Space Mountain and Discoveryland News

December 2004

Rehab Done

Right in time for the bussy Christmas days and New Year the rehab of the fountain / rockwork at the entrance area of Discoveryland has been finished not only returning the area to the great looks of 1992 but also resolving the bottleneck for guests entering or leaving Discoveryland created by the construction walls on both sides of the walkway. Before you ask: there is no information wether the infrastructure for the fire-effect has been refurbished too - at least it has not been operated since the construction walls came down.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 28. Dec 2004

November 2004

Shoot for the Space - with Light

Guests boarding the trains of Space Mountain till mid-January are shot into the sky by the Columbiad Canon aiming for the moon ... as of April the target will be even further away in the depths of space - a super nova which will replace the moon as the projection effect at the top of the lift hill inside the mountain, and which therefore the trains will never reach as they slow down and then turn around to the right dropping into a black hole instead. But you all know the storyline of Space Mountain Mission 2 already, don't You? But what is brand new is a strong yellow light canon that got installed at the top of Space Mountain recently now beaming it's bright ray into the night sky as if shining out of the canon illuminating the way the trains would take if really shot out of the canon's top. This is on top of another new light effect introduced earlier this fall since when the lighting around the top of Space Mountain flickers when ever a train is shot out of the canon to emphasize this (for the riders) dramatic moment.

Reported by DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 29. Nov 2004

Green & Blue - Colors of ...

The former Visionarium-building and its different extensions have moved to the center of attention of fans, expecting an announcement for the Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlazzer attraction shortly and hoping to see some first construction starting rather sooner than later, as all rumors indicate an 2006 opening (which would be reasonable, as the construction of the same attraction in Disneyland Anaheim with extra budget thrown in to speed it up, will most propably be completed after one year). But so far nothing was reported, even so the Visionarium closed in September and the interior of the show building was emptied out pretty fast. The green construction walls next to the Constellation Shop toward the Central Plaza, which are still in place, are unrelated as they are ment only to block the view of the rehab of the water / rock area next to the Discoveryland entrance. But now dark blue construction walls turned up around the former entrance of the Visionarium this weekend, indicating that work might start really shortly. The construction walls do not (yet) sport any special AstroBlazzer or Toy Story related features. DLRPmagazine reports that as of Saturday the Arcade Omega was emptied of all arcade games (which were still spoted inside on Friday evening) to prepare work for inclusion of this area into the future attraction. According to the website the games will be moved to storage and later on placed in the current Astroport exit area of Star Tours which will be transformed into a new arcade.

Reported by DLRPmagazine and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 28. Nov 2004

Bye, Bye IBM

When the Disneyland Park opened its gates in 1992 numerous major international, European and French companies were going to extra lengths to present themselves as sponsors of the resort or selected attractions in the theme park to guests. Even so the Disneyland Park became Europe's tourist destionation number one the financial failure of the group behind the resort and connected negative press reports scared away numerous sponsors when it was time to renew contracts, resulting in numerous former sponsored attractions loosing their endorsement, especially as several new sponsors did support the resort but not selected attractions, e.g. Hasbro or Kellog's. One of the original sponsors was IBM which sponsored Star Tours and the Interactive Astroport Services at its exit - sponsorED as the name of IBM was dropped out of the official park map effective November 1st and the new summer brochures no longer list the company as sponsor. This leaves Star Tours without sponsor and might be an explanation why the expected major rehab of the outdated and detoriating Astroport area, that was abondened by IBM years ago and never got updated is no longer found in any official schedule even so it was expected for next spring after originally rumored already for 2004.

