Astro Jets / Rocket Jets / Astro Orbitor

We all should know by now that I adore Tomorrowland and am hoping (wishing) that the people in charge will one day soon return it to some of it's previous glory. 

Today: the Astro Jets.

They were known by this name until the mid 60's when United Airlines who was a new sponsor for the Tiki Room complained that it free advertising for American Airlines and the name was changed to Tomorrowland Jets. They were closed in 1966 and reopened as the Rocket Jets perched atop the Peoplemover where you flew 70" off the ground. This version lasted until 1997 when Tomorrowland was once again renovated and it opened with another name change as the Astor Orbiter placed ground level at the entrance because it's weight was too much for the current building.

I love these first pictures because it shows how much nothing there was in the early days around the park.

This is a great picture shot in the late 50's or early 60's.

Close-up of the original rockets:

The Rocket Jets & the Tomorrowland ticket booth:

The good ol' days!

A good view of the elevator structure that you had to use to get up to the ride:
(look at all the different rides shown in this one pic: Matterhorn, Skyway, Rocket Jets, Peoplemover)

Hope you all have a great day!

Circarama / America the Beautiful

The Circarama was one of the original attractions at Disneyland.

It was sponsored by American Motor Cars and the first movie was called "A Tour of the West" where you could watch a 360 degree movie of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Las Vegas, Balboa Bay and Los Angeles.

Wow... look how little there was back then!

Here is an old entrance picture:

Here is the building front after things started filling in around it:

Once inside, there was a huge room with car displays:

And Kelvinator displays:

In 1960 Bell System took over sponsorship and the film changed to America the Beautiful.

It stayed pretty much the same until 1975 when they added some Bicentennial scenes and then in 1984 it was changed to The Wonders of China in the morning and American Journeys in the afternoon. In 1997 they brought back The Bicentennial version of America the Beautiful for the final year before it was closed down for good.

Hope you all have a great Disney Sunday!

Mad Tea Party / Tea Cups

The Tea Cups were one of the original rides at Disneyland and with Dumbo, are the only 2 rides to switch locations.

It started out behind the carousel and was moved to it's new location in 1983.

Something I didn't know was that the teacups can't operate in the rain. When the turntables get wet they slip and can't spin. For the first two years of the ride there were no brakes or clutches and there was no limit as to how fast the cups could spin. I can't imagine going on them like that with Jeff... I would pass out from the amount of G's he could create.

I realized as I was looking for pictures that there are only so many views you can have of the ride. After the first few they all start to look the same.

Here is an overhead shot that was either taken early in the morning or on a very low crowd day.

This shot shows its proximity to the carousel:

And on the other side is the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship:

Here's a closer look at the teacups..... There was no door or chain to keep you inside so if you slipped too far one way or the other... out you go! (I doubt that ever happened but the mother in me worries about these things!)

I love this shot because you can see both the castle and one of the skyway cars:

And here is another overhead showing Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter making an appearance right in the middle of the ride.

I always love this ride and am glad I don't get cup-sick. I really wish you could spin them faster now-a-days though!

Hope you all have a really great day!!!

The Viewliner

The Viewliner opened in June 1957. It was billed as the fastest miniature train in the world.
There were two separate trains both designed after the GM futuristic Aerotrain.

It was originally conceived as a way to take up the space vacated by the Mickey Mouse Club Circus.

The train ran until construction on the Matterhorn and submarines began in 1958 making it one of the most short lived of all Disneyland attractions.

This photo shows the viewliner station construction:

The viewliner represented the future of rail travel and it ran along next to the steam engine
which represented the past.

The Fantasyland train was painted blue and the passenger cars were named after Disney Characters.

The Tomorrowland train was painted red and the cars were named after the planets.

Here is Walt himself engineering the train:

Hope you all have a really great Sunday!!!