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Behind Space Mountain’s Halloween makeover at Disneyland
September 25th, 2009, 3:00 am · 29 Comments · posted by Sarah Tully
Space Mountainvisitors will know something’s gone awry right after they begin their ascent in the Disneyland ride.
The climb through a tunnel starts normally with stars drifting past the rocket and a swirling galaxy awaiting at the top. But about half way through the tunnel, white stars turn orange and red, swirling into a skull-like face and skeletal arms extend. Spiny hands grab out, shooting crackling lightning past riders. The creature roars.
This is just the beginning of the new Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy that debuts to the public today at Disneyland. The seasonal makeover of the roller-coaster marks the first time that Disneyland has redone Space Mountain for Halloween Time, which begins today.
“It’s classic Space Mountain with a whole new look,” said Steve Roach, the ride’s show producer.
Disneyland Resort usually tries to keep the mood light for the Halloween season, but this ride is slightly different.
“For the first time, it’s something actually very frightening for Halloween,” Roach said. “I don’t think we’ve done anything this scary before.”
A sign will warn guests that the ride may be too scary for young children, Roach said.
Ghost Galaxy’s back story is that Disney wants recruits to explore unknown phenomena during a deep-space research trip, but then something goes wrong. Guests are detoured into an unknown galaxy with cosmic phenomena at every turn, Roach said.
Throughout the ride, guests can see morphing ghosts reaching out toward guests. One arm grabs above riders. Another ghost chases riders alongside the carriage. A creepy eye blinks in front. And one final surprise ghost pops out at the very end. (We know because we got to ride it early.)
Roach said upgrades completed on the ride four years ago made it easier for workers to transform the attraction into a Halloween spectacle. With the new additions, workers were able to swap out projection images that go on screens inside the dome. New lighting was added, especially at the entrance and exit.
Also, a sound system was built into every seat with the 2005 upgrades. The new soundtrack of creepy music, wailing and occasional roars was put in for the occasion. It was composed by Ed Kalnins, who also did the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride.
About 12 workers, called Imagineers, have been installing the overlay since the ride was temporarily closed about two and a half weeks ago. But workers will be able to turn the ride back to its original form overnight when the Halloween season is over in about five weeks, Roach said.
Ghost Galaxy was originally done at the Hong Kong park in 2007, said Ric Turner, a show designer who also worked on the Hong Kong attraction. There, Imagineers added the features in a short period with low expectations, but it “blew everybody away,” Turner said.
Anaheim’s Ghost Galaxy has more scenes, including the chasing ghosts, he said. Also, Imagineers were able to create more of a 3D effect with the grabbing monsters.
Both Roach and Turner have worked at lower-level jobs in Disneyland, so they were excited to work on Space Mountain. Roach, who lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, used to be a ride operator on Space Mountain itself, while Turner worked in food service.
Disneyland invited employees to ride Ghost Galaxy on Thursday, a day before the public is allowed in. Some employees gave the ride high marks.
“It was amazing,” said Tory Asher, 33, a manager for Adventureland attractions. “That’s definitely my favorite holiday offering we’ve ever had.”
Kelly Murphy, 26, also an Adventureland manager, said she was worried about the fright factor.
“I’m a little chicken,” Murphy said. “I think Disney does a good job of just the right level of scary.”
Photos by Joshua Sudock, The Orange County Register
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Cool! To bad it’s costs 125.00$ per person to get in.I’ll just have to wait untill the dvd comes out >heheh,
Very cool, love what they did to this ride. Another great perk of having an AP! I’ll pop in on a random Tuesday when the lines are short.
See you there, Grag. I’m very excited to ride it!!!
Can’t wait to ride it tonight before Suburban Legends!
Sounds like fun … too bad my family and I won’t being seeing it! Way too expensive to get in.
It’s not $125 to get into Disneyland. It ain’t cheap at $71, but that ain’t $125 either.
