"Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. TOM Morrow..."
This week, we salute the attraction we like to call a couch with a breeze, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
This attraction opened on July 2, 1967 at Disneyland as the WEDway PeopleMover. WED stood for Walter Elias Disney. The PeopleMover vehicles don't have a motor -- the motors are on the track. This may sound like a joke, but it's true. Every nine feet, you'll pass over an electric motor turning a genuine Goodyear tire. These tires rub against the bottom of your vehicle, propelling you forward. Ironically, our photo shows hardly any guests on the ride. This is usually the case on the current version of the attraction in WDW. The DL attraction, though seemingly innocuous, was the sight of injury and even death for a couple of guests who failed to heed the safety warnings.
The WDW version of the attraction opened on July 1, 1975. The name was the same, but the attraction operated differently. Rather than rotating tires, the vehicles are kept in motion by linear-induction -- electromagnets in the track pull the cars forward silently and cleanly. In 1994, the name was changed to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority as part of the Tomorrowland overhaul.
The latest incarnation of the attraction took place with the opening of Disneyland's New Tomorrowland just last month. The PeopleMover, which had closed in 1995, reopened as the Rocket Rods, a much zippier ride that has seen very long lines (and quite a few breakdowns). The Rods use the WEDway track, and the cars even pop wheelies.
I rode the WDW TTA for the first time in March of this year. In fact, I rode it four times in one day. There is no better place in the MK to get off your feet and catch a breeze. It's a great place to wait for other members of your party while they brave Space Mountain or Alien Encounter. I do wish there were more things to see in the dark, interior sections of the ride. I think there is room for improvement here without necessarily turning the TTA into a thrill ride.
The music selected to accompany this page is "People" by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne.