Mission: SPACE

Future World, Epcot

Blast off to Mars with Mission: SPACE, a high speed, one of a kind motion simulator that takes you from the NASA launchpad for a slingshot past the moon before entering 'hyper-sleep' for your eight month journey across the galaxy. But wait, rise and shine, we've got a problem! You'll need to take control and perform a manual landing at the Mars base, hold on - its going to be a very bumpy ride!

Mission: SPACE started off as a very high speed motion simulator that has 10 ride pods (each seating 4 people) attached to a centrifuge which would spin so fast it would impact forces up to 2.5G's on riders, more than twice the force of gravity, effectively multiplying the riders weight by 2.5. 

The problem with this was that nearly everyone got off the ride feeling very ill. In the first 8 months of its operation, six guests required trips to the hospital, all of which complained of chest pain and nausea. The biggest problem was that it was just too intense for over 80% of riders. 

Starting in 2006, Disney modified the ride to offer a 'green' and an 'orange' option, or 'Intense' or 'Less intense'. The intense ride still runs in the same format as it did from day 1, however the less intense 'green' version is the same ride but without the spinning, instead cold air is blasted at riders which actually works really well and gives a very similar experience, but without making you feel like you've just come out of the washing machine's fast cycle! 

When you enter the ride, you're asked if you want the intense or less intense ride and given a card covered in health warnings and an explanation of what the ride will do. Be warned that if you do decide to go on the intense version, you will likely need to go home or sit out for a while as it can really mess your head up for the day.

In a nutshell, its a ride not to be missed, but make sure you're sensible when choosing which intensity level you want, and be sure to read the health warnings!