I rode Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain twice today, once on Standby and once with Fastpass. It’s an awesome new take on Space Mountain, but it’s very hard to capture in pictures of amateur video. It’s much scarier than you would think, mainly with the spooky onboard audio and some of the surprise effects. The technology used seems rather expensive and very advanced, and way more fancy than the Mummy ride at Universal or any of the cheesy stuff you see at Knott’s.
There is a show that happens at night on the exterior of the dome that you can see all over Tomorrowland, but I’ll have to wait for a return visit to see it. It was too hot to stay all day today!
Disneyland has a big hit on their hands yet again!
i loved it!!!
i bought my 69 dollar tix at quality suites in santa ana! great deal and i didn’t have to wait in line at disney!
I’ll join the ranks of those that wish they were there, but I to will miss it this year. I assume they’ll do it again next year and that is when I’ll take it all in. I love the Haunted Mansion makeover, and if this is as good I’ll love it too!
see ya in the parks.
This is great!! I just bout an annual pass with the pay raise I just got. Nothing beats being a state employee in times like this.
State employees (AND UNIONS) are the reason we are in times like this. Greedy fools.
Moot point. Can’t afford the privilege of spending $69 apiece (or whatever it’s up to now) for hours of standing in line for two-minute rides.
Having been to both, I can tell you Knott’s Hallowen Haunt TOTALLY kills Disneyland’s attempts. Disneyland shouldn’t even try to compete with Knott’s Halloween Haunt—they cannot. Plus, Knott’s is still cheaper!
Yes, I will say that the Disneyland’s prices are pretty high, that one unfortunate fact.
Though I have been on “Ghost Galaxy” and I thought that it was pretty cool.
On a different note Marie, I haven’t forgotten how you were nasty to me.
You are a obviously a very rude, sarcastic individual.
In that Fantasmic dragon comment section, I didn’t insult you at ALL, I said nothing bad about you at ALL, and yet you were rude, mean-spirited, and sarcastic to me just because I said something that you didn’t agree with. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have to guts to do that if you were staring me square in the eye.
And by the way, I DID get your point, you just got upset because I had an opinion that you didn’t like.
Or maybe you were just ignorant and really thought that I was a Disney employee. Just because I choose to call myself “anonymous” doesn’t mean that I work for Disney, you snob.
Whatever the case, I found your comment to be very offensive.
So that’s all I have to say. Oh, and if you are thinking of saying something nasty to me in response, you are out of luck, because as soon as I click “Submit Comment” I am NOT returning to this blog ever again, so I will never see (or care) if you responded or not.
Goodbye
Marie, I can’t see how anyone could reasonably compare the Knotts event to Disney halloween events.
The Knotts Halloween Haunt is clearly geared towards the teen, young adult and adult market — hence their actual warning that younger children not even come to the Halloween Haunt.
Disney, on the other hand, has always gone after the family with younger children. But that being said, little kids aren’t allowed on Space Mountain anyway because of the height it’s not a bad marketing idea to have at least one attraction geared towards the parents or older siblings of those kids.
By that same token, Knotts usually dresses up their “camp Snoopy” area for Halloween during the day for the littler kids who can’t come to the nighttime Haunt. It only makes business sense to gear towards one, but not completely forget the other.
It’s not an either/or thing. I go to the Kotts Haunt every year. Love it. Love the mazes, love the actors walking about. Love the scary creepieness. But I also go to the Disney, especially on Halloween night because it’s so cute to see all the little kids in costume and it’s a more whimisical expereince.
And no I don’t work for Knotts and I don’t for Disney. I’m not Pro-or Con either one (although I am in favor of common sense) I understand prefering one over the other, there’s nothing wrong with that. I would say they were both good, but I would also say they are not alike at all. So unless someone is the kind of parent who would take their 6 year old to see SAW III , comparing the two events is futile.
