Jim Hill: From the Archives
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Mission: Space construction in February 2001

WHOOSH!

Here we are back in the real world, where the currently- under- construction version of "Mission: Space" will be fun. But not nearly as much fun as it could have been.

So why did Disney opt not to let the Imagineers build their original version of "Mission: Space?" Again, cost played an important part in the decision. But recent guest survey results also had a significant impact on the final design process.

This will probably come as no surprise to anyone who's ever seen a man use a TV remote control, but American attention spans have shrunk considerably in the last 20 years. That's why Disneyland opted to cut the Offenbach interlude out of its "Enchanted Tiki Room" show. This AA extravaganza was considered fast paced entertainment when it first opened in June 1963. But - at 17 minutes - "Tiki" was just too long for most modern audiences to tolerate. Disneyland dropped the Offenbach number from the show with the hope that it would cut down on walk-outs (It hasn't).

Results from recent guest surveys suggest that Disneyland and WDW visitors no longer crave lengthy AA pageants like "Tiki," " The Hall of Presidents" or "Country Bear Jamboree." They prefer faster paced, more intense attractions like "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" and " Rock 'n' Roller Coaster."

This information had a significant impact on the "Mission: Space" design team at WDI. Instead of a leisurely paced interactive environment similar to Sea Base Alpha, these Imagineers now had to rethink their entire approach to the "Space" pavilion so that it would have greater appeal to modern theme park goers.

So out went the simulated trip to a space station. In its place, WDI had to come up with a more intense, interactive venue that would really excite Epcot visitors. That's why WDW guests entering "Mission: Space" in 2003 will find themselves inside a test facility for future astronauts. That's how the centrifuge based space flight simulator went from being a way to get the pavilion's main attraction to becoming the *ONLY* real ride to be found at "Mission: Space."

That said, the centrifuge based space flight simulator ride will still be a lot of fun to ride. The new pre-show will explain that NASA is looking for a few good candidates for its long-in-the-planning trip to Mars. (Mind you, this version of the attraction pre-dates the theatrical release of Disney's sci-fi spectacular, Mission to Mars. The Mouse had hoped that this recent Touchstone release would become this huge hit, thereby giving WDI a few characters and a storyline that they could build their "Space" pavilion around. Unfortunately, M2M died a dog's death almost immediately after it went into wide release this past March. Which forced WDI to abandon its plan to tie "Mission: Space" into the "Mission to Mars" mythology.

This left Imagineering without a movie or a recognizable set of characters to build Epcot's "Space" pavilion around. This situation became particularly dire with this month's announcement that Walt Disney Studios was putting its proposed film version of Douglas Adams' The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy into turnaround. This meant that the Mouse had no space based project at all in its film development pipeline.

This news initially put the Imagineers in a panic. For - you see - these days, Disney CEO Michael Eisner insists that all of the company's theme park projects have at least a tentative tie to a pre-existing Disney film or television project. This keeps the company's much vaunted synergy going - which makes Uncle Michael happy.

But - currently - there are no futuristic or space based Disney projects in the works. [Well, there is Tron 2.0. But that's a story for another time ...]

So what's WDI to do? Try and find a way to link "Mission: Space" thematically to some earlier Disney sci-fi film or TV show? As you might imagine, there were plenty of jokes flying around Imagineering Headquarters about The Black Hole rides and The Cat From Outer Space simulators.

Thankfully, cooler heads eventually prevailed in Glendale. The "Mission: Space" project would go forward as originally planned. Props from the Mission to Mars movie would still be used to decorate the attraction's queue area. As for the story for the pre-show and / or which character / celebrity will host "Space" ... 2003's a long way away. The Imagineers are reasonably confident that they'll be able to come up with someone famous to host "Mission: Space" and / or find some Disney film or ABC television show to wrap around the attraction by then.