# Disney rides of the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820 "2014-10-19T16:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/21 "2014-10-22T23:18:00Z")
As a matter of fact… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/22 "2014-10-22T23:22:02Z")
The flying saucers were the inspiration for Luigi’s Flying Tires in the Cars Land section of Disney California’s Adventure. It, too, is in danger of closing. The submarines in Disneyland were never themed to 20,000 Leagues, that was in Florida. Again, the Finding Nemo Subs ate type for getting shuttered. It has extremely low capacity and extremely high maintenance costs. My favorite retired ride is Rocket Rods. They ran for maybe three years at the end of the 90s, using the old Peoplemover track. They couldn’t get a corporate sponsor\* so they couldn’t afford to bank the track’s curves as planned. This made the ride vehicles have to slow down far more often than expected, and constantly wore down the brakes and tires. Along with low capacity (only 5 people per “Rod”), it was a giant disaster. But I rode the hell out of it on multiple visits that happened to correspond to the availability of the ride. \*: They still use corporate partners, just not as much. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/23 "2014-10-23T02:35:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Two rides I fondly remember are Journey Through Inner Space and Rocket To The Moon. When I was little, I really thought they were shrinking people on the former ride. After all, you could see the people going in one end of the giant ‘microscope’ and coming out the other end much reduced. I loved that ride, which was Brought to You by Monsanto. I liked Star Tours, but it would be fun to have both. Star Tours didn’t take the space previously occupied by Voyage through Inner Space. The Mighty Microscope was in the building that now houses a Buzz Lightyear attraction. I totally resent the loss of the Skyway through the Matterhorn. I really don’t see why it couldn’t be bought back (except for the wheelchair accessibility issues). Didn’t you used to be able to paddle a war canoe, and/or ride a pack mule in Frontierland? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/24 "2014-10-23T03:36:49Z")
My cousin (who at one point was Miss Anaheim) was a guide on the submarine rides for a while. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/25 "2014-10-23T06:28:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Star Tours didn’t take the space previously occupied by Voyage through Inner Space. The Mighty Microscope was in the building that now houses a Buzz Lightyear attraction. > > I totally resent the loss of the Skyway through the Matterhorn. I really don’t see why it couldn’t be bought back (except for the wheelchair accessibility issues). > > Didn’t you used to be able to paddle a war canoe, and/or ride a pack mule in Frontierland? Star Tour did take the place of Adventures Thru Inner Space. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters took the place of the Circle-Vision 360 theater. The canoes are still in operation, mostly in summer. It’s a blast as long as your immature mother-in-law doesn’t keep splashing everyone instead of paddling. The pack mules lasted until Big Thunder Mountain opened in 1973, while their brethren pulling stage coaches and Conestoga wagons bit the dust in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/26 "2014-10-23T16:45:41Z")
I remember when EPCOT was supposed to be a “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” :grumble: :grumble: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/27 "2014-10-23T16:52:34Z")
I remember just about all of “Yesterland” since I started going in 1958. The Mine train was my fave, I got to ride it twice, since Dad wanted the Train, and Mom wanted to ride the burros. I am a bit of a expert on DL history, I have just about every book. For those with nostalgia for some of the old attractions, I suggest a copy of “A Musical History of Disneyland” (rather expensive, sorry). There are also some new unofficial DVD’s covering some of the old attractions, but I have not bought any yet. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/28 "2014-10-23T17:25:22Z")
Disneyland: I especially miss Adventure Through Inner Space and the PeopleMover. No mention of the Country Bear Jamboree yet? It’s a tragedy that they took it out. At least we got Star Tours for Inner Space. All we got for the Jamboree was a extremely short (albeit very cute) Winnie the Pooh dark ride. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/29 "2014-10-23T17:29:35Z")
> [@Wednesday\_Evening](#): > > No mention of the Country Bear Jamboree yet? It’s a tragedy that they took it out. . It is still at Disney World. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/30 "2014-10-23T18:47:23Z")
