The American Space Experience was an attraction located in Tomorrowland in Disneyland. It was a walkthrough attraction which opened in the former Circarama area to celebrate the 40th anniversary of NASA prior to its closure in 2003 to make way for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.
History[]
The American Space Experience was an attraction built to celebrate the 40th anniversary of NASA. During the 1990s, Tomorrowland went through a major overhaul and Disney wanted to bring a new attraction to preserve Walt Disney's vision of celebrating technology and space travel, which inspired the Imagineers to build "The American Space Experience" at Disneyland with sponsor from NASA. Since its opening, the attraction received almost universal praise for the educational exhibits and mural; however, despite that, the exhibit never became popular when it was built.
As Disney decided to move away from building walkthrough exhibits to focus more on high-tech thrill rides, the American Space Experience permanently closed in 2003. Following the closure of the attraction, Disney decided to use the valuable real estate to include an interactive attraction inside the former American Space Experience building known as "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters."
Attraction summary[]
The American Space Experience was a walkthrough space-themed attraction showcasing exhibits of what life is like in space. Exhibits could consist of models of real space equipment such as the X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle, the AX-5 space suit, or even the Pathfinder rover. In addition to these, some other exhibits located within the hall included several interactive features such as a weight for guests to measure and see what their weight would be on other planets, as well as following modules to give info about different jobs and components in space travel, and also kiosks where guests could test their knowledge about NASA and the space program.
Trivia[]
- The American Space Experience was used as a tribute to the original Tomorrowland exhibits such as the Monsanto Hall of Chemistry and the Kaiser Aluminum Hall of Fame.
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