July 1955 – November 1992
LOCATION
Tomorrowland – When guests arrived from Main Street USA, they could find the Rocket at the end of the main path, roughly where Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port sits now.
BACKGROUND
Rocket To The Moon, which debuted on Opening Day in 1955, offered guests an unprecedented trip into outer space, in an era before space travel became reality. So in 1967, when the Apollo program was in full swing, the ride became “Flight To The Moon”, in anticipation of astronauts making a similar journey into outer space. But by 1969, when astronauts made the first moon landing, simply seeing the moon from a distance was no longer revolutionary or exciting for visitors, and the ride closed in 1974.
One year later, the rocket reopened with an update premise, and became Mission To Mars. While the theater and premise were identical to the original ride, the rocket now had a new exciting destination: the red planet. With a new mission and the possibility of new exploration, Mission To Mars celebrated space travel and the Apollo program.
EXPERIENCE
Guests loaded into the theater, much like the current setup for Star Tours. The theater was a circle, with large screens in the floor and on the ceiling. With a giant rumble, the rocket took off toward the moon (later Mars), with the upper screen showing their destination and the lower screen showing where the rocket had been. Riders lifted above Disneyland, saw Anaheim disappear into the clouds, and soon found themselves in outer space. As the rocket made a loop around the rear of the moon (later Mars), a film played over the floor screen, teaching facts about space. Finally, the rocket made a return trip, touching down safely back in the heart of Tomorrowland.
CLOSURE
Although Mission To Mars had been a Tomorrowland icon since Opening Day, the ride never drew massive crowds. The theater was small, and didn’t seat many guests at a time, so wait times stayed consistently long. Furthermore, with more interactive and high-tech rides arriving in Tomorrowland, Mission To Mars struggled to stay current and exciting. So in 1992, the rocket shut its doors for good.
TRIVIA
Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port features a scaled-down model of the original rocket, to pay tribute to the ride’s 37-year presence in Tomorrowland.
Rocket To The Moon/Mission To Mars had three sponsors during its lifetime: Trans World Airlines (1955-1961), Douglas Aircraft Company (1962-1966), and McDonell Douglas (1967-1975).
It’s too bad video cameras weren’t what they are now back then. I would love to watch POV videos of so many old attractions, including this one.
That was a very fun ride, but this was very-old fashioned.
holy throwback. they should keep some kind of ride about going to mars though, since space mountain just goes to space without landing anywhere.