Prepare to board a spaceship bound for a round trip to the moon! The year was 1955, and visitors to Tomorrowland were treated to one “out of this world” attraction - regularly scheduled “blast-offs” to the moon. Long before StarSpeeder 1000s would shuttle passengers to fictitious planetary destinations far, far away, guests were entertained by an exciting Tomorrowland preview of a “soon-to-be reality” - everyday commercial space flights to Earth’s moon.
“BEFORE ROCKET TRIPS TO THE MOON BECOME A DAILY ROUTINE”
Only five years prior, a Bumper rocket was tested in Cape Canaveral, with subsequent rocket powered sled tests being conducted right up to this year. By the time Disneyland opened it’s Tomorrowland Spaceport with simulated projections of futuristic commercial spaceflight, the Soviet Union had dedicated their own space centers and launch facilities and what the world would know as “The Great Space Race” had begun! The United States and Soviet Union led the swift race in terms of their superior technology. Still, it would be 14 years before a crowd of Disneyland guests would watch the Apollo 11 land on the moon’s surface in 1969. In the meantime, Tomorrowland’s Rocket To The Moon attraction would continue to propel man’s fascination with space travel to nearby worlds.
A visiting family proudly takes their photograph before the Trans World Airlines (TWA) Rocket to the Moon attraction during the Fall of 1957. At the beginning of the “Space Race”, the Soviet Union had launched their first satellite SPUTNIK into space (during October of 1957), and was preparing to launch the first animal into space the following month. At this point in Disneyland history, guests were becoming more and more enthralled by a “grounded” space-themed attraction which focused on man’s journey into space.
October 26, 1969 - A little over a month after the Soviet Union’s Luna 2 mission (the first human-made object to reach the moon), Russian cosmonauts Konstantin Feoktistov (left) and General Georgy Beregovoy (right) visit Disneyland Spaceport in order to take a Flight To The Moon!
“INCOMING TWA MOON FLIGHT”
Disneyland’s venture into space was under conditions as calculated for the year 1986 by Willy Ley and Dr. Wernher von Braun, internationally known scientists and authorities on space travel. Their vivid conception of this eight hour flight (capsulized in ten minutes) was based on technically and scientifically correct data available at the time. Once entering the Disneyland Spaceport, visitors may experience the thrills that space travelers of the future will encounter when rocket trips to the moon become a daily routine. As previously mentioned, the swift, comfortable journey of roughly 500,000 miles would take just ten minutes aboard the futuristic Moonliner Rocket of Tomorrow. The thrust of mighty rockets would hurtle guests aloft, and then they were on their way aboard a simulated flight to the moon. For thirty seconds, the entire western United States would unfold beneath the travelers, and after a few minutes the entire Earth would become “yet another round ball in the universe.” Guests would continue to experience the “feel” of space travel - seeing the Earth below and the heavens above as they passed Space Station Terra, coasted around the Moon and returned to planet Earth.” This factual and thrilling ride through space at 13,716 miles per hour, was by far “the most exciting trip in the universe!”
This glimpse of the Moonliner rocket was taken from the other side of Tomorrowland, inside Hobbyland - where guests could purchase model aircraft!
Even before stepping “inside” mission control, passerby got a good look at the commercial rocket’s exterior. In fact, the rocket was quite visible both from several locations inside Disneyland, and even from outside Disneyland. Though many artists provided concepts, it was Civil Engineer Walt Preston who worked closely with Disney designers and manufacturing contractors to complete the structural engineering drawings that would make the rocket a reality. Once completed, the Kaiser aluminum and steel coated trussed Moonliner rocket quickly became one of the main icons associated with Tomorrowland, along with The World Clock.
With all the popularity, the rocket also speedily became the subject of licensed merchandise.
In anticipation for their space travel, guests would pass advertisement posters like this one while while entering Tomorrowland’s entrance - The Avenue of Flags. This hand silk screened Rocket to the Moon attraction poster (formerly part of Richard Kraft’s collection) is one of few Bjorn Aronson originals known to exist!
The original Moonliner Rocket left a legacy that is felt in three locales, more than 1,600 miles away from Tomorrowland. Prepare for lift-off as we now explore the history of the four Moonliner Rockets!
TWA Moonliner, 1960.
“THE TWA and DOUGLAS MOONLINER I”
From the terrestrial area of Tomorrowland, it may have been hard to notice that the Moonliner towered 8 feet over Sleeping Beauty Castle, making it the tallest landmark inside Disneyland at one point! From 1955 to 1967, the 76-foot tall TWA Moonliner rocket remained an easily recognizable (with its red stripes) and a prominent feature of Tomorrowland’s skyline, just as representational as Space Mountain’s structure is today. Trans World Airlines was the perfect sponsor for a flight-based attraction based on the future of “out-of-this-world” commercial flights! By 1958, the TWA was still manufacturing the Lockheed Constellation (or, “Connie”) - the first widespread civilian aircraft with a pressurized cabin to go into service!