Reported by DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 23. Nov 2004

Mini Rehab Update

No progress-reports from Discoveryland this time (yes, the patchwork-like color test is still visible on parts of the Space Mountain base), but a short notice that the huge sail doubeling as entrance sign of Pirates of the Caribbean has been taken down and gone into rehab - once again. But don't think there is nothing to report from Discoveryland at all ... this time it is a short note that the screens have been taken out of the main show room of the former Visionarium as well as the carpet and all the railings been torn out too. The "control center" / stage for Timekeepr and Nine-Eye is still in place, but both Audio-Animatronics have been taken out of their home right after the closure by Imagineering. There are contradicting reports what happened to them - some claim they are backstage at DLRP / Imagineering Paris with Timekeeper earmarked as potential replacement for Pirates of the Caribbean Audio-Animatronics in case of their breakdown, while others report rumors that they have been shipped to the US. In the meantime rumors are getting more and more concrete that we could expect the interactive Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger ride to take over the building (just as it did in Tokyo Disneyland), most propably opening in 2006. Which gets us to the point if the main Discoveryland Rehab Project. Rumors had it that in time for the opening of Space Mountain: Mission 2 next April and with it the official start of the "Year of Discovery" a new more exciting version of the Astroport (the post-show area of Star Tours) would open, too. But the attraction is no longer listed as being scheduled for a closure due to a refurbishment / rehab on the official rehab-calendar ... but then that one has been changed so often in the recent months that this does not have to be the final word on this.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 1. Nov 2004

October 2004

Choose Your Color

The rehab related closure of Space Mountain is still several months away and the rehab of the facade seemed finished (with the exception of the change of the attraction's logo) already, but in its drive to transform the Space Mountain into an attraction as good as new for its tenth anniversary nothing is forgotten - so now the concrete base of the mountain / dome is going to receive a new paint job too. As with many major repaintings this year Imagineering is trying to figure out on-site, which would be the color best fitting into the overall atmosphere of Discoveryland. For this small parts of the mountain's base have been painted in the different colors up for "election". The small test patches are located right at the FastPass entrance as the photo shows.

Speaking of the major rehab: strange happenings are also reported from the attraction's station, where all but the windows of the control booth have been covered temporarily including the ride's logo. Not even rumors have surfaced so far about the purpose of that.

Reported by Disneyland Resort Paris, Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 20. Oct 2004

September 2004

Discoveryland Update

With the end of the summer season nearly a month ago work on the huge Discoveryland rehab has picked up again ... so time for another update: at Space Mountain prying eyes of fans witnessed the return of the metal flags on the roof of the SpaceMountain station building, regarding which we received an interesting note: it is not planned to reopen the queue area around on the first floor of the station as unfortunately some guests in the past used to spit from up there unto guests and cast members in the boarding area.

More obvious work is taking place at the entrance of the land: the water ways have been fenced off and drained for some cleaning and repainting (as earlier in the year done at the Nautilis Lagoon). Hopefully the fire effect that originally added to the atmosphere of this area at night will be reinstated at this occassion too. To allow for easier painting of the rock work, the giraffe and the monkey with the megaphone added for the Lion King show premiere had been moved away from the rock work slightly to the side earlier in the summer already.

As reported prior to the final day the Visionarium closed on September the 5th - for good as the official website acknowledges, too. Earlier rumours that the attraction may reopen seasonal e.g. next spring during the closure of Space Mountain are contradicted by this official statement. Also there are so far unconfirmed reports that a salvaging crew of Imagineering moved into the building on September the 6th and removed selected props and equipment including the Audio-Animatronic of 9-Eye and Timekeeper.

Reported by DisneylandManiac, Joel, GateKeeper and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 24. Sep 2004

August 2004

More Space Mountain Rumours

According to the latest rumours Space Mountain is supposed to get for the first time in its history a sponsor who will present the new Space Mountain: Mission II as of 2005. Part of the sponsorship deal certainly is adding the sponsor's name / logo in prominent places - and one of those is expected to be the station. While we have no word yet on who the sponsor might be we got told that due to the sponsorship requirements a spaceship or space-capsule will be placed inside the station area. The addition of such an object had been rumoured by numerous sources earlier already.

