Fodor's Expert Review Mission: SPACE

It took five years for Disney Imagineers, with the help of 25 experts from NASA, to design Mission: SPACE, the first ride ever to take people "straight up" in a simulated rocket launch. The story transports you and co-riders to the year 2036 and the International Space Training Center, where you are about to embark on your first launch. Before you board the four-person rocket capsule, you're assigned to a position: commander, navigator, pilot, or engineer. And at this point, you're warned several times about the intensity of the ride and the risks for people with health concerns. After many guests became sick after riding, Disney created an "orange" and a "green" mission. The Orange mission heads to Mars and has a height requirement of 44 inches. A spinning motion creates the feeling of a rocket launch and weightlessness (the effect is also cumulative, so stick with one go-round unless you have a particularly hardy constitution). The Green mission on Earth, with a height requirement of 40 inches, is still plenty bumpy, but doesn't use spinning to create special effects. Pregnant women and anyone with heart, back, neck, balance, blood-pressure, or motion-sickness problems shouldn't ride either version.

For those who can handle the intense spinning, the sensation of liftoff is a turbulent, heart-pounding experience that flattens you against your seat. Once you break into outer space, you'll even feel weightless. After landing, you exit your capsule into the Advanced Training Lab, where you can play some very entertaining space-related games. For people with disabilities: This ride requires a transfer from wheelchair to seat. Service animals aren't permitted to board. Video-captioning devices can be used on the ride; assisted-listening devices can be used in the postshow Training Lab.  Both lines move swiftly, and people rarely ride this more than once, so if you see long wait times, give it an hour and try again. Don't ride on a full stomach.