Rocket to the Moon

Since I adore space I thought I would do a look at the Rocket to the Moon from Tomorrowland which opened in 1955.

I never got to go on this until it was Mission to Mars. But I think it was primarily the same ride. You went into a round room with tiered seating and there was a screen on the floor and one on the ceiling. One showed you where you were going and the other showed you where you'd been.

Here's a great shot showing how tall it was with it's first paint job advertising TWA.

And these next two show the ride building.

This is the sign that was outside.

Here are a few pictures from inside:

Inside the ride itself:

In 1963 Douglas Aircraft became the sponsor and the rocket got a whole new paint job.

In 1967 as part of the new Tomorrowland it became Flight to the Moon with a new larger building and an animatronics preshow and moving seats which sunk down to simulate take-off. The original rocket was no longer there.

I wonder what they were looking at?

In March 1975 the attraction was updated to Mission to Mars

They updated the interior as well.

In 1998, the building was transformed into Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port restaurant, as another New Tomorrowland project was undertaken. A new Moonliner, approximately two thirds the height of the original, was erected at the entrance. It's red and white just like the original except it promotes Coca-cola instead of TWA.

Hope your Sunday is great and see you next week!!!

Carousel of Progress

Truly one of my favorite attractions!

I didn't get to go on it the first time until my first trip to Disneyworld in 2001.

It made it's first appearance at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York then moved to Disneyland where it lasted until 1973 when it was moved to Florida.

I spent almost an hour clicking through old pictures and I realized I could be here all day so I just went with some of my favorites!

Here are two construction photos:

And here is a postcard showing the finished building:

This is the Worlds Fair version of the turn of the century:

The 1920's:

And these are the side scenes from the 20's

Here are two different versions from the 1940's.
One father is sitting on the chair, and the other he is sitting in the booth.

And the last scene has been updated several times over the years
This is the original ending showing Progress City in the background through the window.
I love that!
Look at that great TV someone is getting!

Then there are these updated versions:

The 1970's here:

These were from the early 1980's
Great computer!!

And finally we have some posters.
First from the Worlds Fair

And then the ride poster:

Hope you are having a really great Sunday and I will see you all soon!

Adventure Thru Inner Spce

Finally a discontinued ride that I actually rode!

I really loved this ride! It was so sci-fi which you don't get a whole lot of at Disney. 

It would cost you one "C" ticket when they were still using them.

One thing I discovered is that there aren't a whole of good pictures of this ride so these were the best I could do.

This ran from 1967 though 1985 and took the place of Hall of Aluminum Fame shown here in a few photos:

Here's an early picture of the front entrance when Monsanto was still the sponsor:

Here's a few views of the ride line. 

It still has the same path as the ride that replaced it, Star Tours.

You can see the Peoplemover on the left.

A close up of the snowflake wall:

And a close-up of the shrinking tube.
When I was kid I remember my friend SWEARING she saw people moving around and scratching their noses while going through the tube. I can remember agreeing with her even though I was skeptical.

They had several of these signs as you waited to get onto the ride, telling you what was going to happen.

Here are some shots of the loading area:

A closer shot of the ride cars.
This was the first ride to use the "Omni-mover" ride system whose ride cars eventually became known as "Doom Buggies" when they were used in the Haunted Mansion.

And then a shot of the famous eye which stared at just before you returned back to normal size.

Here's a great video that uses the original soundtrack.

Brings back such memories!

Hope you all have a really great weekend!!!

Indian Village

Here's another attraction I didn't get to see for myself.
Or at least if I did I was too young to remember.

Pre-opening:

The Indian Village opened in 1955 with authentic Native Americans who performed ceremonial dances in the Ceremonial Dance Circle. The dances included The Omaha (also known as the War Dance), The Shield, Spear, The Eagle, The Zuni-Comanche, The Mountain Spirit, and The Friendship Dance. Each tribe usually performed for six months and then another tribe would be brought in to perform their own versions of their tribal customs. 

Great picture of the chief:

Kids were invited to participate during the shows.

The village moved in 1956 to what is now Critter Country. The Village contained tee-pees, totem poles, and a burial ground. Guests could meet a real Chief, buy authentic crafts at the Trading Post, or paddle a War Canoe.

By 1971 guests had lost enough interest in this area of the park that it was closed down and Bear Country was built. The War Canoes became Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes and the Trading Post stayed until 1989, when it became the Briar Patch for Splash Mountain.

I love the old Disney attractions. I would love to find some old home movies of these and watch them and pretend I was there!

Have a great Sunday everyone!!!