Last month I said that we would soon see a scheduled closure of a big ride in the January 2015 calendar. Sure enough we’ve had news that Space Mountain: Mission 2 will close for an update in January.
Space Mountain
Anyone who has listened to Magical DLP’s first Podcast will know that Space Mountain: Mission 2 is my favourite attraction at Disneyland Paris. I won’t go into why that is here, because that’s not why you’ve come, but let me just pretext this section by saying that I LOVE SPACE MOUNTAIN. Sorry… I’ll try to be professional from here on out!
According to @Disneylandberry, Space Mountain: Mission 2 will close on 12th January 2015 and reopen on 26th June. At which time its name will become simply ‘Space Mountain’. We’ve been rumouring the major update of Space Mountain for quite some time now, so we have every reason to suggest that this will be true. We even know that Space Mountain will close indefinitely on 12th January. To add a little bit of background: Space Mountain originally opened in 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon), before being updated 10 years later to become Space Mountain: Mission 2. We’re now another 10 years down the line once we reach 2015, so it would be a timely time to do an update.
Here’s the big question: what will the update entail? Well, I can say with almost certainty that it will involve the trains being updated. It has been rumoured for a long time that new, more comfortable trains are on the way – because we all know that the current space adventure can currently be a little rough! @Disneylandberry also stated in another tweet that indeed these new trains would be coming, but that there would be no new music for the attraction.
Now I’m going to put it out there and say that when I read that tweet, I panicked. New trains- is that really it? If there’s no new music then that would suggest that we’re not going to see any major retheme like much of the fan community would appreciate. In fact it’s the music of Mission 2 which much of the fan community think is a major problem with the attraction; many feel it’s soulless. And if we don’t get a retheme away from the current edge of the galaxy theme, then what else will we get? Presumably no new story, maybe just some cool new effects? I’ll be honest that’s a sad thought. I’m going to hope that this isn’t true though, because the refurbishment is planned to take a whole half a year, after all! Surely they wouldn’t close a major attraction for that long just to run in some new trains and pop in a few new effects.
Myself and Andrew have a timely full discussion of Space Mountain and it’s future in Episode 2 of our Podcast. Disclaimer: It’s over an hour long!
New Frozen show
We hinted at the possibility of this in last month’s Rumour Mill, but we weren’t sure that any new show would be based around Frozen. This month speculation has only increased that the refurbishment of the Chapperal Theatre in Frontierland will be for a Frozen show. The Imagineers are clearly in a Frozen mood recently because a Frozen ride as been confirmed for EPCOT in Florida along with a new Frozen themed area for Tokyo Disneyland being confirmed too. Photos have appeared on the internet of the theatre undergoing refurbishment, but they only show the stage being gutted so there are no hints to be had there!
The big rumour: The 10 + 2 Updates rumour
If you’ve not heard of this rumour before now, then you’re really missing out! The 10 + 2 Updates rumour is a well backed rumour which claims that in the run up to Disneyland Paris’ 25th birthday in 2017 – the Disneyland Park will receive 10 attraction updates, while the Walt Disney Studios Park will receive an additional 2. By updates, we’re assuming this means a proper refurbishment with major changes.
Walt Disney Studios Park:
– 2015: Tower of Terror (Source – @DisneylandBerry) A potential repair job on the exterior of the show building.
– [Unknown date]: Replacement for Animagique, which is reportedly closing this year.
Disneyland Park:
– 2015: Space Mountain (@DisneylandBerry) A major upgrade including new trains.
– 2015: Frozen Show at the Chapperal Theatre.
– 2016: Big Thunder Mountain (@DisneylandBerry) “full refurbishment with surprises”.
– 2017: Phantom Manor (@InsideDLP) possible retheme.
– 2017: Star Tours upgrade to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.
– [Unknown date]: Cafe Hyperion to host Jedi Training Academy.
– [Unknown date]: Update to Adventure Isle area?
– [Unknown date]: Autopia to use hybrid engines.
– [Unknown date]: Parade update.
– [No conclusive rumour yet]*
– [No conclusive rumour yet]*
*You do hear bucket-loads of rumours which could go here, but I’m only interested in the ones that seem to have some sort of grounding.
So that rounds up the rumours for this month. Personally I’m hoping for some more news about Space Mountain shortly, with Disneyland Paris surely needing to confirm it with some morsel of information some time soon!
Of course, the best bit of rumours is discussing them. So if you want to join in the fun, be sure to follow @MagicalDLP and @SIMCITYWEST (author of this article) on Twitter!
