About 2 years ago, Disneyland shut down Space Mountain and gutted the building, then rebuilt the ride from the ground up. I had a chance to ride the new version this past weekend. The result is quite impressive.

The actual ride layout is nearly identical to the old one. Everything else has changed, from the queue, to the rolling stock, to the visuals. The ride feels faster and it certainly smoother than before.

On top of that, they vastly improved the visuals in the places that needed it (the lifthills and the "re-entry") but simplified the rest with just masses of pinpoint stars.

Furthermore, the soundtrack has changed from Dick Dale surf guitar (which I liked) to something more appropriately "spacey".

The result is a incredibly well-themed, well integrated ride -- one that I think both new riders and fans of the old version will very much like.

Also, rumored, is the transformation every night from "Space Mountain" to "Rockit Mountain", where the visuals and the soundtrack will change. I'm not sure when (or even if) this will happen, but the rumors come from pretty reliable sources.

For now, Space Mountain is definitely worth a trip to Disneyland.