PeopleMover
Encyclopedia
The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that operated from July 2, 1967 to August 21, 1995 in Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...

 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...

. Guests boarded small trains that ran on elevated tracks for a "grand circle tour" above Tomorrowland. A second PeopleMover, known as the WEDway PeopleMover, of a somewhat different design, opened at the Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...

 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Lake Buena Vista is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being home to the Walt Disney World Resort. It is one of two Florida municipalities controlled by The Walt Disney Company, the other being Bay Lake....

 in 1975, and operated from 1994 to 2009 as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. The name was changed to "Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover" on August 5, 2010.

The term "people mover
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover is a fully automated, grade-separated mass transit system.The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated...

," now in wider use to describe many forms of normally automated public transport, was first coined as the name for this attraction. PeopleMover was originally only a working title but became attached to the project over time. Originally the attraction was seen as a serious prototype for intra-city public transport.

Operation

The attraction's vehicles were always moving. Passengers boarded and alighted by a large speed-matched rotating platform inside the station. The trains were not powered by motors within themselves, but rather by being pushed by rotating tires each with its own electric motor, embedded in the track once every nine feet.

Each car included its own sound system which broadcast a continuous audio commentary and soundtrack, relative to the train's location. The commentary pointed out Disneyland's attractions along the way as well as announcing promotional items.

The tour continued from the center of Tomorrowland through a few of Tomorrowland's buildings, for a look inside, and over Disneyland's Submarine Lagoon and Autopia areas, before returning to Tomorrowland.

Sponsorship

The attraction used an updated WEDway
WEDway
WEDway is a people mover system using linear induction motor technology to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails.This system was developed by WED Enterprises and has been installed at places such as Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in...

 system based on the WEDway used for the Ford Magic Skyway at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...

. When Disney asked Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 to continue sponsorship by sponsoring Disneyland's new PeopleMover, they declined, because Ford was reluctant to support technology that appeared to replace the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

. Goodyear was then approached to sponsor it, and accepted. The wheels used in the WEDway system were replaced by Goodyear's tires. The PeopleMover's logo was then fashioned after Goodyear's logo, sharing a similar type face. Goodyear sponsored the PeopleMover from its opening until December 31, 1981.

History

The PeopleMover opened as part of New Tomorrowland in 1967. Originally, each four-car train was colored either red, blue, yellow, or green with white roofs. They were repainted all white with colored stripes in 1987. In 1968 each of the 62 trains were retrofitted with safety rails for each car, to deter guests from climbing out. They 'semi' wrapped around each car. Though, in 1985, these safety rails were modified to completely wrap around each car. Making it even more difficult for possible accidents.

SuperSpeed Tunnel

In 1977, the SuperSpeed Tunnel was added to the PeopleMover. It was located in the upper level of the Carousel Building, which then housed America Sings
America Sings
America Sings was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California from 1974 to 1988. It featured a cast of Audio-Animatronic animals that entertained the audience by singing songs from various periods in America's musical history, often in a humorous fashion....

. Race cars were projected on the walls of the tunnel all around the trains. In 1982, the projections were changed to scenes from the film Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...

 and the tunnel was announced as the Game Grid of Tron by the on-board audio guide. After this addition, the attraction was advertised as the "PeopleMover Thru the World of Tron."

Deaths

See Also Incidents at Disneyland Resort
Incidents at Disneyland Resort
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.While the California Department of Safety and Health has ruled that some guest-related incidents are Disney's fault, the majority of incidents were due to negligence on the guests' part.The...

:
  • During the attraction's 28-year run, two separate incidents of guests trying to jump between the moving vehicles led to their deaths.

Closure

The PeopleMover closed in August 1995, and was replaced by the short-lived Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods was an attraction in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.-The Ride:Opening on May 22, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland, this high-speed attraction ran on the former PeopleMover track...

 in 1998.

