Space Mountain at Disneyland Park will be closed for refurbishment beginning September 18 and currently has no re-opening date lined up as of the time of publishing.
Space Mountain Closing for Refurbishment
We expect that this refurbishment is for general maintenance and care of the iconic Tomorrowland attraction. The timing is right for a potential return of the “Ghost Galaxy” overlay that we’ve seen run during Halloween at Disneyland in the past, although it’s been several years since that was installed, and seems unlikely. We are hoping this gives crews the opportunity to fix some chronic issues we have seen recently, like the struggling tunnel lighting.
Tunnel Lighting Effect Barely Working
In July, we dropped in to discover almost all the lights burnt out in the famous blue light tunnel at the beginning of Space Mountain at Disneyland.
Before taking off into space, guests move through this tunnel as it pulses with blue lights. We took these photos when most of the blue lights are supposed to be illuminated, but barely any of them are in working order.
See the full (lack of) effect in our video below.
Just a few lights here and there near the bottom of the tunnel turned on.
The coaster recently had the “Star Wars”-themed Hyperspace Mountain overlay to celebrate May the 4th. For Hyperspace Mountain, the effect is turned off completely.
Despite the overlay having been removed and the regular experience restored weeks ago, the blue light tunnel is still not operating correctly. See how it should look in our 2021 video below (skip to 6:00 for the actual ride).
Space Mountain
The original version of Space Mountain opened in 1975 at Magic Kingdom. It proved so popular, Disney constructed other versions at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Shanghai Disney is the only Disney Resort with no Space Mountain, although they have the original TRON Lightcycle Run.
Each version of the ride is a little different, but they all take guests on a high-speed adventure through the iconic pyramid-like building.
The Parisian version of Space Mountain was originally called De la Terre à la Lune, and was inspired by “From the Earth to the Moon” by Jules Verne.
At both Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, the “Star Wars” Hyperspace Mountain overlay was originally supposed to be temporary but has become permanent.
Tokyo Disneyland recently broke ground on its completely new version of the ride, expected to open in 2027.
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