MousePlanet’s three-part series on Disneyland’s Space Mountain (link), by contributing writers and former Imagineers George McGinnis and Bill Watkins, generated many Space Mountain-related questions. Bill Watkins answers a question on the series.
Jasmine Vigliotte writes:
I am from Canada and I went to Orlando last year in February. My brother-in-law somehow talked me into going on [Space Mountain]. I had no idea that it was a roller coaster of any kind. Can you please tell me how high the coaster is? And I must say that it was one of the best days that I spent in Orlando. Thanks for all the great memories.
The Space Mountain ride at Walt Disney World was designed about 36 years ago and I don’t remember exactly how high it is; however the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland and Tokyo is 65 feet (19.8 m) high and I’m sure that the Walt Disney World ride is about the same. Glad that you enjoyed it.
Take a look here and follow the links if you want to know more.
Mark Goldhaber answers another couple of questions about the Space Mountain series.
Terri Ann Black writes:
Will the Space Mountain in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom ever get refurbished?
I love the one at Disneyland. Last year I got to ride it while on a business trip to Southern California. When I got off the ride I did not feel like I needed a chiropractor. The smoothness and the music made me feel like I was soaring through space. I want to go back just for that!
I also love what they’ve done with Space Mountain at Disneyland. It is a wonderful ride.
As to Walt Disney World’s Space Mountain, I have heard rumors (not confirmed) that Space Mountain is due for a $30 million refurbishment in 2008.
Eric Hoshooley writes:
Just read your articles about the Space Mountain, was very interesting to find out how some of the effects worked, and how you came up with them.
My question is, would you know who to talk to about getting my hands on an old ride car? You were mentioning that all the ride cars were redone, so where did the old ones go? Also, where did the ones from Living Seas, and other dead rides go?
If you’re looking for old ride vehicles, your best bet is likely MouseSurplus. When I was there in December, they had old ride vehicles from both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of Space Mountain. I don’t know if they still have them on hand, but if Disney is getting rid of old vehicles, they’re likely going to end up at MouseSurplus. You can find them at MouseSurplus.com. If you decide to call them, tell Brian that I sent you.
Speaking of MouseSurplus.com, other readers had questions about Mark’s article on the Disney liquidators who sell surplus items from Walt Disney World. (link)
Patrick O’Shaughnessy writes:
Thanks for the article on MouseSurplus, I check it weekly. But is there anybody who handles Disneyland surplus only instead of Walt Disney World, which seems to be the bulk of MouseSurplus?
Because Imagineering has their largest warehouse locations out in California, there’s a lot less that gets out to the public from Disneyland. Anything that does, usually goes through Disney Auctions. MouseSurplus gets some stuff from California, but Disney keeps most of that stuff for themselves.
Kevin writes:
I’m new to your site and would like to find an Autopia car body for sale, and was wondering what you thought would be the best place to look.
If you’re looking for a Disneyland Autopia car body, it’s likely that it will not make it out of Disney’s warehouse. If it does, it would appear on the Disney Auctions site or at an NFFC convention.
If you’re looking for a Walt Disney World Tomorrowland Indy Speedway car body, then your chances get a little bit better, as they don’t store as much there. Those would most likely appear at MouseSurplus to be auctioned or sold. Check out MouseSurplus.com to see what they’ve got. You can try getting in touch with Brian Ramsey there and ask if it’s likely that they’ll receive anything in the near future. Tell him that I sent you.
Kevin Page writes:
In response to Louise who wanted to know about Disney holding liquidation sales, in case you didn’t know, Celebration has 2 of them each year at the elementary school gym in April and October.
It’s open to everyone, but they don’t advertise it outside of Celebration or on billboards or anything.
Thanks for passing that along. I’ll make sure to get it into a future mailbag, and I’ll send it along to Louise, as well.
Finally, staff writer and MousePlanet CEO Alex Stroup answers general reader questions and responds to criticism of his movie and DVD reviews.
Bruce S. Spadaccia writes:
Alex, I’m going right to the top with this one because I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened my morning paper today and read that Disney has sold 53 acres south of the Animal Kingdom and another 47 north of the Magic Kingdom to home developers. Plus, another 30 acres is up for sale.
Is this a change is practice, selling “excess” property? I would think that Walt Disney would have never thought there was such a thing as too much property no matter how high the demand or price.
I’m not a real estate person or an investment person so I can’t really speak to the monetary wisdom of the sale. I do know, however, that it isn’t the first time that Disney has sold off “small” parcels at the fringes of its holding in Florida for development by third parties. I put small in quotation marks because while the combined sale is bigger than both California parks combined, it is still almost infinitesimal on the scale of the Florida property.
