Subsonic Radio

if that is true, then I need to tell my friends to wait for a week or so to goto disneyland, as same for me.

There has been talk about a soft opening. I read it in a Mice-Age article.

I hope it opens before july, or maybe open on the 4th of july, it would bring in more people.

I hope it opens the weekend before the 4th of July, I'll be going during that time.

Well, the ride has been operating without special effects for a few months now. Many Disney execs. (including DLR President Matt Ouimet) have ridden the ride.

However, I doubt a soft opening would occur until all the effects and music are in place, which can take a while. I would guess late June/early July would be a best bet for soft openings. Of course, Buzz Lightyear was open 2-3 weeks before it's official opening.

I would hope it would be open for me, but mainly my friends. They never been to a Disney Park in their lives!

I would be ok for me but still.. I would have to wait next yr.

Well while I am sure that their will be some soft openings, dont expect a whole bunch as this attraction had to have a lot of cash pumped into it in order to be open by this date. Before Matt Ouimet came in and realized what we all knew as the obvious "Hey we might need all of our rides to be open during the big 50th anniversary" Space was originally not going to open until late this year.

Jack

Good thing I am going in December, hopefully everything will be up and running, including my energy level! I am sooooo excited I can't wait, and I have a long wait until December!

Ok, I called someone that I knew that works in Disneyland right now, she said it was open when the 05/05/05 thing.

Really ? Thta would be a disappointment to those people who went yesterday (5th) and found it wasn't opened, some people don't know it's closed.

she said it was open, which confuses(sp) me, even those it said to open around july....... I don't get it......if I live close to disneyland then I would check it out myself.

Last I heard, on the third I believe, that all of the cars were still red tagged, and none had been approved by the maintenance crews. Plus, there was still quite a bit of cosmetic work to be done.

That doesnt sound very likely to me at all, considering the rehab schedule the ride is under. Perhaps the execs got to take a sneak peek inside the ride, that sounds a bit more likely.

Jack

I've heard different things about the ride itself...do you guys have any say on it? Is it basically the same ride inside and the just replaced gear and what not or did they put in a new space mountain experience set to thrill those who ride it?

OK. Here is the news I heard, from the beginning. Several years ago, when Space Mountain was shut down, they found stress fractures in the track. That is what prompted the close at the beginning of the year, rather than an October shutdown. The maintenance crews knew that it would happen soon, hence the originally planned closure. It turns out, the extra weight from the added sound system caused the track to wear a little quicker.

Anyway, the work has taken a long time because they were forced to demolish and rebuild completely within the confines of the ride building. When it first opened, they built the building towards then end, after the major structures were in place. In addition, the new structures required an additional 15 feet or so of the floor to be excavated to make room for larger supports. The track is completely identical to the old track in terms of layout. The track itself is a new hollow steel tube design that is stronger than the original, and should be a little smoother and quieter.

The ride vehicles are new and were designed from the ground up with the sound system in mind. Should be much more stable than the old system, that was working roughly 50% of the time. Many of the special effects have been upgraded, and everything is supposed to look like what it is intended to look like. This is in contrast to meteors looking like chocolate chip cookies, etc.

The new load/unload station, even though it too has the same layout, has been made to look like a modern futuristic station, rather than a 70's version of a futuristic station. They also now have the ability to pull cars off to the side to allow for the loading/unloading of handicapped. In the past, if a car was left too long in the load/unload area, and the rest backed up far enough into the return tunnel, the system would trigger an automatic shutdown to keep cars from hitting each other. This took quite a while to get them running again. That should be minimized now with the new load facilities.

To dispel bad rumors, no loops, no launch starts with linear induction motors, no new track layout.

Van Halen has been confirmed as the group that will provide music at night when it is converted into RockIt Mountain. This won't happen right away though, but later in '05.