Wedway PeopleMover: Disney's retrofuturistic transit system

The Disney Parks blog is featuring some fine opening-year 1975 photos of the Wedway PeopleMover, a "mass transit system"-cum-ride in Tomorrowland that is affectionately called the "PeopleCrusher" after its propensity for squishing ill-advised riders who try to hop into oncoming cars. I've always loved the PeopleCrusher, and these photos do a great job of capturing its curvy, groovy, 1970s futuristic glory.

Vintage Walt Disney World: Head Back to 1975 Aboard the PeopleMover

• [greggman]

  I grew up near Disneyland and so went there a LOT! The PeopleMover was my favorite ride. Probably because it seemed the most Jetsons like thing in Tomorrowland. I loved the music. I loved that it showed you around all of Tomorrowland. I loved the narration throughout the ride. I used to imagine someday being able to ride them around town.

  I loved when it used to go behind the amazing “City of Tomorrow” model, then became the “Escape from the World of Tron” tunnel and finally the “Super Speed Tunnel”. I was sad when they changed it to the RocketRods and now with that is gone I’m really sad they haven’t done anything with it.

  The fact that it’s missing feels like a blight on Tomorrowland. In fact Tomorrowland itself is a blight on Disneyland. You can go back and watch interviews with Walt Disney where he said Tomorrowland was meant to be continually updated to inspire the future. Then when Eisner was in charge he crapped on that idea and changed it to “retro future” in an attempt to make it never need to be upgraded.

• [Anonymous]

  It was also known as the PeopleRemover.

• [Amphigorey]

  It’s also called the PeopleRemover.

• [ocschwar]

  You know, as a slight threadjack, I find it really amazing that in the rest of the country, there’s endless bureaucracy and litigation and jibba jabba any time anyone tries to build a new transit system, a new kind of transit system, or even a new style of bike lane. If it’s not bog standard suburban development, it’s an uphill battle.

  In the meantime, whatever Disney feels like building, they build. Monorails, heavy rail, narrow gauge rail, people movers, you name it, Disney has built it in a resort somewhere. New walkways, new bikeways, whatever they want. Nothing stands in their way.

• [Sorcerer Mickey]

  “On behalf of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, we hope you’ve enjoyed your trip on the PeopleMover. And wherever you go, we hope you will Go, Go, Goodyear!”
  http://sorcerersworkshop.org/peoplemover.shtml

• [Anonymous]

  FWIW: I believe the only installation of the Wedway Peoplemover ourside of a Disney property is in Houston’s Intercontinental Airport. Somehow, it’s just not as much fun as the one at Disney World, though…

  • [Gyrofrog]

    I believe that’s correct, Anon.

    When I was 9 or so, I sent off for Wedway’s sales brochure about the PeopleMover system, ’cause that’s the kind of kid I was.

    (For one thing, I had figured that we would have run out of gas long before now and that we would have moved on to PeopleMovers, monorails, hydrogen-fueled airliners etc.)

• [lenpict]

  Growing up near Disneyland, we eventually learned exactly what time to get on the PeopleMover so that we would be in that stretch of track above the submarines/Autopia for the duration of the fireworks.

  That was magic.

• [Tavie]

  Although it’s been the “Tomorrowland Transit Authority” for 17 years, my family still refers to it exclusively as the WEDway Peoplemover and my mother maintains it’s her favorite ride.

  Tomorrowland is most beautiful at sunset from the Peoplemover.

• [Anonymous]

  A friend I had who used to work at Disneyland said that it used to be also called the “People Maker” due to what some of the staff did on that ride on really slow days…

• [Anonymous]

  A “mass transit system”-cum-ride sounds more like a Splash Mountain mod that’s inappropriate for children.