The Twelve Astrojets

The Disneyland Astrojet attraction in Tomorrowland opened in 1956, replacing the Court of Honor flags (shown above). Construction can be seen in the 1956 shot below:



The attraction once it was completed, circa 1956:



Note the Skyway pylon that would eventually be covered by the Matterhorn:)



This off-the-shelf-thrill ride gave guests a birds-eye view of the Park and helped alleviate the lack of attractions that were initially existed in Tomorrowland. Circa August 1956:



The rockets were named after stars, with the red ones being odd numbered and the blue ones even.



1958:



In the detailed image below you can see Canopus, Sirius, and Altair:



A July 1959 shot taken from a Skyway bucket:



My collection finally has images for each of the rockets, beginning with Canopus #2:



Capella #4:



Arcturus #5:



Rigel #6:



Antares #7:



Spica #8:



Procyon #9:



A barely visible Regulus #10:



Castor #11:



Altair #12:



And the two I haven’t been able to assign numbers, starting with Vega (my latest acquisition):



and Sirius:



Anyone know the numbers of those two? See more Disneyland Astrojets photos at my main website.

The Procyon

I always look forward to seeing images of "new" (to my collection at least!) Astrojet vehicles. Today marks my debut of the Procyon, named after the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. Seen in this June 1958 shot, this mother son duo seem mighty proud to be riding aboard it.

Some of the other ones in my collection include The Sirius:



The Canopus:



The Capella:



The Antares:



The Altair:



The Arcturus:



I'm sure if I was a bit more motivated this morning, I could zoom in on some of my other images and squeeze out a few more vehicles, but for now, this will have to suffice!

See more vintage & current Disneyland Astrojet/Astro Orbiter photos from my collection on my main website.

Disneyland, September 1960: Tomorrowland

Today we have two more images from a batch of color-shifted September 1960 slides. Although I love the original 1959 red Monorail, there's something about the blue one that seems so much more sleek.

Here's a contemporary view of the Monorail at its Tomorrowland station, circa 2009. The brightly colored Nemo signage breaks the illusion that you might be visiting the future and boarding something that is high-tech.



In this vintage view, you can see both the Astrojets and the Moonliner/Rocket to the Moon attractions:



A closeup of the Canopus jet:



Today, the Astrojets have been dumped at the front of Tomorrowland's entrance and the Moonliner has been reduced (perhaps it went into the ATIS shrinking atomic machine?) into an advertising vehicle for Coke:



As the photo shows, perhaps there's a rainbow in Tomorrowland's future...or a furry Ewok at the very least.

See more vintage & current Disneyland Tomorrowland photos on my main website.