Rocket Jets

Grand opening: July 2 , 1967
Closure date: January 6 , 1997
Designer: WED Enterprises
Vehicle theme: Saturn V rocket
Previous attraction: Astro-Jets (1956-1966)
Present attractions: Astro Orbitor (Design) Observatron (Location)
Required ticket: "D"
Ride system: Rocket Spinner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rocket Jets was an attraction at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the third-generation spinning rocket attraction in Tomorrowland. It opened in 1967 for the new Tomorrowland and closed in 1997 for the 1998 New Tomorrowland. Upon the decision to redo Tomorrowland for 1998, the Rocket Jets, three-stories above the ground, would be replaced by a newer attraction, based off Disneyland Paris' Orbitron, at the entrance to Tomorrowland. The Rocket Jets are still in their place above the PeopleMover station, as the Observatron, a sculpture that would spin around and play music every fifteen minutes, with the rockets replaced by satellite dishes, and the Saturn V rocket in the center replaced by a laser-beam. The Saturn V rocket in that the rockets were attached to was sold on eBay by Disney Auction in 2005.

Many have theorized that it will be removed and a new version of the Rocket Jets will open up where the skeletal remains of it are now.

The Observatron, the Rocket Jets without the NASA decorations and rockets, the centerpiece of the new Tomorrowland in 1998, would rotate along to music every 15 minutes, but often malfunctioned, as the machinery was built for more than four uses per hour, and it was built to handle the rockets, not satellite dishes. It still continues to appear to have mechanical trouble to this day, sometimes playing just the music every 15 minutes or not doing anything at all.