Mission: SPACE – What Should I Be Afraid Of?

Mission: SPACE Review

In an effort to clearly define just how scary a ride is, we developed an ultra-scientific backed-by-research rating system. We call it the Mickey Visit Ride Rating System – MVRRS for short (pretty clever, huh?) The MVRRS goes as follows:

• Wimp Proof: Not scary at all
• Wimp Proof-ish: Seems scary at first, but after, you feel it's nothing to worry about
• Scary but Survivable: Moderately scary
• Scary: Definitely scary, but you'll be able to sleep at night
• Bravest Riders Only: The scariest ride you'll find in a theme park

Mission: SPACE Ride Overview

Mission: SPACE takes you on a thrilling simulation of a NASA-style space mission.

This space flight ride simulates what an astronaut is likely to experience aboard a spacecraft. On this simulated flight mission, you'll board the fictional X-2 Deep Space Shuttle in the year 2036. Along the way, you'll experience what it feels like to blast off into space.

On this ride, you'll have the choice of 2 missions. The Green Mission to Earth is less intense and has you orbiting earth's atmosphere. The Orange Mission to Mars is more intense and sends you on a mission that lands on this distant planet. On this mission, you'll assume 1 of 4 important roles: navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer.

If you’re familiar with Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, you’ll be familiar with Mission: SPACE's video game ride simulation. With 4 roles to choose from, each team member in your party has an important job to carry out to help you have a successful space mission.

Here’s some other important information to review before riding Mission: SPACE:

• Access: Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Rider Switch
• Height Requirements: Guests must be at least 40″ (102cm)
• Highest Speed: N/A
• Length: 6 minutes
• Highest Ride Height: N/A

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Mission: SPACE Queue: What You Need to Know

Both the standby and Lightning Lane queue for Mission: SPACE start right at the show building entrance.

After entering the building, you must choose between the Green Mission (less intense) or the Orange Mission (more intense). As you make your way through this well-lit queue, you'll view a training capsule, a replica space vehicle living quarters, a model spacecraft, and a Lunar Roving Vehicle – which is on loan from the Smithsonian Institution!

You'll also see plaques commemorating key moments in space travel history. Examples include a plaque commemorating Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space and the launch of the Expedition 1 to the International Space Station.

The merge point for both queues happens right before being directed toward the pre-show room. You'll be arranged into crews of 4 before watching an introductory video by the International Space Training Center's (ISTC) Capsule communicator. Before boarding, each rider is assigned a rule of navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer along with their respective roles.

Lastly, it's important to note that there are 2 chicken exits available should you choose to skip the ride. The first is just before the pre-show. Simply ask a Cast Member to direct you as you exit the pre-show. The second is right before boarding your ride vehicle, where you can ask a Cast Member to walk straight through to the exit. At both of these points, the video spiel will remind you of these chicken exits should you choose to skip the ride.

Mission: SPACE Ride Vehicle Information

The ride vehicle for Mission: SPACE makes it a very unique experience for anyone.

Each ride vehicle seats 4 people in individual padded chairs with armrests and over-the-head padded shoulder restraints. Each rider has their own control panel and screen to see where you are during your mission. You will also have a small compartment in front of you to place your belongings.

Once seated with your restraints on, the front of your ride vehicle closes toward you and your team. In other words, you'll be in a small, enclosed space. Additionally, motion sickness bags are available and within reach inside your ride vehicle.

It's important to note that the ride vehicle's motion is significantly different between the Green Mission and Orange Mission. The Green Mission has no spinning. On the other hand, the more intense Orange Mission uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the speed and gravitational forces of a spacecraft launch and re-entry

Mission: SPACE: Ride Experience

Over 20 years after it first opened, Mission SPACE's ride experience is truly unique.

The Green Mission includes a liftoff from the ISTC, a flight that takes you on a beautiful tour of Earth's orbit, and then a descent back to the ISTC. Along the way, you and your team have to perform certain tasks to ensure that your space shuttle successfully enters space. On your descent, you and your team must manually navigate through a thunderstorm over the landing runway using your joystick.

