Maybe this really isn’t a story that you should be reading first thing in the morning. Particularly if you’re still eating breakfast.
Still, there’s some rather intriguing news coming out of Orlando these days. Word that WDW executives are going very concerned that “Mission: Space” — Epcot’s yet-to-be-officially-opened brand-new thrill ride — may be a bit too rough for many Disney World guests to enjoy riding.
Ever since this Future World attraction first quietly opened its doors to the paying customers back in June of this year, a significant number of guests as well as cast members — as they stepped out of the simulator capsule — have reported symptoms ranging from dizziness to headache and nausea. Typically, in most cases, the side effects of riding the attraction would pass in just 5 minutes to under a half an hour.
But — in some extreme cases — guests who have ridden “Mission: Space” reported that they were still feeling nauseous and dizzy for days afterward. One Central Florida Disney Annual Passholder is said to have taken to her bed for three days before she was finally able to shake off the ill effects she felt from swirling around inside Epcot’s new flight simulator.
WDW Operations staff first became aware of this problem last month during “Mission: Space”‘s test-and-adjust phase, when only Disney World cast members were allowed to ride this Future World attraction. At that time, many longtime WDW employees — including people who worked on WDW thrill rides like the Magic Kingdom’s “Space Mountain” and Disney-MGM’s “Tower of Terror” — were said to have stepped out of the “Mission: Space” simulator and gotten immediately (and violently) ill.
What was the problem? The Imagineers seem to think that — to date — all of the people who have gotten sick on the ride have made the same mistake. Which was to move their head out of the headrest and/or turned their head to the side as the Future World attraction was spinning. Which (for some reason) induces a strong case of vertigo in these people.
“People who look straight ahead — even people who close their eyes while they’re in the ride — they’re fine,” said one Disney cast member who’s actually been working on “Mission: Space” during its test-and-adjust phase. “It’s those guests who don’t follow the safety spiel — who lift their heads out of the headrest or turn to the side — who are causing all the problems. They’re the ones who have been getting sick.”
Which is why — as guests now enter the pre-show area at “Mission: Space” — they repeatedly encounter Disney cast members who spiel a warning that goes something like this: “‘Mission: Space’ is an extremely intense attraction that recreates the experience of space travel. Which is why this ride may not be suitable for all guests. We strongly urge you to read all of the safety precautions before you decide whether or not you actually want to ride the ride.”
Unfortunately, given the number of times that WDW guests actually hear this warning while they’re waiting in the queue, it eventually becomes just background noise to them. Which is why these people suddenly seem so shocked once they’re on board the flight simulator and find themselves exposed to these extreme stresses.
“That was one rough ride, Jim,” said one Disney World visitor in a recent e-mail to me. “I’m glad that I got on the thing and that I got to experience the attraction before it officially opened. But I don’t think that I’ll be riding ‘Mission: Space’ again anytime soon.”
Which brings us to Disney World’s next concern: “Mission: Space”‘s reride-ability. Even the guests who actually enjoyed this flight-to-Mars simulation during its preview period haven’t been all that eager to get back in line to take another spin on the centrifuge.
Said one Disney cast member who rode “Mission: Space” back in June: “Look, once was enough for me, Jim. What with the claustrophobic cabin and the stresses your body is put under as you spin around, it just wasn’t a fun time. At least for me. Which is why I doubt that I’ll be riding ‘Mission: Space’ again.”
It’s the comments like this — particularly from Disney World cast members and annual passholders — that are really giving WDW Operations staff some pause. Given that the Walt Disney Company and Hewlett-Packard have poured over $100 million dollars into the development and construction of this Future World attraction, they don’t want guests and cast members to be saying things like “Once was enough.” In order for “Mission: Space” to become a popular (more importantly, profitable) addition to Epcot’s array of attractions, it has to become the sort of ride that guests want to ride over and over and over and over …
Which — at this point, anyway — “Mission: Space” clearly isn’t. Which is why WDW Operations staff and the Imagineers are now wondering what they should do to counter all the guest complaints about how rough this ride is. Should they dare to turn down the centrifuge a bit, thereby lessening “Mission: Space”‘s incredible effects … but at least (in theory) that will make the attraction suitable for more guests to ride?
