| image=Spaceoutside3.jpg| caption='''The exterior of Space Mountain. Photo: Disney'''| park= Magic Kingdom| opened=December 15, 1974| theme=Space travel| speed=28| duration= 2:30| height_requirement=44| vehicle_type=Rocket train| length=3186-3196| attraction_height=183 | track_height=65| sponsor=RCA (1975-1993)Fed Ex (1994-2003)|custom_label_2= Disney Genie +|custom_value_2= No (Lightning Lane Exclusive)}}Space Mountain is an attraction located in [[Tomorrowland]].

The idea 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 came from . Plans for Space Mountain were put on hold indefinably however, in 1966, when Walt Disney himselfdied. After Walt’s passing, a new company wide focus was put on completing Walt Disney World. This, combined with the successes spatial and technological limitations of Disneyland, made the Matterhorn attraction construction of Space Mountain unfeasible for the time being. Although the Space Mountain idea was dead in Disneyland, Walt was convinced that "thrill-rides" had a place it soon found life in his the newly constructed Walt Disney World. The popularity of the new parksurpassed even Disney's expectations, and Disney World proved to be especially popular with teenagers and young adults. With this in mindAlmost as soon as the park opened, in 1964 Walt approached designer plans were made for a new thrill ride <ref name="mouseplanet_space" />. [[Image:SpaceMountainConcept.jpg|400px|thumb|Space Mountain concept art by John Hench with an idea |alt= Space Mountain concept art John Hench]]Disney’s first choice for a new Tomorrowland attractionthrill ride was to construct and east coast version of the Matterhorn. It soon became apparent however that Walt called Disney World’s Fantasyland was not big enough to house the idea iconic attraction. Instead, Disney decided to revisit the "tabled Space Port"Mountain idea, a roller coaster 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 dark 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 lighting and other special effectsno boosters or retarders <ref name="mouseplanet_space" />.

Concept art for One of the attraction was created by Henchnext decisions that Disney had to make involved sponsorship. Like many of the early Walt Disney World attractions, Clem Hallsponsorship money was an intricate part of Space Mountain’s creation. Accepting Disney’s offer of sponsorship, George Mcginnis and Herb RymanRCA agreed to give 10 million dollars towards the construction of the coaster <ref> http://www. The attraction's name was changed mouseplanet.com/10533/Remembering_the_Magic_Space_Mountain </ref>. Due to "Space Voyage"this agreement, Space Mountain’s original queue and ideas for it continued post show were designed to be refinedfeature RCA products <ref name="mouseplanet_space" />. To help make Although the basic concept of the attraction a realitywas agreed upon, WED partnered with the Arrow Development Company, who had helped design final designs of the Matterhorninterior structure, queue and post show all changed various times before Space Mountain was finally built. In June The shape of 1966 WED employees votedSpace Mountain was also a topic of debate amongst Disney Imagineers. Some wanted Space Mountain to look like a dome, and decided to change the name while others wanted to use a "cone" shape. The cone shape idea eventually won out, and on January 15, 1975 Space Mountainofficially opened.

Plans for ===Building Structure and Track Details===When Space Mountain were put on hold indefinably in 1966. After Walt Disney's deathwas constructed, it was seen by many as a new company wide focus technological marvel. The attraction was put on completing 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. ThisAt 183 feet tall, combined with 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 spacial and technological limitations outside of Disneyland made the construction building instead of Space Mountain unfeasiblethe inside. This was done so that the inside roof would be flat, and projections of space would be able to be shown on it.

Although To create the Space Mountain idea was dead in Disneylandillusion of stars above the riders, 20 mirrored balls are hit with a spotlight. When the light which reflects off the balls hits the roof, it soon found life in gives the newly constructed Walt Disney World. The popularity illusion of stars. Other projections include the new park surpassed even Disney's expectations"shooting stars" which are created by a moving spotlight, and the new park proved to be extremely popular with teenagers asteroids and young adultsgalaxies which are emitted from dimmed down projectors. Almost as soon as In total the park opened plans were made for 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 new thrill ridemetallic maze.

