The Disneyland Utopia is one of the few attractions that has been around in one form or another since opening day. Last May I rode the refurbished attraction for the first time in seven years. Yikes!
Now sponsored by Honda, I was surprised that the vehicles were still gas-powered.
Wouldn't the change in sponsorship have been a great time to do something more futuristic with the vehicles?
Commentary over...here are my photos from that day's spin. My family from Austin, Texas, had a fantastic time taking a tour around the Tomorrowland track.
Route 55; I wonder how many guests at the Park know what this refers to? Regardless, I love touches like this.
A great tribute to the Midget Autopia:
Love the fountain here!
A tribute to the original Mr. Toad vehicles:
A closeup of the plaque; I doubt anyone is able to read this while zooming by!
A detailed view of the bridge plaque:
Time to bring the car home around the final turns:
My sister-in-law gave the peace sign; much better than the finger sign she gave while riding the Matterhorn!
Thumbs up from my brother and the rest of the clan:
Michael, our VIP Tour Guide Supreme!
My niece gets a shot of the stragglers still pulling into the gate:
C'mon...bring it on home!
One final shot before heading to the next attraction:
More vintage and current Disneyland Autopia photos at my main website.
8 comments:
One thing that the Disneyland Autopia has in spades over WDW is scenery. Thanks for the tour!
What stu29573 said. Glad the Autopia is still hanging in there. I ride it every visit just to my show support for it and I still enjoy it too. Being the only original attraction left in Tomorrowland, I'd hate to see it removed.
While I can understand some wanting the Autopia to be more futuristic, personally I wouldn't want them to change the vehicles too much. I love the noise and smell. It's part of what makes it Autopia for me. As in any future there will always be remnants of the past and Autopia fits that bill perfectly.
It's been a while since you've added some current Autopia pics to your archive. These are nice. Thanks, Dave.
Even as slow as it is, this attraction goes too fast for me to stop and enjoy the signage. I get more value from your pics than I do on the actual ride itself. ( Love the closeup of the sign on the former Mr. Toad car, I always wondered what it said as we sped by. ) I've always assumed the 2 fountain cars were made specifically for that fountain since they look too small to even be midget autopia sized.
I always liked the feeling of leaving the park behind while driving. The scenery was a nice respite from the masses....even 40 years ago. So happy to see it still exists. KS
Thanks all for the nice comments on the photos!
Ken - I hear what you're saying, but for me the big picture is that there is absolutely nothing "Tomorrow" about Tomorrowland. The execs continue to focus on the registers at the expense of innovation.
Bryan - You are probably correct about the cars in the fountain being custom.
Ken - Maybe that's a way that the attraction could be "futurized" with some more interesting scenery.
Dave, Wouldn't it be great if Tesla was the next sponsor and the cars were solar and electric? :)
Sean & Kim - THAT'S what I'm talking about! Great idea!
Dave, can't argue with you about there being nothing "Tomorrow" about Tomorrowland. You're definitely right about that.
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