THE MOONLINER |
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(1955–1967) BACKSTORY: The TWA Moonliner was a futuristic exhibit in the 1950’s that marked TWA product placement by Howard Hughes. At 80' it was the tallest structure in the park—8' taller than Sleeping Beauty Castle. Adjoining the rocket was the “Rocket to the Moon” exhibit/show. 100 guests at a time would enter either the Luna or the Diana (changed to Arcturus & Polaris in 1959) for a 10 minute trip to the Moon and back. Disney archivist Dave Smith recalls “Space flight was still years away when Disneyland opened in 1955 so the Rocket to the Moon experience was a big thrill for the Park Guest. They would sit in a pseudo rocket and live through a simulated trip to observe the far side of the moon. Projections above and below enabled guests to see where they were going and where they had been. It was always impressive to see Disneyland and then the earth getting smaller and smaller as the rocket left for the moon.” |
MOONLINER/ROCKET TO THE MOON, 1950’s |
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| CoxPilot & The Rocket to the Moon: When I first visited Disneyland in July of 1955, Tomorrowland was the first thing I wanted to see. My parents were more interested in Main Street and the shops, but I pulled and pulled to just see, and ride in, the Moonliner. I never dreamed that I would be working day after day in its shadow. The 6 years I worked under the Moonliner never jaded me. Each day we would leave the wardrobe building and enter the Tomorrowland area through the gate just to the left of the domed builders, and I would always look up as I passed through the big gate. The feeling was like leaving black and white Kansas and entering into the color world of Oz. The smell of new slurry and compressed air, and the sounds of the announcers (not tape then) telling people to remove their tickets and remain seated while the ride stops. Take it from one who was there (and visited the back room of the RTTM ride too). There were two theaters. As I recall, there were two different names for the rockets in the ride, the Luna and the Diana. If you look at the arial view, you can see two domes with kind of a fin on the top. This was not just decoration, but a channel for the projection system. The projectors were actually in the center of the buildings and the images were shot onto mirrors in both the top and the bottom. There were four projectors in all. We used to go down below and watch the show from the underside of the bottom screen. The film was flipped so that it was flipped again when bounced off the mirrors and onto back side of the screens. The vibrations were created by out-of-balance air driven motors. The shows would be staggered to avoid massive crowd jamming. Of all the changes in Tomorrowland over the years, the only thing that was a huge disappointment was the removal of the liner. |
MOONLINER, 1960–1966 |
FROM “VACATIONLAND MAGAZINE, SUMMER 1967” |
 Disneyland’s Moon Age Adventure Utmost in Space-Age Realism Disneyland, working with Douglas Aircraft, has created a realistic and exciting “Flight to the Moon” adventure for the new multi-million-dollar Tomorrowland. “Flight to the Moon,” replacing the earlier Douglas Rocket trip, carries guests “out through space” where they feel the pull of gravity during blast-off and the weightless escape from earth. Based on the latest information from the nation’s space exploration projects, the new adventure will give guests the thrill of seeing the moon come closer and watching Earth become a colorful basketball in the sky. Visitors will get a good idea of the texture and roughness of the moon’s surface, and see a future lunar exploration party at work. Before their flight, space voyagers will visit Mission Control, where outer space activities are monitored on huge viewing screens throughout the center. A “control central director” will present the latest, most accurate information on space exploration to Disneyland guests. ‘Carousel of Progress’ Is No Merry-Go-Round |
FLIGHT TO THE MOON/MISSION TO MARS, 1967–2000+ |
) Promotional slide of Mission Control |
) Undated |
) Undated |
) Flight to the Moon, 1970s |
) Aug. 1986 |
) Moonliner Tribute, April 2007 |
) June 2008 |
) Oct. 2008 |
) Oct. 2008 |
) Feb. 2009 |
) Feb. 2009 |
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