\*\*Johnny’s \*\*thoughts pretty much mirror my own. I live in Florida and am constantly in a Disneyland v Disneyworld debate with anyone who has been lucky enough to have visited both. The excitement of getting that first, far off glimpse of the Matterhorn? Oh, hell yea. _Journey Through Inner Space_ was definitely one of my favorites, with the giant eye being both terrifying and thrilling at the same time. It was years before I learned that the ride wasn’t actually called “Monsanto”. I guess my mother saw the “presented by” sign and decided to use it as shorthand. Slightly off topic, but I was a lot older than you’d like before I realized that the\* Pirates of the Caribbean \*was contained indoors. To this day I don’t know if my parents planned it that way - more likely it was because of the routine we always followed that put us in New Orleans Square(?) at dusk. The sun would be going down while we were in the outside line and by the time we were on the ride, I just thought it had gotten dark, and of course it was dark outside by the time the ride finished. Now that was some magic (or incredible naivete). Also, I still DO NOT like that green lady’s head in the crystal ball in the _Haunted Mansion_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/31 "2014-10-23T19:02:19Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Slightly off topic, but I was a lot older than you’d like before I realized that the\* Pirates of the Caribbean \*was contained indoors. To this day I don’t know if my parents planned it that way - more likely it was because of the routine we always followed that put us in New Orleans Square(?) at dusk. The sun would be going down while we were in the outside line and by the time we were on the ride, I just thought it had gotten dark, and of course it was dark outside by the time the ride finished. Now that was some magic (or incredible naivete). I can totally understand how that happened! As for me, I hope I don’t live long enough to see them make any changes to the Haunted Mansion. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/32 "2014-10-23T19:09:51Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I can totally understand how that happened! > > As for me, I hope I don’t live long enough to see them make any changes to the Haunted Mansion. The only difference I’ve seen in THM in the last 40 years is the use of flourescent paint and black lighting toward the end I(think) in the graveyard, and that may be a Disneyland /World difference. For all I know both parks may use it now, but I thought it was a lot more effective without it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/33 "2014-10-23T19:26:08Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I can totally understand how that happened! > > As for me, I hope I don’t live long enough to see them make any changes to the Haunted Mansion. They made a few minor changes. And of course for Halloween they change it quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/34 "2014-10-23T19:32:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I remember the Rocket Jets, but I don’t remember there being a lever to control the height. Oh, yes. My parents insisted that I’d enjoy it once I was on the ride, despite my being terrified of falling. So my mother got to sit behind me complaining as I stubbornly resisted moving that damn lever for the entire ride. My little brother, the maniac, was in the jet ahead of us bouncing my dad up and down as fast as was possible. After getting off that ride, my dad puked, we went off to cool and placid It’s A Small World, and there was no insisting that I ride Space Mountain along with the little maniac (whom mom had to accompany that time). As a kid, I loved the submarine ride, because it was _underwater_. Looking at pictures of it now, though, it was incredibly cheesy. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/35 "2014-10-23T19:44:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Two rides I fondly remember are Journey Through Inner Space and Rocket To The Moon. When I was little, I really thought they were shrinking people on the former ride. After all, you could see the people going in one end of the giant ‘microscope’ and coming out the other end much reduced. Similarly, I always thought we were really going deep underwater on the Submarine Voyage, which made it that much more exciting! > [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > I cry for the loss of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. As a frequent Disney World visitor, I deeply mourned the loss of Mr. Toad. Earlier this year I went to Disneyland for the first time in 45 years and was delighted to experience it again. (3 times!) Still a blast! > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > When I was a kid in the seventies, I liked a ride at Disney World called If You Had Wings. (I found a mention of it at **running coach** ’s link which says it was sponsored by Eastern Airlines, I had thought it was Delta). It was a simple ride that moved very slowly, but it passed through rooms which were giant screens with film playing on them which made you feel like you were part of the action. The scene I remember best had you surrounded and apparently flying with a flock of birds over a field of grain and nearly colliding with a tractor as you passed into the next room. It was righteous. 