Guest Photos Show Harrowing Reality of Space Mountain Coaster After Sudden Shutdown

Magic Kingdom Park’s version of Space Mountain was closed for much of the day on Tuesday, June 24. Walt Disney World Resort rarely issues statements about ride breakdowns, but the Tomorrowland roller coaster was shut down for so long that the park issued an apology for the downtime via a notification on the My Disney Experience app. Although some Disney Park guests were undoubtedly disappointed by the closure, some rushed to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (which travels inside Space Mountain) to look at the dark indoor attraction with the lights on.

Space Mountain is arguably one of Walt Disney Imagineering’s most iconic creations, with the first iteration opening at Magic Kingdom Park in 1975. Its iconic spires now tower over Tomorrowland at Disney parks worldwide, including Disneyland Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris (the latter two are officially the Star Wars-themed Hyperspace Mountain). Tokyo Disneyland also has a version of the coaster, but the resort is currently rebuilding it with an expected reopening date of 2027.

The indoor roller coaster is so iconic that when it was closed for much of the day on Tuesday, some Magic Kingdom Park guests rushed to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover for a glimpse at Space Mountain with the lights on. Redditor u/ucwhatididthere shared several photos of the view (warning: they might spoil the magic).

Space mountain with lights on

Space mountain with lights on
byu/Ucwhatididthere inWaltDisneyWorld

Disney Parks fans were extremely jealous.

“This will never not be cool,” u/Ghost_Turd commented. “I have always dug the behind the scenes stuff.”

“It’s always interesting to me how little space the actual track takes up compared to how large the building itself is,” said u/GalaxyC7. “If they wanted to they could make the track way longer.”

While Walt Disney World Resort apologized for the technical issues on Tuesday, they didn’t say what exactly caused Space Mountain to shut down. However, the roller coaster had reopened and was operating normally at the time of this article’s publication.

Which Disney park has the best version of Space Mountain? Let Disney Dining know in the comments!