Rocket Jets was an attraction in

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 ...

at the

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...

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 ...

. This attraction opened in 1967 with the new Tomorrowland and closed in 1997 for the New Tomorrowland update in 1998. It was the third spinning rocket attraction in

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

and stood three stories above the ground. When Tomorrowland was redone for 1998, the Rocket Jets were replaced by a new attraction based on Orbitron at the entrance to Discoveryland in Disneyland Park Paris.

Observatron

The Rocket Jets remained in their place above the former PeopleMover station as the Observatron, a sculpture that was intended to spin and play music every fifteen minutes. There are only two tracks, from Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune (Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon) and Le Visionarium (The Timekeeper), both of which are defunct

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...

attractions (De la Terre à la Lune is now Space Mountain: Mission 2, while The Timekeeper was also an attraction at the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

in Florida). The rockets were replaced by satellite dishes and the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with three stages, and powered with liquid fuel. It was flown from 196 ...

rocket in the center was replaced by a laser-beam. However, the Observatron often malfunctioned, as the machinery was built to operate more frequently and to carry the rockets, rather than the satellite dishes they were replaced with. It appeared to have mechanical issues, sometimes only playing music every 15 minutes, or not doing anything at all. In late 2006, the Observatron received much needed maintenance which allows the Observatron to now rotate every 15 minutes while playing its music as originally planned. As part of the maintenance, the old speakers were replaced with new ones and new speakers were added. Since this maintenance, the Observatron rarely breaks down and operates on a daily basis as intended. The Saturn V rocket that the rockets were attached to was sold on

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by Disney Auction in 2005. One remains on display, along with

Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclo ...

gondolas, in "Little Green Men Store Command" with a space ranger design. During Disneyland's 50th anniversary, one of the satellite dishes was replaced by a 50 Mickey Mouse head.

In popular culture

The Rocket Jets appear in a scene from the Disney animated film ''

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 47th animated film produced by the studio, it is loosely based on t ...

'' alongside another Disneyland attraction,

Space Mountain Space Mountain is a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the six Disneyland-style Disney Parks. Although all five versions of the attraction are different in nature, all have a similar conical exterior façade that is ...

. The area they are shown in is known as "Todayland". The poster of the attraction appears as an easter egg in '' Monsters, Inc.'' on the kid bedroom during the scene when Mike Wazowski tries to make the kid laugh.

References

{{Disney rides Disneyland Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Tomorrowland Rocket sculptures Space in amusement parks Amusement rides introduced in 1967 Amusement rides that closed in 1997 1967 establishments in California 1997 disestablishments in California Buildings and structures demolished in 1997 Demolished buildings and structures in California

Observatron

In popular culture

See also

References