Rocket Rods

Rocket Rods
The entrance to Rocket Rods.
Disneyland
AreaTomorrowland
Coordinates33°48′44″N 117°55′05″W / 33.81222°N 117.91806°W / 33.81222; -117.91806
StatusRemoved
Cost$25,000,000[1]
Opening dateMay 22, 1998
Closing dateSeptember 25, 2000
(maintenance pre-closure)
April 27, 2001
(confirmed closure)
ReplacedPeopleMover
America the Beautiful (queue)
Replaced byBuzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (queue)
Ride statistics
Attraction type"Prototype" Rapid Transportation System
ManufacturerWalt Disney Imagineering
DesignerWalt Disney Imagineering
ThemeFuturistic
Music"World of Creativity" - (Magic Highways of Tomorrow) by the Sherman Brothers
Height21 ft (6.4 m)
Speed35 mph (56 km/h)
Vehicle typeRocket Rod XPR (Experimental Prototype Rocket)
Riders per vehicle5
Duration3:00
Height restriction46 in (117 cm)
Single rider line available
Disabled access Wheelchair accessible

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.[2] Plagued from its inception with technical problems and mechanical repairs, Rocket Rods was shut down indefinitely for renovations in September 2000; ultimately, the ride would be fully shut down, as confirmed via an official press release in April 2001, after two years of sporadic operations.[3] While Rocket Rods' queue was replaced with the Toy Story-themed dark ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in 2005, the majority of the track infrastructure utilized by both the attraction and its predecessor still sit, visibly derelict, throughout Tomorrowland as of 2024.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Part2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. pp. 418–419. ISBN 978-1595800909.
  3. ^ Geryak, Cole (January 18, 2018). "Disney Extinct Attractions: Rocket Rods". The Laughing Place. Retrieved 17 July 2020.