Autopia
Autopia | ||
---|---|---|
Status | Operating | |
Opening date | July 17, 1955 | |
Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane available | ||
Coordinates | 28°25′10″N 81°34′45″W / 28.4194°N 81.5792°W | |
Status | Operating | |
Opening date | October 1, 1971 | |
Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane available | ||
Coordinates | 35°37′53″N 139°52′44″E / 35.6314°N 139.8788°E | |
Status | Removed | |
Opening date | April 15, 1983 | |
Closing date | January 11, 2017 | |
Replaced by | Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast (Fantasyland) | |
Disney Premier Access available | ||
Coordinates | 22°18′53″N 114°02′31″E / 22.3147°N 114.0419°E | |
Status | Removed | |
Opening date | July 13, 2006 | |
Closing date | June 11, 2016 | |
Ride statistics | ||
Attraction type | Race cars | |
Riders per vehicle | 2 | |
Duration | 5:10 minutes | |
Height restriction | 32 in (81 cm) | |
Must transfer from wheelchair |
Autopia is a
The name Autopia is a
Disneyland Autopia
The Disneyland Autopia, in one form or another, is one of the few current attractions that opened with the park on July 17, 1955. When it opened, it represented the future of what would become America's multilane limited-access highways, which were still being developed.
Drivers can use the steering wheel along the track but the center rail will guide the cars along the track regardless of steering input. Drivers/children too short to depress the gas pedal are paired with taller individuals who can. Brakes are applied automatically when the driver releases the gas pedal.
Prior to 2008, the Disneyland Autopia cars were powered by 286 cc (17.5 cu in) two-stroke gasoline motors from Kawasaki. After Honda agreed to sponsor the ride, by 2008 cars were re-engined with the 270 cc (16 cu in) Honda iGX270, a four-stroke gasoline engine which was quieter and produced fewer emissions.[1]
Disney announced in April 2024 that the cars will be re-powered with fully electric drivetrains by Fall 2026.[2]
History
Before the park opened, the cars were tested without the bumpers, and were almost completely destroyed by the test drivers. Bumpers were fitted around the vehicle, but there were still problems with collisions, as a guide rail had yet to be implemented on the ride. Eventually the vehicles were fitted with spring-loaded bumpers to discourage collisions.
The first fleet of Autopia cars were dubbed "Mark I". Throughout Disneyland's first few years, Autopia went through a few fleets, as the cars took much abuse. Though basically the same look, they went through Mark I, II, III, and IV by 1958. When the
The Tomorrowland version was not the only form of Autopia to exist at Disneyland. Other versions, separate from the Tomorrowland version, included the Midget Autopia, Fantasyland Autopia (Rescue Rangers Raceway), and Junior Autopia. Of these, the Tomorrowland Autopia existed the longest.
The Midget Autopia opened in 1957 and was manufactured by Arrow Development.[5] It was the smallest and was the third Autopia track, after the Tomorrowland Autopia (1955) and the Junior Autopia in Fantasyland (1956). It was located next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Motor Boat Cruise at the very edge of Fantasyland. Adults were not allowed on the ride.[3] It was closed in 1966 and dismantled to make way for It's a Small World.
The ride was then donated to the city of Marceline, Missouri, where it operated in the Walt Disney Municipal Park for 11 years until parts were no longer available for the cars. One of the cars is on display in the museum whereas the concrete track on which the cars ran was ultimately demolished in 2016 to facilitate replacement of the city pool. In 2015, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum made plans to recreate the ride next to the museum in downtown Marceline, launching a Kickstarter campaign to finance the project. The project attracted a fraction of the $500,000 required to reconstruct the vehicles and track.[6][7]
Unlike all other Autopia attractions, Midget Autopia was one of several of Arrow Development's "off-the-shelf" Arrowflite Tracked Auto Rides built at several amusement parks throughout the country, at least one of which still operates at Idlewild Park in Pennsylvania.[8]
The Fantasyland Autopia began as the Junior Autopia in 1956. Unlike the original Autopia, the Junior Autopia track had a center guard rail.[3] It closed in 1958, and reopened on January 1, 1959, as the expanded Fantasyland Autopia. It was a duplicate version of the Tomorrowland Autopia and featured the same theme of the original until March 1991, when part of the Disney's Afternoon Avenue makeover of Fantasyland, the ride was transformed into the Rescue Rangers Raceway. The theming was kept until the beginning of 1992, when the promotion ended. The ride remained open on an interim basis until September 7, 1999, when both the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland Autopias were closed.[citation needed]
Disneyland Autopia’s original sponsor from 1955 until 1970 was Richfield Oil.[9]
In 2000, Disneyland replaced both existing Autopia tracks with a new, much larger Autopia sponsored by
On January 11, 2016, the attraction closed for a new building, walkway (now painted blue, white, and silver), sign, vehicle paint schemes, minor vehicle modifications, and sponsor. The attraction reopened on April 29, 2016, with Honda as its new sponsor, replacing Chevron. In early 2017 all remaining Chevron references were all removed from the attraction. On March 24, 2017, Honda revealed ASIMO in the attraction. Asimo is accompanied by Bird and are in various scenes throughout the attraction, most of the scenes replaced the carpark, and various billboards.