A few of the retired PeopleMover cars were used in other parts of the resort after its closing. Three cars from train #45 used to sit outside the Team Disney Anaheim
Team Disney
There are at least four buildings in the United States which carry the Team Disney title. Each serves as the administrative headquarters for key businesses of The Walt Disney Company....

 building, but they were removed in 2007. One of the cars from train #45 is now in display at the cast members cafe called the Eat Ticket. Another car from train #45 is now in the hands of a local resident. Two cars were repainted with a blue and orange grid to resemble a blueprint (along with Rocket Jets
Rocket Jets
Rocket Jets was an attraction in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. This attraction opened in 1967 with the new Tomorrowland and closed in 1997 for the 1998 New Tomorrowland. It was the third spinning rocket attraction in Tomorrowland and stood three stories above the ground...

 vehicles and the front of a Mark III
Disneyland Monorail System
The Disneyland Monorail System is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, USA...

 Disneyland-ALWEG monorail train) and placed in the queue display for Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods was an attraction in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.-The Ride:Opening on May 22, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland, this high-speed attraction ran on the former PeopleMover track...

, which would later close in 2000. These were later sold on Disney Auctions after Rocket Rods closed.

The checkout counters at the Little Green Men Store Command in Tomorrowland resemble PeopleMover cars and the store has former Rocket Jets vehicles retrofitted as merchandise shelves. The store also had Skyway
Skyway (Disney)
The Skyway was a gondola lift attraction at Disneyland, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Tokyo Disneyland. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, the route from Tomorrowland was called Skyway to Fantasyland, and the route from Fantasyland...

 buckets hanging from the ceiling when it was the Premiere Shop.

In 2000, almost five years after the attraction's closure, an updated version of the Autopia
Autopia
Autopia is a Disneyland attraction, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Anaheim, California, Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, and at Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island, Hong Kong...

 attraction opened. The old on-board audio music from the PeopleMover now serves as the background area music in Autopia's queue.

A grass roots movement has existed ever since calling for the attraction's return. The ride track infrastructure which served both the PeopleMover and Rocket Rods still stands unused in Tomorrowland. In September 2010, George Kalogridis stated that while there may be plans to bring back the ride, the park would not able to return the attraction to its original form due to stricter regulations.

Pop culture references

  • A homage to the PeopleMover appears in the 2008 Disney
    Walt Disney Pictures
    Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

    ·Pixar
    Pixar
    Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...

     film, WALL•E
    WALL-E
    WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...

    , depicting a transportation system with the name "PEOPLEMOVER" and the ride's signature circular boarding station.
  • The box and poster art for Mega64
    Mega64
    Mega64 is a low-budget series of comedy skits centered on video games.-Premise:In the not too distant future, a sinister scientist named Dr. Poque creates the most powerful video game console ever assembled...

    's Version 3 DVD parodies the poster designs of the PeopleMover and Matterhorn Bobsleds
    Matterhorn Bobsleds
    The Matterhorn Bobsleds or the Matterhorn is an attraction composed of two intertwining steel roller coasters, which opened in 1959 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Swiss Alps...

    , as well as Walt Disney
    Walt Disney
    Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

    's Disneyland opening day speech.
  • In the 2010 video game Disney Epic Mickey
    Epic Mickey
    Epic Mickey is a 2010 Mickey Mouse action-adventure platforming video game designed by Warren Spector and developed by Junction Point Studios for the Wii console...

    , the PeopleMover is featured in Tomorrow City, a dystopian
    Dystopia
    A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...

     version of Tomorrowland.

See also

  • Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction, formerly known as the WEDWay PeopleMover
  • Inter-Terminal Train
    Inter-terminal train (IAH)
    The inter-terminal train at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, is the older of the two separate inter-terminal people movers currently operating at the airport...

    , a people mover at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
    George Bush Intercontinental Airport
    George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...

    , built by WED Enterprises
    Walt Disney Imagineering
    Walt Disney Imagineering is the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation and construction of Disney theme parks worldwide...

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