Rocket Jets

Rocket Jets
The original attraction poster
Disneyland
Land	Tomorrowland
Designer	WED Enterprises
Attraction type	Aerial carousel
Theme	Rockets
Opening date	July 2, 1967
Closing date	January 6, 1997
Vehicle type	Saturn V rocket
Vehicle names	Rockets
Vehicle capacity	2
Cars per vehicle	1
Guests per car	2
Audio-animatronics	none

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. When Tomorrowland was redone for 1998, the Rocket Jets were replaced by a new attraction based on Orbitron at the entrance to Tomorrowland in Disneyland Park Paris.

Observatron

The Rocket Jets remained in their place above the former PeopleMover station as the Observatron, a sculpture that was intended to spin and play music every fifteen minutes. The rockets were replaced by satellite dishes and the Saturn V rocket in the center was replaced by a laser-beam. However, the Observatron often malfunctioned, as the machinery was built to operate more frequently and to carry the rockets, rather than the satellite dishes they were replaced with. It appeared to have mechanical issues, sometimes only playing music every 15 minutes, or not doing anything at all.

In late 2006, the Observatron received much needed maintenance which allows the Observatron to now rotate every 15 minutes while playing its music as originally planned. As part of the maintenance, the old speakers were replaced with new ones and new speakers were added. Since this maintenance, the Observatron rarely breaks down and operates on a daily basis.

This maintenance sparked speculation among the Disney fan community that the old Rocket Jets may return to their former spot atop the PeopleMover platform.^{[citation needed]}

The Saturn V rocket that the rockets were attached to was sold on eBay by Disney Auction in 2005. One remains on display, along with Skyway gondolas, in "Little Green Men Store Command" with a space ranger design. During Disneyland's 50th anniversary, one of the satellite dishes was replaced by a 50 Mickey Mouse head.

In popular culture

The Rocket Jets appear in a scene from the Disney animation Meet the Robinsons as well as another Disneyland attraction, Space Mountain. This area is known as "Todayland".[1]

See also

• Astro Orbitor

References