Reported by GateKeeper and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 24. Aug 2004

Last Call for Timetravelers

Disneyland Resort Paris paging all potential timetravelers: Timekeeper and Nine-Eye will close their time-travel service at Disneyland Paris on September 5, 2004.

In 1992, when the resort opened, the spectacular 360-degree-movie experience featuring the impressive Timekeeper Audio-Animatronic inside the theater premiered to international acclaim and was later copied for the other Disney resorts (of which the one in WDW's Magic Kingdom is still operating seasonal). Still the Visionarium at Discoveryland was a unique attraction, not only because it was the first incarnation but also because scenes were replaced for the other resorts in the movie and a new score recorded.

Unfortunately the demise of the attraction in Paris began when Renault dropped its sponsorship in April 2002 and the flying concept car disappeared from the entrance area. Devoid of the weenie that attracted guests visitor numbers dwindled. The result: the attraction's closure taking effect September 6, 2004. While the Resort is not yet officially confirming this, no more CMs have been assigned to the attraction starting September 6 and word is out that CMs who worked at the attraction in the past are to be invited to a special farewell screening at 9.00 pm (after park closure) on September 5. The last show of the Visionarium open to the public will start around 7.40 pm on the same day.

As reported earlier the attraction's closure is mostly to save operational costs as NO work for a replacement will start and no plans be signed off, till the restructuring of EuroDisney S.C.A. is agreed upon and funds for investment are made available. Nevertheless Imagineers from the Paris' and the US' offices were recently observed as they took a close look at the interior prior to official park opening. This leaves Discoveryland with the usual seasonal closure of Autopia and the new for-good closure of Visionarium plus as of January also Space Mountain closed, even so the Visionarium is supposed to be kept intact for potential temporary reopenings as "relief" attraction till a replacement is signed off, which is not expected before next spring.

Reported by GateKeeper and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 17. Aug 2004

Space Mountain Rumour Update

It's time for another Space Mountain rumour update - nothing new about the famous "Mission II" / "SuperNova" theme for the actual ride but an update on additional changes expected to be realized during the closure as of next January. But: reacting to countless "proposals" of cast members working at Space Mountain, guests and fans it seems the FastPass entrance as well as the stand-by-line will be readjusted. Learning from their mistakes with the current setup which forces guests to wait outdoors in sunshine and rain plans call for a move of the standby-line back into the mountain, with the outdoor area being used as an extension queue. Expecting huge lines again due to the makeover plans are also made to replace the chains separating the lines outside the mountain with massive railings (as at Honey, I Shrunk the Audience). At the same time the FastPass entrance is supposed to be moved to the front of the mountain, right behind the FastPass machines. FastPass holder are then expected to enter the mountain next to the stand-by-line but walk past it through the interior of the mountain using the left half of the walkway, which originally was used as "Star Way". No word yet on the location of the merge point.

Currently these are only first concepts as Imagineering wants to question management and cast members working at the attraction to find the best possible solution ...

Reported by GateKeeper and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 16. Aug 2004

Space Mountain and Videopolis Closure Update

Sometime in the last week the Resort changed the closure dates for the major refurbishment of Space Mountain once again pushing the closure back by one week to January 17, 2005, without changing the reopening date so far. Result: the resort's main coaster will be operating during the first week of the "Magic Unlimited" special (from January 10 till February 4, 2005). During the "Magic Unlimited" special guests will be allowed to keep seated for extra back-to-back rides on selected attractions and will be treated to an "all you can eat" offer at selected restaurants.

