What was this Disney attraction?
January 23, 2021 8:37 PM Subscribe
My parents are gone now, so I can't ask them, but when I was very young I was taken to a Disney park and I have a faint memory of one attraction that I would like to identify.
First off, I don't remember the park; it could have been either Disneyland or Disney World's Magic Kingdom. My primary memory is of walking, in a straight line, through a room and on one side (left?) there was a full-size diorama of a futuristic home. The detail that sticks with me is the display featured a number of videodisk players that I now recognize as RCA Selectavision (CED) devices. It was not the Carousel of Progress but I think it had similar animatronic characters that moved a little bit. That detail suggests the time period being the early to mid-1980s.
First off, I don't remember the park; it could have been either Disneyland or Disney World's Magic Kingdom. My primary memory is of walking, in a straight line, through a room and on one side (left?) there was a full-size diorama of a futuristic home. The detail that sticks with me is the display featured a number of videodisk players that I now recognize as RCA Selectavision (CED) devices. It was not the Carousel of Progress but I think it had similar animatronic characters that moved a little bit. That detail suggests the time period being the early to mid-1980s.
Best answer: I saw this in 1975, on a moving walkway that was the either the entrance to, or the exit after the Space Mountain ride at Disney World.
posted by Rash at 8:49 PM on January 23, 2021
posted by Rash at 8:49 PM on January 23, 2021
Best answer: From the Wikipedia entry for Magic Kingdom Space Mountain:
The original post-show was RCA's "Home of Future Living", which showcased how consumer electronics would shape our lives in a 'typical' home of the future. The attraction featured the theme song "Here's to the Future", briefly replaced by a song (apparently) titled "ColorTrak Keeps The Color On Track", designed to promote televisions employing RCA's ColorTrack color television technology. In 1979, the RCA Selectavision Videodisc player system was promoted as the future of home entertainment.posted by theory at 9:00 PM on January 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Here is some restored film showing the original exhibit.
And the soundtrack, of course: Here's to the Future!
posted by rongorongo at 1:45 AM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
And the soundtrack, of course: Here's to the Future!
posted by rongorongo at 1:45 AM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
So while we're on this general subject, I have a memory from about 1963 (I was 11 years old) of going to Disneyland and riding a bumper car in which the cars were not powered. Air blew up from holes in the platform, the cars hovered and you moved/steered your car by leaning. Is this a dream I had or did this exist?
posted by tmdonahue at 5:34 AM on January 24, 2021
posted by tmdonahue at 5:34 AM on January 24, 2021
Response by poster: That sounds like the Flying Saucers attraction that, according to Wikipedia, ran from 1961 to 66. Here is a short YouTube video.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 5:53 AM on January 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by LastOfHisKind at 5:53 AM on January 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I recall some ride that was connected to, or adjacent to Space Mountain. Was definitely in Tomorrowland. I believe it was called The Wedway Peoplemover. This would have been in the mid 1970s, which was the last time I was at WDW.
posted by sundrop at 6:29 AM on January 24, 2021
posted by sundrop at 6:29 AM on January 24, 2021
The Peoplemover was the urban transportation of the future - if I remember correctly. WDW saw a future where we all got around on expansive networks of moving sidewalks.
So basically, airports.
posted by COD at 6:52 AM on January 24, 2021
So basically, airports.
posted by COD at 6:52 AM on January 24, 2021
At WDW the Peoplemover goes inside Space Mountain and above the train loading area as part of its tour around Tomorrowland.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:43 AM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:43 AM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
WDW saw a future where we all got around on expansive networks of moving sidewalks.
H.G.Wells, Heinlein and Asimov all wrote stories about moving walkways, and one was first built for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, but the PeopleMover is little trains of open, slow-moving cars on a track.
posted by Rash at 10:05 AM on January 24, 2021
H.G.Wells, Heinlein and Asimov all wrote stories about moving walkways, and one was first built for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, but the PeopleMover is little trains of open, slow-moving cars on a track.
posted by Rash at 10:05 AM on January 24, 2021
Note that there's a more generic, non-Disney system also called the People Mover, whose cars are not open to the elements. This is the kind you ride between terminals, at the airport. Both systems are automated, with no drivers.
posted by Rash at 10:17 AM on January 24, 2021
posted by Rash at 10:17 AM on January 24, 2021
H.G.Wells, Heinlein and Asimov all wrote stories about moving walkways, and one was first built for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893,
(Here is some great restored footage of the Paris people mover taken in, I think, 1900)
posted by rongorongo at 10:32 PM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Here is some great restored footage of the Paris people mover taken in, I think, 1900)
posted by rongorongo at 10:32 PM on January 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
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