The final design of the From 1973 until 1994 Space Mountain changed many times before the attraction was eventually builtsponsored by RCA. The Designs the interior structure, queue and post show all changed various times before Guests entered Space Mountain was builtthrough an entrance building located in Tomorrowland which featured three large RCA logos, The shape of Space Mountain was also as well as an original "four seat" ride vehicle, encased in a topic of debate amongst Disney Engineersclear case. Some of Inside the engineers wanted Space Mountain to look like vehicle sat a family consisting of a domefather, while others wanted to use a mother and two children. Before guests entered the "coneentrance portal" shape. The cone shape idea eventually won out, and they would pass a large quote on January 15, 1975 Space Mountain officially opened.==Building Structure and Track Details==the wall which read:

When {{Quotation|"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."<ref name="omniluxe"> http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/sm.htm </ref>}}[[Image:Blue.jpg|400px|thumb|The blue "launch" tunnel|alt= Space Mountain was built it was launch tunnel]]Just after entering the building, guests boarded a technological marveldescending, moving ramp. The attraction was On the first indoor roller coaster right side of the ramp, guests could see RCA's mascot, Nipper the Fox Terrier and also a phonograph machine inside a flying saucer. At this point in the first roller coaster attraction, RCA's Space Mountain theme song- "Here's To the Future and You" would begin to take place completely 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 darkleft hand side of the descending ramp, a series of RCA products were displayed. The reason that guests had to be lowered, was because the queue 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:

*And finally, a family riding the Space Mountain is a roller coaster that allows guests to travel through ride vehicle in space.<ref name="omniluxe" />

From 1973 until 1994 ===Ride===Space Mountain was sponsored by RCA. Guests entered began with guests boarding their "rocket" and taking off past the Space Mountain through an entrance building located in TomorrowlandPort queue and Mission Control booth. The Building had three large RCA logos as well as jets then went up a original "four seat" ride vehicle encased in lift hill and down a clear casesmall slope, which lead to circular tunnel lined with blue lights. Inside Here “energy” could be heard building up, and eventually propelling guests to the vehicle sat a familyother end of the dome. Before guests entered The rockets then did a 180 degree turn and went up another lift hill, where a mirror positioned at the "entrance portal"end of the track, gave riders the illusion that they would pass a large quote on were about to collide with another rocket. At this point, if the wall which read:riders looked up they were able to see the Earth, stars, comets, meteors, and asteroids above them- adding to the illusion that they were flying through space.

{{Quotation|"ONE GIANT STEP... Dedicated to As the men and women whose skillsrockets continued on, sacrifice, courage they would go down a quick dip and teamwork opened the door to the exploration a series of man's exciting new frontiertwists and turns, in almost complete darkness...outer space. Because they dared to reach for In the stars and dark, guests then fell down a 38 degree drop (the steepest in the planetsattraction) before passing through a red, man's knowledge of his universeswirling, earth wormhole and himself has been greatly enriched. Presented by missile, space and range pioneers. January 15, 1975finally reaching the unloading area."}}

Just after entering ===RCA's Home of Future Living===From 1973 until about 1985 Space's Mountains post show was known as the buildingRCA Home of Future Living. After unloading from their ride vehicles, guests boarded a descending would board another moving rampwhich took them up. On the right side of the ramp, guests could would begin to see RCA's logo, Nipper the Fox Terrier inside a flying saucerscenes of how future homes would look. At this point The first scene depicted a father wearing a blue jumpsuit and lounging in his chair. In front of him was a TV the attraction RCA's Space Mountain theme song- "Here's To size of a briefcase which showed a female business associate. The Future And You" began scene showed that the man was able to play. Further down conduct his business meeting, while in the ramp comfort of his own home. Continuing on, guests could look out convex windows and see saw a model of the Star Corridors, house which was shaped like a series different space themed displays. One display for examplehexagon, showed an astronaut riding his moon buggy with each room connected by stairways. <ref name="omniluxe" />[[Image:Daughter.jpg|400px|thumb|The daughter in spacethe Home of the RCA Home of Future Living. Seen here talking on her phone.| alt= Space Mountain RCA Home of Future living]]

On The next room that guests saw in the left hand side Home of Future Living was the decention rampnursery. Here, while a series baby stood in her crib, a clown with a camera was broadcasting her to the rest of RCA products the house. This allowed her family to keep an eye on her even though they were displayednot in the same room. The reason for Continuing on, guests passed the descending rampfamily room, where an unidentified female could be seen taking a pottery lesson over her TV. She was able to take talk and communicate with her professor who was being displayed on the TV. The next scene guests underneath 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 Walt Disney Railroad door saying "Don't you like frogs Mrs. Brown?” and his mother would then tell Billy that he would have to the lot where Space Mountain is actually locatedstay outside with his pets.