The Visionarium on the other hand is not yet officially listed as closing down on September 9, as claimed by several online sources. But internal sources of DLP.info have confirmed that this attraction will close definitely - only the closure date is not yet 100% confirmed. According to these sources the closure date may also depend on the rehab dates of Space Mountain, Orbitron and Autopia. Some parts of the management seem to plan to close the Visionarium as soon as possible to save money and then maybe temporarily reopen it during closures of other attractions in Discoveryland to appease guests. The closing decision according to our sources is INDEPENDENT of a decision for a possible replacement. No budget for such a replacement and no definite plans have been signed off management so far. Among castmembers currently a clone of the Stitch attraction openeing this fall in WDW's Magic Kingdom and a clone of the interactive Buzz Lightyear ride (found soon in all other three Disney Resorts) are the top contenders rumour-wise.

Reported by GateKeeper and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 11. Aug 2004

Space Mountain Progress

Last week was the week of the Space Mountain - or kind of, as several big news broke. First of all the Resort announced that the ride will actually close down from January 10, 2005, till April 9, 2005. After Imagineering and the management had fought a hard battle wether the interior upgrade of the ride would be possible with short term closures and during night shifts only, Imagineering prevailed and a three month closure was agreed upon, when the CEO signed the rehab plans for the SuperNova overlay, now at least temporarily known as "Space Mountain: Mission II". No news about the actual changes though ...

The second big news of the week was the revealing of the Columbiad Canon. After months of a meticulous exterior rehab the scaffolding surrounding the canon has come down revealing bright and shiny colors true to the original color scheme. Only the lower part of the actual canon-tube got a more silver like color. Also the as a sign of the changes to come to the launch which is rumoured to be retrofitted with extra effects the windows in the lower section of the canon have been closed. While some rehab continues on the actual dome of the mountain (therefore the net is still surrounding it) this means guests now get one of the most photographed icons of the park after the castle back for the second half of the summer seasons. With the glistening gold, the bright blue mathcing the color of the steel segments of the dome and the refined details of the Columbiad the vista of the Nautilus and the mountain is now picture-postcard-perfect once again, just as in 1995.

This fits in with the recent completition of the majority of the other exterior rehabs in Discoveryland - the signs of the Videopolis are featuring now a drawing of the airship where once the sponsor logo was placed, the second Broadway-style marquee at the theater entrance has been installed, the antenna on the roof of Star Traders has returned just as the Star Tours sign / column in front of its entrance, which had been damaged by a truck delivering new removable carpets for the entrance of the ride earlier this year.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 2. Aug 2004

July 2004

The 250 Million Euro Rumour-Carousel

With the prospect of 250 million Euro to be spend on new attraction and "resort assets" the rumour mill has gone in overdrive. As usual it is at the current point absolutely impossible to confirm any of the rumoured investments not only because officially the resort is not saying anything but also because Imagineering is working or has been working on numerous projects that are or were proposed at some point to be financed with the 250 million but neither WDI nor the resort has made any final decision yet ...

Certainly a constant of all sources is the rehab of Space Mountain with the in the meantime rather well known "SuperNova"-theme as the centerpiece for 2005. So far only the exterior rehab is underway which is independent of the SuperNove-project, for which finished plans exist that still need to be signed off by Andre Lacroix. After initial reports that the attraction will not close down for a lengthy period for the rethemeing, now other sources are returning once again with rumours claiming a closure of up to three months as of January might be necessary. In this case, according to some sources, Autopia may open. Even so the "SuperNova"-theme stand unquestioned so far, sources indicate we might not see this particular word popping up in the name, as a similiar sounding toothpaste in France exists.

Reported by c-Team and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 9. Jul 2004

June 2004

Discoveryland 2005 - Rehab Update

The centerpiece of the Discoveryland 2005 update moves along in a surprisingly fast pace. True, the cannon on top of Space Mountain is still missing (so at least for the time being no discussions wether it is supposed to form a Hidden Mickey from a certain viewing angle) and the Columbiad is still behind scaffolding (and will stay there for some more time), but the repainting is making major progress as the metal beams are getting their new colors, which shine bright even on an overcast day.