It is too soon to know for sure whether this marks a major change in direction with Disney selling off any property it knows won’t ever be used. However, a huge portion of the land is tied up, even if unused, as offsets for the development they have done over the years, so you don’t need to worry that eventually Walt Disney World will just be a four pockets of Disney-owned land around each park surrounded by housing developments.
Jessica writes:
I was just wondering what it will be like at the park on July 6—we will be there during that time, but we won’t be a part of the Pirates of Caribbean event… will Disneyland close early? Will the ride close? Will it be crazy busy? Can somebody help me out with this?
There is no indication that the Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise event will have any impact at all on the park. The park is still scheduled to close at midnight and it doesn’t appear that the ride will be closed to regular guests; the event participants will just get head-of-the-line access. Most of the event takes place outside of the park and it will be relatively small (definitely under a 1,000 people) so it won’t impact crowds in any noticeable way.
I’d bet that you barely notice it, if at all.
A cast member responds to the recent replacement of the veteran Dapper Dans with a newer group:
With respect to the disrespect heaped upon the Dapper Dans: The Company might consider holding annual auditions for every Cast Member at the Resort from the president on down to the sweeper crews in order to potentially keep their jobs. That could have one of two results: Either the Resort will realize a marked improvement in Guest service or they will, deservedly, end up with a cast that just doesn’t care anymore.
Jeff responds to Alex’s review of Disney’s The Wild (link):
Alex, I think that it would be helpful for you and your readers if you took some kids with you to a film such as The Wild just so you can get feedback from them about what they thought. Or, if you can’t bring any kids with you, perhaps you could ask some of the parents at the screening you attended if you could ask their kids what they thought of the film outside the theater. You could incorporate their perspective into your reviews, which would be beneficial for those people who have kids and are thinking of whether to spend their money taking their kids to the theater or waiting for the film to arrive on DVD. Just a thought.
While it isn’t easily possible for me to take children with me (I don’t actually know anybody in my geographic vicinity with kids I’d be allowed to borrow), I do try to watch the behaviors and reactions of other children in theater. Ninety percent of the screenings I go to are “promotional screenings” where they coordinate with some radio station to fill the theater and also invite press along. The other 10 percent are press-only screenings in small private screening rooms, so with those I am unable to observe children (though these are more common with Miramax titles than Walt Disney Pictures releases).
In the case of The Wild, it was a weird hybrid. The screening was held in one of the local major multiplexes, in one of the larger theaters. Then it was screened for just a dozen press invites. Apparently whatever plan they had to co-promote the screening fell through. So it did end up being another screening with no children present (and not one of the adults present liked the movie).
I do my best in these situations to try to decide whether kids would like it, but of course can’t be certain I’m correct. That said, on this one so far I’ve had no parent return from seeing it telling me I was wrong. Thank you for your suggestion.
Mike Acton writes:
Thank you for doing Ghibli DVD reviews (link). In Japan, I fell in love with the studio’s work. Some of the movies, like My Neighbor Totoro, were scripted in easy enough Japanese to help me practice. I think it’s important that English-speaking viewers who consider themselves animation fans look outside of the U.S. Your reviews give animation fans like me a chance to expand their knowledge of the work of Miyazaki and company. These films remind us that hand-drawn animation and family-inclusive storylines are not dead. Thank you again,
P.S. I too am disappointed in the pointless second disc in this series.
Erica critiques Alex’s Chicken Little review (link):
Chicken Little is a great movie; why did you say it wasn’t? The characters were funny, and lovable! And no one died in this movie, so how is it bad for little kids? All the people did a good job on the voices! Chicken Little is supposed to have a kind of grown-up voice because Chicken Little is 13! What did you think he was, like 4? Zach Braff can do a change in his voice! Sorry for me going off like that.
I didn’t say it isn’t a great movie, just that in my opinion it isn’t (the “in my opinion” part is something I assume to be implicit so that I don’t have to use it at the beginning of every sentence). Even if I think you’re wrong in your assessment, that’s OK; we can just agree on this one (I assume we can agree that Snow Dogs is pretty good).
As for why it is bad for little kids, I would say this: The scenes at the end can be intense for young children and even though it is ultimately shown that nobody died, for quite a while the impression left is that a lot of people actually did die. No, there isn’t really anything in the movie to be scared of but young kids don’t always realize that.
As for Zach Braff’s voice, I realize that Chicken Little was supposed to be around the age of 13 (or whenever the onset of puberty hits a chicken) but to me his voice sounds like that of a 30-year-old man with a funny voice.
Thank you for writing in to let me know what you thought of the movie.
