Flying Saucers was an

amusement ride Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

from 1961 to 1966. The ride was manufactured by

Arrow Development Arrow Development was an amusement park ride and roller coaster design and manufacturing company, incorporated in California on November 16, 1945, and based in Mountain View. It was founded by Angus "Andy" Anderson, Karl Bacon, William Hardiman ...

and

National Research Associates, Inc In 1958 Melville W. Beardsley founded National Research Associates company. NRA developed and tested over 30 air cushion vehicles, with the Air Gem Air cushion vehicle produced as their first product. NRA also sold Disney's Flying Saucers attract ...

. Guests rode on personal flying saucers on a cushion of air, similar to an air hockey game, which played in a way similar to bumper cars with guests ramming each other with their saucers. As the ride began, the saucers would be subject to a high volume of low-pressure air directed underneath the saucers by means of a grid of circular valves from a plenum chamber below the field on which they operated. As the saucers moved about the field, the valves would open and close in response to their proximity. As guests shifted their weight in any direction by leaning, saucer movement would respond by means of an air jet derived from the increased pressure in the saucer's plenum. If weight was centered, the saucer would begin to "hop" up and down as the air randomly escaped around the plenum. All that was required to regain control was for the guest to lean in any direction. The ride consisted of two sets of saucers (approximately 14 each) on a semi-circular field and a mechanical boom that would sweep the arc of the field and corral one set of saucers in the loading area. As the boom moved, it would free the other set of saucers (with their new riders) from their loading area to roam the field while the other set was unloaded and loaded in-turn. The ride was expensive to operate, maintenance was intensive, and it did not fit the normal Disneyland "guest flow" in that a relatively small number of riders was able to participate on any given day. The Flying Saucers did not survive the transition to New Tomorrowland. When New Tomorrowland opened in 1967, the space that this ride occupied was turned into the Tomorrowland Stage. On June 15, 2012, a new ride using similar technology opened in

Cars Land ''Cars'' Land is a themed area of Disney California Adventure, inspired by the Disney·Pixar franchise, ''Cars'', and Route 66 in America. The area, built as part of Disney California Adventure Park's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on J ...

inside Disneyland's sister park,

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

. This ride was named

Luigi's Flying Tires Luigi's Flying Tires was an amusement ride in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, At the Disneyland Resort In Anaheim, California. Guests rode on tire-shaped bumper car vehicles that floated on a cushion of air, similar to an air hockey game ...

, and themed to Luigi's Casa Della Tires shop from the 2006

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

film ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...

''. This version held two or three passengers per ride vehicle instead of one. On February 17, 2015, the attraction closed. It was replaced by

Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters is a trackless dancing cars ride located in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The attraction, which opened on March 7, 2016, features Luigi, the Italian roadster who runs the Casa Della Tires shop in Radiato ...

which opened in March 2016, still themed to Luigi's Casa Della Tires, but featuring new vehicles and a new ride system unrelated to the Flying Saucers.

References

{{Disney rides Amusement rides manufactured by Arrow Dynamics Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Tomorrowland Amusement rides introduced in 1961 Amusement rides that closed in 1966 Disneyland 1961 establishments in California 1966 disestablishments in California

See also

References