Not sure whether it’s a case of back to the future or forward to the past or the past meets the present, but: a long-running Tomorrowland attraction is getting a new (well, sort of new) name …
As of today, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the “super skyway” that allows guests a glimpse of a variety of attractions in Tomorrowland of Magic Kingdom, will be renamed Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.
The ride opened in 1975 as the WEDway PeopleMover. It has been called Tomorrowland Transit Authority since 1994.
The ride technology, which uses pollution-free linear induction motors, was developed by WED Enterprises (that’s what Disney Imagineering was called back in the day) and was introduced at Disneyland in California in 1967. While the attraction at Disneyland has long been closed, there is a place other than Walt Disney World Resort where guests can experience an application of the WED technology. Any guesses as to where?
Comments
Bring back the Old Narration! It unified the whole theme of Tomorrowland and gave it a feel like you were out of this world. The large majority of people want the old narration, so why not bring it back? Tomorrowland is the most beautiful land because of the architecture, colors, and theming. It is lacking now without the old sounds like “Now approaching Space Mountain” and that undeniable chime sound. Bring it back Disney and you’ll have my money forever!
It will always be the WEDway to me. I agree with the comments about the “new” narration. Bring back Mr. Tom Morrow! All the new narrative does is plug the other attractions. Not fun, nor funny, at all.
Bring back Disneyland’s!!!! Bring back Disneyland’s!!!! Bring back Disneyland’s!!!! Bring back Disneyland’s!!!!
I absolutely love this ride (and never stopped calling it the WEDWay People Mover). I was crushed on our last trip when it was shut down …. it’s one of the special things my 10 year old son and I always do together in Disney.
YES! That’s fantastic news! I’ve always loved the Peoplemover concept and I remember riding it as a kid! The brilliance of it was the narration – some great quotables there! I hope they decide to do something great with the system at Disneyland too!
Yippee! Still call this ride The People Remover! Name my daughter called it by on her first trip to Disney when she was a 3 year old. Many many trip ago!
YEAH! I’ve actually still refer to it as the “WEDWay”. Glad to see it getting part of it’s original name back!
When I go to Disneyworld, I ride this more than once in a day. If your feet are tired or you want to get out of the sun get on the Peoplemover. 🙂
love the change…i agree we need it back in disneyland.
its the perfect ride to cool off and relax…
It has always been the peoplemover to me and my family. It is the perfect place to relax on a hot day while you wait for your fastpass time on space mountain!!
Hubby and I rode the Peoplemover for the first time back in May on our belated Honeymoon trip, we both loved riding it around when our feet were tired. for my hubby it brought back memories from the old peoplemover here at DLR that he would ride as a kid. After coming back home, every weekend visit to DLR has me looking up at the old track through Tomorrowland wishing that the Peoplemover would return here.
Here’s another vote for the old audio spiel – really, really miss it – my all time favorite place to relax in the parks, even if the kids do make fun of me. 🙂
I must be very old (at 38) because I’ve been calling it the PeopleMover all these years!
They should bring it back to Disneyland!
please bring the people mover back to disney land i miss it so much!
Yippeee for changing the name. My kids all know this ride as the People Mover even though they’re all under 18 and grew up with it as the TTA. Their mom (me) and dad have always called it the People Mover.
HEARTY AGREEMENT with most of the posters here… bring back the previous soundtrack. When I was there last October, I rode the TTA one day with the original soundtrack and when I came back the next day it had been changed. I couldn’t believe it, and I kept hoping it was just a temporary change for a special event. But we have ridden it several times since and all with the new track. Please bring back “Welcome aboard TTA travelers… paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow… your party from Saturn has arrived. Please give them a ring.” My kids even miss it. After all we could always count on… “as usual everything is always perfect on Tomorrowland’s super skyway.”
Now would you please put the old ride audio back in it, I’m not a big fan of the new one. I miss ” NOW APPROACHING MICKEY STAR TRADERS! ” and ” Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow ” that was my favorite part being able to walk around and here that as you did…….good times…………. 🙂
Love the ride, ride it every year, glad to see the name, add my name to the list who would like to see the “old” narration return. Really missed the paging of mr. morrow among others.
I agree bring it back to Disneyland. I really enjoyed taking a little break on it as a kid seeing the Star Tours scenes the Space Mountain view and the small tribute to Tron….
Disney please bring back the previous narration. This new one is a horrible boring audio and anything but creative. We loved the previous one. It had life, originality and was classic. This new one is bland and has no character whatsoever. There was no reason to change this.
So happy that “Peoplemover” is officially back as part of the name. Always have and always will refer to it as “the Peoplemover.” 🙂
Shannon, I’m getting the sense that the PeopleMover by ANY name is … the PeopleMover!
The new narration is horrible. It doesn’t seem to fit with the attraction at all. We just returned from DisneyWorld where we rode People Mover 2 times, and actually found ourselves making fun of the boring narration. It sure takes away from the ride and ambiance of Tomorrowland.
Great job on brining back the PeopleMover name however!
“….The Tomorrowland metro retro historical society…, the perfect city in which to work, live, and play.”
I too love the WEDway PeopleMover ever since my first visit to Disney World as a child the year it opened. I’ve always had a hard time refering to the ride by any other name. The narration, and the chance to sit down and relax for a few minutes in the midst of a hot, hectic afternoon has always been a big draw for me. Glad to see that WDW is returning to at least a version of the earlier name. The new sign and logo have that classic Disney “the future that never was” feel to it.
