Space Mountain Closed Nearly All Day at Magic Kingdom on the First Not-So-Scary Party Night, One Day After a 175 Minute Wait

Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain was down all day Friday, right through to the early evening, and it picked a conspicuous day to do it. August 7 was the opening night of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party for 2026, and the Tomorrowland coaster did not come back until around 6pm.

Space Mountain and its entrance, with the Stand-By Entrance and Lightning Lane banners under the PeopleMover track. Image: WDWMagic.

WDWMagic reported the attraction had been closed all day with no reopening as of 5:30pm on August 7. It came back not long after. The outlet added a 6pm update: the coaster was back up, after most of a day offline, in time for that night's party.

The day before, the line hit 175 minutes

The closure followed several rough days for the coaster. On Thursday, August 6, Space Mountain's posted standby wait reached 175 minutes as of 5:30pm, five minutes short of a full three hours.

Capacity was the main culprit. Space Mountain runs a dual-track layout, and WDWMagic reported that for the previous few days only one of those two sides had been operating. With a single track loading and dispatching instead of two, hourly capacity drops sharply, and long standby waits follow. Disney did not give a timeline for the second track's return.

Space Mountain's boarding station, with guests queued alongside the load track. Image: WDWMagic.

Weather added to the wait. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, both of which have long outdoor stretches, were listed as temporarily closed that Thursday during heavy rain, and WDWMagic said guests were shifting to indoor rides like Space Mountain as a result. Elsewhere in the park that afternoon, Tiana's Bayou Adventure was posted at 85 minutes and TRON Lightcycle / Run at 90 minutes.

An apology signed by the park's vice president

While the ride was down, Disney posted an apology in the My Disney Experience app. It was headed "Pardon the Inconvenience" and signed by Sarah Riles, Vice President, Magic Kingdom Park. WDWMagic published the text:

On behalf of the entire team at Magic Kingdom, I'd like to apologize that Space Mountain is currently unavailable. Our Cast Members are working diligently to get the attraction up and running again, and we are sorry you are not able to experience this attraction at this time. I hope you will enjoy some of our other attractions during your experience in the park today.

At the time WDWMagic published its original story, Disney had not said whether Space Mountain would be available during that night's hard-ticket event. The 6pm update answered that question in the guests' favor.

The rebuild talk in the background

Space Mountain's cone, a Tomorrowland landmark since the ride opened in 1975. Image: WDWMagic.

A stretch of one-track operation lands at an awkward moment. In July, WDWMagic reported that Disney was in the planning stages on a significant Space Mountain refurbishment, potentially including a retrack. We wrote that up at the time and stressed the same caveat that applies now: it is unconfirmed. Disney has announced no closure, no dates and no scope, and a similar project was planned and then dropped once before, in 2008.

You can read our earlier write-up of that report here: A Rumor Says Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain Could Close for a Major Retrack, but Disney Has Not Confirmed Anything.

None of which changes the practical advice for this week. If Space Mountain matters to your day, pull up its status in My Disney Experience before you commit to a Tomorrowland stop, since Disney has not said when the second track returns to service.

Sources

• WDWMagic, "Space Mountain Reopens After Lengthy Closure Today"
• WDWMagic, "Space Mountain Wait Times Hit Nearly Three Hours Today at Magic Kingdom"
• WDWMagic, "Disney Planning Massive Rebuild of Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom"

Image credits: All photographs by WDWMagic.