|
Sit down inside your Rocket to the Moon.
There’s a round projection screen
in the center of the floor, another on the ceiling, and three tiered rows of seats
surrounding the screen in concentric circles.
What are the two screens for?
The floor screen will show you where you’ve been,
while the ceiling screen will show you where you're going—almost as if they
were windows.
You lift off with great velocity.
You’re high above the launch pad, then high above Anaheim, and soon high
above the Earth.
As you leave the Earth’s atmosphere, the
blue sky changes to the blackness of outer space.
You now see the Moon growing larger on the
ceiling screen as the Earth get smaller on the floor screen.
You don’t actually land on the Moon, but you get to fly around the back side of
the moon. Along the way, you learn interesting facts about the Moon and the
planets. Soon you’ll be heading back to Earth.
After you turn around, you see your destination in the floor screen. Prepare
to land.
|
The 1998 Moonliner bears the red and white color scheme of Coca Cola,
which looks a lot like the red and white color scheme of TWA.
|
Rocket to the Moon opened in Disneyland in 1955.
Douglas Aircraft replaced TWA as the sponsor around 1960.
In 1967, as part of the New Tomorowland, the attraction
became Flight to the Moon, presented McDonnell
Douglas—featuring a new, larger show building, an
Audio-Animatronics “Mission
Control” pre-show, and moving seats.
The 1955-vintage Moonliner rocket was no longer anywhere to be seen.
In 1975, the show was again updated, this time as Mission to Mars.
The attraction closed permanently in 1992.
In 1998, the building was transformed into Redd Rockett's Pizza Port
restaurant,
as part of the new New Tomorrowland project.
A new Moonliner, approximately two thirds the height of the original,
landed near the restaurant’s entrance.
At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the dark, scary Alien Encounter attraction
replaced Mission to Mars in 1995.
Stitch’s Great Escape! starring the less-menacing alien from Disney’s Lilo
& Stitch (2002), replaced Alien Encounter in 2004.
|
© 2007 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks
Updated September 21, 2006.
Photograph of Rocket to the Moon (top right): 1958 by Merrill A. Garner.
Photograph of Rocket to the Moon (middle left): 1959 by Fred M. Nelson, Sr.
Photograph of the new Moonliner (bottom left): 1998 by Allen Huffman.
|
