The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that ran on elevated tracks for a "grand circle tour" above Tomorrowland. The term people mover, now in wider use to describe many forms of automated public transport, was coined for this attraction. PeopleMover was originally only a working title, but became attached to the project over time. The attraction was initially seen as a serious prototype for intercity public transport. The ride closed on August 21, 1995, but its station and track infrastructure—which it shared with its short-lived successor, Rocket Rods—remain standing as of 2026. A second PeopleMover opened on July 1, 1975 in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida near Orlando, Florida, and is still operating today.
Operation
The attraction ran on the WEDway system, and consisted of short trains of constantly-moving vehicles which were passively propelled by drive units in the track rather than motors within the vehicles themselves. The trains slowed down and rode bumper-to-bumper through the station, where passengers boarded and alighted by a large speed-matched rotating platform. There were 517 drive units embedded in the track, approximately one every 9 feet (2.7 m), ranging from 1⁄3 horsepower (1⁄4 kW) to 3 horsepower (2.2 kW) and geared to move the cars at 3.5 to 10 feet per second (1.1 to 3.0 m/s). The ride had 55 trains and a capacity of 4,600 passengers per hour. Each car included its own sound system which broadcast a continuous audio commentary and soundtrack, relative to the train's location. The commentary pointed out Disneyland's attractions along the way as well as announcing promotional items. The tour continued from the center of Tomorrowland through a few of Tomorrowland's buildings, for a look inside, and over Disneyland's Submarine Lagoon and Autopia areas, before returning to Tomorrowland. The attraction's onboard soundtrack originally consisted of the Goodyear jingle "Go, Go, Goodyear" and George Bruns' instrumentals "Nation on Wheels" and "The Monorail Song". From 1976 until its closure, the attraction's onboard soundtrack consisted of instrumental pieces composed by Danish composer Ole Georg for Capitol Records' production music library, Capitol Media Music.
Sponsorship As the attraction was based in part on the Ford Magic Skyway from the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, Disney asked the Ford Motor Company to continue sponsorship by sponsoring Disneyland's new PeopleMover. They declined, because Ford was reluctant to support technology that appeared to replace the automobile, so Goodyear was then approached to sponsor it, and accepted. The wheels used in the WEDway system were replaced by Goodyear's tires. The PeopleMover's logo was then fashioned after Goodyear's logo, sharing a similar typeface. Goodyear sponsored the PeopleMover from its opening until December 31, 1981. However, Goodyear's instrumental "Go Go Goodyear" advertising jingle still served as part of the attraction's soundtrack until at least 1990.
History
The attraction was developed around the WEDway system that debuted on the Ford Magic Skyway attraction at the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, but was updated to use rotary induction motors instead of rotary synchronous motors. It opened as part of New Tomorrowland in 1967, originally featuring four-car trains colored in either red, blue, yellow or green with white roofs. They were repainted all white with colored stripes in 1987-88, similar to the new Mark V Monorails that began operation around the same time. In 1968, each of the 62 trains were retrofitted with safety rails for each car, to deter guests from climbing out. In 1985, these safety rails were modified to completely wrap around each car, making it even more difficult for possible accidents to occur.
SuperSpeed Tunnel In 1977, the SuperSpeed Tunnel was added to the PeopleMover. It was located in the upper level of the Carousel Building, which then housed America Sings. Race cars were projected on the walls of the tunnel all around the trains. In 1982, the projections were changed to scenes from the film Tron and the tunnel was announced as the Game Grid of Tron by the on-board audio guide. After this addition, the attraction was advertised as the PeopleMover Thru the World of Tron.
Deaths and incidents
In August 1967, a 16-year-old boy from Hawthorne, California, was killed while jumping between two moving PeopleMover cars as the ride was passing through a tunnel. He stumbled and fell onto the track, where an oncoming train of cars crushed him beneath its wheels and dragged his body a few hundred feet before it was stopped by a ride operator. The attraction had only been open for one month at the time. In 1972, four teenage girls were riding the PeopleMover when one teenager lost her mouse ears cap. She and her cousin jumped onto the track to retrieve them. Realizing they'd have to get on a different PeopleMover car, the first girl successfully got into a car, while the second girl ran through a tunnel and out the exit and then fell into a guard rail and onto the concrete 30 feet below. She broke an arm, hip, and pelvis; she had to be in a body brace and have a pin inserted into her leg. She sued Disney for not having any warnings about the exit. On June 7, 1980, an 18-year-old male was crushed and killed by the PeopleMover while jumping between moving cars. The accident occurred as the ride entered the SuperSpeed tunnel.
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