I mean, it’s not like there isn’t a precedent for doing something this. Some of you may recall — when the “Wonders of Life” pavilion first opened at Epcot back in October of 1989 — that the Imagineers were forced to make changes on “Body Wars.” Many WDW guests found this simulator ride (particularly during the trapped-inside-the-lung sequence, where the ride cabin kept moving back-and-forth, back-and-forth) to be more than they could realy handle. Which resulted in numerous “protein spills” (I.E. the code word that “WOL” cast members use when they’re out on stage, among WDW guests, to discreetly spread the news that some unfortunate has vomited inside of one of the “Body Wars” probe vehicles).
To lessen the nausea that this particular sequence in “Body Wars” was inducing in WDW guests, the Imagineers first tried lessening the back-and-forth motion of the simulator. But that didn’t really help; guests were still getting sick. Eventually, the folks at WDI were forced to make some cuts in the Leonard-Nimoy-directed ride film, shortening the amount of time that Disney World visitors had to spend inside the lung. (Even today as you ride “Body Wars,” if you watch carefully you’ll notice that there’s a rather abrupt transition in the lung sequence. As if several seconds has been snipped out of the ride film. Well, it has.)
And — even as recently as March 2001 (just weeks after Disney’s California Adventure theme park had officially opened to the public) — the Imagineers were forced to shut down that park’s “Mullholland Madness” because of guest complaints that that Wild Mouse ride was just too rough. So it’s not like Disney hasn’t responded to guest complaints like this in the past.
Unfortunately, the real crux of the matter here is that Epcot’s “Mission: Space” attraction is driven by a centrifuge. As in: All the ride’s effects key off of your body’s reactions to being spun around at high rates of speed. If WDI opts to turn down the centrifuge (I.E. lessen the number of revolutions per second that your ride cabin experiences), they then run the risk of turning their $100 million thrill ride into a not-so-very-thrilling thrill ride.
Still — based on the number of guest and cast member complaints that they’ve received to date — something clearly needs to be done about this Epcot addition. For now, Disney seems content to just try and get ahead of the negative buzz that’s been building on “Mission: Space.” Which is why — earlier this month — it invited several Central Florida journalists to come experience this Future World attraction well ahead of its August 15th opening.
But even this carefully selected group of press representatives reportedly had problems with the ride. According to the story in the July 2nd edition of the Orlando Sentinel, “More than a few (reporters) walked away on wobbly knees. ‘Four minutes (of spinning in space) was long enough for me,’ said one journalist.”
Which pretty much puts Disney right back where it started. With a $100 million dollar attraction that many WDW guests and cast members — after they initially ride “Mission: Space” — may think is too rough to ride again. Which will hardly translate into the smashing success that the Walt Disney Company believes it need in order to turn Epcot’s attendance problems around.
Mind you, not everyone thinks that “Mission: Space” is too rough a ride. The hardcore coaster fans (as well as the WDW guests who actually follow the safety spiel, who keep their heads in the headrest and look straight ahead, never to the side) actually seem to enjoy the attraction. Said one young rider in a recent e-mail to me, “‘Mission: Space’ is such an awesome recreation of a trip out into space, Jim, that I bet that this ride is actually going to cut into the number of WDW guests who go over to the Kennedy Space Center. I mean, why look at dusty old rockets anymore when you can experience a recreation of the real thing?”
Mind you, this same JHM reader then explained why he had been able to experience “Mission: Space” without experiencing any ill effects (“I made a point of not eating anything that afternoon. After all, you can’t hurl if you have nothing left to hurl.”) He then offered up this intriguing theory as to why so many WDW guests and cast members have found themselves getting sick during the “Mission: Space” previews.
“It’s not the ride itself that’s making people sick, Jim. It’s that giant Gravity Wheel with the Space Simulation Lab sitting on it. That’s all that the guests can see when they’re standing out in the pre-show area, waiting in the queue. They go through the line looking at this 35 foot tall room, standing on its side, as it spins ’round and ’round and ’round.”
“No wonder people who are motion sensitive are exiting ‘Mission: Space” complaining of dizziness and nausea,” this savvy JHM reader continues. “They’ve already been made dizzy by what they’ve forced to look at while they’re waiting in the queue.”
“If Disney really wants to cut down on the number of people who are getting sick on ‘Mission: Space,’ they should just shut down — or at least slow down — the gravity wheel that towers over the queue area. That would probably cut back on the number of guests who are getting off the ride nauseous.”
You know, that may actually be a halfway decent suggestion. I’ll try and pass it off to the folks at WDI. Who — right now, anyway — are still anxiously flailing about, trying to find some sort of solution for their “people-are-getting-sick-on”Mission: Space” problem.
Your thoughts?