OK, I waited through all the holiday hoopla so I wouldn’t sound like the Grinch. And I even went back and rode the “improved” Space Mountain again — just to be sure I was giving it a fair shake.

And, well, I don’t get it. I know people  who are rapturous about it: They say it’s darker, it’s scarier, it seems faster, it feels smoother.

But as someone who has ridden the Mountain at least 100 times over the years, I have to say the ride itself seemed exactly the same to me. Yes, they took out the nostalgic chocolate-chip-cookie-like planet effect, and added a Star Trek-like space station. But that wasn’t too big a thrill to me.

The video game in the queue was a lot of fun — and I don’t even like video games. But I enjoyed blasting the aliens (and getting my butt kicked by the 7-year-old next to me).

As for the rest of the standby queue, though, it’s still a long boring slog through the waiting area. A few signs, pretending you’re in a spaceport, don’t make it any better. And the final leg of the queue — behind a wall — seemed downright unfinished.

On the ride, the track was still bumpy and I could still see other parts of the track. The moving stars just didn’t do enough to disorient me.

I knew Orlando’s ride wasn’t getting the exciting music, as Disneyland’s ride has, because it would have meant getting all new cars. But I had hoped we could replicate Disneyland’s moving-star effect, which does leave me guessing where the next twists and turns will be.

Sorry, Disney, this time you disappointed me.

There’s a different kind of Disney marathon coming Friday. Performance artist Brian Feldman will spend 11 hours going around in circles at the Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom.

The project, unofficial and not sponsored by Walt Disney World, is tied to the 35th anniversary of the rotating theater’s opening in Florida.

“There’s nostalgia at play here,” Feldman says. He remembers visiting the Tomorrowland attraction as a kid and that his father got to see it during the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. 

“He was always singing the song,” Feldman says.

Which one, I asked him. “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” or “The Best Time of Your Life”?

“I think he did a mashup of both of them,” he says.

Feldman (left) sits with Terry Olson during the Swan Boat Talks project. Feldman recently shed his trademark beard, which he considers another project for the year.

Feldman, 29, says he’ll spend Friday entering and re-entering the attraction, which features four scenes following Animatronic families through various decades. His favorite part was always the finale.

“I’ve always been partial to the future, so it’s always been Act 4 – whatever the update was,” he says.

“I really enjoy it all. It’s a genuine emotion I have toward the attraction.”

He was surprised by others liking the Carousel.

“They’re coming out of the woodwork,” he says. “Friends of mine that we never talked about that particular ride or any ride at all, but you mention Carousel of Progress and they go ‘Yes! That’s my favorite!’ I had no idea.”

Feldman, who has lived in Orlando about 20 years, has performed a variety of unusual feats over the years, including leaping from a 12-foot ladder all day on Leap Year Day, organizing giant pillow fights and conducting interviews in the swan boats on Lake Eola.

“This is one of the easiest things I’ve ever done,” Feldman says. “I’ve never done anything at the parks, and I’ve been wanting to. It’s impossible as an Orlando artist to ignore the attractions. You have to embrace it. Had I been doing it in the summer, with Extra Magic Hours, this could have gone for 17 hours.”

Still, he’s not a crazy man. He could have gone with another Magic Kingdom staple.

“At least it’s not ‘it’s a small world‘ for 11 hours,” he laughs.

Gone from the Space Mountain rocket ships are the glow-in-the-dark strips. The newly refurbished ride has a darker feel than before. (Photo by Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel)

With a pinch of bright green.

The Magic Kingdom roller coaster, closed for improvements since April, is currently in soft-open/test mode for theme park guests. Its official re-opening is Sunday, Nov. 22. Folks who get aboard the indoor ride this week will notice new games in the pre-show, a more overt storyline, an altered color scheme, changes in loading area and post-ride areas, and an even-darker, close-to-pitch-black experience.

>> View pictures from the revamped Space Mountain

Imagineer Alex Wright, who was creative director on the project, walked us through the changes Monday.  The entire look isn’t finished yet, but the ride is operational. The heavy lifting of the project is complete, Wright says, “but not the fine tuning.”

Here are some of the changes, more or less chronologically.

+ The exterior of the Space Mountain area has been spruced up and unified in graphic presentation and color scheme. The orange lettering — a relic from the days of Federal Express sponsoring — is now green. The video arcade/gift shop has been painted a neutral tone, away from the salmon hue of the past. The demolition of the neighboring (and abandoned) Skyway station gives Space Mountain a bigger presence from within Tomorrowland. Wright calls it a “cleaner, open vista.” The colors throughout are whites, blues and metallics with some bright green thrown in. “We needed some punch color to give it an accent,” Wright says.

