It had been 25 (20) Years since the Peoplemover (Rocket Rods) Closed

[George Lucas on a Bench]

In Florida

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Even though I never went on it, I'm sure Rocket Rods was at least 500% better than Fast and Furious: Superclosed.

This is the only thing I can confrim Rocket Rods was better than.

 

[_caleb]

I wonder whether Disney ever considered using the PeopleMover track more intentionally as a "roof." for guest walkways. It has speakers and lighting, and ever since they cleared out the planter boxes and benches for stardust, it seems like this might help the flow of traffic. At least there would be some level of intentionality using it like this. As it is, it's like they're pretending we can't see the old, broke down track.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

It also wouldn't be hard to repair the tracks to a point they could support a revived, modern version of the people mover.

Unfortunately Rocket Rods permanently damaged the structural integrity of the track. The old PeopleMover tracks were not modified to handle the intense shaking that came from the Rocket Rods constantly zooming around and then having to break at every turn (the tracks weren’t banked for the new attraction, either.) In order for Tomorrowland to get any sort of replacement for the PeopleMover/Rocket Rods, the tracks down to every pylon would have to be ripped out and rebuilt. And since the ride is no longer protected by the grandfather clause, the track structure and ride vehicles would have to be reimagined anyhow to be ADA compliant.

This would all obviously be an expensive undertaking, and just in terms of accessibility to Tomorrowland for guests, the land would most likely have to be shut down for an extended period for construction. The best option Disney would have would be to do certain sections in phases.

Even in the past several years when Disneyland was doing very well prior to the pandemic, there was no hurry to fix the park’s biggest blight. Unless something can be explicitly tied to some franchise, the higher ups don’t want to greenlight anything. It’s a real shame.

The story of the PeopleMover and the Rocket Rods perfectly illustrates why you don’t cut corners and arbitrarily slash budgets (RR was built at 1/4 of the original requested budget from WDI) and why changing a ride just for the sake of changing it isn’t the best use of financial resources (still $25 million down the drain.) If the scenes for the PeopleMover had simply gotten a refresh, the ride would most likely still be operating.

 

[Mesmer92]

It's a shame you guys don't have the PeopleMover anymore. I always make an effort to ride it when I'm at Magic Kingdom, though right now it is "closed"....I hope that doesn't become a permanent status.

 

[_caleb]

Posted this to another thread today, but it probably fits better here:

Indeed. I rode the Rocket Rods dozens of times. That meant HOURS of waiting in the long queue, watching the Magic Highway video and Circle-Vision 360º clips.


I'm convinced that banked turns (and a better solution for the queue) would have made the ride a classic Tomorrowland attraction. Had they made it an addition to the PeopleMover rather than a replacement, I'd want one for MK.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Looks like they've done a lot of work on Tomorrowland since the parks closed. That's right, folks. The PeopleMover is back!

 

[TwilightZone]

Honestly Rocket Rods had a lot of cool things going for it, the soundtrack while not perfect (I am looking at you midi Born to be Wild) is a lot of fun, the designs of the vehicles are really cool especially the one that actually could light up at night, the idea itself could have really worked had the budget been there.

 

[_caleb]

Honestly Rocket Rods had a lot of cool things going for it, the soundtrack while not perfect (I am looking at you midi Born to be Wild) is a lot of fun, the designs of the vehicles are really cool especially the one that actually could light up at night, the idea itself could have really worked had the budget been there.

“MIDI Born to be WILD!!”

I remember the noises the cars made. It was cool while you were on the ride, but all together maybe too noisy for the rest of Tomorrowland:

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Sounds great!

 

[D.Silentu]

It really was surprisingly loud. My first reaction though, was wondering why the ride made an R2-D2 sound.