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Credit: DisneyWalt Disney’s motto was to always “keep moving forward.”
He was always looking to the future and looking to create experiences for Guests that would help them see what he saw. He took his vision and turned it into the Tomorrowland area, which can be found in both Disneyland Park and at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. He also showed people his forward-thinking in his idea of EPCOT, the Experiment Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
In 1967, the Disneyland Resort introduced Guests to its “highway in the sky” and called it the PeopleMover. It was located in the New Tomorrowland and took Guests on a 10-minute “grand circle tour” of Tomorrowland, the futuristic area of the theme park.
The ride was so popular that it was made a part of Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World during an expansion of the area in 1975. Then, it was called the WEDway PeopleMover.
The attraction is still in operation in Disney World, although it is currently closed for refurbishment, and is now known as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, as the name was changed in 2010.
Unfortunately, the Disneyland PeopleMover was closed down in 1995 to make way for the new attraction, Rocket Rods, which ruined the track and was shut down after less than 3 years.
Over the years, the PeopleMover has gained a cult following and there have been numerous petitions to bring the original attraction back to Disneyland. The track still sits above Disneyland today as a sad reminder of what once was.
Luckily, those wishing to get their PeopleMover fix can still make their way to Walt Disney World in Florida — although at the time of publication, the ride is closed for refurbishment.
The PeopleMover is still a central part of Tomorrowland, with Guests always ready to take their trip through Disney’s vision of the future.
One of the highlights of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover is that Guests are able to see Walt’s original proposal for EPCOT. Walt wished for EPCOT to be a real place where real people lived and worked, and traveled to their jobs on what he called the PeopleMover. While the original vision of EPCOT may not have come to fruition, the PeopleMover made it through and became a Disney staple.
However, Guests have not been able to enjoy this attraction for over one year due to the fact that the TTA PeopleMover in Disney World has been closed due to refurbishments, with Guests getting impatient for its reopening.
So what is taking so long to reopen the Tomorrowland ride? Well, some have speculated that the ride is past its prime, which was the main reason for the closure of the original Disneyland attraction. Others have speculated that it could be closed temporarily due to the construction on TRON Lightcycle / Run.
However, we believe the PeopleMover isn’t going anywhere as we have seen the ride has recently being tested on multiple occasions. If Disney was thinking about removing the ride, why would they be testing?
But with that being said, it is interesting to think about what Disney could do with the attraction. It has been a part of Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom since 1975 and has been updated with the attractions that surround it, but Disney could revamp the ride into something more modern. Fans have been saying that they want Tomorrowland to be more futuristic and less stuck in the past.
For right now, it seems that Disney is just making some small changes and technical updates to the ride. However, what seems like small changes can sometimes take a long time, which seems to be the case now.
While there have been no announcements from Disney as to what the future of the TTA PeopleMover will be, due to the ride’s extreme popularity, it does not seem that it will be going anywhere anytime soon.
Inside the Magic will keep you updated on the fate of Disney World’s PeopleMover as we get information.
Is the PeopleMover a Disney World must-do for you? Let us know in the comments below!