Mission: SPACE

Mission: SPACE: attraction at EPCOT, Walt Disney World — live wait times, operating status, and planning data on MouseHub.

Wait time history

Historical wait patterns for Mission: SPACE accrete daily as MouseHub records waits every 15 minutes. Charts appear here once enough history exists.

Visitor sentiment

4.3· 3,799 Google ratings

Visitors say this amusement park ride offers a unique and realistic simulation of a space mission, with a centrifuge that creates G-forces similar to those experienced by astronauts during takeoff. They also highlight the educational value of the ride, as it provides insights into the training and experiences of astronauts. Some reviews mention the ride can be intense.

Summarized with Gemini · Report summary

The MouseHub take

Mission: SPACE sits in EPCOT's World Discovery, and the choice you make at the entrance decides what ride you get. The Orange Mission runs on a centrifuge that spins and tilts to reproduce the speed and G-forces of a launch and reentry, sending your crew toward Mars. The Green Mission uses a motion simulator that doesn't spin, orbiting Earth instead. Both start at the International Space Training Center, where the four cadets in your cabin take roles as navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer aboard the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle.

The attraction opened on August 15, 2003 in the pavilion Horizons had held, and it still divides guests more sharply than anything else at EPCOT. Space fans and thrill riders come off the Orange side happy. Riders prone to motion sickness come off it queasy, which Disney warns about at length in its own guest policies. The indoor line and the air conditioning make this a dependable stop in the worst heat of the afternoon, and the Green Mission plus the Advanced Training Lab next door give a mixed party a way to stay together.

At a glance

Best for
Space fans and thrill riders who want the G-forces, and families split on thrill tolerance who need one attraction with two settings.
Skip if
You get motion sick, dislike tight dark spaces, or have the heart, back, or neck conditions Disney warns about at the entrance.
Ride type
Space flight simulator, a spinning centrifuge on Orange and a motion simulator on Green
Intensity
High on Orange: sustained G-forces, spinning, a dark enclosed cabin, and a loud launch. Green runs the same flight without the spin.

The good

  • Two intensity levels keep the party together
    The Green Mission tells the same story on a motion simulator that doesn't spin. A family split on thrill tolerance can send half to Orange and half to Green and meet at the same exit.
  • The air conditioning does half the work
    The line, the briefing rooms, and the post-show all sit indoors. Riders regularly describe this as the stop that rescues a hot afternoon in World Discovery.
  • Everyone in the cabin gets a job
    Each of the four cadets is assigned as navigator, pilot, commander, or engineer at the International Space Training Center. Once you're flying, the crew is told to initiate a mission-critical sequence, so nobody is only watching.
  • The line moves faster than it looks
    Riders consistently report shorter standby here than at the headliners on either side of it, even on packed days. A queue that reaches the walkway is not the wait it appears to be.
  • The exit lab is a real attraction
    The Advanced Training Lab runs digital games for older kids and a crawl-through wormhole playground for small ones, plus a jetpack flight over Mars and video postcards from space. Disney lists it as its own attraction rather than a hallway of touchscreens.
  • It took over the Horizons pavilion in 2003
    Mission: SPACE opened on August 15, 2003 on the site of Horizons, one of EPCOT's original Future World pavilions. The premise puts you about forty years ahead, in a future where spaceflight is routine.

The bad

  • The Orange side makes people sick
    Disney's own guest policies warn that the intense maneuvers can cause nausea, headache, dizziness, and disorientation in riders who have never had motion sickness before. Reviewers who read that as marketing tend to write about it afterward.
  • The cabin closes in on you
    Four riders sit shoulder to shoulder in a dark pod with a restraint across the chest and a screen inches from the face. Disney's advisory says to skip both levels if enclosed dark spaces or simulators bother you.
  • The screen work looks its age
    The flight footage lacks the sharpness of the newer screen-based rides at Walt Disney World, and riders single out the Mars approach as the sequence that shows it most.
  • You stand through a lot of briefing
    The safety and instruction videos run before you reach the boarding corridor. Reviewers who came for the centrifuge describe the run-up as longer than it needs to be.
  • The warnings talk people out of the line
    Disney posts advisories about high blood pressure, heart, back, and neck problems, motion sickness, and pregnancy on the way to the cabin. Some guests read them and leave before boarding.

Veteran tips

  • Check both height numbers before you queue
    Green needs 40 inches, Orange needs 44. Measure any kid in that gap before the trip so the Green lane is the plan rather than a consolation at the entrance.
  • Rider Switch covers the ones who sit out
    Mission: SPACE is on Disney's Rider Switch list, so one adult rides while the other waits with a child who can't or won't. Only two people ride on the second pass, so a larger group needs to decide who goes.
  • Service animals cannot board here
    Disney's guest policies list service animals as not permitted on this attraction. Rider Switch is the answer, and setting it up at the entrance takes a minute before your party splits.
  • Everyone leaves the wheelchair or ECV
    The posted classification is Must Transfer from Wheelchair/ECV, with a transfer access vehicle and a transfer device available. Video captioning is offered as well.
  • Keep your eyes on the screen
    Riders who shut their eyes or turn their head during the Orange spin report the worst of the dizziness. Watch the display in front of you until the cabin stops moving.
  • Spend your Multi Pass somewhere else
    This sits in EPCOT's second Multi Pass group, competing with Soarin' Across America and Spaceship Earth for the same two picks. Standby here usually stays short enough that those two win.
  • Go in during the afternoon heat
    The line, the briefing rooms, and the exit lab are all indoors, so between noon and four it doubles as a cooling break. That window is also when reviewers report the shortest waits.
  • Non-riders can wait in the training lab
    The Advanced Training Lab is a standalone attraction, and you can walk in from the gift shop without joining the ride queue. Anyone sitting the mission out can play the games in there and meet the crew at the exit.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

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