News Tomorrowland love

EPCOTCenterLover

Well-Known Member
I like what they attempted for Tomorrowland 1998. Even bronze mountain- in context. But the project was so hampered by a sliced budget, it ruined what should have been. My one ride on Rocket Rods was fun, however.
 

matt9112

Well-Known Member
From what I’ve seen of Rocket Rods, it looks pretty fun and a great way to see Tomorrowland if you can’t have the Peoplemover.

BUT, why didn’t they just go back to the Peoplmover instead of building Rocket Rods?

I think the rods put a bit of stress on the system. @marni1971 would know a fare bit I'm sure. as far as reverting ? they decided they could remove it (changing to rocket rods) so it was expendable to some degree why bring it back? that costs money.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Original Poster
I think the rods put a bit of stress on the system. @marni1971 would know a fare bit I'm sure. as far as reverting ? they decided they could remove it (changing to rocket rods) so it was expendable to some degree why bring it back? that costs money.
The rods put a lot of stress on certain sections of the track (as well as tore themselves apart). Nothing’s impossible of course but like you said it would cost.
 

TJJohn12

Well-Known Member
The rods put a lot of stress on certain sections of the track (as well as tore themselves apart). Nothing’s impossible of course but like you said it would cost.

The different propulsion system would also be a huge hurdle and cost as I see it.

I have to assume that if WDI was looking to re-implement Peoplemover at DL they'd go with the WDW MAPO linear motor design which seems far more reliable (and zone controllable) than the weird Goodyear kicker-tire/coasting arrangement from 1967. That would likely mean that the whole infrastructure would need to be replaced - both Rocket Rods damaged and not.

AND the construction operation would functionally need to be completely recreated from the ground up, as the Peoplemover is no longer a MAPO commercial product (and it only made it into Houston airport that I know of when it was).

I count the lucky stars that our coast didn't get "blessed" with Rocket Rods and we still have our functioning PeopleMover.
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
Some people on Twitter are saying the Toy Story Claw store in TL is now gone. That should free up a bit of space by not having people piling in around it and a bonus of not blocking CoP's sign from that angle.
claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawww.PNG
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Rocket Rods wasn’t a bad ride. It was thrilling and made it feel like you were going faster than you really were. But without banked turns, the cars never had enough track to really get moving.

Losing the PeopleMover at DL was really sad. And the fact that the track is still there makes it even worse. I truly hope MK’s is maintained- it’s really a neat experience!

I know the propulsion system is different (and why MK’s track is flat as opposed to DL’s, which had a few different elevations), but is there any chance PeopleMover will see further development (new trains, inclined track, integration into Tron, etc.)?
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
But without banked turns, the cars never had enough track to really get moving.

Even with banked turns, the ride would have had to slow down on the turn because the towers holding up the track weren't made to take strong lateral forces, only downward forces.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Some people on Twitter are saying the Toy Story Claw store in TL is now gone. That should free up a bit of space by not having people piling in around it and a bonus of not blocking CoP's sign from that angle.View attachment 276761

So much open space and so difficult to navigate because of so many 'things' arranged haphazardly throughout the space, which then throws people going off in all different directions. I feel like a ball in a pachinko game trying to get from one side to the other.
 

NelsonRD

Well-Known Member
Since this discussion has brought up the Rocket Rods, why couldn't DL just convert the Rocket Rod cars with people mover cars, and use the existing mechanics/propulsion to move them, at a much slower and constant speed of course.... Slow moving cars would eliminate the stress issue, and a simple way to add another attraction, while still getting a return on the Rocket Rods investment.
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
So much open space and so difficult to navigate because of so many 'things' arranged haphazardly throughout the space, which then throws people going off in all different directions. I feel like a ball in a pachinko game trying to get from one side to the other.
The exact same thing can be said about the tomb stones when leaving after RoE. It's like filling a nice open space with random crap just because you can is supported in the company.
Since this discussion has brought up the Rocket Rods, why couldn't DL just convert the Rocket Rod cars with people mover cars, and use the existing mechanics/propulsion to move them, at a much slower and constant speed of course.... Slow moving cars would eliminate the stress issue, and a simple way to add another attraction, while still getting a return on the Rocket Rods investment.
Martin said it best:
The rods put a lot of stress on certain sections of the track (as well as tore themselves apart). Nothing’s impossible of course but like you said it would cost.
Also, the Rocket Rod cars were destroyed. I'm not sure if all of them were but the majority were. So new track, ride systems, and vehicles would probably add up to be more then DL would want to spend sadly.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Since this discussion has brought up the Rocket Rods, why couldn't DL just convert the Rocket Rod cars with people mover cars, and use the existing mechanics/propulsion to move them, at a much slower and constant speed of course.... Slow moving cars would eliminate the stress issue, and a simple way to add another attraction, while still getting a return on the Rocket Rods investment.
And they could have used strobe lights and a fan to simulate speed.
 
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