+ The storyline starts right inside the door. You’re no longer in Tomorrowland. You’re entering, according to the large sign, Starport Seven-Five, “Your gateway to the galaxies.” The sign also makes references to Space Mountains in Disney parks in California, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. (“Seven-Five,” of course, is a reference to 1975, the year D isney World’s Space Mountain opened.)

+ The queue goes downhill (starry scenarios remain on the right), bottoms out and along the incline are lighted panels of galactic  route maps (note Disney-centric references to Hyperion, Pluto and dwarfs.)

+ Where the line flattens out again are big-screen video-games. It’s a similar idea as the games within Epcot’s Soarin’ queue, but more individualized and in tighter quarters. There are 87 player positions and eventually there will be four games there. Right now, an asteroid-based game is in place and testing is ongoing on for a “Lost & Found” game using “sorter bots.” Upcoming: a game with cargo modules moving across lanes of traffic and a game where players build out Starport with “expando-bots.” All four games are expected to be operational by mid-December.

+ The merger point of FastPass line and stand-by line has been moved farther into the main loading area. This will help get FastPassers on as quickly as promised, Wright says.

+ The main loading areas — Alpha and Omega sides — are much more enclosed than before, which obscures more of the view of the ride and makes it more mysterious. The hole in the “roof” reminded me of the old Texas Stadium, former home of the Dallas Cowboys. This limits the amount of light that makes it up to riders, who are now even more in the dark.

+ Up through the hole, guests can see a space station, nebula and a planet with moons. Keep an eye on the space station as a rocket occasion comes into view. The queue rails are silver and the panels in the loading station have been painted fuchsia.

+ The loading station holes are outlined in blue lighting and the floor has a new sparkling look. On-deck riders are now separated from the ride vehicles by gate doors. Tile indicating the waiting spots on the floor will be added by next month.

+ The “rocket” vehicles are the same but with alterations. The seat is new and more padded. The “arm” along the side is now sturdier — tough enough to stand on when entering. Gone are the glow-in-the-dark strips along the side. Wright says even with less light in the building, the strips were giving off a surprising amount of light, which was counterproductive to the deep, dark goal.

+ The takeoff tunnel has a new effect. Rather than rolling toward a mirror, passengers are aimed at a glowing blue orb, which is meant to represent the energy that launches the vessel, followed by strobes and a flash (hint: Smile!).

+ The ride itself? Well, it’s the same track and design and a similar experience as before. But it is indeed noticably darker (try it out in the Tomorrowland Transit Authority for a taste) and the stars are brighter. And the stars are brighter – it’s a contrast thing.  It kind of seemed faster, though it isn’t, and I’m chalking that up to disorientation. It’s that dark.

+ A lot of fiddling was done to keep even more light out. For example, the lip of TTA was extended to prevent exterior light from leaking in.

+ To my lower back, it felt smoother. That could be a product of my imagination or the tightening and maintenance of the rails. Basically, they line up better now. It’s also eerily quiet now. “The noise level is notably reduced,” Wright says. Or maybe it’s the old “In Space Mountain, no one can hear you scream” saying.

+ At the unloading station, riders can preview on-board photos, available for purchase in the gift shop.

+ The long, slanted, moving sidewalk to the exit remains. More de-FedExing is found on the left as the cargo hold is now luggage claim. The Lost & Found Distribution Center harkens back to a video game from the queue. Also here is the video game host robot (Name: DRL.)

+ On the right are post-show vignettes presenting intergalactic travel destinations such as the Crater Caverns and the Coral Moons of Pisces 7.

+ The last scene, which housed monitors with images of ascending/exiting guests, now has a sign that says “Thanks for Flying with us.” It’s temporary. In the future, updated technology will do the same trick, but placing folks’ images into the scenarios of the previous vignettes. That’s why the back wall is so, so green. It’s not just the color scheme, it’s a green screen.

+  Finally, here’s Wright’s take on the storyline. “We’re no longer in Tomorrowland, we’re off to planets somewhere. We’re at this futuristic starport where people are taking off on rides around the galaxies. You could go anywhere. We’re taking a stylistic que from the golden age of jet travel back in the ’60s. It’s not so much about design detailing but more about the mind-set and the attitude and this view that it was a new future and you can go anywhere you wanted. This is taking that idea even farther and relating it to our tomorrowland as a stepping off point for a trip around the galaxies, anyhwere you want to go.”

