November 24, 2015

Vintage Disneyland Autopia

The Autopia. An original attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim and one that has been duplicated in various forms at Magic Kingdom parks the world over. A Tomorrowland classic.

As you can see from the piece of concept art above, the attraction originally was with our rails. But of course, once it became evident the cars were getting battered by inexperienced drivers, the maintenance or Imagineering team decided it was time for that to change! These sweet machines were far too expensive even back then to be getting a thrashing all day long.

It won't exist at Shanghai Disneyland but Hong Kong Disneyland's is all electric; Disneyland Paris has gone hybrid; and in Tokyo Disneyland's (gasp!) it is being removed for the largest expansion ever in the history of the park. Even It's a Small World is moving to ensure the New Fantasyland puts Florida's version to shame. 

Although it covers quite a bit of space in Walt's original kingdom, opinions are divided as to whether it ever really could or should be removed. The sponsorship of the attraction will soon change again, making it an opening day attraction that for the time being will continue on into the future. 

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

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