The Orange Mission includes a liftoff from the ISTC and a slingshot around the moon for a gravity-assisted boost. You'll then have a brief period of simulated hypersleep because it takes a long time to reach Mars. Once you arrive in Mars' atmosphere, you'll descend and land on Mars' surface. Much like the Green Mission, you and your team must manually navigate your landing using your joystick.

Let's review the aspects of the ride that that make Mission: SPACE thrilling and add to its MVRRS rating:

• Centrifuge Ride Vehicle (Orange Mission): The spinning centrifuge results in a “highly turbulent motion simulator thrill ride that includes intense maneuvers that can cause nausea, headache, dizziness, and disorientation.” We highly recommend that guests that are prone to motion sickness avoid Orange Mission
• Small, Enclosed Space: Both Green and Orange Missions require that you sit inside a small, enclosed space with your ride screen less than 2 feet from your face. It feels very close, and the over-the-shoulder restraints holding you down make you feel almost too secure
• Darkness: The Green Mission has short moments of darkness where you can see stars in the distance. The Orange Mission has several moments of total darkness that may make you feel uncomfortable
• Video Screen: Both the Green and Orange Mission ride vehicles contain the same type of video technology that feels like a 3D video – but without 3D glasses. This may make you somewhat dizzy
• Drops, Heights, or High Speeds: Because this is a space flight simulator ride, there are no drops, heights, or high speeds involved
• Length: At about 6 minutes, Mission: SPACE is about 1 minute longer than Frozen Ever After, about 1.5 minutes longer than Millennium Falcon: Smuglers Run, and about 1.5 minutes shorter than Haunted Mansion

Every single effect adds up to a thrilling ride that truly feels like you're flying into space.

Favorite Moment of Mission: SPACE

Here's why you need to ride Mission: SPACE.

Since I was a kid, I was (and still am) a big fan of all modes of transportation. Cars, planes, trains, and space ships – I loved it all. So as you can imagine, having the chance to ride a space flight simulator ride while at The Most Magical Place on Earth was truly an exciting experience for me.

However, prior to my first ride on Mission: SPACE, I understood just how intense this ride could be. And after riding both Green and Orange Missions, I'll admit that Orange Mission pushes the envelope for thrill rides for me. Even today, I'll still get slightly dizzy after going through Orange Mission.

Despite the ride's intensity, my favorite part of Mission: SPACE will always be the interactive element the ride offers. Having been around long before Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run offered an amazing interactive ride experience, Mission: SPACE gave you the chance to feel what it's like to fly a space shuttle alongside your friends and family.

And most of all, Mission: SPACE is an epic way to see the earth from a unique and breath-taking vantage point. I get chills when I experience this attraction.

Mission: SPACE: Scary Verdict

So, how does our ride review of Mission: SPACE stack up against our MVRRS?

MVRRS VERDICT: Scary but Survivable: Moderately scary

Make no mistake: Mission: SPACE is a thrilling ride that is more likely to cause motion sickness than almost any other thrill ride at Disney World. Its older video technology combined with a ride vehicle that's built to simulate a space flight experience truly makes you feel like you're blasting off into space.

On top of these ride elements, your ride vehicle puts you in a small, enclosed space – probably the smallest space you'll encounter at Disney World. Along with the several moments of darkness, all of these ride elements make for a moderately scary ride.

What may be surprising to many guests, however, is that although this space flight simulator ride blasts you off into space and has you land your space shuttle, there are no drops, no heights, and no high speeds. In fact, your ride vehicle doesn't move large distances like a  roller coaster or a drop ride does.

What makes this ride scary is its accurate depiction of what it's like to fly a space shuttle into space. Its true-to-life experience allows you to feel what astronauts feel when they go on space missions. From this perspective, it's quite an incredible ride!

Barring sensitivity to motion sickness, we believe you'll still enjoy Mission: SPACE for what it is: a space flight simulation that takes you out of this world!

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