PeopleMover (Magic Kingdom)

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PeopleMover
Coordinates		28°25′06″N 81°34′45″W / 28.41833°N 81.57917°W / 28.41833; -81.57917
Status	Operating
Opening date	July 1, 1975; 48 years ago (July 1, 1975) [1]
Ride statistics
Attraction type	People mover
Manufacturer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Designer	WED Enterprises
Length	5,484[2] ft (1,672 m)
Speed	6.84 mph (11.01 km/h)
Vehicles	32
Riders per vehicle	30
Rows	2
Riders per row	3
Duration	10:00[2]
Host	Jack Wagner (1975–1985) ORAC-1 Commuter Computer (Ronnie Schell) (1985–1994) TTA Central Announcer ( Pete Renaday ) (1994–October 2009) Mike Brassell (October 2009–July 2022) B.J. Ward (safety voice) (October 2009–present) ORAC-5 (Stephen Stanton) (July 2022–present)
Propulsion	Linear induction motors embedded in track[1]
Platform speed	1.84 mph
Motor count	629
Previous names	WEDway PeopleMover (July 1, 1975 – June 11, 1994) Tomorrowland Transit Authority (June 12, 1994 – August 4, 2010) Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (August 5, 2010 – August 25, 2022; name still used on WDW website, Magic Kingdom guide maps, and some old signage)[1]
Sponsor	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Closed captioning available

The PeopleMover

, Florida. Designed as an urban mass-transit system of the future, vehicles take passengers on a grand circle tour of the realm of Tomorrowland that provides elevated views of several other attractions.

Ride experience

The attraction has a single station, which resides in the center of Rocket Tower Plaza and beneath the

which matches the speed of the PeopleMover trains, and board before they depart the station.

Leaving the Rocket Tower Plaza Station, the trains make a sharp left turn, followed by a sweeping turn over the plaza. The track then makes a right-hand turn, running along the outside of the northern show building and above the former queue for

at the New York World's Fair of 1964-1965 and at Disneyland starting in 1967-1973, before encountering a diorama of two robots and crossing the Star Traders shop.

Leaving the northern show building, the ride passes over the walkway to Fantasyland, the

dioramas. After the view of the post-show, the track makes a right turn, wrapping around the Omega track's loading station, and travels along the back side of the building, which is in complete pitch black darkness. It is possible to look up and see the projections from the ride and the tracks. The trains make a sharp S-turn to merge with the storage track, and run along the outside of the building perimeter to return to the railroad bridge. The Space Mountain segment of the PeopleMover has gained heavy notoriety among park guests for offering the only accessible view of Space Mountain when the interior work lights are on. Because the two attractions have separate operating systems, the PeopleMover does not have to stop during Space Mountain breakdowns, so guests riding the PeopleMover when the work lights are on get a rare illuminated look at the roller coaster tracks.

After crossing the railroad tracks again, the trains backtrack to a point above the Tomorrowland Speedway before turning south. After passing over Space Mountain's entrance plaza, the former

, and the queue line for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The ride then returns to Rocket Tower Plaza, where guests disembark and unload.

History

Wedway PeopleMover (1975–1994)

Main article:

PeopleMover

The Wedway PeopleMover opened on July 1, 1975, based on the

had no involvement in the East Coast version.

The Edison Electric Institute was the original institutional patron of the attraction. Instead of an open track with covered cars, as designed for Disneyland, the trains were designed were built as open-air cars that traveled under a permanent roof over the guideway.

The engineering and design of the track itself were also reworked. While Disneyland's version regularly changed elevation, especially during the outdoor portions, the version for Walt Disney World was designed to remain at the same elevation from start to finish.

The original narration was provided by longtime Disney announcer,

. The third window would have had riders looking directly into an extremely bright light and so was completely obscured with plywood and black fabric.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority (1994–2009)

v t e Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
Legend
Storage facility (not open to public) Space Mountain Steam train transfer (via short walk inside park) Tomorrowland Maintenance facility (not open to public)

In the spring of 1994,

Googie-esque

white forms to boldly colored metallic structures. The section of track linking the north show building to Space Mountain, and the section from Space Mountain to the Carousel of Progress, which was not changed.

It was during this refurbishment that the attraction's name changed from the Wedway PeopleMover to Tomorrowland Transit Authority. A new narration was added, with the tour led by

Pete Renaday

broadcasting from TTA Central. The new name and narration debuted on June 12, 1994. This 1994 recording remained largely unaltered until October 2, 2009, which came shortly after the ride had reopened following a five-month down period during the refurbishment of Space Mountain.

The TTA's

" There was a diorama of a hub station where all three lines intersect located on the second floor of the north show building (Interplanetary Convention Center). Other services provided by the Transit Authority (interstate highway maintenance and long-distance space travel) were alluded to in the ride's narration.

Changes made in the 1994 narration over its 15 years of use included the following:

• The replacement of the narration for the south show building in 1996 when Delta Dreamflight became Take Flight. This narration was replaced again when Take Flight was turned into Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in 1998.
• The 1994 narration for Space Mountain said, "Now arriving in Space Mountain, Tomorrowland's gateway to the Galaxy, Presented by Federal Express," noting Space Mountain's sponsorship by FedEx. When FedEx dropped sponsorship in 2004, the narration was altered to cut off after "Galaxy."
• A narration was played upon leaving the south show building tunnel mentioning The Timekeeper from 1994 to 2006 when The Timekeeper closed, wherein the narration on the TTA mentioning it was removed.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (2009–2022)

The Tomorrowland Transit Authority closed on April 19, 2009, in line with a major refurbishment of Space Mountain, and reopened on September 12, 2009.^[3] The closure was necessary due to extensive construction work planned for the roller coaster, and the inherent safety risks such activity would pose to Transit Authority riders.

During the refurbishment, the beamway was enhanced with new multicolored LED lighting that moves in time with the music being played in Tomorrowland. Other enhancements included freshly re-painted trackway and infrastructure, as well as new speakers for the ride audio system.

On October 2, 2009, the ride received a new narration featuring the voice of Mike Brassell, with safety spiels provided by

On August 5, 2010, it was announced that the name "PeopleMover" would officially be re-instated into the ride's name, effectively changing it to Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.[5] Ride signage was changed around the track to reflect the name change.

On March 12, 2020, it was announced that Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover would close for refurbishment. ^[6]

On October 26, 2020, since Walt Disney World reopened after being temporarily closed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Walt Disney World announced that they once again extended the Tomorrowland PeopleMover refurbishment. The refurbishment continues to follow along with the theme park hours posted the furthest into the future, in this case April 4, 2021.^[7][8] On March 31, 2021, Walt Disney World announced yet another extension to the PeopleMover refurbishment, this time set to reopen May 2021. The ride soft-opened on April 25, 2021, and officially reopened the next day.

PeopleMover (2022–present)

On July 1, 2022, the narration was updated to feature an entirely new narration by ORAC-5 (a reference to the original narrator character of ORAC One), replacing the narration done by Mike Brassell. The safety spiel was also updated to make references to aliens and other sci-fi tropes. While much of the dialogue is still the same, just with a new voice, the narration now features references to past iterations of the PeopleMover's narration, as well as references to defunct rides and attractions from Tomorrowland's history, such as

. References to Stitch have been removed, as has the cameo by Monster Inc.'s Roz, with only Buzz Lightyear's cameo remaining.

See also

• Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
• Omnimover
• Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
• Subway (George Bush Intercontinental Airport)

Notes

References

External links

• Official website