Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain

Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain
Previously known as Space Mountain – De La terre à la lune (1995–2005) Space Mountain: Mission 2 (2005–2017)
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Park section	Discoveryland
Coordinates	48°52′26.69″N 2°46′45.30″E / 48.8740806°N 2.7792500°E / 48.8740806; 2.7792500Coordinates: 48°52′26.69″N 2°46′45.30″E / 48.8740806°N 2.7792500°E / 48.8740806; 2.7792500
Status	Operating
Opening date	June 1, 1995 (1995-06-01)
Replaced	Space Mountain: Mission 2
General statistics
Type	Steel – Launched
Manufacturer	Vekoma
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering Werner Stengel
Lift/launch system	Electric Winch Launch / Booster wheels (second lift)
Height	105 ft (32 m)
Length	3,281 ft (1,000 m)
Speed	44 mph (71 km/h)
Inversions	3
Duration	2:05
Height restriction	52 in (132 cm)
Trains	5 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 24 riders per train.
Previous Theme	Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon
Current Theme	Space and Steampunk
Music	Mission 2 by Michael Giacchino (2005-2017) De La Terre à la Lune by Steven Bramson (1995–2005)
Disney's Fastpass available
Single rider line available
Wheelchair accessible
Must transfer from wheelchair
Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain at RCDB Pictures of Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain at RCDB

Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain (formerly known as Space Mountain: Mission 2 and Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune) is an indoor/outdoor steel roller coaster in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris. Originally themed around Jules Verne's classic 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon, the attraction first opened on June 1, 1995, three years after the park's debut in an attempt to draw more guests to the financially-unstable European resort. Unlike other Space Mountain attractions at Disney theme parks, the installation at Disneyland Paris has a steampunk-detailed appearance with a Columbiad Cannon and a plate-and-rivet exterior. Under its previous theme, it was the only Space Mountain to feature inversions, a launch, a section of track that exits and re-enters the interior, and a synchronized on-Board audio track.

The original Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune closed in January 2005 and later reopened as Mission 2 with a revamped Jules Verne theme and the same track layout. A refurbishment took place in 2015 to improve the special effects and overall presentation. The newest renovation to the ride implements a Star Wars theme to celebrate the resort's 25th Anniversary.

Original concept

Originally, Disneyland Paris wanted to make the Parisian and European Version of a replica of Space Mountain from Tokyo Disneyland. However, after the Parisian site had been chosen and work began on Discoveryland, a showcase attraction was planned. Discovery Mountain was initially designed to feature not only Space Mountain, but a variety of other attractions, exhibits, and restaurants. The building was going to be 100 metres in diameter, rather than 61 metres, the diameter of the Space Mountain dome.

Inside, the following items were to feature:

A large version of the Nautilus (which ended up outside of the attraction and as a walk-through attraction)
An underwater restaurant with a Nautilus theme alongside a café
A copy of the Horizons attraction of Epcot
A Disneyland Railroad stop
Free-fall ride concept, themed to Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth
Space Mountain based upon Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon
Walkway tubes linking to CinéMagique and the Videopolis dining and stage complex (which still features two huge windows in that place)

Discovery Mountain's budget became so huge that cuts were inevitable. In addition, the resort had encountered a loss of millions of French francs in its first three years of operations. This was due to low hotel occupancy, low guest spending and lower attendance than projected, partly due to the colder winter weather—in sharp contrast to Tokyo Disneyland, which sees crowds year-round regardless of the weather. The Victorian-inspired design of Space Mountain (initially named Discovery Mountain before its name change), with its huge Columbiad cannon, and containing only the indoor roller coaster, was decided upon as the best choice for the financially unstable resort, as well as a nearby walkthrough recreation of the Nautilus, entitled Les Mystères du Nautilus.

However, in 2001, Tokyo DisneySea opened, featuring Mysterious Island, a recreation of Vulcania Island from the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This island features some elements from Discovery Mountain (for example the ride Journey to the Center of the Earth or the Nautilus ride). Michael Eisner, ex-CEO of The Walt Disney Company, credited Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune and its creator, Imagineer Tim Delaney, as the savior of Disneyland Paris.^[1]

Attraction

De la Terre à la Lune/From the Earth to the Moon (1995–2005)

An extravagant version of Space Mountain had been planned since the inception of the Euro Disney Resort, but was reserved for a revival of public interest. Located in Discoveryland, the park's alternative for Tomorrowland, this Space Mountain was originally designed as a view on space travel from a Jules Verne-era perspective, based on the 1865 Jules Verne novel From the Earth to the Moon.