Woohoo! Great to see this back!
And I agree with one of the other posters…bring back Horizons at EPCOT 🙂
Please bring back “Tom Morrow” I feel like I’m missing a friend on the ride now…
Love the new . . old name, now how about bringing back the old narration. I’ve heard some recordings on the new narration (youtube) and it just isn’t as good. It’s flat, lacking the character of the previous soundtrack. I don’t care if it is recorded again with new voices, just use the old script.
Call it what you want but you turned a nice entertaining and relaxing ride into nothing more than an advertisement. If you want to do the ride justice bring back the old audio!!
Yes! I’ve always called it the PeopleMover, too. And I am so glad I am not the only one who fondly remembers “If You Had Wings.” One time the ride shut down when we were near the end, so my little sister and I got to memorize the parting words, since we were stuck in there hearing them over and over: “You do have wings. You can do all these things. You can widen your world. Eastern, we’ll be your wings.” 🙂
John, Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have refreshed a long-forgotten memory about “If You Had Wings” … What a treat!
When I first read this, I was freaking out! I was so happy, I thought it was talking about Disneyland. We really, really, really need this back in Anaheim. We have Tron Legacy coming and no light cycles! Well, at least it’s a start. Good job Disney Co. now complete the job and bring it back to Disneyland. PLEASE.
BRING IT BACK TO DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bring to back to disneyland
I’ve ridden the WED “People Mover” system at George Bush IAH many many times! It not only connects B, C, D, E, and IAB terminals, but also connects to a neat hotel built right between terminal B and C.
Yeah, love this ride. great way to let a child sleep for a minute. also a great way to wait on those who are riding Space mountain. Can we now have the original Figment back?
OK, I can’t believe no one called you out on this.
Anaheim’s PeopleMover used a different method of moving the trams and was — to my knowledge — never powered by linear induction. I believe Anaheim used wheels embedded in gap betweeen the tracks that would gently push the cars forward (another reason for the tie-in to Goodyear Tires at one point in the ride’s history). The linear induction PeopleMover was created and used at Walt Disney World … although I wouldn’t be surprised if the linear induction system is the one used by the Bush Airport.
It would have also been nice to mention that the ride system used at Disneyland was developed for the Ford Pavilion at The New York World’s Fair. The PeopleMover cars used at the World’s Fair were actually new Ford models, including the 1964-65 Mustang.
This is wonderful news! And I’m in agreement with the others, lets bring back the old spiel!
Great news! It was always the Peoplemover for me, anyway! NOw let’s do something to perk up the ride when the Peoplemover enters Space Mountain and let’s find a way to reintroduce Horizons at EPCOT: it was a fantastic ride and the natural follow-up to Carousel of progress…
I know that Disney need the fast rides, but let’s not get rid of those rides, like Horizons that were inspiring and showed great imagination and showmanship.
PS: I first wen to Disney World in October of 1971, on day 2!
Hunter and Mary, the current narration, as I’ve said before, is a return to what it was back in the 70’s and 80’s, with plugs for all of Tomorrowland’s attractions (same with Disneyland’s Peoplemover), so there’s no need to insult it, IMO.
Not everybody wants the previous narration back anyway.
Someone posted a coment about about the Tiki Room and I agree wholeheartedly….the current Tiki Room is very loud and disa pointing. I really miss the old one!!
I am so excited that it is back! 🙂
Bring back the PeopleMover to Disneyland Anaheim. The Rocket Rods were a waste and we need another calm ride to relax and take in the park. We no longer have the Skyway or the PeopleMover. Bring back the PeopleMover, the track is just sitting there empty and sad.
the other place to experience the technology is the Rock and Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios.
I just rode THE PEOPLEMOVER!! in July. The announcement is back. We heard it say, “Paging Mr. Morrow. Mr. Tom Morrow.” We laughed about it because we actually know a Tom Morrow!
Thanks, Mary. Appreciate the heads-up.
That “official” name change is great, although, like many here, we always called it the Peoplemover!!! Our five year old loves it and so do we!
I agree with everyone to bring the People Mover back to Disneyland :o).
Count my vote on bringing it back to Disneyland!! Let’s also bring back the sky buckets, and how about putting the Country Bear Jamboree in California Adventure in the Grizzly Rapids section? Oh, and can we bring back a Christmas Store to Disneyland?
For those commenting on “If you had Wings” on the WED-Way People Mover (yeah I still use the old old name) go check out Cosmic Rays. If you listen to the acoustic sounds coming out of there, you’ll hear the familiar theme playing, along with another retired theme song, “Now is the time” from the Carousel of Progress, when it was moved from Disneyland to Florida. they eventually changed it back to the original “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow.”
The linear induction motors may be pollution free, but the energy source that powers them probably is not.
Finally Disney listens! Thank you!! This is great! I’d love to see a little bit more relaxed audio track now… The future doesn’t have to seem cold and unfriendly. The new narration almost reminds me of the BnL commercials from wall-e. And this is one more vote for Disneyland’s peoplemover!
Matt, you are quite welcome! You might have noticed that Mr. Morrow is paged at a different time in the experience … and given some new instructions.
Now if we can only get the powers that be to return the original peoplemover to Disneyland,I’ll be happy !!! It was my all time favorite attraction at Disneyland,with the Steam Train in close 2nd.
I also think the Country Bear Jamboree should be retrned as well.
Comments are closed.