Q: Our three-year-old (yes, three-year-old) asks me the height requirements of Disney rides and watches DVDs about the parks every day. Since he learned that the height requirement for Space Mountain at Disneyland is only 40 inches (much less than Space Mountain at Walt Disney World), he has been asking us to take him across the country just so he can ride Space Mountain. I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s different, and it looks like the ride vehicles are different. Is the ride also different? What’s the story behind the differences in Space Mountain at the different parks and the different height requirements?
Jackie, Charleston, South Carolina
A: There are several differences between the Space Mountain attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. First, as you noted, the ride vehicles are different; in Disneyland, guests sit two per row, whereas guests sit one per row at Walt Disney World. Walt Disney World offers two different ride tracks, “starry-o-phonic” sound (in which music and sound effects play throughout the attraction), and a differently themed queue and post-show (recently themed as “Starport Seven Five”). At Disneyland, there is a single ride track, sound that plays in coordination to the ride track and from speakers within the vehicle, and an alternate attraction that has played during the fall—Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. According to the Disneyland website, as of June 2012, its Space Mountain has a height requirement of 40 inches or taller, while Walt Disney World’s has a height restriction of 44 inches or taller.
Dave Smith