“When we return, we have now landed at Tomorrowland Station MK-1, so they brought you back to Tomorrowland and you exit back into the land and we make our re-entry.”

The Space Mountain signage is now green, a change from orange. (Photo from Walt Disney Co.)

More details are emerging about the revamped Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom park. The coaster, remarkably the oldest one operating in Florida, has been closed since spring, and Disney World says it will be open to guests again as of Nov. 22. (As always, keep an eye out for news of soft opening in the coming days.)

Among the factoids appearing today on the official Disney Parks blog:

+ Riders will be able to have photo taken during the trip via the Disney Photopass. Disney has updated their post to say it will not be on the Photopass system

+ New color scheme for the ride’s capsules, line and load areas (paint, carpet, seat fabric and such).

+ New technology in the track but preserving the previous feel of the coaster. Not a lot of explanation there.

+ Imagineer Alex Wright thinks folks will be “pleasantly surprised” by the enhancements. Let’s hope that’s in the Haunted Mansion pleasantly surprised way. Actually, real news would be if the Imagineer said the changes were unpleasantly surprising. We kid, we kid.

Disney World's Space Mountain opened in 1975. It's Florida's oldest operating roller coaster.

The short version: game play in queue to enhance storyline. Folks will deflect asteroids. These interactive moments last 90 seconds, then break for 90 and so on.

There’s two pictures, which look cool and modern, in that “Golden Age of Rocket Travel” way. Check out the blog here.

Space Mountain has been closed since spring. There are unofficial whispers of soft opening this week but no official announcement from Disney World.

Poinsettias are front and center at Magic Kingdom entrance.

Sunday we walked through Magic Kingdom park, admiring the first round of holiday decorations, but we also got an eyefull of (still-closed) Space Mountain, Princess Tiana in action, perhaps a pinch of tomorrow’s Fantasyland and a couple of other little touches we hadn’t noticed before.

Main Street has the usual wreath treatment. No tree up as of Sunday.

Most of the decor is up where there Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is most active.

The old SuperSonic stage appears to be regeared for the Totally Tomorrowland Christmas show, part of Very Merry this year (as seen from Tomorrowland Transit Authority).

Again from TTA, behind the construction walls of Space Mountain (which I hear went down today).

Inside Space Mountain, Take 1.

Inside Space Mountain, Take 2

After the jump: non-holiday, non-Space Mountain pictures.

Let's peer into the woods near good ol' Fantasyland. Blue machinery? New Fantasyland?

Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen encourage a shy guest at their autograph station behind the Christmas shoppe.

Meanwhile at Tiana's Showboat Jubilee, Dr. Facilier is up to no good, Naveen must pick three cards and it all goes bad. (Facilier is later pronounced a "phoney baloney.")

Back on Main Street, I had not noticed a new structure that replaces the hat-heavy cart. This helps traffic, and the style mirrors the info stand on the other side of the street.

Finally, folks can peak into Pirates League from the gift shop at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a shame for the great room to be hidden from most eyes. Our thumbs arrrrrrrrrrr up.

A boy interacts with PUSH, The Talking Trashcan, Wednesday in the Magic Kingdom. Photo by Gene Duncan/Walt Disney World

We were celebrating my son’s birthday in the Magic Kingdom recently when we ran into – or maybe I should say, ran away from – PUSH, The Talking Trashcan, in Tomorrowland.

PUSH looks like any other Disney garbage container, but he is mobile and vocal. PUSH is not shy and will approach anyone, much to the kids’ delight and some adults’ annoyance. The trash can interacts in real time with guests, calling them by name and referencing what they are doing, because a cast member is standing in the crowd covertly controlling him.

About a year ago, my ever-inquisitive son began asking why PUSH is the only trash can that can talk and how he operates, and we decided to explain the mechanics. So far, I have deliberately avoided answering questions about the reality of Disney characters because I fear it could be a slippery slope to Santa Claus. And I want my kids to believe way longer than is realistic. But, hey, a trash can is different, right?

Once C understood that a man was controlling PUSH, it became a game to find him in the crowd. He’s always wearing street clothes, carrying a messenger bag and talking into the tiny microphone hidden in his hand. Not tough, right?

We spotted the PUSH man right away and he spotted C’s birthday button. PUSH ran after my son singing “Happy Birthday” while C ran away laughing.

The unpublished times for PUSH’s appearance in Tomorrowland are at 10 a.m., 10:50 a.m., 11:40 am, 12:40 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:40 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily.