Why Disneyland Built the WORST Thrill Ride EVER - Rocket Rods

CORRECTION: This ride's top speed was 35 miles per hour, not 30. Also, it was the fastest ride at Tomorrowland, not the whole park. My main source for this video got both of these wrong. I tried to fix this error, but YouTube's editor failed to trim it properly. I cannot re-upload at this stage since the video has been out for over a day. So I'll have to pin this comment and leave it up.

If Rocket Rods was supposed to be transportation of the future, it must have hurt when Aerosmith gave guests an old Cadillac limo that goes twice as fast.

Disneyland guests: "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?!" Michael Eisner: "I love the young people!"

I remember waiting in the queue for over 3 hours with my wife, brother and mom for this ride. When we finally got on it...late in the evening....it was the equivalent of driving around a parking lot looking for open spaces.

I think it’s safe to characterize the entire Tomorrowland refurb as a colossal failure. Not only did you have their supposed A list attraction fail and be shut down in 2 years, I remember the whole structure that sat on top of the Rocket Rods (where the Rocket Jets were) was supposed to be a laser show every 30 mins, but that got nixed because the lasers interfered w an FAA flight path. Then you also had that little water park, cosmic jets, that lasted a short while before it had to get closed for health and sanitary reasons because kids were peeing in the water. Not to mention the metallic paint job that lasted only a short while before they changed that back (predominantly Space Mountain) because people hated it. That’s 0-4 and like 60% of your refurb rendered obsolete in an incredibly short time

Back when I worked at the park during the brief period when rocket rods was operating, I remember being told that it cost maintenance an average of about $3.50 per rider carried. The cars also went through a set of tires almost daily. It was a complete disaster from start to finish, and it is no surprise why it went down, unceremoniously, and never returned to operation.

At least the Peoplemover at Florida's Magic Kingdom is still around. I wouldn't dare have Disney turn that into a thril ride only for them to close it and never have it reopen again.

I love that ride outside Disneyland when I speed and anamatronic police officers Chase after me! 10/10 ride.

I remember seeing this ride being tested when I was a kid. I had to wait two years to finally ride it. I was so excited. It’s the first time in my life I remember feeling underwhelmed.

I completely agree, I was a fan of the people mover because it never had a line and was a long ride. Giving you some down time while still enjoying something, Rocket Rods was fine but because it destroyed a long standing Disney ride, I hated it.

I remember riding Rocket Rods not long after it opened and waiting for close to 3 hours. Not only I was extremely disappointed and tired from waiting for so long for a short ride that was underwhelming to say the least (especially since it was so hyped) but I could see the disappointment on the faces of everyone's else.

It's sad that a wait time over an hour for any ride at Disney is now the norm, and 2 or 3 for a newer ride like that is not uncommon.

When you haven't been inside Disneyland in years, it's almost easy to forget that the People Mover is gone forever.

What bothers me most about the attraction is how much potential gone to nothing the Rocket Rods had. But it’s also interesting to note that the People Mover still has representation at Magic Kingdom, and an Easter egg in Disneyland at Store Command (the store for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters) as the check out counter. Loved this video, and loved hearing the history. Keep up the good work.

Let's not forget about Eisner's other embarrassment at Disneyland - Superstar Limo. It was supposed to be a high speed ride to avoid the paparazzi, but due to a certain Royal's death, the high speed element was removed. Add a bunch of budget-cut elements that were a bean counter's dream, and you have the awful Superstar Limo ride. It was so bad, it was closed in under a year after it was opened. Still, Eisner was a much better CEO than Iger could possibly be.

I loved the people movers, especially when it was TRON themed, the lights in the tunnel, and the wind really did make you think you were speeding up.

I got to ride Rocket Rods 3 times with only one ride without a breakdown I still wish we had the People Mover it was a fun ride to relax and unwind

Not building it the way it should have been built because of budget cuts was the rides demise. A perfect example of,"If you can't afford to do something right the first time, you wont be able to afford to do it again."

I rode this ride once during my Graduation night at Disneyland in 1999. It made me miss the peoplemover even more! 😢

Rocket Rods sounded kinda cool on paper, too bad the execution was extremely terrible to the point it only lasted 2 years.