In the meantime, after finishing the Nautilus exterior rehab, the Star Traders rehab is moving ahead at brisk pace too. After cleaning the exterior of the building the antenna on top has been taken down for some more meticulous cleaning. The facade of the Videopolis toward the entrance of Discoveryland has finished its current rehab. Even the Audio-Animatronic pigeons in the cage on the side of the gondola have returned with cleaned feathers. Now if only they could clean the top of the Hyperion, too ...

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 21. Jun 2004

The Rehabs Continue

As scheduled and announced the rehabs across the Disneyland Park continue ... some are still at an early stage, some are already showing the results.

In the latter category of rehabs with results already showing the Nautilus falls - here the rehab is finished, the lagoon in fresh, bright blue is filled with water again, and the "metal" covering of the Nautilus looks perfect again. The backdrop of it is not yet perfect so, as work on the cannon and the dome of Space Mountain continues and due to the scope of it seems to drag on and on and on ... just as the work on the facade of the Videopolis, which has now moved to the area opposite the FastPass entrance of Space Mountain.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 9. Jun 2004

May 2004

Refurbishment Update

Work in Discoveryland progresses at an impressive speed. While the Nautilus still sits in the empty lagoon while the submarine and the lagoon undergo refurbishment the exterior of Space Mountain now gets brighter with every day. Since the lauch tunnel has been repainted already, work centers now around the actual dome of the building is at the center of attention. As the photo to the right shows the final color for the huge metal elements has been chosen ...

Reported by Xavier, Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 31. May 2004

New theme for Space Mountain?

You think the repainting of the Space Mountain's exterior is exciting news? You were blown away when you saw how bright the colors shine currently tested on the mountain? Think again and get ride for even more exciting news! The last weeks DLP.info was busy trying to confirm the latest rumours swirling around the Space Mountain project and finally was able to find several inside sources who independently gave the same or at least similar story. According to these sources Space Mountain is supposed to drop the current "From the Earth to the Moon" theme in time for its 10th anniversary next year replacing it with the non-Jules-Verne-connected SUPER NOVA theme.

Super Nova theme? Yep, that is how it has been dubbed currently by Imagineering. Certainly all plans are still in development as work for the themeing change does not have to start till later this year, but the current version envisions the guests to board the trains to get shot into space for a enjoyable space sightseeing tour, unfortunately something goes horrible wrong (doesn't it always in a good thrill ride?) when the train enters the cannon, an alarm is sounded and the train starts to glide back as the system in the cannon can't load it appropriately. Unfortunately it is too late to abort the launch sequence and so the train is shot from further down the cannon than originally planned, thus it gets too fast and overshoots its planned flight orbit ... bringing it too close to a sun that is to turn into a super nova. In other words: getting it too near to a sun that is going to explode. When it turns into that super nova guests are supposed to feel the heat of the explosion, as their train/rocket races through space trying to stay ahead of the sun's remnants shooting out from the super nova - certainly making it safely back to the earth in the end. The ride will still use the same track as the current version but will feature new special effects supposed to make the experience even more exiting. Rumours have it that the Imagineers might use flat screens to show some of the super nova explosion elements and make them chase the trains / rockets. But again these are all preliminary plans which will certainly see some changes at least in the details before 2005.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 21. May 2004

Discoveryland Refurbishment

Work on the Nautilus has shifted into high gear. Tuesday a week ago the lagoon and the Nautilus looks as seen in the photo with just a new scaffolding as visible progress. But Wednesday major progress has been made. The scaffolding is now covered with fabric restricting the view of the work going on behind it to clean and rehab the submarine's hull. But at the same time the cleaning of the lagoon has been taken a step further and repainting has started. The under water part got a new, bright paint job.

Meanwhile further down the land work at Star Traders progresses too. The shop has been walled off with new construction walls, while workers climb around the top bussily cleaning and repairing. The Visionarium has gone down for its scheduled rehab too, with the entrance covered by a construction wall, but so far work seems really to center around the interior. And yes, there is Space Mountain progress too, but more about that at the end of the week!