Paris' version of Space Mountain is the fastest of the five versions of the ride, the only one to include inversions, and also the only one to feature a portion of track outside the mountain itself (that being the station and the launch Cannon). The $89.7 million attraction features a 1.5G uphill catapult launch at 40 mph (64 km/h), and three inversions (sidewinder, corkscrew, and cutback). It was the first roller coaster to feature on-board music, known as a SOBAT (Synchronized On-Board Audio Track). SOBATs would later be added to Space Mountain at Disneyland, and Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Space Mountain's first SOBAT was composed by Steven Bramson, primarily based on film scores by John Williams and the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea score. Moreover, in order to create a proper Victorian atmosphere in the queueline and around the building, a musical loop was created by selecting several themes from movies such as Krull, The Rocketeer, Always or Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. From 1995 to 2005, the ride was known as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune.

Guests entered the dome and were ushered into the inside queueline known as the Stellar Way, an open walkway where guests could have a look at the coaster itself and see trains during their journey in space. Then they reached the Victorian chambers of the Baltimore Gun Club (the Club which built the Cannon), and discovered the plans and drawings of the Columbiad and the journey to the Moon. They then boarded golden Moon trains in the Victorian station.

The trains took them through a tunnel into the Columbiad Cannon. As the blast-off occurred, trains were suddenly propelled out of the Columbiad to the top of the dome. The space travel started with riders crossing asteroid fields until they got swallowed by Colonel Impey Barbicane's Bluemoon Mining Machine, an industrial space machine built by the President of the Gun Club to extract mineral resources from asteroids. Escaping the danger of this device, trains headed to a huge asteroid which they crossed through a small fissure. This journey came afterwards to the climax of the ride, the Moon itself (with a smiling face, as seen in Georges Méliès' 1902 movie adaptation of the novel). On the right, one could notice that Jules Verne himself, with the proper equipment, had landed on a nearby asteroid. Then trains headed back to Earth, crossing other asteroid fields. When riders reached the atmosphere, bolts and light rays were visible around the train as it heated up. Trains finally entered the Electro-de-Velocitor, a machine that stopped them suddenly so that their speed would be reduced when they headed back to the station.

In September 2004, Le Visionarium was closed, leading to significant changes in Discoveryland. Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune was to be entirely refurbished, due to financial plans from Disney executives, which also included the construction of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and the development of Walt Disney Studios Park with Toon Studios and the Tower of Terror.

Mission 2 (2005-2017)

In 2005, Space Mountain underwent modifications and was officially renamed Space Mountain: Mission 2, having already gotten a complete exterior repaint in 2004. This journey took riders "beyond the Moon, to the very edge of our universe." Therefore, some aspects of the ride changed, such as the effects on the track: the video shown in the second lift of the ride (the smiling moon seen in the original was replaced with a supernova) and the introduction of a simulated vortex using bent neon lights.

Although the track remained unaltered, trains were fired from the bottom of the cannon, whereas originally they were fired at the top which is about halfway up the actual incline. The Victorian setting was changed as well, and received modern futuristic elements. Trains received a simple repaint from gold to silver. A new futuristic soundtrack was written by Michael Giacchino (who was also responsible for the SOBATs in the versions at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland) and the Victorian loop in the queue line was replaced with radio messages.

Guests enter the dome on its side and are ushered into a futuristic, dimly lit corridor featuring photos of several cosmic phenomenons (which replaced the former Stellar Way). They proceed into the Victorian lounges of the Baltimore Gun Club, completed with plans and drawings of the Columbiad Cannon and the journey to a supernova. They then board silver trains in the station.

Trains are taken through the tunnel leading them inside the cannon. A countdown is audible, and the blast propells trains beyond the moon. Space travellers encounter many, many cosmic objects which look like space bodies, such as a comet, planets, and several asteroid fields. When they reached a supernova, they see it explode and destroy its nearby surroundings. Trains are then shot forward back to Earth by passing by melting asteroid fields. In order to reach Earth, they finally enter a "hypergate", a red vortex-like wormhole which represents a shortcut through the universe. As in the previous version, the Electro-de-Velocitor slows trains down before they reach the station. The ride was refurbished from January–July 2015, with the addition of a single rider queue line and the overall presentation enhanced.

Shoot for the Moon Space Mountain was the basis for the 1995 BBC2 documentary Shoot for the Moon, which looked at the creative process and the history of engineers, technicians, and musicians of The Walt Disney Company, featuring project manager Tim Delaney, music producer Aarin Richard and Disney Legend Ward Kimball. The 45-minute documentary was directed by Philip Martin, and was first broadcast on 30 August 1995 at 6:45pm.