Disney makes people sick. Its official. One of the attractions at the Epcot centre is a motion simulator ride of a trip to Mars, called Mission Space. It apparrently is so good that it is actually nausea inducing.
The website is pretty sick too...
Prior to finding all this out, I came at it from the usual angle, putting the cart before the horse as ever by finding a nice model of the Mission Space Lander on ebay. I didn't have any idea what it was at first, but I liked the clean lines and dynamic form.
The toy is apparently available at the centre only as an exclusive. I picked mine up loose on the 'bay a while ago. Its a big model, about a foot long and includes the usual electronic wizardry by virtue of the three dorsal buttons. Theres a cheesy countdown in suitably rousing synth voice, engine roar and the leading edge of the main fins light up as the ship hits atmosphere and begins to heat up. The engine nacelles flash and glow too. The canopy opens to reveal four seats and underneath are retractable skid landing gear for touch down on the martian flats.
Good luck with your mission should you choose to accept it - and don't forget the barf bag!
They should class your house as a Space Launching Area Wote! Where do you keep all this stuff you bring out for our edification? A foot long! This X2 is huge! Reminds me of the X-Men Blackbird you saw in my attic t'other day via Skype.
ReplyDeleteand where are these Martian Flats? On the edge of town?
ReplyDeleteBeen on it several times. There's a big hole in the back story to the ride. If you are travelling on the first trip to Mars, who built the runway that you land on?!
ReplyDeleteBeen on the ride in Disney Florida. It's a huge centifuge split into compartments that are designed like space capsules. You strap in with 3 others and try to press the buttons as the g-force takes hold. In front of each of your is a screen displaying the view as it would be out of the cockpit on your launch from Earth, avoiding asteroids and than an emergency landing on a runway on Mars. Great fun but massive queues.
ReplyDeleteApologies in advance to our Gallic readers, ive been to Eurodisney and it was bloody awful. There was a Star Tours ride which had my 8 year old daughter in tears and an Armageddon attraction (and i use the word loosely) which was like watching paint dry.
ReplyDeleteI reckon Wote's home must be bigger on the inside than the outside.
ReplyDeleteHaha, good point, Steve. But come on ... you too, Yorkie, did you throw up or not?
Wote, what was it about that ride that upset your daughter?
And for anyone who's wondering .... I had a barf last week.
I did this ride in Florida a few years back. HORRIFIC! I genuinely thought I was going to die. A dreadful wave of nausea just came over me during the 'flight' and that was pretty much it for me. Two young girls and a female companion were in my capsule too and they all thought it was brilliant but I felt like death and was horribly sick within minutes of leaving the ride. My days as an astronaut were short-lived! A pal I was with was in an even worse state.
ReplyDelete"I wish I was A Spaceman...????,"
Not me mate!
Jim Lewis
The Star Tours ride I was on was basically a bunch of wobbly seat sat in front of a big telly. The seats shook and tipped to such a degree my poor daughter thought she was going to fall out!
ReplyDeleteHi. No I didn't throw up. Though it was disconcerting that it's the only ride I've been on that had sick bags! After queueing an hour to get on it there was no way I was chickening out. As it was my first time I had no idea that it was a centrifuge and when I tried to press the buttons on my console it was a shock as I really had to strain to move my arm against the g-force.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I was impressed with the way they give you lots to look at as you queue - tv displays of the 'real' voyage, model spacecraft, Disney employees dressed as crew and chatting to you about the trip. After the trip of course you leave your capsule and emerge in the gift shop to buy your t-shirts and toys.
Did the Star Tours (Star Wars) ride many times too. That was excellent. It's on YouTube if you do a search. In the gift shop afterwards (lots of Star Wars stuff, and Galactica strangely enough as it's not Disney or Lucasfilm) I bought several mini (5 inch) StarSpeeder 3000 toys. This is a model of the ship you did the ride in. Hasbro did a much larger version for their action figures, but I prefer the mini version.
Crikey, this makes me want to go back to Orlando again.
No, I didn't throw up. It's rougher than that in Fireball at times! :-)
ReplyDeleteHee hee, Steve Zodiac. You guys in the World Space Patrol are so cool, keepin' us safe from aliens an' all.
ReplyDeleteYorkie, if I came across a ride that had sick bags, I'd be disconcerted too!
ReplyDeleteWote, that Disney ride doesn't sound fun :(
Jim ... don't join the World Space Patrol ^_^
ReplyDeleteThe question that pops into my mind (apart from why isn't chocolate free?) is do they have staff to clean up the ... erm ... vomit, between rides?
ReplyDeleteMy mate who was in a really terrible way was at his worst when departing the ride. A member of the staff there saw his condition and assisted him into a sort of secret room which was basically full of troughs and he 'projected' almost immediately upon entry there. I managed to get outside before I was 'at it'
ReplyDeleteJim Lewis
Thank sounds quite gruesome, Jim :(
ReplyDeleteSteve Zodiac said...
ReplyDelete"Been on it several times. There's a big hole in the back story to the ride. If you are travelling on the first trip to Mars, who built the runway that you land on?!"
In the pre-flight briefing, Gary Sinise's character glosses over this with a sentence about robotic crews having built the runway. So this is the first MANNED flight to Mars, but not the first flight altogether.
If you want to sell that X-2 in the pics up there, let me know!
Steve/Alex - cant say im in any mad rush to sell the old X-2, but im not desperately attached to it - drop me a line if you want to maybe discuss a trade or something ?
ReplyDelete