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Close to your villa near Disney is the DisneyWorld theme park.  If ‘astronaut’ has always been top of your ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ list, then Mission:SPACE at DisneyWorld’s Epcot theme park is the dream you’ve been waiting for.

Mission:SPACE

Space training
Would be astronauts get to train for their first mission to Mars on board the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC).  The year is 2036.  It’s an important day just 75 years after man’s first space flight and it’s your turn.

Orange or Green teams
At the Recruiting Center you see the craft you’ll be taking into space, the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle.  Here you are assigned to a team with 3 others to start your training and sent to the ‘Ready Room’.

You get to choose either the Orange or the Green team.  Make your choice by the amount of thrills and excitement you want to experience.  If you’ve got the nerve then select Orange for the most stimulating experience.  Be warned in this team you’ll experience a force of 2.4G—that’s a gravitational pull of more than twice that of the Earth.

If you aren’t so brave, the Green team’s mission will be less intense but just as exciting and you won’t feel that 2.4G pull.

• Tip: If motion sickness is a problem for you, opt for the Green team

In the Ready Room you’ll hear the voice of Mission Control who will assign you a role – the pilot, the navigator, the commander or the engineer?  Each of the team will have responsible tasks to perform during the flight to make sure your mission is successful.  So sit back and watch the training video with the rest of your team before you start your astronaut training proper.

Mission:SPACE training

Mission to Mars
After the mission briefing by video, your team climbs into the space capsule and you take up your side-by-side positions ready for your adventure.  You’ll be strapped in securely to the X-2 trainer.  Now countdown 3…2….1….Lift-off!  The sound of the rocket firing up, the pull of the force of high speed take off, ‘Hey Disney we have lift-off’ and you feel the whoosh as your mission begins.

Your journey will race you around the Moon, allow you to experience hypersleep and land you on the red surface of Mars.  Then you’ll blast off back to Earth.  You’ll not only feel all of this but hear the sounds or the stillness as well as see where you are.

How it works
Mission:SPACE is a motion simulator ride using the illusion of speed gravitational force to create the spins and tilts, blast-offs etc.

De-brief Mission: SPACE
Once you’re safely back on Earth you are ready for some Advanced Training so make your way to Mission:SPACE Advanced Training Lab.  Here you can practice your skills on a number of interactive games including a walking tour of Mars and making a video postcard of your experiences to send by email.

Tips:

• Team members must be at least 44 inches/112 cm tall
• This ride may cause motion sickness
• If you don’t like enclosed dark spaces, spinning, loud noise or simulators this attraction is probably not for you
• It is advisable that you are in good health to take this ride i.e. not suffering from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems or other  ailments that might be aggravated by the ride
• Expectant mothers should not use this ride
• Children should be constantly supervised and children under 7 must have an adult over the age of 14 with them
• Guests with young children can take turns on the ride – cast members will have more information
• You can use Disney FASTPASS at Mission:SPACE
• Wheelchair accessible but guests must be able to transfer from their vehicle to the ride

Did you know?
Disney’s developer imagineers were advised by 25 space experts when building this attraction including 5 astronauts.

You can use our DisneyWorld special offer tickets for entrance to Epcot Theme Park which you can book when you book your Orlando villa.