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 12. May 2004

Discoveryland 2005

Starting in the back of the land, work has progressed at Star Traders, where the roof extensions have now been taken down completely. Work at the Discoveryland Station next to it in the meantime concentrates on the actual structure as the columns which carry the actual track are now the target. Further to the front of the land work on the actual dome of the Space Mountain seem to be the upcoming step. This is indicated by a safety net that has been errected around the structure, to prevent workings from sliding off the dome. But of most interest is certainly what is happening behind the huge system of construction walls that have sprung up ... all around the lagoon of the Nautilus! As had been wished for by fans since several months the whole lagoon has been drained for some major work on the Nautilus itself. In recent months more and more of the coating of the basic concrete structure had been peeling off, revealing the set up of the vessel below the fake steel-structure of the main body. But once the walls come down again, this problem should be solved.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 2. May 2004

April 2004

Tear It Down, Put It Up, Paint It Bright

The Discoveryland 2005 project made major progress during the last week. The painting crews temporarily moved over to Space Mountain for some color tests on the columns on the roof of Space Mountain's station. While these tests do not say anything about what happens next (just remember: the columns and the roof at the facade of Videopolis was taken down after initial color tests!) it gives a first impression how shiny the exterior of the mountain should be soon. In the meantime the "demoliting crews" were working once again too and took down parts of the roof extending around the exterior of Star Traders and parts of the "fabric" roof of the Discoveryland Station indicating how fast the work moves around the land.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 26. April 2004

Where's the Columbiad?

The Columbiad has now been further covered with more solid scaffolding (including a metall roof!) and further scaffolding has gone up on the "rear" side of the building (facing toward the Pizza Planet Restaurant) - up all the way right to the top of the mountain!

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 20. April 2004

Space Mountain ... what the management says

Internal sources have forwarded the rumours as released by Screamscape regarding the future of Space Mountain to the responsible management at the resort and submitted its answers to DLP.info.

According to the management besides the upgrade of the undercarriages of the trains no plans have been finalized yet, even so the goal is to update the special effects with state of the art technology in time for the 10th anniversary of the ride in 2005. During this process there might some changes similar to those indicated by Screamscape (e.g. "Super Nova" theme, new score) but once again this has not yet been decided.

Maybe the most important question for guests prior to the 10th anniversary of the coaster was: will it really close for three months? And the answer is: NO. The ride will not go down for a full, permanent three months. BUT: it is planned to decide upon a three month time window during which most of the work will be done. While most of the work is supposed to take place after normal operation hours, there will be closures for certain selected days or sometimes even only certain hours on a selected day. But, just to make this sure again: no full closure for a full three months period.

Reported by Mr. Entertainment and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 14. April 2004

Rumours Gone Wild?

As reported earlier the rumours surrounding the current and future rehab of Space Mountain are going crazy - now several rumours ended up on Screamscape, too. According to these we should look forward to a complete new soundtrack replacing the current one by Steve Bramson (this rumour was submitted to DLP.info several weeks ago but we opted not to publish it, as the source was all new to us and we were unable to confirm this with any other source). This change, according to the Screamscape rumour, should be in place after a three months closure of the ride in time for summer 2005, together with upgraded trains, new special effects including asteroid collisions and a "slightly new 'Super Nova' theme".

Reported by Screamscape and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 12. April 2004

Disneyland Rehab Update

The rehab projects in and around the Disneyland Park move ahead without any visible delays - and two have just been finished. The Gibson Girl, the Ice Cream Parlour, on Main Street, U.S.A. has just finished its interior refurbishment and is now ready to serve guests again, while the victorian style advertising columns in front of the Disneyland Hotel in the Fantasia Gardens have returned too, sporting new, vibrant colors.

