When you visit a Disney park, there is so much going on that visitors don’t even notice the secret hacks that are used to impress them. One special ride which employs neat tricks to make it seem scarier is Space Mountain. According to a video by TikToker @themouselets, there are fans inside that blow on you throughout the ride, to make it feel like it is going faster. It is also in the dark, which can alter your perception of how frightening it is. On the Micechat forum, fans even speculate that this ride goes faster as the day goes on as the warmer tracks and wheels mean there is less friction after it has been around a few times.
Interestingly, Space Mountain goes at 27 mph, only two miles faster than the children’s ride Goofy’s Barnstormer which travels at 25 mph. One of the reasons the dark affects our sense of fear so profoundly is that it is so much harder to be aware of threats without our eyesight. This could hark back to our ancestor’s times when humans would avoid going out at night in case of predators. Bigger theme parks like Disney love to use tricks like this, as they have a secret shady side that helps them to provide the best experience for their guests. However, they are unusual as dark rides lost popularity after a scary incident in the 1980s.
Why are dark rides less popular now?
Dark rides used to be much more popular at theme parks as they were a cheap and easy way to scare people using electricity and sound effects. However, back then some of these dark rides weren’t very safe. In 1984, eight teenagers died when they were trapped during a fire at the Haunted House in New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure. This incident and others made dark rides less attractive to park owners so they fell out of fashion.
Since then, health and safety has reduced these risks so rides have sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, and marked fire exits so people can get out. They are also checked by the fire department who asked that the realistic “burning village” in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride could be switched off in case of a real emergency. Something that every Disneyland visitor should know before their trip is that this theme park has strict guidelines and procedures to keep their visitors safe, so it is a great place to ride in the dark!
