No One Talks About This Frustrating Ride Problem in Disneyland

Disneyland rides truly are elite, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect.

When it comes to rides, there’s literally something for everyone at Disneyland Park in California. You’ll find plenty of captivating dark rides, iconic family rides, and exciting thrill rides at the park — and, for the most part, each one delivers. However, over the several decades I’ve been visiting “The Happiest Place On Earth”, one popular ride, in particular, has presented a problematic reality that seems to be getting worse each year.

Tomorrowland’s Space Mountain is one of the MOST popular attractions in all of the Disneyland Resort — and for good reason! This updated toboggan-style roller coaster-like ride takes guests on a thrilling journey through outer space with rockin’ music, cool special effects, and thrills that get the heart rate goin’. On my list of best rides at Disneyland, Space Mountain will always be in the top 5… and yet, I have a major gripe.

It doesn’t matter if it’s in its normal form, Hyperspace Mountain overlay, or the now-defunct Ghost Galaxy overlay — Space Mountain is ALWAYS in demand and always garnering long waits. 

But it would be nonsensical for me to complain about long waits for a popular ride. “Oh no, arguably Disneyland’s most popular attraction is making me wait my turn! How could this be?” That’s not a realistic complaint that anyone should take seriously. Space Mountain is a phenomenal attraction at Disneyland, and it makes perfect sense as to why it consistently has a long wait.

My gripe has more to do with how Disney publicizes the wait.

On most days, you’ll find the wait time listed somewhere in that 45-minute to one-hour-plus wait designation — which isn’t anything that should cause alarm, frankly. HOWEVER, a lot of Disneyland guests — myself included — experience Disney Space Mountain standby wait times that far exceed what’s posted.

A lot of rides at Disneyland offer waits that are shorter than what’s posted in front of the queue or on the Disneyland app. This is hardly the case with Space Mountain, however. And unlike newer rides like Rise of the Resistance and its gorgeous queue that has a plot of its own, when you’re at a standstill in Space Mountain’s indoor and outdoor queue, you feel every passing second.

In reality, a couple of factors have created consistently misleading wait times that have led me to believe that the posted wait times for Space Mountain are almost ALWAYS LOWER than what you’ll experience in reality.

The first is the annoying Lightning Lane conundrum. Lightning Lane guests get extra special priority for Space Mountain. This Lightning Lane might be the most popular one at Disneyland, and Cast Members certainly treat it as such.

Space Mountain’s queue merges Lightning Lane and standby riders near the loading area. You’ll often see droves of Lightning Lane guests move up in the queue faster. After a herd goes through, Cast Members will let a small number of standby guests move up, and then it’s back to letting a mass of Lightning Lane guests go once more. Rinse and repeat.

I get it, they’re paying for that privilege, and I’m not arguing that it’s unfair either. But ever since Lightning Lanes were introduced, I have NOT ONCE actually gotten on the ride within the posted wait time, and the movement of the Lightning Lane was the most notable factor.

Standby riders already have to deal with the Lightning Lane problem, but it gets even worse when you factor in breakdowns and loading slowdowns. You’re already behind the 8-ball, but if one thing goes wrong, your wait could be extended to a point that could ruin your Disney day.

Let’s say you think you’re getting a lucky break with a posted 20-minute wait time near the end of the night. Well, you might also have to factor in that everyone else saw the low wait time and is rushing over. Then there are the Lightning Lane reservations that were made earlier in the day and are being cashed in now. AND there are ride breakdown passes for other attractions handed out throughout the day that can include Space Mountain eligibility, so that Lightning Lane gets even bigger. Suddenly, that 20-minute wait time jumps to 50. AND THEN a temporary pause happens that stalls you in the line.

I’ve been burned by this exact circumstance before, if you can’t tell. Getting tricked by the Space Mountain wait time is a common way to waste precious time at Disneyland.

Am I insinuating that Disney is deliberately falsifying wait times? Not at all. It’s doing the best it can to form accurate estimated wait times. I am, however, criticising the system it’s using, and suggest maybe overestimating the number as a precaution.

It’s better to see a long wait, commit to that, and be pleasantly surprised when you get on much faster than expected than to commit to a lower wait and effectively waste time standing in a queue that just ain’t moving.

Ultimately, there are three solutions. The first is to buy a Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Honestly, if you buy one primarily to ride Space Mountain and whatever else you get on is just a bonus, I can’t blame you.

The second solution is to just mentally add on a chunk of time to whatever wait time is posted. When it comes to Space Mountain’s wait times, it’s better to allot more time than Disney is suggesting, just so you can plan out your day more accurately or get a nice surprise if the line miraculously moves faster than expected.

Finally, this attraction does offer a Single Rider option. It’s not as fast as Lightning Lane, but it is free, and you do have a significant chance of getting on the ride faster than the standby crowd. Keep in mind, though, that this line will split your party up.

Despite my complaints and the frustration I have just thinking about Space Mountain’s long wait, I still maintain that this is an elite attraction and is on the Mount Rushmore of Great Disneyland Rides.

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Have you run into this problem before? What other Disneyland ride issues have you noticed during your visits? Let us know in the comments and continue to follow us here at AllEars for more Disneyland tips, tricks, hacks, and updates!

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