Space Mountain Completely Shuts Down Following Freak Incident
Last weekend, Disney cast members told a few hundred Disney Park guests waiting to ride Space Mountain that the attraction briefly shut down. Luckily, it would only take ten minutes to reset–so they could stay in line. Minutes later, an emergency announcement blared and panicked cast members ran through the queue to evacuate guests.
Space Mountain is a must-do at Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park. The indoor roller coaster takes guests through the depths of the galaxy in near-total darkness, with a retro intergalactic soundtrack to complete the package. Seasonally, Disneyland Resort transforms its version of the roller coaster into Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain.
The classic Disneyland Park attraction is one of a few with a Single Rider line, making the wait much shorter for guests who don’t mind riding with strangers. Redditor u/VladDracul58519 and their party were waiting in the Single Rider queue when a terrifying incident changed everything.
“[Disney cast members] came out and said they have to reset the ride and it’ll be about 10 minutes, but [to] stay if we wanted it wasn’t closed,” the Disney Park guest recalled. Then after a bit they let us into the single rider queue area.”
Minutes later, countless Disney cast members rushed through the Space Mountain building and evacuated guests.
“Suddenly a bunch of the workers are sprinting down the hall through a door as the ride closed announcement goes off,” the guest wrote.
A Disney cast member told the riders to leave through the same door they came in.
“What would cause this odd chain of events?” the Disney Resort guest wondered. “Hopefully not an injury or anything.”
Disneyland Resort didn’t publicly comment on the issue with Space Mountain this weekend, but some Disney Parks fans and cast members offered insight.
“During the reset, something happened that led to a full downtime,” u/Temporary_Cow_2340 commented. “TBH, probably while they were resetting, a guest got out of their rocket and they had to Emergency Stop the ride.”
“I used to work on this ride,” u/zris92 replied. “We sprinted because most of us were in early 20’s and if you get to the tower room first, you get to pick which rocket you’re going to let people out of. Many cast members like ‘going inside the mountain’ and evacuating guests.”
“Vast majority of ‘breakdowns’ are due to people taking too long to enter or exit the ride, causing the ride to back up,” they continued. “The other times it could be a hundred different things. Sensor, vehicles getting to close to each other (zone intrusion), motor issue on the chain lift, so many things.
Space Mountain operated normally following the incident.
Have you been in a strange situation on a Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort attraction? Share your experience with us in the comments.