Versions in other Disney parks
Magic Kingdom
The second Disney theme park to open was Magic Kingdom. An opening day attraction, the Grand Prix Raceway was based on an international car race rather than the futuristic roadways of Autopia. The original sponsor was Goodyear, as it supplied all of the tires on the Mark VII vehicles.
The track length has been the subject of incorrect discussion over the years. Through aerial photography and research it has been determined that the attraction was never lengthened, but shortened 3 times.
In 1994, the Grand Prix theme and name was dropped in favor of Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, but the track and vehicles remained the same, as new theming to coincide with the "New Tomorrowland" overlay was installed. However, The Walt Disney World Explorer application—both the original edition released in 1996 and the Second Edition released in 1998—used the original name for the attraction's slideshow topic in the application.[14][15]
On December 20, 1999,
The name was changed in 2008 to Tomorrowland Speedway, resulting in the drop of the Indy portion of the title.[16]
In 2019, the ride underwent more track adjustments to accommodate the addition of TRON Lightcycle / Run.[17] The attraction reopened on May 18, 2019.[18]
Tokyo Disneyland
At Tokyo Disneyland, the ride was known as Grand Circuit Raceway. This version of the ride opened with the park in 1983 and remained largely unchanged. The ride was sponsored by Bridgestone and featured a grandstand for visitors to watch the "races" between drivers. The track was described as a "figure eight" shape, but was actually quite longer. A new ride, Aquatopia, opened at neighboring park Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, but other than the name similarity to the Disneyland car ride (it is a homage) Aquatopia is closer (as an attraction) to Disneyland's former Motor Boat Cruise. Tokyo Disneyland's version closed on January 11, 2017, to make way for a Beauty and the Beast themed area.
Disneyland Paris
In Disneyland Park in Paris, the attraction, which opened with Euro Disneyland on April 12, 1992, uses the original Disneyland name of Autopia, but has a unique sense of style and theming. The cars are more rounded to go with a 1920s retro-futuristic theme.
This is also the only Autopia style attraction to have a storyline. The story was that the guests drove their cars, called "Astrocoupes", around a nearby city to Discoveryland, "Solaria".
In 2012, the "Solaria" prop was removed from the attraction and all Discoveryland logos were removed from the fleet of cars. The original storyline was also removed, turning it into a simple driving track, just like its American and Asian counterparts.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland was the first Disneyland-style park to not open with a form of the Autopia attraction. Later opened in summer 2006 as part of its phase one expansion, the Hong Kong version was different from the other versions as it featured electric cars with lighting effects and an onboard audio system. Theming included a lush jungle and alien landscapes. Honda was the sponsor of the attraction. Hong Kong Disneyland's Autopia closed on June 11, 2016, to be replaced by "Avengers Quinjet Experience", a part of "Stark Expo".[19]
See also
- List of Disneyland attractions
- List of Magic Kingdom attractions
- List of Tokyo Disneyland attractions
- List of Disneyland Park (Paris) attractions
- List of Hong Kong Disneyland attractions
References
- ^ Vaughn, Mark (May 2, 2016). "Disneyland Autopia: We Drive The New Honda-Powered Cars". Autoweek. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Roth, Sammy (April 19, 2024). "Column: Disneyland just promised electric cars at Autopia. Gas will be gone by 2026". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59580-033-6.
- ^ (T. R. Shaw) tshaw at oitc.com. "Fun Facts of Disneyland's Autopia". Hiddenmickeys.org. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Gurr, Bob (November 27, 2013). "DESIGN: Those Were The Times – No.23 1955 Arrow Development – Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon". MiceChat. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
- ^ Reynolds, Christopher (July 31, 2015). "Disneyland's long-lost Midget Autopia may roll again--in Missouri".
- ISBN 978-0-9717080-6-8.)
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Weiss, Werner (August 15, 2014). "Midget Autopia Mystery". Yesterland. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Weiss, Werner (November 10, 2017). "Richfield Oil at Disneyland, 1955". Yesterland. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- ^ oitc.com, (T. R. Shaw) tshaw at. "Fun Facts of Disneyland's Autopia". www.hiddenmickeys.org.
- ^ "California entertainment, Cars Land crowds, Matterhorn climbers +MORE". MiceChat. June 25, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
- ^ "Watch the Speedway shrink over the past 40 years". Retrodisneyworld.com. January 6, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Marty Alchin (January 5, 2015). "Tomorrowland Speedway "expansion" — Medium". Medium.com. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ Mindsai Productions; Disney Interactive (1996). The Walt Disney World Explorer (Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh) (1.0 ed.). Disney Interactive. Scene: Grand Prix Raceway topic.
- ^ WDW Explorer98- Tomorrowland Grand Prix Raceway (YouTube video). WDWExplorer98. January 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Mongello, Lou (March 26, 2008). "Tomorrowland (Indy) Speedway – Before and After". WDWRadio. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Kevin (November 30, 2018). "Magic Kingdom Rides Closing: Walt Disney World Railroad to Shut Down for a While; Tomorrowland Speedway Is Next". WFTV. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- ^ Figueroa, Jessica (May 18, 2019). "PHOTOS, VIDEO: Tomorrowland Speedway Reopens After Lengthy..." Walt Disney World News Today. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
- ^ "Hong Kong Disneyland". www.screamscape.com.