Walt Disney World Makes Interesting Change to Space Mountain Experience

Disney World is helping guests remember their trip in a new way. This month, the Orlando theme park made a major update to its on-ride photos for the Space Mountain attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.

While guests planning to blast off into outer space on the popular rollercoaster will still have their picture snapped during the ride – on-ride photos are popular at all major theme parks, with most of the attractions at Disney World featuring them – when they receive their photo after returning to Earth, things will look a bit different. Previously, Space Mountain’s on-ride photos saw passengers receiving an image of themselves mid-ride, with it appearing to show them traveling through space. The images featured a photo with text reading, “flights departing daily Starport 75,” in the top left corner and the name of the ride in the bottom right corner. Additional text on the photo read, “Intergalactic rockets to all star systems,” and “Active Spacecraft: Interstellar Status: Mission Complete.” The new on-ride photos have stripped all of those extras, and instead simply show passengers zooming through a blurred blue tunnel.

Unfortunately, not everyone is sold on the change. On Twitter, one person said the change is “significantly worse,” adding that while “the old one was dated.. that was part of its charm.” Somebody else added that they were “on board with them updating,” but asked, “What’s the point of a ride photo if they’re going to photoshop the ride out of it.” A third person chimed in with, “The fuzzy edges make it look like a bad Zoom background.” However, there were a few who preferred the new version, one person tweeting, “As someone who isn’t blinded by nostalgia, I definitely prefer the new one.”

Considered to be one of Disney’s most legendary rides, Space Mountain is located in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. During the ride, guests “dip and careen into the inky blackness as a futuristic soundtrack echoes all around you. Fly past shooting stars and celestial satellites. Roar past streaking orbs of light, wayward comets and migrant meteors.” There are other Space Mountain rides at Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

At this time, it is unclear if Disney plans to make changes to the on-ride photos of other attractions, but the park has been keeping plenty busy. Guests venturing to the Orlando theme park will unfortunately have to skip several fan-favorite rides that have been closed for refurbishment, with Epcot’s Spaceship Earth closed today, July 20 and The Haunted Mansion set to close for several days next month.