Skyway (Disney)

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Skyway

Locations, openings and status
Disneyland June 23, 1956
Closed - November 9, 1994
Magic Kingdom October 1, 1971
Closed - November 10, 1999
Tokyo Disneyland April 15, 1983
Closed - November 3, 1998

The Skyway was a gondola lift attraction at Disneyland, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Tokyo Disneyland. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, the route from Tomorrowland was called Skyway to Fantasyland, and the route from Fantasyland was called Skyway to Tomorrowland.

1 History
2 Trivia
3 Attraction facts
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The Skyway at Disneyland opened in 1956. In 1959, a major renovation added The Submarine Voyage, the Disneyland Monorail, the Matterhorn (now a Fantasyland Attraction), and the Motorboat Cruise, but when the Matterhorn was planned it was designed to be built right in the path of the Skyway, so without a single closure of the Skyway, they tunneled through the Matterhorn.

One day a passenger on the Skyway stood up in his bucket, struggled with his door, finally managing to open it, fell from the ride, landing in a tree outside of the Alice in Wonderland attraction and survived.

The Disneyland Skyway was removed in November 1994 because it was too costly to make safety upgrades. Also, people would throw objects and spit off the buckets as they went overhead. At Disneyland, the Fantasyland Skyway station remains, but the Tomorrowland station has been mostly removed and was at one point a service area for the 1998 attraction Rocket Rods. In 1998, Tokyo Disneyland closed their Skyway attraction and the Fantasyland station was removed to make room for Pooh's Hunny Hunt, while the Tomorrowland station was remodeled into a candy store. At the Magic Kingdom, the Skyway was removed in 1999, but not before a worker was killed when he was swept off the platform and dropped 40 feet on February 14 of that year. ^[1] The Tomorrowland station is off-limits to guests, while the Fantasyland station is now used for stroller parking. When the Disneyland Skyway closed, the holes in the Matterhorn were filled in and the supports were dismantled within weeks.

Another key reason for the decision to remove the Skyways was because they were in technical violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. It was very difficult to load and unload mobility-impaired guests (one must step up when boarding and down when de-boarding), and this usually required having to stop the ride. Furthermore, wheelchairs could not be loaded onboard because the vehicles were too small.

[edit] Trivia

There is a legend, often told to new employees at Walt Disney World Resort, that Walt Disney got the inspiration to build a second theme park when a family decided to leave Disneyland after observing rush hour traffic begin to build on the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) from the Skyway. He determined that he needed to build a theme park in a more remote location to improve suspension of disbelief.

[edit] Attraction facts

[edit] Disneyland

Grand opening: June 23, 1956
Closure date: November 9, 1994
Designer: WED Enterprises
Ticket required: "D" (One-way)
Ride system: Aerial gondola ride

[edit] Magic Kingdom

Grand opening: October 1, 1971 (Opened with Magic Kingdom park)
Closure date: November 10, 1999
Designer: WED Enterprises
Ticket required: "D" (One-way)
Ride system: Aerial gondola ride

[edit] Tokyo Disneyland

Grand opening: April 15, 1983 (Opened with Tokyo Disneyland park)
Closure date: November 3, 1998
Designer: WED Enterprises
Ticket required: "D" (One-way)
Ride system: Aerial enclosed gondola ride with automatic loading and unloading

[edit] References

^ Skyway accident. "(Sunday, February 14, 1999) - At Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, a maintenance worker was killed in an accident on the Magic Kingdom's Skyway cable-car ride." http://www.rideaccidents.com/1999.html#feb14