Rocket Rods

[I Heart Disneyland]

My kids and I stood in line for 3 1/2 hours for Rocket Rods when they first opened!!!!!!! ha!

I miss them too, I thought it was a lot of fun! Like others have said, not the best ride ever...but...I thought it was a kick.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Looks a lot faster then people described it previously.. speeding and slowing down are apparent, but the way people described it, it sounded like you came to a crawl for every turn, which doesn't look that way.

Was it LIM powered ? Or just motor driven?

Every Rocket Rod had it's own motor...so having to constantly speed up and then slow down not only ruins the tracks and the tires, but very much so the engine.

Hence the breaking down so often. The rods couldn't handle it.


Yeah, if it had been the ride that the Imagineers had planned it to be and what Disney had made it out to be, I wouldn't have minded waiting so long for it. But the end result didn't make it, in my opinion, worth it.

[3rdshiftCM]

Rocket Rods!? BOO! I can't see nothin, it's too fast! I'd rather be on a nice scenic tour of TL on a good speed peoplemover.

Did you ever get a ride on the Rods?

I really miss tha ride, the lines were long and the ride had a lot of downtime but, overall it was fun.

The ride would slow for hard turns but, once you were outsde the ride would maintain it's speed.

Funny, how the Rods sound became part of the park, it was so quiet in TL afetr the ride closed.

RIP Rocket Rods 1998-2000.

[3rdshiftCM]

Since it had no banked curves, the tires would wear out very fast, being ground up into a fine black grit. The particles of rubber were found raining on the diners and their food at Tomorrowland Terrace. That was likely the last straw, or burger.

I don't recall ever hearing about this happening, where did you hear about it and where at TL Terrace would it happen? The track isn't really near the eating areas.

I know the ride produced a lot of rubber marbles but I didn't know they would fly off the track.

[Giddy4Aladdin]

Wow.. thought I had ridden them when they were around.. then I saw the video and realized that maybe I never did ride them.. I didn't realize they went all over the place..

I do remember the lines being impossibly long.. so maybe that's would explain why I didn't ride them.. but I could have sworn that I did..

Oh well.. I guess I'm just going crazy..

[Snow_White_Raven]

I don't think the ride could have handled banked turns... The engine blocks and ride vehicles were cracking... Thats why the attraction kept breaking down... If every 3 rides the entire frame cracks down the middle what do you think is going to happen...

[Quacky4Donald]

...If every 3 rides the entire frame cracks down the middle what do you think is going to happen...

Um...it would be time for Michael Jackson or Joan Rivers to get another facelift?

...Joe...

[FantasyForever]

Uck!

A Giant room with a giant video clip that you have to listen to over and over and over.

ANOTHER giant room with another stupid video clip that gets old real quick.

Endless spiraling and zigzags. It took so long for you to move significantly that people saw fit to take naps and read books just outside the lines. I have mental images of shoes off and snoring.

Up the stairs and onto the platform. Finally! But what do we get? A cheap little purple toy that goes 30 miles per hour at top speed and emits a wimpy beep in a boring tunnel.

[3rdshiftCM]

I don't think the ride could have handled banked turns... The engine blocks and ride vehicles were cracking... Thats why the attraction kept breaking down... If every 3 rides the entire frame cracks down the middle what do you think is going to happen...

I thought that the problem was the wear and tear on the motors and the out of control cost of tire replacement? I never heard about the chassis problems.

[musiken]

I had a mid-management Cast Member tell me the track itself was cracking. Oh well... The Rocket Rods were my favorite ride at the time. I was very disappointed they were removed. But if I had a choice between Rods and People Mover, the PM would win hands down.

[Druggas]

I waited the long line to finally ride the new Rocket Rods!

Made me wonder why they closed the Peoplemover down.

And the GPH was horrendous!

[Jessicalover]

I only ever got to ride it once. I remember waiting 2.5 hours in line and riding it only to get off of it thinking what was all the hype about? But on return trips out to DL (4 years ago was my last )I know I missed the energy that it and the peoplemover before provied to Tomorrowland. If they could do it right this time I'd love to see them try and recreate the Rocket Rods. Thanks for the video though, I wish my 1 ride experience was as good as the video made it look.

[TiggerGo]

I miss that ride too. I can't recall riding the People Mover, maybe because I was too young or I never rode it. I do vividly remember this ride though. It was pretty fun.

[flynnibus]

how would you have 'engine blocks cracking'. Engine Blocks are part of a internal combustion engine. I can't see them using gas powered vehicles up there.

It was the unreliable ride system as well as the additional stress put on the track infrastructure that doomed it.

[SpokkerJones]

It was the unreliable ride system as well as the additional stress put on the track infrastructure that doomed it.

It's sad that the fact that it was literally stressing out the track and the surrounding structure was the reason they took it out, and not the, oh nothing, lack of theming, concept, and imagination.