Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Skyway Ride

No, I will never forget going up the narrow little Fantasyland staircase up into the cute Swiss chalet and seeing cable cars going around a giant wheel driven by a huge electric motor. I think this was one of the most fascinating rides for me when I was younger, little did I know at the time that they used almost standard ski resort type lift mechanics. I couldn't believe they were safe. They would disconnect from the cable on the fly and reconnect automatically. It was amazing. I remember looking behind the walls and seeing giant overhead tracks with tons of hanging cars stored back there. It was too cool. I also remember the guys that were loading people always did it fast, opening the door, getting you in and slamming the door behind you and off you go swinging out over nothing. Quite creepy when you are 8 years old. Here is a clip showing Florida's setup complete with Autopia cars running below. It also shows a non destroyed Tomorrowland like you wouldn't find today in Disneyland. See both clips to see the haunting remnants of what was once a high tech, high capacity highly functional and popular guest transport that Walt himself dedicated in 1956.



No comments: