*Some sources (as “Disneyland Admission Media Rides and Attractions” report, published 1971) cite June 24, 1967 as the opening date.

One can easily slip into the jargon of “ride,” but at Disneyland there is a "story behind the story" of every attraction, every attraction is a living experience for the guest. Disneyland ride-through attractions or adventures have officially been defined as an “individual show, ride, or exhibit designed to produce an entertaining Guest experience. Disney attractions stir the imagination, enliven the senses, and provide the participants with positive, innovative entertainment, which is the essence of the DISNEYLAND Show.” It is important to review the story of the attraction, tell the story, explain it, and create interest. This is the story of Rocket Jets.

You may recall hearing how Walt Disney, on the eve of Disneyland’s first day of operation, promised that “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow, to add new things, as long as there is imagination left in the world.” From April of 1956 through September of 1966, the Astrojets put Disneyland guests into the cockpit of (1 of 12) personal rocket ships and sent them shooting at high speed (like stars), as high as 60 feet through the air. But in 1967, the Rocket Jets would take Disneyland guests to even greater heights above Tomorrowland in their personal Saturn V rocket “spacecraft”! Internal materials published during 1966 teased: “Tomorrowland Jets - To be raised to a new level with access via a glass elevator.”

While the Tomorrowland AstroJets attraction was manufactured by the Klaus Company of Memmington, Bavaria (and not too different from the model at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania), the Rocket Jets were a completely unique experience produced for the New Tomorrowland! United States Patent Ser. No. 9,356 (the “Rocket Amusement Ride”) was filed on behalf of WED Enterprises, Inc. by George F. McGinnis, on November 13th, 1967. The patent carried a fourteen-year term from December 31st, 1968.

The RocketJets was one of eight new and exciting Disneyland attractions which carried total Park investment to $95 million.

Though an updated futuristic Rocket Jets would replace these mid-century-style jets, pilots of the original Astro-Jets understand the important place they hold in Tomorrowland history - inspiring an attraction which is beloved and around the world and seemingly “timeless” more than a half-century later!

The futuristic updated Rocket Jets attraction deserved a brand new logo, so one was created featuring an arrow pointed (where else, but) upward!

Paint is important. The “Master Color Book” is the Bible for color selection at Disneyland, maintaining a catalogue of 4,000 shades of color. The book contains color specifications for every land, building, exhibit, and prop which requires paint maintenance. It insures that Disneyland will always have the same bright colors selected by the art directors who designed the attraction. In addition to the Master Color Book, there is a standby supply of ready-mixed paint available for touch up work. Thousands of cans of paint are stored in a special room which sounds like a walk through of Disneyland. Each can is labeled with names. Disneyland painters repainted every prop in the Park every two years. By 1969, this sign was one of 20,000 signs of various sizes and shapes and colors that needed to be maintained in their original condition.

Brand new silk-screened attraction posters were created for the Rocket Jets, heralding the technological marvels of space flight! The poster’s artwork is credited to Ken Chapman, who evokes the iconic feel of the legendary Disneyland attraction poster artist Björn Aronson!

The original 1967 attraction poster optimistically heralds an era of futuristic space travel aboard Rocket Jets, when you’ll be able to “fly one yourself”!

The original 1967 attraction poster optimistically heralds an era of futuristic space travel aboard Rocket Jets, when you’ll be able to “fly one yourself”!

During the 1970s, Rocket Jets Passenger Seating signs instructed men to sit in the rear of the Rocket Jet, women were instructed to sit in the middle, and children were instructed to sit in the front. “Those now entering, please ride two or three persons to a jet ; No single riders. Every pilot should have a co-pilot. If you are the tallest rider, please sit in the back. Thank you.”

-Rocket Jets Spiel, c. 1988

It looks like the old Moonliner Rocket has disappeared, but a new Tomorrowland icon would soon appear and tower high above the Tomorrowland skyline - the Saturn V rocket ship designed by Imagineer George McGinnis (with the tip of its pinnacle reaching 85 feet in the air)!

It looks like the old Moonliner Rocket has disappeared, but a new Tomorrowland icon would soon appear and tower high above the Tomorrowland skyline - the Saturn V rocket ship designed by Imagineer George McGinnis (with the tip of its pinnacle reaching 85 feet in the air)!

Disneyland guests could now pilot a high-flying jet into Disneyland’s own outer space. The Saturn V Rocket Jets blasted off from perhaps the highest point over Tomorrowland! The Rocket Jets sat atop the lofty Peoplemover Station and tracks.

