How Did PeopleMover/Rocket Jets Work?

[MANEATINGWREATH]

How did the PeopleMover and Rocket Jets work on the same platform? To begin with, where was the queue to the PeopleMover and where was the queue to the Rocket Jets? From what I've seen, the Rocket Jets was accessed by an elevator. Where was the PeopleMover queue and loading area? I'm not going to assume that it used the CircleVision building like Rocket Rods did.

[Werner]

How did the PeopleMover and Rocket Jets work on the same platform? To begin with, where was the queue to the PeopleMover and where was the queue to the Rocket Jets? From what I've seen, the Rocket Jets was accessed by an elevator. Where was the PeopleMover queue and loading area? I'm not going to assume that it used the CircleVision building like Rocket Rods did.

You're right -- the CircleVision buidling (and subterranean passage) was indeed not used for anything other that the "America the Beautiful" 360-degree motion-picture attraction. There was an elevator to get up to the Rocket Jets, which sat way up on top of the PeopleMover loading area -- on its "roof" if you will. Think of three levels: 1) the ground, 2) the PeopleMover loading area, and 3) the Rocket Jets platform. The queue and loading area for the PeopleMover was an ingenious design. You took a "speedramp" aka "moving sidewalk" from the ground level up to the second level, and it dropped you off in the middle of the round platform. Then you stepped onto another, round, "moving sidwalk", and on the very outside of this platform were your PeopleMover cars. The queue was mostly non-existant, as the continous loading arrangement kept lines pretty short (at least in "My Day" in the late 70s and 80s.

[Werner]

Here's a good picture of the PM/RJ "stack"....

[ttrocc7007]

The People Mover had no independent means of propulsion. The individual vehicles had no motor of any sort. In the track itself every few yards were small tires, like automobile tires (that's the Goodyear part). These tires were each attached to small electric motors which kept them spinning non stop. As the People Mover car moved over these tires, the car would be lightly propelled along a bit further until you ran across the next set of tires. Like the 'Omnimover' system, the People Mover cars kept in motion and you boarded as they were moving. that's why the platform had a moving sidewalk which would turn at about the same rate as the People Mover cars shuttling along.

[merlinjones]

The photo posted above illustrates the setup perfectly.

You'll see the PeopleMover speedramp at the front (since removed), which lead directly to the second level where, in the center, was a constant load turntable like setup that fed riders onto the trams as they moved (like Haunted Mansion's Omnimover). Trams came in from the left track (out from the CircleVision building in front of Tomorrowland) and fed out to the right track (which lead into the InnerSpace building at the front) traveling counterclockwise around Tomorrowland. There was also a queing area on second floor (seldom used as this attraction really had very high capacity).

Rocket Jets was a slower load - - queue was at base of platform. After elevator brought down one cycle of riders, another would load and go up to a holding area (I recall there were two holding areas one to the right and another to the left) on the third deck. There was always one load of guests on ride, one (or two) in holding area up top and another dealing with the elevators (two) up or down. Cycle repeat.

At the rear of the bottom level was the Space Bar, home of Space Mist Punch.

The underground tunnel from CircleVision was only added for TL 98 and Rocket Rods and changed the whole set-up for that ride.

[jeremys]

Here's a good picture of the PM/RJ "stack"....

This looks like a 1970's photo to me, no Space Mtn, but the Tomorrowland Stage and that looks like a ticket booth in the far right of the photo.

[Ortizmo2000]

LOL!! Those bright colors on the PM cars still make me think of the 1960's Star Trek.

I miss that ride so much.

[Circa1966]

Sigh...