After Going back inside the house, guests finished descendingcould see the recreation room, they reached which was located above the "zig zag corridor"family room. Here windows allowed guests , a teenage boy could be seen taking a ski lesson from the SelctaVision. His younger brother, who was also in the room, was shown building a model rocket using instructions from the television. Next to see out into spacethe recreation room was the kitchen where the mother of the house and a neighbor (possibly Mrs. Things that Brown) sat in front of a large TV, shopping. In the corner of her screen, Billy could be seen out , still pleading to bring his pets inside. Moving on, guests would come across the windows includedteenage daughter's room. Here a teenager was watching a classic SelctaVision disc (usually featuring Elvis, Kurt Russell, or Blondie). While she was watching, she was on the phone with Judy, who she would tell to come over. The final room of the house was the entertainment room, which housed the biggest TV in the post show, which was being watched by a young girl and boy. <ref name="youtube"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=femFW0HfahM </ref>

*Asturnauts fixing After viewing the home of the future, guests would see various RCA products as the attraction's theme song again played. Before finally exiting the attraction however, they would also get one final encounter with Billy, who was now holding a satellitevideo camera (pointing it at them). A monitor above would 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. <ref name="youtube" />

*And finallyFurther on in the queue, the windows that guests could previously look out to see various scenes from space were removed and left empty for a family riding number of years. The flying saucer which held the RCA dog and a phonograph machine was also taken out (for obvious reasons). Although Space Mountain ride vehicle went through a series of changes during its refurbishment in space1994, the attraction itself was not changed in any significant ways.

After passing through Finally, although Fed Ex did not change many of the Zig Zag Corridorpost show's props (although "space packages" were added) it did change the story they told. Instead of focusing on a space colony and the technology that could be used there, the new post show focused on the future of package delivery, and gave guests finally reached the loading areaidea that one day packages could be sent over spatial distances. Here they watched Following the 1994 refurbishment, Space Mountain’s exit building was removed, and the attraction now dumps guests into the Tomorrowland Power and Light Company<ref name="omniluxe" />.  In 2003 Federal Express chose not to renew their sponsorship, leaving Space Mountain sponsorless <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/space-mountain/news/23jan2003-space-mountain-lose-fedex-sponsorship.htm </ref>. ==Current Attraction (2009-Present)==In 2009 Space Mountain underwent a safety major refurbishment. Changes were made to the preshow, ride and postshow. ===Preshow===[[Image:port.jpg|400px|thumb|A mural showing the name Starport Seven-Five.|alt= Starport 75 Space Mountain]]When Space Mountain reopened 2009 following a lengthy refurbishment, the queue and preshow had been changed in fairly drastic ways. As part of the “next generation” of Disney World queues, 43 video featuring Asturnaut Gordon Cooper games were added to Space Mountain’s stand-by queue, in an attempt to make the ride wait more manageable. Furthermore, the original color scheme of the attraction was returned (replacing the brown and then boarded orange scheme that was added during Federal Express’ tenure). Another noticeable change to the queue was the fact that the windows which had once showed scenes from space, now allowed guests to look out directly into space itself. Finally, a large mural which reads, "Starport 75: Your Gateway to the Galaxy" was added (the 75 being and obvious reference to the year that Space Mountain opened). In general, the entire queue hints at the fact that Space Mountain is now actually a starport <ref> http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2009/11/space_mountain_reopens_1.html </ref>.  After making their way through the queue, guests are divided up into lines for either the Alpha or Omega track. Both of these tracks were identical except for Currently the fact that Alpha track is ten feet longerused primarily for standby guests, while the Omega Track is used for FastPass + guests (although if the line is short, it is possible to for standby guests to ride the Omega track). After dividing up, guests enter the loading area, where they can look out into space before getting into their ride vehicles.