🙂 I loved that ride! I believe the sponsorship changed over the years; it’s listed in the article as “Delta Dreamflight”, but it did indeed originate as Eastern’s “If You Had Wings.” Basically the same ride though, as I recall. > [@erysichthon](#): > > What I particularly liked about “If You Had Wings” is that, as a “sponsored” ride, it didn’t require a ticket! Back in the days of ticket books, we’d always have tickets left late in the day, and my dad would ask us what rides we wanted to go on again, and I’d always say “If You Had Wings!” I think I was missing the point! Great memories! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/36 "2014-10-23T20:06:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Star Tours didn’t take the space previously occupied by Voyage through Inner Space. The Mighty Microscope was in the building that now houses a Buzz Lightyear attraction. [Per here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_Thru_Inner_Space) [emphasis mine]: > [@](#): > > Adventure Thru Inner Space opened on August 5, 1967 as part of the New Tomorrowland, and closed in 1985 **to make way for Disney and George Lucas’s new Star Tours attraction** , which opened in early 1987. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I totally resent the loss of the Skyway through the Matterhorn. I really don’t see why it couldn’t be bought back (except for the wheelchair accessibility issues). > > Didn’t you used to be able to paddle a war canoe, and/or ride a pack mule in Frontierland? The Skyway was closed in 1994 due to ‘stress cracks in the Matterhorn roller battery supports’ [Wiki]. It would be quite a job to bring it back, especially since the Tomorrowland station has been demolished. The canoes are still in operation as _Indian War Canoes_, and are open seasonally. ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/37 "2014-10-23T20:13:08Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I remember romping around on the island in the mid-'80s, crawling through tunnels in a rock structure and such. Are they no longer doing that? > > There was also a giant skull across from the pirate ship. I have a picture of me standing in front of it when I was 12. Seems to have gone missing a very long time ago. (The skull, not the photo.) The skull was actually in Fantasyland, wasn’t it? It was part of that restaurant that was shaped as a pirate ship. Those were done away with when they re-did Fantasyland in the 80’s. I loved the Mary Blair murals in Tomorrowland. I was fascinated by them as a kid. The big mural she did at the Contemporary resort at WDW is still there, thankfully. The Tron Tunnel / Super Speed Tunnel on the Peoplemover is another one I miss. I live in Orlando now, so I have a Peoplemover at my disposal, but it needs a Tron Tunnel! I also vaguely remember some sort of telephone area at the exit of the CircleVision theatre in Tomorrowland. That would have been sometime in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/38 "2014-10-23T20:23:34Z")
> [@sideshowkar](#): > > \ > I also vaguely remember some sort of telephone area at the exit of the CircleVision theatre in Tomorrowland. That would have been sometime in the 70’s. I believe it was closed in glass cubicles where you could “call” different Disney characters and hear a recording or some such. On the other hand, I have a vague recollection of calling a friend _Long Distance_! I can’t remember what the big deal was about it but me and my friends definitely checked it out. ---
**Author:** ![sideshowkar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@sideshowkar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sideshowkar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/39 "2014-10-23T20:31:25Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I believe it was closed in glass cubicles where you could “call” different Disney characters and hear a recording or some such. Yeah, there was something about being able to talk to someone or hear someone the other end. I have it in my head that you could call different countries and have someone talk to you in another language, but that would just be pointless since you wouldn’t understand anything. Weird thing about memories. It would make way more sense for it to be a character. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820/40 "2014-10-23T20:31:32Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I believe it was closed in glass cubicles where you could “call” different Disney characters and hear a recording or some such. On the other hand, I have a vague recollection of calling a friend _Long Distance_! I can’t remember what the big deal was about it but me and my friends definitely checked it out. You could call Long Distance for free for iirc 3 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-rides-of-the-past/701820.md?page=3)