It’s not uncommon for rides and attractions to come and go at Disneyland. After all, Walt did say, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” This year, Disneyland is celebrating its 70th anniversary, and it’s clear to see that the park and resort have indeed grown and evolved over the past 70 years.
Most of the time, when a change takes place at Disneyland, the building or structure is either repurposed or completely demolished to make way for something new. However, there have been a few instances where nothing has happened, and these spaces were left abandoned. These remnants of Disneyland’s past can still be seen around the park today.
READ MORE – This Is The Coolest Moment of the Day at Disney California Adventure You Won’t Want to Miss
1. PeopleMover Track
When walking through Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, you may notice that there are two transportation tracks that go by overhead – the monorail track and the PeopleMover track. However, for the past 25 years, only one of these tracks has been in use. The other has sat abandoned with no future plans in sight.
The PeopleMover opened up at Disneyland in 1967. In accordance with the futuristic land that it resided in, the PeopleMover was designed to give Guests a taste of what transportation could be like in the future. Advertisements for the attraction read, “Ride Tomorrow’s Transportation…Today”.
Disneyland Ride Closure ALERTS, Major Changes, Secrets Revealed
Join 100,000+ Disney fans and vacation planners on free newsletter. Don't miss ESSENTIAL dates, CHANGES to park strategies, exclusive limited-time ticket, gift card, and hotel discounts.
The PeopleMover was a popular attraction for quite some time. Guests enjoyed the scenic views that they were able to see as they circled around Tomorrowland on the elevated track.
As time went by, though, the attraction did start to become less popular. It was also extremely expensive to maintain. Since the ride didn’t see the crowds that it used to, Disney didn’t want to continue sinking money into it for maintenance. The Disneyland PeopleMover closed in 1995.
After the closure, the track and infrastructure remained intact. A few years later, they were repurposed for a new attraction that was part of the New Tomorrowland project – Rocket Rods. This was essentially a faster version of PeopleMover, covering the track in just 3 minutes, when it previously took 16.
Unfortunately, Disney couldn’t secure a sponsorship in order to get the funding that was needed for the project. Therefore, the track remained the same – flat. They couldn’t afford to create banked curves, so the cars had to slow down at every turn. The continuous speeding up and slowing down of the ride took its toll, and the ride was frequently shut down. Rocket Rods was open for only two years before it closed and never reopened.
2. Fantasyland Skyway Station
During Disneyland’s early years, there was a gondola system that transported guests back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. This attraction was called the Skyway. Actually, since there were two different stations, and the ride only took you one way, it went by two different names. When loading in Fantasyland, you were riding The Skyway to Tomorrowland. Likewise, if you loaded at the station in Tomorrowland, you were riding The Skyway to Fantasyland.
Disneyland’s Skyway was open from 1956 to 1994. Some suspect that the safety of the attraction, as well as some accidents that took place, are what led to its closure. It’s uncertain whether these were indeed deciding factors. What we do know, though, is that the ride became less and less popular as the years went by and it was very expensive to maintain.
Furthermore, it was starting to create stress factors on the Matterhorn. (Did I forget to mention that this ride took you through the Matterhorn?!) In order to fix these issues, the Matterhorn would have had to have been completely opened up and then repaired. This would have been a much pricier repair than the Skyway seemed worthy of, so it was permanently closed.
Today, when you visit Fantasyland, you can still see one of the Skyway stations! The station was designed to look like a chalet that would be found in the Alps. It looks the same today as it did when the ride was open. This station is located near the Casey Jr. Train. There’s even a staircase that leads up to it, allowing you to get quite close to this abandoned piece of Disney history.
3. Motor Boat Cruise Loading Dock
From 1957 to 1993, Disneyland had a motorboat ride that was very similar to Autopia. Guests of all ages (yes, even children!) were able to drive motorboats through a series of scenic canals around Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The boats were on a hidden track, which allowed guests, with or without boating experience, to peacefully cruise along the route.
In 1991, Disneyland hosted an event called Disney Afternoon Avenue. For the event, the Motor Boat Cruise received a re-theme. The overlay was inspired by Disney’s animated series, Adventures of the Gummi Bears. The ride received the new name Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen, and plywood cutouts of the characters were set up along the route.
Disney Afternoon Avenue was not a successful event, ending at the end of the year in 1991. The Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen, however, lasted for two years before closing permanently in 1993. The gummy bear version of the cruise was never quite as successful as the original ride. Rather than continuing to spend money to maintain the ride, Disney closed the ride and refocused its operating costs on the new Mickey’s Toontown project.
While much of the Motor Boat Cruise no longer remains, the loading area is still intact. Previously, the area was repurposed as one of the smoking areas within the park. It also used to be one of the candy stops for trick-or-treating during Mickey’s Halloween Party. Today, it is filled with tables and chairs and is used as a place for guests to sit and relax or dine on their goodies from the nearby Edelweiss Snacks.
4. Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland
Before the thrilling addition of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, there was a much calmer train ride for guests to enjoy in Frontierland. This attraction opened up as Rainbow Caverns Mine Ride. On this attraction, guests boarded a train in the fictional mining town of Rainbow Ridge. The train took guests through the Living Desert, which was home to rock formations, cacti, worrisome balancing rocks, colorful geysers of mud, and the beautiful Rainbow Caverns. Four years after opening, this ride received an expansion and a new name – Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. Added to the ride were over 200 lifelike animals, many of which were animatronics.