Space Mountain begins with guests boarding their "rockets". The rockets then take off passing the Space Port queue and the Mission Control booth. The jets the go up a lift hill and down a small slope. This leads to a circular tunnel lined with blue lights. Here energy can be building up, and eventually propelling guests *If you want to see the other end of RCA Fox Terrier mascot in the domeold Space Mountain preshow check out: http://www. Here, the rockets do a 180 degree turn and go up another lift hillomniluxe. A mirror positioned at the end of the track, gives riders the allusion that they are about to collide with another rocket. If riders look up, they are able to see projections of Earth, stars, comets, meteors, and asteroids above them. This adds to the feeling that the rockets are indeed flying through spacenet/wyw/smnipper.jpg

As the rockets continue on, they go down a quick dip and then a series of twists and turns. At this point in the attraction, the ride * Space Mountain is taking place in almost complete darkness. In the dark, guests then fall down a 38 degree drop, the steepest oldest operating roller coaster in the attractionstate of Florida <ref name="orlandosentinel"> http://touch. Space Mountain ends with guests passing through a red, swirling wormhole before reaching the unloading areaorlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82542866/ </ref>.

* Astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and Jim Irwin took the first ride on Space Mountain <ref name===RCA Future Living==="orlandosentinel"/>.

From 1973 until about 1985 * The list of "Active Earth Stations" in SpaceMountain's Mountains post show was known as queue contains references to the RCA Future LivingSpace Mountain attractions found in Disney Parks around the world <ref name= "Yee"> Yee, Keven. After unloading from their ride vehiclesWalt Disney World Hidden History Second Edition. guests board another moving ramp which took them upN. On the right side of the ramp was guests began to see scenes of how future homes would lookp. The first scene depicted a father wearing a blue jumpsuit and lounging in his hair: n. In front of him was a TV the size of a briefcase which showed a female business associate of hisp. The man was able to conduct his business meeting while in the comfort of his own home, 2014. Continuing on guests saw a model of the house. All of the houses were shaped like hexagons, and each room was connected by stairwaysPrint. </ref>

The next room that guests saw was the nursery* Space Mountain's exit tunnel features "Space Tug Dispatch". Here, while a baby stood in her crib, a clown with a camera was broadcasting her to the rest of the houseAbbreviations on this screen reference both newly opened and closed Magic Kingdom attractions. This allowed Those under the parents "Open Sector" include references to keep an eye on their baby even though they were not in the same room. Continuing on: [[Magic Carpets of Aladdin]], guests passed the family room. Here a 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. [[Mickey's PhilharMagic]], [[Splash Mountain]], [[The next scene, showed a boy named Billy who was wearing an orange jumpsuit. He was standing outside Many Adventures of his house with a frog and a dog. Billy would talk into a camera on Winnie the outside of the house saying "DonPooh]], [[Buzz Lightyear't you like frogs Mrss Space Ranger Spin]] and [[Monsters, Inc. Brown?Laugh Floor]] <ref name= ". The mother would then tell Billy that he would have to stay outsideYee"/>.

Going back inside the house, guests could see the recreation room. This room was located above the family room. Here a boy could be seen talking a ski lesson from the SelctaVision, while his younger brother built a model rocket using instructions from the TV. Next tot the recreation room was the kitchen. Where the mother of the house, and a neighbor sat * Attractions referenced in front of a large TV. In this room, the mother was shopping for dishes directly on the TV"Closed Sectors" list include: Mr. In the corner of her TV screen, Billy could be seenToad's Wild Ride, still pleading Skyway to come in. Moving onFantasyland, guests would come across the teenage daughter's room. Here a teenager was watching a classic SelctaVision disc. While she was doing this she was on Swan Boats, the phone with JudyMickey Mouse Revue, who she would always tell Mission to come over. The final room of the houseMars, was and 20,000 Leagues Under the entertainment room. This room housed the biggest TV in the post show, which was being watched by a young girl and boySea <ref name= "Yee"/>.

After viewing the home of the future* At Space Mountain's Grand Opening, guests would see various following RCA products as the attractions theme song played again. Before exiting guests would get one final encounter with Billy, who was now holding a video camera and pointing it at the guests. A TV would show guests themselves (this was considered one of the highlights Chairman Robert Sarnoff's introduction of the attraction). Finally, guests would arrive back in Tomorrowland having completed their journey 50,000 balloons were released into spacethe air <ref name= "realityland"/>.\

==Pre and Post Show Changes 1985-2009References==In 1985 RCA replaced the "Home of the Future" post show. The new post show showed what it would be like to live on a space colony. Billy and his dog, who once recorded gusts and put them on TV, were replaced with a robot boy and a robot dog. The TV monitors that once advertised RCA, were changed to show astronauts in space.