August 1961 – August 1966
LOCATION
Tomorrowland – When entering from Main Street USA, guests following the main path would find the Flying Saucers on the right, just beyond the giant rocket.
BACKGROUND
For the first few years, Tomorrowland didn’t have a major headline attraction. But in 1961, the Flying Saucers arrived, much to the delight of park guests. The Flying Saucers were high tech bumper cars, but moving the bumper cars onto an air-hockey style surface. To achieve this effect, air valves shot low-pressure air underneath the saucers, causing the vehicles to lift and bounce slightly as they moved across the field. Although the Flying Saucers were short lived, they remain a favorite among nostalgic Disneyland visitors.
EXPERIENCE
The Flying Saucers held one guest each, and guests loaded into one of two circular fields. For about two minutes, the saucers slid around the fields, steering by leaning in a given direction. While most guests treated the saucers like floating bumper cars, others used them to race from one end to the other. After the ride ended, guests returned the cars to the loading areas and made their way back into Tomorrowland.
CLOSURE
Though its premise was innovative and exciting, the Flying Saucer was unfortunately more trouble than it was worth in the early days of Disneyland. The ride broke down regularly, and had a very small capacity, so guests waited in very long lines for short ride times. Most of all, the Flying Saucers were very expensive to operate, so when Tomorrowland underwent its first major renovation in the 1960’s, the Flying Saucer did not survive the transition. The area became the Tomorrowland Stage, which featured daily performances to entertain guests in larger numbers. Today, this area is roughly in the same place as the Space Mountain structure.
TRIVIA
Luigi’s Flying Tires, a former California Adventure attraction, was an updated version of the Flying Saucers.
This is the only Disneyland ride in history to seat one guest per vehicle.
I loved this attraction!
I don’t recall the long waits. We probably hit it at just the right times. However, it was not a ‘single rider’ attraction, as I always rode it upon my father’s lap.
Luigi’s Tires was a very poor effort for a recreation. IT STUNK!!! But there is no recreation of the original due to low capacity.
I don’t know how Bob Hurt could’ve missed it (probably because no one had attempted it before), but the problem was the design of the pleniums. Pleniums are the air chambers beneath the rides surface. They put pressure into the fields of valves that lifted the static saucers up. Unless a saucer was overhead, the valves stayed closed by balancing resistance. But too big of a plenemium, and you loose pressure. And that’s why the attraction frequently shut down. Now I don’t know for sure if Bob Gurr designed the clever valves or not, but heard to him.
I adored this ride!! It was the best ride Disneyland ever had. It had the possibility of existing in the future. You had control of where your saucer went. It wasn’t jarring like bumper cars. Smooth and out in the sunshine. I just loved it. I was so disappointed when I headed for the ride upon one visit only to discover it wasn’t there anymore.
My mother remembers this attraction fondly. Did not realize that it was not open for very long. Amazing that it has had such a lasting cultural impact for Disneyland fans.
My mom LOVED this ride. She never shuts up about it, lol.
Kinda nuts how famous these are when they weren’t around for that long
It always amazes me how some attractions have such staying power, while others disappear off the radar almost immediately!