Rocket Rods/WDW Question

[NemoRocks78]

Just a quick question that I had on my mind earlier today......

During the planning phases for Rocket Rods, was there any consideration on bringing the ride over here to the Magic Kingdom if it had been successful? Would we have ever seen RR on the Transit Authority tracks?

 

[Mickeyrulz]

I never heard of that happening. The Rod's werent succesful, and they sort of figured that because of the serious budget cuts.

WDW would have just built a new track I'm sure if they ever had a ride of the type. The TTA is very peaceful -- hope it stays just like it is.

 

[Lee]

Would we have ever seen RR on the Transit Authority tracks?

I wish!
I would trade a properly done Rocket Rods for TTA in a heartbeat.

But no, the Rods were not seriously considered for MK. They were done, budget wise, as part of a deal with General Motors which also included Test Track. GM of course pulled their funding for the Rods after all the trouble with Test Track, and the rest is, sadly, history.

However, if the Rods had worked out at Disneyland, it is a simple deduction that they would have appeared at WDW in some form. Not at MK, though. The only time I ever heard the Rods system mentioned for WDW it was for Epcot. Nothing ever came of it, of course.

Pity...I really enjoyed the Rods.

 

[AEfx]

Can someone point me to some pics of the Rods? I seem to read about this all the time but don't have a good enough visual understanding to get why the ride "failed", or even what it really was.

AEfx

 

[General Grizz]

Yep... I was also told Rods vehicles were in development for a new Future World West thrill ride. . .

But I don't know. While I'm sure a properly done Rocket Rods would be cool, something about Tomorrowland Transit Authority is so "noble." Maybe if one or the other was brought back to Disneyland. . .

 

[Kopp8699]

Rods failed for many reasons. From what I heard, 1. The budget didn't include banked turns so it had to start and stop too quickly. 2. Far too many breakdowns. 3. The ride was not a true thrillride that they billed it as and it was far too short, thus people were dissapointed.

Can anyone confirm?

 

[Mickeyrulz]

Kopp -- yep, that's the reasons!!!

Anyway, for those who want pics. www.yesterland.com has some. Click ROcket Rods.

 

[DigitalDisney]

It failed because it was an overlay instead of a new design

Of course, not all overlays are failures, but the magnitude of this overlay was so much that damage was done

1. There was major structural damage done to the tracks. The tracks were designed to hold what was basically a slower version of our own TTA. Rocket Rods, however, travelled much faster and changed speeds often.

If they would have rebuilt a lot of the track, they could have banked turns and the cars could have travelled much faster.

2. There were no major additions to the ride. They made minor changes to the tunnels, adding some lights and strobes, but nothing major. The scenery changes were all very very cheap.

3. The lines for the ride were rediculous. The ride's capacity was even less than Test Track, if that gives you any picture. The vehicles only held a whopping 4 people per car. Of course, before the single rider line, many seats would end up being empty.

Even with the negatives, the ride was still a big hit. The section over the Autopia was very thrilling and the cars actually went at a high speed. The tragedy here is that the cars went pretty fast in the Autopia section, but slowed down a lot to go through an S-curve because they didn't build more supports to straighten out the track and keep the high speed rolling.

 

[DisneyMemories]

The rocket rods sound like a cool attraction,to bad they didn't blast into Florida,yet i'm happy with TTA at WDW it's a great way to snap a few pics of the park while quickly seeing part of the park.:lol:

 

[Lee]

I have a couple of videos of the Rods that I downloaded in the past couple of years.

I would link to them, but they don't seem to be online anymore.

If you aren't familiar with the ride, the video is a great way to get a feel for it. I highly reccomend looking it up.

 

[DisneyFreak721]

I actually enjoyed the rods, however the noise they gave off became annoying after a while.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

With Test Track, we don't really need the Rocket Rods in WDW. I am happy with the TTA.

 

[skeeter]

I miss the Rods--thought they were fun

 

[jrriddle]

Yep... I was also told Rods vehicles were in development for a new Future World West thrill ride. . .

I remember reading something like that at another website.
They reported that it would have used the old DL Rocket Rods in an unspecified attraction on the East side between The Land and The Living Seas.
I never had a chance to ride them, but with a really good track perhaps they could replace the Speedway freeing up some space while still having an "auto based" attraction.

 

[DisneyFreak721]

I just thought of this....isn't the same ride system/similar vehicle design used on the Journey to the Center of the Earth attraction at Tokyo DisneySea?

 

[trdisneyfan]

Check this link ... http://www.mouseinfo.com/video/rods/rocketrods256.rmIt's a video taken on the ride when it was in operation.

I never heard the Rods were done in conjunction with GM. I know one of the reasons it failed was because there was no corporate funding to allow them to modify the track properly.

Now that ride has been closed for years and the remaining track sits empty and rusting. I think any DL regular would be happy just to have the old people mover back. So sad.

 

[imagineer99]

Thanks for the video. Very cool.

Anyways, from the video, (never been to DL) the ride seemed plenty long to me (about the length of your average coaster).

If they would have banked the track, rethemed some of the indoor sections, reeinforced the structure of the track...they would have had a winner.

 

[WDWScottieBoy]

I too have never been to DL but that ride seems awesome. I like the look of the vehicle and the ride itself seems like it could have been pretty fun. Guess I won't be able to though, and I like my TTA at WDW, I don't want to see it go!

 

[Main Street USA]

I have to agree with a couple of posts above, calling the TTA "peaceful" and "noble." There's just something about the good ol' PeopleMover that can't be beat during an early morning OR after a long day at the parks.

 

[Lee]

I never heard the Rods were done in conjunction with GM. I know one of the reasons it failed was because there was no corporate funding to allow them to modify the track properly.

GM was involved early on. Then Test Track began to become a bit of a fiasco, so GM pulled out of Rocket Rods. Left with no money for the ride, WDI had to rely on Disneyland to foot the bill. The budget they were given didn't allow for any modifications to the track, or to the indoor scenery.

It's safe to say, that if Test Track would have gone smoothly, Rocket Rods would be a great feature in DL's Tomorrowland to this day.