California: Disneyland’s Rockin’ Space Mountain
Imagine my surprise to find that instead of the usual space trip around the galaxy when we rode Space Mountain at Disneyland this year, we were treated to Higher Ground by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
After I got off the ride, I looked at my folded and mangled guide to Disneyland. There it was, right on the cover, but I hadn’t noticed it. I had just opened it to the map and headed on my way.
Part of me was pissed. Space Mountain is about SPACE, man! It’s about science and space and NASA and all that stuff! It ain’t about the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
The other part of me was sick of all that space stuff. Honestly, how much science did I ever learn from Space Mountain? None, nothing, zip. It REALLY was about the new Disney movie The Black Hole, when I was a kid, but even that movie was light on the science.
I rode Space Mountain again (it was a rainy day and the lines were pretty short) and I totally LOVED it. They somehow mixed the song to match the ride perfectly. When the music speeds up and gets manic, the coaster speeds up and starts whipping you around in a circle.
Then another part of me felt so proud and happy for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are Orange County Boys. They probably went to Disneyland a hundred times in their childhood. They probably rode Space Mountain ever since the year it opened. They probably spit on the eye in Adventure Through Inner Space. I felt this huge surge of happiness. What better band than the Red Hot Chili Peppers to soundtrack rides at Disneyland?! WAY better than Michael Jackson’s 3D monstrosity.
I didn’t ride California Screamin’, the huge roller coaster in California Adventure, but I heard that ride was Rockin’ the Peppers as well. Everybody else who rode it weren’t able to tell me which song was playing. I think it was because that ride is just so intense that they didn’t have a chance to even think about the music.
Just based on the look on their faces, I think that’s the case…
Have you ridden any of the Rockin’ rides at Disneyland? What did you think about the changes?