Space Mountain as if the lights were on, and other Disneyland/World secrets

Many years ago, some friends of mine went to Disneyland and got to experience Space Mountain in an unusual way.

They went through the ride the normal way, but when the car returned to the load/unload area, the cast member (because that’s what Disney calls them) asked, “Do you want to go again?”

Everybody in the car enthusiastically shouted, “Yes!”

(Presumably they were falling behind on the loading and unloading, and waving a car through saved them a bit of time they could use to catch up.)

The second time through the ride was qualitatively different: Their eyes had already acclimated to the dark, so even though they were going through the ride like everybody else, they could see the room as if the lights were on.

There are a number of videos of Disneyworld Space Mountain with the lights on, captured from the PeopleMover, but that’s not the same as riding it with the lights on.

Other Disneyland secrets:

• The secret restroom
• The Haunted Mansion from above, revealing the ride behind the façade.
• Photos from backstage.

I’m leaving for vacation today, so the blog will be on autopilot for a while. I might visit a certain theme park. You never know.