PeopleMover (Magic Kingdom)

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PeopleMover

Magic Kingdom
Location	Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
Coordinates	28°25′06″N 81°34′45″W / 28.418333°N 81.579167°W / 28.418333; -81.579167
Section	Tomorrowland
Status	Operating since July 1, 1975

Statistics

Manufactured

1971 (Frontmost track sections, everything else installed later)

Designer / calculations

WED Enterprises

Capacity

32 vehicles seating 30 people each

Propulsion

Linear induction motors

Speed

6.84 mph

Track length

5,484 feet

The PeopleMover, also referred to as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, is a ride located at the Magic Kingdom located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. Opening on July 1, 1975, the ride is a tour of the Tomorrowland land inspired by the ride of the same name at Disneyland.

The ride was also innovative for its use of LIMS, or Linear Induction Motors, to propel the ride along its 629 wheels, a technology that would not be seen again in a major way until the Flight of Fear coasters opened in 1996 at Kings Island and Kings Dominion.

History

Beginnings

As soon as the Florida park started re-development, one of the ideas proposed was to bring the PeopleMover to the new park. This one would be different, as it would be longer, have enclosed cars, and go inside a new space-themed coaster for its layout. Due to the lack of tire use, Goodyear was not involved with the ride's development on the East Coast.^[1]

When Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971, the ride was partway built. The concourses travelling through both the east and west buildings of Tomorrowland were built, but because the ride was still under development only those concourses were built. Until SpacePort was built, the routes leading to nowhere were blocked off until further development could ensue.^[2]

Construction

As the early years of the park went on, things started to change. If you had wings would be built in 1972, to hide the west view of the PeopleMover Track. Now, plans on how the ride worked changed. In the original PeopleMover, there were GoodYear tires on every 9 feet of track to propel the ride along its track. But since GoodYear did not sponsor the ride, they had to get creative.

Imagineers bypassed this by using the primitive, but innovative technology, Linear induction motors. These would help propel the 30 5-car trains around the 5,484 feet of track on the daily without stopping. Similarly, the ride would have a circular, elevated station like in Disneyland's version. This meant a clone of Rocket Jets could be added to the top of the ride as well.^[3]

With the plans set in stone, construction would begin in early 1973, as part of the 1975 remodel of the land.^[4] One by one, pieces of steel and concrete with the PeopleMover track would be placed, and construction happened alongside the then-upcoming Space Mountain roller coaster. Construction was completed by later 1974, with the Rocket Jets opening on top of the ride that same year on November 23, 1974.

Delay and Opening

Due to technical difficulties, the Spring 1975 opening was scrapped, and the ride would instead open on July 1. The LIM technology proved to be a headache as Imagineers scrambled to get the ride working on time. However, despite the issues and fixes required, the ride was able to meet its deadline on July 1, 1975, opening 6 months after Space Mountain opened.

The ride was an instant hit, with the futuristic technology and the relaxing atmosphere being perfect for guests to relax after a stressful day of walking in the Florida sun.

Changes

Over the ride's original life, the ride received no changes aside from occasional narration updates, or in the case of a late 80's-early 90's change, new colors. The ride operated almost exactly how it did in 1975, with little change. However, big changes were on the horizon as the early 90's rolled around.

1994 refurbishment

On January 10, 1994, both Rocket Jets and the WEDWay PeopleMover closed, in order to coincide with the 1994 revamp of the Tomorrowland. The Rocket Jets became Astro Orbiter - and the PeopleMover became the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or TTA. The revamp saw a new narration done for the ride, and new thematic elements in place as the land around it got revamped to be changed with a new 1950's retro-futuristic aesthetic.

The PeopleMover and the attraction on top reopened in June 1994 with a whole new look and feel. Now, the PeopleMover had new pieces of theming placed inside the tunnels, and the ride now had a new narration done by Pete Reneday play throughout the ride. However, after the land got refurbished, about almost nothing about the ride would be changed, staying the same, just like it had been in 1975.

2009 refresh, and present day

In 2009, the ride would undergo a brief refresh. First, the narration would be swapped out for a new and updated one by Mike Brassell, and more notably, new color-changing lights would be added inside the tunnels for flavor purposes. Again, after these changes, nothing about the ride would change until 2020, when the original ride motors were starting to act up. The ride would close on March 14, 2020, to upgrade the ride's systems to ensure the maximum reliability.^[5] The pandemic delayed the reopening until April 26, 2021, where it's operated ever since. In 2022, the narration was changed to remove references to Stitch's Great Escape and have new narration recorded for the new Tron Lightcycle Run, which opened the following year.