Rocket Rods

The defunct Rocket Rods attraction at Disneyland. It was meant to be a thrill ride to take the place of the "outdated" PeopleMover, which was an excuse to make a large chunck of Tomorrowland into a thrill ride area. It also was to get rid of the last remnants of the 1967 renovation, aside from the Rocket Jets skeleton. The idea was a good one, just ilconcieved. There was no corporate sponser, therefor slashing the budget, limiting the effectivness and reliability of it. The axles were made of cheap plywood, the track had a deal of rust to it, and there was no banked corners, putting added stress on the track. Disney did fake a renovation set for the Rods to open in Spring 2001. That was quickly dismissed, and the PeopleMover track is now dormant.

Seems like a waste of space. Still, while moving past the monorail trains at high speeds, it seemed pretty nice.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• rocket
• rods
• peoplemover
• tomorrowland
• disneyland

[alexanderus]

No sponsor? Does anyone know how much a sponsor gives Disneyland for one ride? It seems hard to believe Disneyland cant maintain rides financially on its own. (ie rocket rods and its problems it had)

I miss this ride.

[FigmentsFan]

Disney doesn't seem to care about maintaning rides. They waste billions on movies that don't do well at the box office, yet they have a medium set up by Walt there already. Now, it's all this: "How can we advetise movies and make young kids happy at the expense of those who follow us intently?"

[myronnie]

i remember this when i was a kid,.and i'm only 18

[granttheswimfreak]

this ride looked fun, but id rather have the peoplemover back than the rods. the track works better for the pm.

[thehapagirl92]

@myronnie Me too, haha same age.

[AdrenalineAddict610]

I remember it too, and I'm only 16. Every time I walk into Tomorrowland, I still wait for that squealing whine of the ride...

[MalubaySyecado]

They are already planning a Magleve in California for public transportation, but more importantly, they already exist in Japan and Europe. I would like to see Disney build something that's only been in the concept stage.

[sideslide23]

here is the idea, lets put in the Magleve and that would be the future of tomarrowland transit.

[MalubaySyecado]

Disney's "WEDway PeopleMover," groundbreaking in its time, gave birth to the term "people mover" which is now used to describe many types of personal scale automated public transportation around the world. Obviously the PeopleMover is now outdated by today's standards and Disney needs to install something state-of-the-art or better yet engineer the next generation of people-movers. Rocket Rods was just a carnival ride which actually made things worse for the overall experience.

[sideslide23]

Well People Mover and Rocket Rods are way better than a Empty Ghost Tracks. its been empty for 10 years, is it staying empty for ever and ever?

[MalubaySyecado]

It is unclear weather Disney will go back to presenting a glimpse into the future (as they did in the 50's and 60's) or stay with dumbed down fantasy thrill rides such as Rocket Rod, Star Tours or the cartoon-version of the Submarine ride. Rocket Rods (fantasy thrill ride) was a flop so maybe they'll figure out the next generation of people transportation. Google people mover systems and you'll see what other countries have come up, pretty impressive.

[rocketrod21]

up there last november and saw two construction guys walking the track in and out of buzz lightyear. the track musr still be intact all of the way... who knows but its not the people mover... track still has the emv bar in the middle. ther is another entrance to the rocket tower through the cast members only door inside the buzz gift shop. iasked someone about the entrance late one night and she showed me the door,

[rocketrodlover]

Miss them hard to believe they are gone.The peoplemover sucked,these were perfect for tommorrow!