Welcome back to the Expedition, this week we are going to be heading back to Future
World East to take a look at the History of Mission Space.
Er wait that was weird what was that?
Anyway Mission Space is a centrifugal motion simulator thrill ride in Epcot.
The aim is to simulate what an astronaut might experience onboard a spacecraft during
Horizons Clip with sign Interrupt
Hold on hold on pause the tour.
Let me check this out.
Jack: Finally, I got your attention, are you not forgetting something here?
Sam: No what, we have just started the next stop on the Expedition at Mission Space.
Jack: I think you need to go a little further back in History than mission space here.
What about Horizons?
Sam: Ohhhhh well you covered the History of Horizons on your channel Park Ride History
so well, that we decided to just pick up the tour where you left off.
Jack: That makes sense!
Well I guess you better carry on then, oh and remember Orange side is the best.
On with the Expedition.
Sam: Thanks Jack!
Mission Space aim is to simulate the experience of a mission to mars.
From the high G-Force to the idea of hypersleep.
After Horizons has finally officially closed for good in January 1999, over a year later
Disney began construction on the new attraction.
Talk began to circulate that Disney was building a space themed attraction and in April of
2000, Disney announced that the new attraction was so big it would not be able to fit into
the old Horizons Building
Jack: Yeah well that wasn’t true.
The idea of a space pavilion was not new and way back in 1977 Disney had the first ideas
for one in Epcot.
Although nothing like Mission Space the plan was that a huge interstellar space vehicle
would transport passengers to the outer frontiers of the universe, obviously not literally but
these plans never came to be.
After consulting with NASA Disney settled on the idea of creating a ride which would
test guests in the same way NASA tested potential astronauts.
Disney wanted to make sure you felt the forces on your mission to mars.
Initially the ride was sponsored by Compaq, which began working with Disney Imagineers
on the Design in April 2000, HP assumed the sponsorship upon its merger with Compaq in
2002.
After the demolition of Horizons was completed and construction finished, the attraction
soft opened in June 2003 and celebrated its grand opening on October 9th 2003 with a ceremony
attended by Disney CEO Michael Eisner, HP CEO Carly Fiorina and Nasa administrator Sean
O Keefe as well as several astronauts.
Estimated of costing 100 million USD.
The preshow began preparing guests for the space mission by Capcom Gary Sinise.
The ride began with the lift off from planet earth, which consists of 2.5g force on your
launch.
To achieve this feeling Disney used a centrifuge system.
The ride would have 4 separate centrifuges each with 10 capsules holding four riders,
bringing the hourly capacity of the attraction to 1,600 riders.
The force felt on launch is over twice the force of gravity on earths surface essentially
making you feel 2.5 times as heavy as you normally would.
The effect of this on guest’s bodies were lets just say sometimes extreme and a few
months after launch sickness bags were added onto the ride.
While the arms span at a intense rate to create the force needed the capsules themselves were
able to rotate and pivot to allow the simulation of movement with the on board screens.
When you reach space the sensation changes and now you are in zero gravity, giving you
the feeling of weightlessness, these overwhelming changes within a short space of time coupled
with the spinning of the ride caused some issues with guests.
NASA had warned Disney to some downsides of the ride and the ride opened with a large
number of warning signs in the queue lines.
Disney even built a rest area for guests who cast members deemed were feeling the effects
of the ride after coming off it.
I guess Space Travel isn’t for everyone, I actually witnessed this the first time I
rode the ride in 2004.
Taking my Dad on it who loves all things Space related and with him coming off stating to
this day he will never ride it again and a good while after riding was spent laying on
a bench outside unable to move.
The early reception to Mission Space was mixed but mostly positive.
People who liked it loved the Technological aspect of the ride and the people who did
not like it, realllllllly did not like it.
From day one though Mission Space received a lot of Code V. (Vomit).
The first year had reportedly 194 instances where paramedics treated ill space travellers,
mostly dizzy or nauseous related.
Warning signs covered the whole entrance area and cast members again warned guests with
the option to step out from the ride.
Social media was not a huge thing at the time but the word of mouth of the ride made the
ride into a huge success.
Unfortunately, we now have to mention some sad history for the ride.
In 2005, a four year old boy stopped breathing during the ride.
Later tests show that the boy suffered from a hearth condition and unfortunately died.
It is also important to note the family sued Disney which was settled out of Court.
In the aftermath of this event critics largely critizied the health problems that mission
space had been known to cause as well as the height restrictions for the ride.
Disney publicists defended the ride as statistically among the safest in Orlando, it was less than
a year after this they had to do the same again.
10 Months later another person died after riding Mission Space, this time an adult.
Results again showed that the rider had a unknown heart condition.
Disneys response was that eight million people had ridden the attraction and only eight serious
incidents were recorded.
Tragically though two of those had died.
No matter where people stood on the subject the entire situation was not great publicity
for the Disney Attraction.
The story was picked up around the world.
Disney had to do something to keep the Disney reputation intact.
The single ride line for the attraction would change.
The issues most guests had with the ride came for one reason.
The centrifugal force.
In order to negate these troubles, they would simply remove that part of the attraction.
Where previously all 4 centrifuges span Disney would stop 2 of them and offer a different
experience.
In may 2006 only five weeks after the second death Disney revealed the split version of
Mission Space.
Half of the ride no longer Span, while still offering the same Tilt and movements from
the original version.
It was branded as Less Intense Training, or the Green Team Version while the original
would be labbled More Intense and the Orange Team.
In the decade following this change unconfirmed reports indicate that incidents requiring
paramedics have declined and there have been no further deaths on the attraction.
The simulator hardware used in Mission Space was created by Environmental Tectonics Corporation
with a nearly 30 million contract in February 2000.
The company sued Disney in 2003 seeking over 15 million dollars for alleged failute to
pay the full amount of the contract and for sharing design details with competitors.
Disney countersued and the companies settled in January 2009.
The attraction was completely closed in June 2017 for refurbishment.
During the 2017 D23 Expo it was confirmed the Green Mission would be given a new video
simulating a flight around
the earth and the orange mission would keep the mars mission with updated Graphics.
The new Green mission was much more fitting to the spin free version and received a positive
reaction on launch, pun intended.
The new Capcom however Gina Torres, not so much.
The ride looks to be sticking around for a while longer, Fan’s of Horizons generally
see the ride as a poor replacement, others love the ride experience and it really is
in my opinion a unique experience the first time you try the Orange version.
The build up to heading to space, the warning signs, all leading up to feeling the 2.5g.
I am personally a fan of the attraction and think the update does a lot to improve it,
giving you essential two different experiences from what was planned to be one ride.
The reputation though of the ride never truly went away though and people are still anxious
to ride it, even not trusting the less intense Green version to be suitable for them.
My dad still won’t go near the thing!
Jack: Horizons though does live on in some small ways and the Horizons logo can be seen
throughout the attraction and infact the original Horizons Planter still exists in front of
the attraction in the shape of the Horizons Building.
Sam: Thank you so much to Jack from Park Ride History for coming on the Expedition.
If you want a detailed History of Horizons check out his channel which I will link below.
Thank you for everyone watching.
If you enjoyed this video please do like and subscribe and we will see you next time on
Expedition Epcot.