Anybody who knows anything about Walt Disney would agree that he loved transportation. In fact, he was partially inspired to build Disneyland Park based on his love for locomotive trains. At first, Disneyland was supposed to be a small park with different modes of transportation; it would have included a small boat ride and a train that circled the park.
As the ideas for Disneyland grew, more themes and exciting attractions came with it. Regardless, Walt’s love for transportation remained a staple. This was especially true for Tomorrowland. Well, it was at least the goal for what Tomorrowland should be, but as we have seen with every “Future World” or “Tomorrowland” themed area in any Disney Park, it quickly gets outdated, and eventually, the area just becomes a hodgepodge of sponsored attractions that are vaguely related to “the future.” And that is exactly what happened here.
The PeopleMover opened on July 2, 1964, and was sometimes referred to as the WEDway PeopleMover or the Goodyear PeopleMover. It was a transportation attraction in Tomorrowland. Apparently the name “PeopleMover” was coined by Walt somewhat by accident, and was just supposed to be a working title until they could think of a better one, but it stuck.
Passengers waited in a line before boarding the slowly moving PeopleMover car from a rotating platform. The cars were open, but covered to protect guests from the intense sun or rain. The trains operated on Goodyear tires, which were pushed by rotating tires embedded in the track every nine feet. The rotating tires operated on electric motors, but the trains themselves were not.
Once on board, guests could listen to the music and narration as they toured Tomorrowland. Riders visited the inside of Star Tours, Space Mountain, and even through what was called the SuperSpeed Tunnel, which was added in 1977. The SuperSpeed tunnel featured projections of racecars on the sides of the PeopleMover train with flashing lights and music, and eventually, there were effects added from the Tron franchise, at which point, the ride was advertised as “The PeopleMover Thru the World of Tron.”
The PeopleMover closed at Disneyland in August 1995 as part of Michael Eisner’s idea to remove expensive attractions. Imagineers seemed to also agree with the shutdown. The ride had become outdated since it never actually became a form of public transportation outside the theme parks.
In 1998 the PeopleMover was replaced by the shirt-lived attraction, Rocket Rods. RocketRods operated on the former PeopleMover track with different vehicles, which were designed to look and feel like racecars. It was supposed to feel like the futuristic, speedy transportation system that would inevitably become commonplace soon, however, it did not. Instead, the ride actually became infamous for how often it broke down due to technical difficulties.
Rocket Rods closed in 2000, after only two years of occasional operation. To this day though, the track Rocket Rods remains in place, and for the most part, untouched. Its main functions today are to provide light during the nighttime and hold promotional signs.
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