Other projects make progress too, even so they are far from complete. The paint job on the upper part of the Videopolis facade is moving ahead at a brisk speed, while the lower part of the Columbiad, as reported earlier, is now covered by scaffolding for an extensive exterior rehab.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 5. April 2004

March 2004

Spring Time = Paint Time

With the spring crowds attracted by the spectacular Lion King Carnival gone refurbishments in the park have stepped up into high gear as the countdown to the summer season is ticking down merciless.

Up to four crews are now working on the facade of the Videopolis at the same time - three can be seen in the photo: one man on the facade near the leaft corner of the photo, two on the structure above the Hyperion and two more men on the facade further to the right. A fourth crew was workin at the same time next to the Hyperion airship, from the point of view "behind" it. The results are already obvious, as the repainted green steel is really shiny and bright compared to the not repainted sections. At the end of the week more work had been cut out for the painting crew as the columns on the facade facing Star Tours, that were still up on Tuesday, had been taken down too. Once again rather brute force had to be used, as they were not ment to be disassembled originally.

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 21. March 2004

Space Mountain Report on German TV

In today's episode of the "Disney Filmparade" on German TV channel "Pro Sieben", there was an interesting report about Space Mountain and Le Carrousel de Lancelot. Construction footage was shown and Tim Delaney tells about the attraction. A transcription and screen shots will appear shortly on this site! A 5 minute DivX video is currently available at www.t-f-e.de

Reported by FeLIX, 21. Mar 2004

Space Mountain Backstage Tour

Under the title "Geheime Einblicke in den Berg der Berge - Eine Backstagetour durch Space Mountain", you can find a detailed report written by Matthias Gill about a backstage tour at Space Mountain located at www.lifthill.de. Very interesting, but currently only in German language.

Reported by FeLIX, 20. Mar 2004

Fence in the Rumours!

In the next step of the Videopolis-exterior-refurbishment the whole facade facing Orbitron has been fenced off ... What only a weekend ago gave the impression of a wide open Discoveryland space that most first-time guests did not even recognize as a "refurbishment-zone" now obviously has to be notized as just that. The construction fence draws along the whole side of the building, with the Café Hyperion now being entered through a "tunnel" allowing for work to start on the Hyperion itself too.

In the meantime the overall Discoveryland is drawing the attention of fans ... and rumours are spreading. The range goes all the way from quiet believable ones - as "the projection of the moon inside Space Mountain is going to be replaced with a three dimensional set-piece" - to rather unbelievable ones - as "the trains are going to be launched from the bottom of the cannon after the rehab" - to totally wrong ones - as "the complete track is going with an exact copy of the original one".

Reported by Ralf and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 14. March 2004

Discoveryland Rehab - No rails and gates, but new Soundtrack?

The major rehab project of the year, the Discoveryland, is making progress - or sort of. The crew of Space Mountain reports that the already approved project of the addition of safety gates in the loading station has been put on hold as the first 9 years of operation have shown no problems in operating without them and surprises as with the columns of the Videopolis add unavailable extra costs to the refurbishment of Discoveryland. It seems the same fate has met the project to replace the temporary queue-line that is roped off in front of the building with a solid, metall system. But according to the information given to the castmembers working on the attraction another major element of the rehab will start soon: they expect the Columbiad to be covered by scaffolding for an intense, complete outside refurbishment job inculding a complete repainting of the cannon. During this phase work on the effects may be included too.

On a more long term outlook for the Discoveryland project the water area at the entrance of the land is supposed to be drained, the light, fire and water effects refurbished and the whole area to be repainted at the end of the year. Also some rather wild rumours have sprung up that DLP.info only passes on with the added extra note to consume them only with an extra amount of caution: according to these wild rumours not only the lighting and show effects inside Space Mountain should be updated in time for its 10th anniversary but there might also be a replacement underway for the ride's soundtrack...

Reported by DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 8. Mar 2004

February 2004

Discoveryland Rehab - Rails, Gates and Paint

As reported on February 9 the Discoveryland will undergo major rehabs of all facilities till next year to bring the futuristic look back to its original glamour.

