Spaced out at Epcot

In “Mission: Space,” Walt Disney World’s newest thrill-ride, the raw force of a rollercoaster is replaced by the choreographed spins of a custom-built centrifuge.

If your memories of space-themed attractions in Mouse Country consist of being jerked from side to side, jolted and jostled inside a pitch-black enclosure a la “Space Mountain,” you’ll probably breathe a sigh of relief.

But don’t get too comfy, Space Rangers.

What “Mission: Space” (opening Aug. 15 at Epcot) lacks in scream-quotient it makes up for in spectacular, mind-bending authenticity. Gone is the clickety-clack of your car ascending to the top of an unseen summit; it’s replaced with a mechanism so slick that you’ll think you’re actually launching into space instead of taking a spin around a simulator.

Gone, too, are the hands-in-the-air plunges which are supposed to make you feel weightless for a fraction of a second and the gyrating turns that press you against your seat as your ersatz rocket blasts off. The new ride makes you believe you’re in a zero-G environment to such an extent that you may wonder if the simulation is real or not.

Well, almost.

Disney, of course, isn’t pushing “Mission: Space” as a substitute for “Space Mountain” but the comparisons are inevitable. Both are about spaceflight. Both take place in darkened enclosures. And both leave you feeling more than a little disoriented (the Navy simulator on which the new attraction is modeled isn’t called the “Spin-and-Puke” for nothing).

But the similarities end there. Disney’s latest creation is to “Space Mountain” what computer animation is to claymation: a quantum leap. In terms of technology, story-line, and interactivity, it is more similar to Universal Sudios’ “Spider-Man,” which until now has been widely regarded as the best theme-park ride in the world.

“The first time I rode it, all I could say was, ‘Like, wow’,” says Brad Rex, standing restlessly outside the “Mission: Space” exit shortly before the attraction opened. He ought to be impressed, since he’s Epcot’s vice president. But this executive privately admitted to riding the attraction at least half a dozen times – not what you’d call typical behavior for a corporate suit – and he says (without a hint of irony) that it gets better every time.

Is this thrill-ride really that impressive? Steven Young, the managing editor for the trade publication Spaceflight Now, thinks it’s superior to the NASA simulators he’s tested. “It’s more realistic,” he says. Early reports from the astronauts who were invited to test the ride say the most compelling part of this four-minute experience is the feeling of actually being launched into space. Mike Lentz, who oversaw the creation of the ride, says the pros were floored by the takeoffs.

Don’t get the wrong idea. “Mission: Space” is no one-trick attraction, with a cool liftoff, a few seconds of weightlessness, and virtual-reality window-dressing to fill in the gaps. From the moment you enter the futuristic plaza that looks as if it was designed by Frank Gehry, you’re drawn into a story in which you play a key role. Once you amble through the dim, overairconditioned corridors with their obligatory murals of space pioneers and an authentic lunar rover, you’re told by a grim-faced Gary Sinise that you’re about to undergo astronaut training for a Mars mission.

Sinise seems perfectly cast as the mission control director. Who doesn’t remember his role of Apollo 13 astronaut-hero Ken Mattingly? Or of Captain Jim McConnell in the science fiction film Mission to Mars?

After a pre-flight briefing – and several warnings that if you don’t like enclosed spaces or get motion sickness, there’s still time to bail out – you’re strapped into your capsule. Each of the four trainees is assigned a task during the mission, such as initiating a rocket separation or helping the spacecraft “land”.

The launch comes without much warning, as the centrifuge accelerates to simulate 2.5 Gs. The trick to making the illusion work is looking forward at your screen, which shows you being catapulted through the stratosphere. If you turn to look around, your senses tell you that you’re spinning in circles and you quickly become disoriented.

As the capsule rotates, it also rises along its axis. When the launch simulation ends, the capsule goes into a freefall, giving you the momentary feeling of weightlessness. Then the swiveling resumes as your view screen tells you that your second stage is launching you toward your final destination.

There’s a certain willing suspension of disbelief that “Mission: Space” requires of its guests, such as the concept of “hyper-sleep” (just like in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” except that everyone gets thawed out alive) but all in all, it’s about as realistic as you can get without signing up for the astronaut corps. We won’t give the ending away, except to say that it’s a real cliff-hanger.

A taped Sinise is there all along, encouraging and prompting you to push the right buttons. But somewhere along the way, he morphs from Sinise the space-hero into Sinise the villainous detective Jimmy Shaker from the movie Ransom. Something about that wry grin, and the way he congratulates you after finishing the mission, leaves you with the impression he really enjoyed putting you through the spin-cycle more than he should have.

It isn’t uncommon to feel motion-sick once the ride ends. “Mission: Space” confuses the senses – your stomach feels as if you’ve been riding a merry-go-round on steroids, but your eyes say you’ve been to Mars. It’s nothing a few minutes in the adjoining training lab, playing a game of “Space Race” won’t fix.

This ride represents the latest volley in the Disney-Universal arch-rivalry over which theme-park has the coolest ride. Universal insiders claim Disney chief executive Michael Eisner himself visited Islands of Adventure incognito a few years ago to check out “Spider-Man.” Afterwards, he reportedly decreed, “I want a ride like that.”

Now he’s got one that’s at least as good – if not better.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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