Eventually, the ride, which started out as an E-ticket attraction, was moved down to the D-ticket group. As more and more guests started to seek more thrilling experiences, other, more tame rides started to lose their appeal. Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland closed in 1977 to make way for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which opened two years later in 1979.
Multiple remnants from Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland stuck around for quite a few years, including one of the locomotives and Cascade Peak, one of the tall mountain-like structures. Unfortunately, today, there’s not much left of the ride to be seen. However, you can still see buildings from the little town of River Ridge. These buildings are visible from both the Big Thunder Mountain queue and attraction.
5. Starcade
When Space Mountain opened up at Disneyland in 1977, an arcade opened up as well, appropriately called Starcade. Starcade was a multi-level arcade that was filled with some of the most popular coin-operated video games. As an additional perk, guests could also enjoy the sights of a Star Wars X-Wing on their way up to the second floor.
When Starcade opened, arcade games were extremely popular. However, eventually, the thrill wore off and Guests started to lose interest. Before completely closing the arcade, Disney first closed the second level, leaving just the lower level available for guests’ enjoyment. This closure took place in the late 90s.
The lower arcade level had more of a gradual ending. The space was used for a variety of things, such as meet-and-greets and an overflow retail space. As time went by, fewer and fewer games were present. Starcade officially ceased to exist as an arcade in 2015.
In 2018, the upper level of Starcade was turned into part of an extended indoor queue for Space Mountain. As for the lower level? Today, access to this level is cut off from the general public. It’s mainly used for private events and corporate functions, hosted by Disney Meetings. However, it is occasionally also used for Magic Key holder experiences.
6. Disneyland Ticket Booths
Today, when you purchase a Disneyland ticket, it provides you with admission into the park as well as access to all of the rides and attractions. When Disneyland first opened, this wasn’t how things worked. Instead, guests needed to purchase admission tickets (which were only $1 on opening day!) as well as tickets for each ride and attraction that they wished to experience.
To make the sale of these tickets more feasible, there were ride ticket booths located throughout the park. Rather than looking like standard ticket booths, these quaint little booths were designed to blend in with the surrounding area in which they resided.
Four of these booths can still be found in Fantasyland. Of course, no ticket booths are functioning today. Instead, they are all essentially used as decoration, or at most, storage spaces.
The first can be found at Alice in Wonderland. This booth is shaped like a mushroom, and the attraction sign, which is shaped like a book, sits on top of it. In the past, this booth was more of a blush-pink color. Today, however, the mushroom is yellow. The opening for the ticket window has been filled in, but the door on the back is still present and functioning.
The second booth can be found at Casey Jr. Circus Train. This booth is located next to the queue, behind one of the elephant-shaped bushes. The booth looks almost identical to its past version. It did, however, also receive a paint job. Previously, the booth was yellow with white trim and a multi-shaded pink roof. Today, the booth is barn-red with white and turquoise trim and a brown roof. The Casey Jr. Circus Train attraction sign is located on the booth above the window.
Another ticket booth can be found at Storybook Land Canal Boats. The white and red-striped lighthouse that sits next to the queue was a ticket booth in its past life! The biggest difference with this ticket booth is its location. It used to be located near Monstro the whale. Physically, though, this one has seen very little changes. In the past, it was still a white and red-striped lighthouse. Today, there are more stripes in the pattern, lights have been added near the top, and “Storybook Land” has been added to it with a blue background. Like the mushroom booth, the window portion was also filled in on the lighthouse.
The final ticket booth can be found near “it’s a small world”. However, unlike the others, it’s not located directly at the attraction. This booth has the appearance of a medieval-style circus tent. It’s blue and white with gold accents. This booth also looks almost identical to its past version, with very few cosmetic changes. This booth used to be the central ticket booth of Fantasyland. It was located where King Arthur Carrousel sits today.
7. The Monsanto House of the Future
In 1957, a new attraction opened up in Tomorrowland – The Monsanto House of the Future. This was a walkthrough attraction, where guests could tour a futuristic house. The house featured items such as a microwave oven, dishwasher, a refrigerator with retractable space, touch-tone phones, and height-adjustable sinks.
Besides giving guests a peek into the future, this attraction was also built with the intention to show that plastic could be extremely versatile and a high-quality material to use. The house was made almost entirely of plastic!
The Monsanto House of the Future was open for 10 years before closing to make space for new attractions. However, when it was time to tear down the house, some challenges arose. Remember how they wanted to prove that plastic was a high-quality material? Well, the house was so sturdy that the demolition actually failed. After attempting to demolish the house with wrecking balls, torches, chainsaws, and jackhammers, the demolition crew needed to come up with a new idea.
Eventually, choker chains were used to crush the house into smaller pieces, which would then be more easily handled. However, the house really did defy its demolition. Part of the foundation can still be seen in the park today. Pixie Hollow is now located where the Monsanto House of the Future once stood. If you look carefully, you can find a remaining piece of the house. It’s been painted green to help it blend in, but it’s still there!
READ MORE – Hidden Secrets of the Disney World Hotels You Haven’t Heard Of
READ MORE -Don’t Pack These Items For Your Disney Trip. They Can Cause Headaches and Some Are Banned.
Disney Ride CLOSURE Alerts, Park CHANGES + FREE Bonuses
Join 100,000+ and get ride CLOSURE alerts, breaking news of changes and new rides, exclusive discounts, plus free printables – packing lists, food guides, pocket Lightning Lane guides, and more.