Sorry… why can’t Disneyland leave well enough alone? I am not a fan of holiday-izing rides, including the abominable makeover of the Haunted Mansion into Nightmare Before Christmas. Yipe. A travesty.
Seems in the last 10 or 15 years, Disneyland has relied soley on movie based theme rides instead of the creativity and education of rides past. It feels cheap. Add to that this desire to “make over” a ride like Space Moutain, which is already pretty cool. The 2005 music-blasting-into-your-ears makeover was bad enough, but this Halloween thing is just dumb and unnecessary. Disneyland, go back to being original. I miss those days.
I felt that Space Mountain’s Ghost Galaxy was fun,but,the stand-by line last friday night was 130 minutes and with no fastpasses left at all and I arrived at about 2:30 p.m. during the day.The ride itself in my opinion had a few scary pop-outs and the music was so low toned, to even here.I mean it has great special effects,but just not as scary as I was hoping for.My friends and I were the last ones to ride it on Friday night September 25th,2009 and we all even asked some of the cast members if the had it toned down?Nobody could really answer our questions.Anyway,the point is that there is so many special effect distractions, that by the time you see all the spooky hands grab you and snarlying images scream at you the ride is already over.In my opinion I enjoy the original Space Mountain in it’s true natured essence.Thank you,Joeydragon6
I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve been going to Disney for close to 50 years now (I can’t even believe I can say that!) and I can’t wait to go see this new version of the space mountain. I loved the Red Hot Chili Peppers make over they did a few years ago and this sounds like so much fun. I love it when they add new things and change things up, even when it’s just temporary. I especially love the haunted mansion make-over at this time of year, it’s just drop dead gorgeous at night. I also loved how they did the castle last year in “ice” was spectaculor. I understand that as some get older, change is disconcerting. But personally, I really appreciate that Disney holds to Walt’s vision that Disney will never be finished as long as there is imagination. I’m as nostaligic for the past as anyone. And of course not everything is a winner (Innovations, what’s with that….) But I also know if they just kept serving up the same old same old year after year, there would be very little reason to go back after a while.
Yes, it’s not inexpensive, I can’t argue that point. But I get the So Cal annual pass and now you can make payments if you wish. But we end up going about once a month just on our own or with visitors so it pays for itself in just a visit or two. So I get my money’s worth.
Yes, the price is just high enough to keep the gang members out.
As well as the average family during a recesion.
Sounds interesting. I am no so big on the whole Halloween “holiday” but this might be interesting. Good thing we have Annual Passes this year or we would not spend the money just to go see this.
Looks pretty scary! Is the Florida ride still closed and will it get the same treatment when it reopens?
Hey Anonymous, good riddance to you and your obvious agenda. You are totally a Disney employee, a schill if you will, who comes here simply to smooch up to and promote everything Disney does. Why don’t you at least have the guts to come clean, because you are not fooling anyone. I am glad my comment stuck with you—I find it offensive that a Disney employee would come in here and try to fool us like you did.
Seriously, dude…. Grow up.
Seriously, dude…Quit Whining.
Oh and Anonymous, I would absolutely say these things to you in person. Tell me what time you are working and I’ll meet you at Disneyland.
Dude, it’s a friggin’ amusement park blog. No need to be so serious.
My 4 yr old and I rode Space Mountain yesterday. The changes were no big deal. Disneyland is always fun, bummer Pirates was closed. I am sure they are trying to get more $$ by competing with Knotts. Disneyland has target pricing and seeks family attendance. Knotts has a lot of poorly behaved Teens & what appears to be gang members.
I’d have to say I really enjoyed Ghost Galaxy.Truly a great Halloween treat for roller coaster enthusiasts.Now it’s changed back to regular Space Mountain,rode it yesterday,only a 10 minute wait.Awesome!!!!Ghost Galaxy will be back next year.Disney has it on a 5 or 10 year contract,I’m really not sure how long?So forgive me for not knowing all the correct facts.