Before “lift-off”, Rocket Jet Console Hosts and Hostesses (c. 1988), announced to passengers : “Attention Pilots! Please secure all hats and packages and prepare for Blast Off! To raise your Rocket Jet, pull back on the control lever in front of you. To make your jet dive, push forward. Please remain seated at all times.”

Rocket Jet Console Hosts and Hostesses (c. 1988), stated : “Attention Pilots! Please secure all hats and packages and prepare for Blast Off!”

Disneyland “queue lines” were designed as part of the attraction to make the Guests' time in line as comfortable as possible. According to “INFORMATION ON DISNEYLAND'S NEW TOMORROWLAND - A WORLD ON THE MOVE” (©️ 1967 Wed Enterprises, Inc): “Guests thrill to the breath-taking new version of the popular Rocket Jets that soar high above all of new Tomorrowland. The attraction tops the tri-level PeopleMover Station, Tomorrowland's theme center and pivotal point.”

“Here you go! Blast Off!”

-Rocket Jets Spiel, c. 1988

“Attention Pilots : Push your Control Lever forward and prepare to land. Please remain seated until your jet has come to a complete stop, and step out carefully. Follow the exit arrows on the pavement back to the elevators. Thank you.”

- Rocket Jets Spiel, c. 1988

Many factors affected the operability of many Disneyland attractions. Regular three-week rehabilitations (like from September to October of 1977; and then in ‘78) maintained the show quality. During the early 1980s, a c.1984 strike affected the operation of the Rocket Jets and one elevator, causing the attraction to go “101.” More commonly, inclement weather affected the operability of Disneyland attractions.

The Rocket Jets continued to soar above Tomorrowland during the construction of The Magic Eye Theater. During their flights, passengers received brief glimpses behind the construction barrier.

Maintenance Daily Work Plans were employed by Park Operations and Attractions Crew Members, overseen by Jim McDonald. Disneyland Park Operations Crew M-43 Machinists would read the daily “Third Shift Report” and Defect Sheet, make a standard opening inspection of all RocketJets in the Tomorrowland area, check it’s overall appearance, check for any discrepancies and notify M-1 Machinists and the proper department supervisor. Notify M-41 of any further work to be done or parts needed prior to opening. M-43 Machinists would respond to all Downs and delayed openings in T/L area whether or not it was mechanical. Upon arriving at a down attraction, they would determine what the failure was, determine which crafts were needed, determine an estimated time needed to repair, notify M-1 Machinists of all available information, and assist other crafts to repair attraction as needed.

The Saturn V Rocket stood towering over the top of the launch tower.

The toy featured switch activated lights and a motorized propeller.

“The centerpiece of the ‘new’ Tomorrowland, the Observatron is depicted in this artwork by Imagineering Consultant Eric Heschong, as part of The Disney Gallery's ‘Imagination and Beyond’ exhibit. This piece, produced in colored pencil and acrylic, was done in 1996 to supply Imagineers with a technically accurate portrayal of the much anticipated centerpiece.”

By 1992, the Orbitron Flying Machines (described as an ”aerial carousel attraction,” landed in Discoveryland at DISNEYLAND PARIS. Six years later, the Astro Orbitor landed at Disneyland with a Leonardo da Vinci-inspired mobile of planets. The 90-second adventure featured 12 two-person orbitors.

By 2003, the Orbitron had a legacy in Tomorrowland at Honk Kong Disneyland. A prospectus describes: “Guests pilot their own spaceship amid spinning planets and other interstellar orbs on this soaring aerial adventure high above Tomorrowland.”

Honk Kong Disneyland opened with the Orbitron where guests could pilot their own flying saucer high above Tomorrowland.

Rocket Jet #1 was auctioned through “Celebrating 50 Years of Magical Memories” of Disneyland.

This particular Rocket Jet is appropriately numbered “67” - appropriate considering the attraction’s first year of operation!

Ultimately all good things do not last forever. When the RoketJets attraction was dismantled, the massive rocket pylon was taken to a facility in Burbank where it spent some time stored in the yard. But not all the RocketJets disappeared from Tomorrowland. In the present, after “your astro blasting adventures,” be sure took for this RocketJets artifact inside the Little Green Men Store Command. One of the rockets has been re-themed and repurposed into this store display, which stands poised ready to head “to infinity and beyond”!

By 2008, WDI master planners entertained the concept of an update, investigating ride systems and describing the project as “Rocket Jet Packs.” But by the spring of 2008, soaring in an Astro Orbiter Rocket was likely the closest visitors would come to the true-life experience of flying over Disneyland (considering a 3-mile “no-fly-zone” radius, which extends 3,000 feet over the “happiest place on earth”).