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Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods was a high-speed thrill attraction located in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, Anaheim, California. The ride was themed around a hypothetical “drag race” of the future, as well as a futuristic rapid transit system. The ride opened in May 1998, utilizing the existing PeopleMover track and infrastructure as part of the New Tomorrowland refurbishment project. The ride experienced frequent technical problems and was shut down indefinitely for renovations in September 2000; ultimately, the ride would not reopen, as confirmed via an official press release in April 2001, after two years of sporadic operations, and would officially remain closed. While Rocket Rods' queue was replaced with Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in 2005, the majority of the track infrastructure utilized by both the attraction and its predecessor still exist in Tomorrowland as of 2026.
In the 1990s, Disneyland wanted to refurbish the Tomorrowland section as part of the "Disney Decade", started by Michael Eisner.[citation needed] This project was originally called Tomorrowland 2055.[citation needed] Mission to Mars was planned to be replaced by ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Also proposed to join Tomorrowland 2055 was The Timekeeper, which was set to take over Circle-Vision 360°; another attraction, Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue, a musical stage show, was to take place where America Sings was previously located. These plans were cancelled following the underwhelming opening figures—and negative public reception—of Euro Disney (known today as Disneyland Paris). Instead of a complete overhaul, Tomorrowland instead saw some updates to a few of its attractions, and a golden-bronze color scheme was given to the once bright, all-white land. One of the attractions to be shuttered was the PeopleMover, which would close on August 21, 1995.
In early 1996, Disneyland announced that Tomorrowland would be remodeled with a variety of new attractions, including Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, Rocket Rods and Innoventions. Rocket Rods was set to be the area's star attraction. It would take over the former PeopleMover, with construction beginning in 1997.
Rocket Rods opened on May 22, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland. The high-speed attraction ran on a renovated PeopleMover track and riders entered the attraction through the former Circle-Vision 360° building at the front of Tomorrowland.[citation needed]
The ride was met with mixed reception from guests, as some enjoyed the thrilling acceleration and speed, but others felt it lacked the thrills of a true thrill ride while going too fast to be enjoyable for sightseeing. Rocket Rods was also operating sporadically due to frequent downtime and mechanical problems. Guests would have to wait in line for over three hours, as there were intermittent closures. Disney could not convince a corporate sponsor to provide funding for a big budget and entertaining pre-show. At that point, the company was still facing financial issues following the "disastrous" grand opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992. To save on costs, Disney chose not to modify the original PeopleMover track with banked turns, which would have aided in higher speeds being possible. Instead, the ride would accelerate on the straight sections of track and abruptly decelerate as the cars approached a tight, flat-grade turn. The original PeopleMover was able to traverse these turns smoothly as it did not travel more than seven miles per hour. However, the ride never performed to designed show standards, due to the decision to reuse the PeopleMover track with its unbanked turns. The vehicle's tires were worn down at a quick rate, resulting in damaged engines. The constant changes of speed in the ride often caused malfunctions. The track and internal structure of the attraction were damaged. In addition, the computer system would shut the attraction down if it was not in the correct position, leading to frequent downtime.
On July 6, 1998, a little over a month after its grand opening, Rocket Rods was closed for a refurbishment to address the issues. It was reported to remain closed for five weeks, but it ended up staying closed for three months before reopening in October 1998.
On August 29, 2000, Disneyland announced that Rocket Rods would close again on September 25 for a refurbishment that was to last until the spring of 2001, but no work was ever seen on the attraction. On April 27, 2001, the Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register reported that Rocket Rods would never reopen.
The queue building is now used for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Most of the Rocket Rods vehicles were scrapped after the closure, but it is unknown exactly how many were kept. One vehicle was placed in front of the Hollywood & Dine restaurant at Disney California Adventure where it remained for a few months. It was gone by the spring of 2002. Another vehicle ended up in the collection of Richard Kraft, and was listed for auction in late August 2018.
