A Jet Is Still A Jet

I don't know that I would call this anniversary momentous, but 50 years ago today, the Tomorrowland Astro Jets attraction was renamed the Tomorrowland Jets.

Zooming in closer for this December 1963 shot, we get a look at the Spica, named after the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.



A July 1962 image:



The attraction's name was changed at the request of United Airlines, who had just taken over sponsorship of The Enchanted Tiki Room. As you can see in this April 1965 image, United cares. In fact, they give EXTRA care.



Seems that they cared that American Airlines' coast-to-coast "Astrojet" service was getting free advertising from Disneyland. Of course, the first thing you thought about when you got to Disneyland and rode the Astrojet was buying a ticket on American Airlines. It's only natural, you know.

See more Daveland Astro/Rocket Jet 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.

Astrojets and Snow Hill, 1958

This 1958 image shows the Astrojets at the back of Tomorrowland. Its' hard to believe this is Disneyland; virtually no crowds and there is plenty of undeveloped space. In the background you can see the Skyway Buckets. But where's The Matterhorn? Too early; it is about a year away from its appearance in the park. Instead, Snow Hill is what guests floated over in their Skyway Buckets.

Zooming in, we see this little girl who doesn't seem to want to listen to whatever instructions her father is attempting to give her.



I missed this one, but sharp-eyed reader PsySocDisney noted that the Viewliner is also visible in this shot:



To see a better look of what Snow Hill/Holiday Hill/Lookout Mountain looked like, here are two previously published photos from December 1956 from a Skyway bucket.



Plenty of room for a Matterhorn or a House of the Future here.



This black and white shot is an even better one showing Snow Hill, aka Lover's Lane.



Imagine this amount of real estate at Disneyland completely empty. Just trees. No moneymaking opportunity, and no attraction. Hard to fathom.

See more vintage Disneyland Astro Jets photos on my Astro Jets web page.