LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The newest thrill ride at Walt Disney World's Epcot is a simulated rocket flight to Mars heavy on "Gee whiz" and G-forces. It remains to be seen whether Mission: Space also will lift the theme park's flagging attendance skyward.

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See Disney's New Space Ride

Mission: Space made its debut for the media Tuesday as part of the park's "soft opening" where selected VIPs and guests can ride as technicians work out the bugs. The attraction officially launches Aug. 15 with a grand opening celebration slated for October.

The new ride, which is generating a buzz among industry insiders, can't open too soon for the theme park.

Epcot, second-oldest of the resort's four parks, has yet to fully recover from the 2001 terror attacks. Amusement Business magazine pegged Epcot's 2002 turnstile count at nearly 8.3 million, an 8 percent drop from the year before and greater than Disney World's overall decline for the year of 6 percent.

"Most of that has to do with the big drop in international tourists in 2002," said Tim O'Brien, Amusement Business' senior editor for parks and attractions. "And international tourists really like Epcot."

Also, a stale lineup of rides hurt Epcot, as the park's last major addition was Test Track in 1998. And that attraction's delays in coming online squelched much of the expected attendance bounce, said Dennis Spiegel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., a Cincinnati-based consulting firm.

But with the addition of Mission: Space, the experts believe Epcot is poised for a resurgence.

"The ride is going to call attention to the fact that the Imagineers (Disney's designers) are alive and very well," O'Brien said. "The fact that Disney is still - even in this downturn in the economy, in the downturn of attendance - thinking of the future, in more ways than one."

Added Spiegel: "It'll bring the tourists in, and it'll bring back locals who haven't been in a while."

Disney officials said they had to walk a line between creating a new attraction that would invigorate Epcot while still taking the time to do it right.

"We look at our guests' needs and our needs as a business, and we always want to keep Epcot alive and fresh," said Brad Rex, the park's vice president. "This has worked out so well for us, because we've always wanted to do space at Epcot. But it took the combination of the technologies to create an out-of-this-world experience."

Mission: Space has enough wonders, the experts said, to attract crowds and keep them there.

The plaza outside the ride features three huge spheres, representing Earth, the moon and Jupiter; the moon sphere has 29 small plaques placed in the exact locations of the American and Soviet missions there, manned and unmanned.

Inside, Disney again has created a "pre-show" area entertaining enough to keep people's minds off the long wait. The waiting area outside the ride's exits features a children's play area, video games for team and solo competition and a kiosk where people can e-mail amusing space-themed messages.

But the real draw is the ride itself.

As the virtual rocket prepares for blast off, passengers feel like they're pointed straight into a blue sky, although your rocketship is a giant centrifuge in disguise. The clock counts down and the engines roar to life with a blast of noise and smoke and flame. Lift off G-forces - just over twice the normal force of gravity - cause short-lived facial distortions as you're pressed back into your launch seat.

An incredible view opens up as the craft zips over Florida and past the moon en route to Mars, but the most visceral experience comes when a sudden asteroid storm threatens the ship's safe landing.

"When I walked off that ride, the first time I rode it, I kind of shook my head," O'Brien said. "The first thing that I wrote down when I got back to my laptop was, 'For once, Disney has actually under-hyped something.'"