This was originally posted here:
http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=dl060905xx
Rockin' all over the place
What a weird path Rock It Mountain has taken. During the recent multi-year rebuild of Space Mountain, there were lots of rumors about a "nighttime" version of Space Mountain. Then when the new attraction sign went up everybody was excited to see evidence for the new name hidden away and only visible under exactly the right lighting.
And then it kept getting delayed, and word began to leak out the the powers-that-be weren't too pleased with the product and that the rush to finish Space Mountain in time for the 50th birthday of Disneyland had prevented the Imagineers from doing exactly what they wanted. It was finally seen by the limited segment of the public last May and June during the many Grad Nights for the class of 2006. The response generally matched the rumors, and new rumors began circulating that "Rock It Mountain" would simply be quietly shelved, with maybe a short run in 2007 to justify the expense, and then fade into memory and maybe appear in a decade as a question in the Disney version of Trivial Pursuit.
At the big New York announcement of the 2007 promotion "Year of a Million Dreams" the press releases included mention that "Rockin' Space Mountain" would be coming to Disneyland for 2007. So the name had changed and it appeared the method had changed. Rather than just being a nighttime attraction, the problem of how to gracefully switch from one version to the other would be solved by just switching full time.
Cast members were definitely caught by surprise, however, by last week's announcement that "Rockin'" would be even bigger than that announcement implied. Not only will Space Mountain switch full-time to Rockin' Space Mountain beginning this January and run through April 2007 but DCA's California Screamin' will get a Rockin' makeover as well. Beyond a new soundtrack on the DCA attraction it is unclear that there is anything else that could be done to remake the attraction but from January through April they'll be "rockin' both parks." (Sorry for that, but that was the official wording in the announcement.)
I didn't Know if you guys knew about this so I just wanted to let VF know about it! :D
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