| (July 2, 1967—August 21, 1995 ) BACKSTORY: “D” Ticket attraction opened as part of “New Tomorrowland” (1967). The attraction was based on the WEDway used for the Ford Magic Skyway at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. When Disney asked Ford to continue sponsorship by sponsoring Disneyland’s new PeopleMover, they declined since Ford didn’t want to support technology that could replace the car. Goodyear was asked to sponsor and the wheels in the WEDway system were replaced by tires. The PeopleMover logo is even influenced by Goodyear, using the same font as Goodyear’s logo (often called the Goodyear PeopleMover). Since it sponsored the attraction for more than 28 years, it was one of the longest-lasting sponsorships in Disneyland’s history. The vehicles were constantly in motion and accessible by a large rotating platform inside the station. The trains were powered by rotating Goodyear tires embedded in the track, which the trains would pass over every nine feet. The cars were red, blue, yellow, or green with white roofs until they were repainted all white with colored stripes sometime during 1987. It sat 4 guests per car, and included 4 cars per train with a top speed of 2 miles per hour and a ride length of 16 minutes.
In 1977, the SuperSpeed Tunnel was added to the PeopleMover. It was located in the Carousel Building, then housing America Sings. Race cars were projected on the walls all around the trains. In 1982, the scenes were changed to clips from “Tron”’s light cycle race scene, and the tunnel was renamed Tron SuperSpeed Tunnel. The PeopleMover closed in August 1995 and was replaced by Rocket Rods in 1998. During it’s 28-year run, two separate incidents of guests trying to jump between the moving vehicles lead to their deaths.
Althought the Peoplemover may seem like a slow mode of transportation, it was actually much more than that. It was Walt Disney’s prototype transportation for EPCOT; the Peoplemover would carry citizens of EPCOT from their home to work, to shopping areas, etc., without having to use cars. This extremely forward-thinking mode of transportation eliminated traffic jams and was a huge energy saver.
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