The “Connie”
During it’s lifetime, the Moonliner rocket saw two sponsorships emblazoned across its fuselage - TWA (1955 - 1962) and DOUGLAS (1962 - 1967), and three different paint schemes. Then, the iconic rocket ship was finally removed during 1967, for Disneyland’s new Tomorrowland expansion. Still, even today most long-time Disneyland guests will remember the rocket’s first incarnation, as the TWA Moonliner.
Though the Moonliner I is all gone, it carries an interesting legacy which we will now briefly explore. Please step this way, as we visit three Moonliner replicas - all tributes to the original Tomorrowland icon!
“TWA and SPACECRAFT MOONLINER II”
The National Airline History Museum at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City, Missouri is approximately five miles from where the Moonliner II originally stood!
During 1956, the TWA Headquarters in Kansas City received a familiar feature - a 22-foot tall duplicate of Tomorrowland’s Moonliner rocket. This served as publicity for TWA for a number of years. But when the Disneyland sponsorship contract ended, the rocket disappeared from TWA Headquarter’s roof. It was then sold to a recreational vehical manufacturing company called SpaceCraft, where it served as an icon for the Missouri business for 25 years.
The climate change and other factors soon caused the Moonliner to deteriorate at an alarming rate. A benefactor stepped in, purchasing the rocket and restoring it to it’s former glory complete with TWA logo and bold red stripes. Currently, Tomorrowland fans can find this faithful reproduction of the iconic Moonliner on loan to the National Airline History Museum amidst other TWA relics.
If you’re into aircraft, we highly recommend you pay for the full tour and peruse their entire collection (including a Lockheed Super “G” Constellation - the craft that inspired elements of the Moonliner). Additionally, the museum’s particular Super “G” was used in filming many television shows and films.
At 22 feet tall, the TWA Moonliner II was a roughly 1/3 scale version of Disneyland’s Moonliner I (which stood at 76 feet tall)!
The restored TWA logo featured on the Moonliner II from 1956 to 1961, is reminiscent of the scheme of Disneyland’s TWA Moonliner I rocket (1955-1962).
“Landing tail first, no air-foils or wings would be necessary, it’s vertical descent controlled by its jets.”
Check out those retracting leg covers (equipped with shock absorbers), which were inspired by the aerodynamic fuselage of “Connie” - TWA’s Lockheed Constellation Airliner produced between 1943 and 1958.
“TWA MOONLINER III”
Perhaps Tomorrowland needed new icons to help give it definition and identity. In 1998, (thirty-one years after the Moonliner I’s absence), a new Moonliner touched down in Tomorrowland.
This time the rocket (and its color scheme) was used to promote not an attraction, but proud Disneyland sponsor Coca-Cola. The Moonliner III rocket sits atop Alien Pizza Planet (formerly Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port). This happens to be the very location where Disneyland guests once rocketed to the moon.
The scaled-down version has many notable differences, while impressing Tomorrowland’s own original theme!
“MOONLINER IV”
Our last portion of our tour takes us back to Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, at the intersection of 18th Street and Baltimore. During 2005, long-time Kansas City residents may have been surprised when a familiar TWA rocket “landed” atop the former Kansas City TWA Headquarters building.
HOW DID THEY EFFECT THAT LANDING? “Launching and landing would be done over a ‘firing crater’ to confine and lead off superheated exhaust gases.”
Thanks to the Nicholson Group and el dorado inc., the building was restored, with the replica Moonliner constructed by The Bratton Corporation. If you travel to this inner-city intersection, be sure to visit during a Sunday as you will incur less traffic and an easier time gaining a good look at our subject.
There are many similarities between the Moonliner IV and the Moonliner I, but there are many differences too! For instance, this version of the Moonliner features the familiar porthole windows and raised cockpit, but the thrusters are absent.
Today’s Field Trip proves (yet, again) that “Disneyland is everywhere”! Though Tomorrowland’s theme (of showcasing man’s latest technology in a miniature World’s Fair setting) has changed drastically over time, many tributes to the Disneyland’s great “space age” keep the memory alive for fans in three different locales.
DAILY FLIGHTS BOARDING HERE!
NATIONAL AIRLINE HISTORY MUSEUM
Hangar 9 at The Kansas City, Missouri Downtown Airport,
201 Northwest Lou Holland Drive,
Kansas City, Missouri 64116.
HISTORIC TWA BUILDING
1735 Baltimore Avenue (at West 18th Street),
Kansas City, Missouri 64108
PIZZA PLANET (formerly REDD ROCKET’S PIZZA PORT),
TOMORROWLAND, DISNEYLAND
1313 Disneyland Drive,
Anaheim, California 92802