Work is also progressing at Space Mountain, where the temporary ropes for the queue-lines outside the building are replaced with permanent metal rails and automatic safety gates are added inside the station to control the boarding of the trains. But fans will especially love to hear that some small scale paint work has started on the outside too and that workers seemed to swarm around the Columbiad working on the effects of the cannon!

Reported by Joel and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 28. Feb 2004

Discoveryland Rehab

The introduction of a new train chassis on Space Mountain as confirmed by the Resort during the EAS 2004 - even so not yet realized according to the latest reports by guests - seems to be only the first step of a whole Discoveryland Refurbishment Plan! Usually well informed sources let us know that till summer 2005 major work can be expected. This is supposed to include not only an overhaul of the effects on Space Mountain (including the rocket) but also the general facade / outside of the mountain - presumably because Space Mountain is currently planned to be the centerpiece of a new advertisment campaign in 2005 (at least this reasoning needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as Space Mountain currently is heavily featured on the NeedMag?c tv-commercials already). This should go well with the other large element of the rehab plans: also till summer 2005 the Show Lighting Maintenance Crew is planning to rehab most if not all of the show lighting effects of Discoveryland. The Star Tours signage in front of its entrance already was taken down for a rehab around Christmas time.

Reported by Samuel N. Nutterville & DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 9. Feb 2004

January 2004

F-Files Meet'n'Greet

Andrea aka MickeyFantasmic, the man behind the already legendary F-Files, is offering a very special treat: a meet'n'greet with the man himself combined with some park touring during which you may learn more about the secrets, the hidden details and also the expansion plans (past and present) plus a hefty dose of all those rumours out there. Sounds interesting? Wait! It gets even more interesting: the whole event is free of charge!

The F-File-Event consists of an Meet'n'Greet inside the theme park (valid theme park passport necessary!) during which the fans and Andrea can learn to know each other a bit better and is followed by Park Touring. Park Touring is not a typcial guided tour through the parks with complete script - instead Andrea will browse through the parks with all of you exchanging stories. So this is not a lecture but supposed to be a fun interactive experience in which you are invited to share your knowledge as well too, even so he will be happy to tell some really juicy stories if guests are interested... One last note: Andrea will conduct this event in English, translation can not be provided. This event is not organized or endorsed by the Walt Disney Company and / or the resorts where it is conducted, so there are no special privileges for participants.

Read more about the scheduled events at the website.

Reported by FeLIX, 26. Jan 2004

New Train at Space Mountain

The resort announced something new for the Disneyland Park: Space Mountain is to receive a new train! As a test for what may be a complete replacement of all five trains of the ride train number 2 is supposed to be replaced. While no set date has been given the process should take place before the end of January. The new train will reuse the body of the current train number 2 (no word whether the train gets repainted during the process) but will feature a new under-carriage / chassis, designed to smoothen the ride experience again. This continues a current trend at Vekoma which is delivering new trains to several parks to create smoother rides on their older coasters.

At the same occassion guests were also assured that Imagineering plans to have all effects of the Columbiad cannon working again by the end of the year. Currently the smoke is the most problematic one as it seems to cause corrosion problems. But right now we are waiting for the first ride reports with the new train number 2.

Reported by Christian Ahuis and DLP.info-Team at DLP Guidebook, 23. Jan 2004

Need Mag?c Campaign

At the end of every TV spot of Disney's Need Mag?ic campaign the typical landmarks as Sleeping Beauty Castle, Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland Hotel and of course Space Mountain are shown. One particular spot is all about Space Mountain: needmagic.wmv (encoded and provided by Alan Taff).

Reported by FeLIX, 13. Jan 2004

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and all the best for 2004! Be prepared for interesting Space Mountain News and site updates. I'm currently working on a major site design and structure update. Prepare for blast-off ...

Reported by FeLIX, 1. Jan 2004

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