Disneyland Park guests were in for a surprise earlier this month when Space Mountain suddenly broke down during regular operation. The incident left riders stuck mid-ride and prompted a rare response from Disney cast members who had to manually move rockets along the track.
Space Mountain first opened at Disneyland Park on May 27, 1977, making the date of the incident just days shy of the ride’s 48th anniversary. The attraction originated at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park, debuting in 1975, and was later introduced at Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The roller coaster is currently being rebuilt at Tokyo Disney Resort, while the versions in Paris and Hong Kong have been permanently rethemed as the Star Wars-inspired Hyperspace Mountain.
At Disneyland Park, the classic indoor roller coaster sometimes receives temporary overlays, including its own Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain. Meanwhile, the Walt Disney World Resort version has occasionally featured seasonal overlays during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Currently, both U.S. parks are operating the standard version of the Space Mountain attraction.
On May 18, 2025, TikTok user @therealtoriallen shared a video of the Space Mountain breakdown at Disneyland Park. The video showed guests trapped inside the darkened roller coaster with the lights turned on—a sight many Disney Parks fans dream of witnessing. Rather than initiating a full evacuation, Disney cast members climbed to the track and pushed the stalled ride vehicles down the course to the unloading zone.
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While being stuck on a roller coaster might sound like a nightmare, guests on board Space Mountain that day seemed to take the delay in stride. Everyone unloaded safely and returned to Disneyland Park.
Disneyland Resort did not release a public statement about the incident, which is typical for temporary attraction malfunctions. By the time of publication, Space Mountain had reopened and resumed normal operation.
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