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Rocket Rods
Rocket Rods was a high-speed thrill attraction located in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, Anaheim, California. The ride was themed around a hypothetical “drag race” of the future, as well as a futuristic rapid transit system. The ride opened in May 1998, utilizing the existing PeopleMover track and infrastructure as part of the New Tomorrowland refurbishment project. The ride experienced frequent technical problems and was shut down indefinitely for renovations in September 2000; ultimately, the ride would not reopen, as confirmed via an official press release in April 2001, after two years of sporadic operations, and would officially remain closed. While Rocket Rods' queue was replaced with Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in 2005, the majority of the track infrastructure utilized by both the attraction and its predecessor still exist in Tomorrowland as of 2026.
In the 1990s, Disneyland wanted to refurbish the Tomorrowland section as part of the "Disney Decade", started by Michael Eisner.[citation needed] This project was originally called Tomorrowland 2055.[citation needed] Mission to Mars was planned to be replaced by ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Also proposed to join Tomorrowland 2055 was The Timekeeper, which was set to take over Circle-Vision 360°; another attraction, Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue, a musical stage show, was to take place where America Sings was previously located. These plans were cancelled following the underwhelming opening figures—and negative public reception—of Euro Disney (known today as Disneyland Paris). Instead of a complete overhaul, Tomorrowland instead saw some updates to a few of its attractions, and a golden-bronze color scheme was given to the once bright, all-white land. One of the attractions to be shuttered was the PeopleMover, which would close on August 21, 1995.
In early 1996, Disneyland announced that Tomorrowland would be remodeled with a variety of new attractions, including Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, Rocket Rods and Innoventions. Rocket Rods was set to be the area's star attraction. It would take over the former PeopleMover, with construction beginning in 1997.
Rocket Rods opened on May 22, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland. The high-speed attraction ran on a renovated PeopleMover track and riders entered the attraction through the former Circle-Vision 360° building at the front of Tomorrowland.[citation needed]
The ride was met with mixed reception from guests, as some enjoyed the thrilling acceleration and speed, but others felt it lacked the thrills of a true thrill ride while going too fast to be enjoyable for sightseeing. Rocket Rods was also operating sporadically due to frequent downtime and mechanical problems. Guests would have to wait in line for over three hours, as there were intermittent closures. Disney could not convince a corporate sponsor to provide funding for a big budget and entertaining pre-show. At that point, the company was still facing financial issues following the "disastrous" grand opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992. To save on costs, Disney chose not to modify the original PeopleMover track with banked turns, which would have aided in higher speeds being possible. Instead, the ride would accelerate on the straight sections of track and abruptly decelerate as the cars approached a tight, flat-grade turn. The original PeopleMover was able to traverse these turns smoothly as it did not travel more than seven miles per hour. However, the ride never performed to designed show standards, due to the decision to reuse the PeopleMover track with its unbanked turns. The vehicle's tires were worn down at a quick rate, resulting in damaged engines. The constant changes of speed in the ride often caused malfunctions. The track and internal structure of the attraction were damaged. In addition, the computer system would shut the attraction down if it was not in the correct position, leading to frequent downtime.
On July 6, 1998, a little over a month after its grand opening, Rocket Rods was closed for a refurbishment to address the issues. It was reported to remain closed for five weeks, but it ended up staying closed for three months before reopening in October 1998.
On August 29, 2000, Disneyland announced that Rocket Rods would close again on September 25 for a refurbishment that was to last until the spring of 2001, but no work was ever seen on the attraction. On April 27, 2001, the Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register reported that Rocket Rods would never reopen.
The queue building is now used for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Most of the Rocket Rods vehicles were scrapped after the closure, but it is unknown exactly how many were kept. One vehicle was placed in front of the Hollywood & Dine restaurant at Disney California Adventure where it remained for a few months. It was gone by the spring of 2002. Another vehicle ended up in the collection of Richard Kraft, and was listed for auction in late August 2018.