The Skyway was a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...

attraction at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

, at the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...

, and at

Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney park t ...

. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Disneyland-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after List of Disney animated films based on fairy tales, Disney's animated fairy tale feature films. Ea ...

and

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...

, the route from Tomorrowland was called Skyway to Fantasyland, and the route from Fantasyland was called Skyway to Tomorrowland.

History

Disneyland

The Skyway at Disneyland opened on June 23, 1956. It was built by Von Roll, Ltd. based in

Bern, Switzerland Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. It was the first Von Roll Type 101 aerial ropeway in the United States. Walt Disney Imagineering bought the ride from Switzerland. It was a 1947 Vonroll sidechair model. In 1959, a major renovation added The

Submarine Voyage The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The attraction featured vehicles designed to resemble submarines. It first opened on June 14, 1959, as one of the first rides to require an E ticket. It was part of a ma ...

, the

Disneyland Monorail The Disneyland Monorail (originally named the Disneyland Alweg Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation line at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the world. Hi ...

, the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

(now a Fantasyland Attraction), and the Motor Boat Cruise, but when the Matterhorn was planned, it was designed to be built in the path of the Skyway. The Skyway closed in late 1957, its tallest tower of 60 feet tall was demolished and Matterhorn Bobsleds was built in its spot. The attraction later reopened in 1959 with the expanded Tomorrowland Complex. During the Fantasyland renovation at Disneyland in the early 1980s, the Skyway made only roundtrips from Tomorrowland. The Skyway closed on November 9, 1994. The reason for closure was attributed to

metal fatigue In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striation (fatigue), striati ...

. Stress cracks had developed inside the Matterhorn tower battery supports, and the only way to do maintenance was to open up the Matterhorn to do work on it. ADA had no bearing on the Skyway's closure as the ride was grandfathered into

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organiz ...

code B77.1. The Skyway's operating budget was transferred to Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. The holes in the Matterhorn were partially filled in and the Skyway's cable and supports were dismantled within weeks. Despite popular belief, the Skyway was not closed due necessarily to the assessment of risk newly brought on by a park attendee who intentionally jumped out of the passenger cabin of a gondola into a tree below and sued Disney earlier that year. While the Tomorrowland Skyway station at Disneyland was removed soon after the attraction's closure, the Fantasyland Skyway station remained intact until mid-2016. The sidewalks up to the station were simply chained off from guests, and the chalet remained empty, eventually hidden from view due to overgrown trees. On May 11, 2016, the City of Anaheim approved a permit to

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

for the "demolition of 5,132 square feet for Skyway Building #7301", signaling the likely demolition of the chalet, as land clearing for construction of ''Star Wars'': Galaxy's Edge had reached the chalet's western side. After 22 years, the abandoned chalet was demolished after park closing on June 11, 2016, nearly 60 years after the attraction's opening day.

Magic Kingdom

At the Magic Kingdom, the Skyway was removed in 1999. During the

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

of Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland station was demolished in the summer of 2009, while the Fantasyland station was used for

stroller Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...

parking. However, the Fantasyland station was later demolished for a ''

Tangled ''Tangled'' is a 2010 American animated musical film, musical Adventure film, adventure fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" in th ...

'' themed restroom area in 2012.

Tokyo Disneyland

In 1998, Tokyo Disneyland closed its Skyway. The Fantasyland station was removed to make room for

Pooh's Hunny Hunt Pooh's Hunny Hunt is a unique trackless dark ride located at Tokyo Disneyland. It is based on the 1977 Disney animated film '' The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh''. History After the rise in popularity of Walt Disney's film adaptation of Wi ...

, while the Tomorrowland station was remodeled into a candy store.

Legacy

A tribute to the Skyway was added to the

Matterhorn Bobsleds Matterhorn Bobsleds is an attraction that consists of a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters running through a fabricated mountain. It is located at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alp ...

after an extensive refurbishment in 2015. Several wrecked Skyway buckets and Matterhorn Bobsled vehicles from the park's history appear just past the top of the lift hill, torn to shreds and abandoned by the attraction's Abominable Snowman. These replaced the original flashing crystals. The Skyway gondola sold for $162,000 at the

Heritage Auctions Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, mus ...

in 2022, claimed to be one of "the rarest Disney attraction vehicles to exist" and "everything on it is original." After almost twenty years of absence, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products announced in 2017 the construction of the Disney Skyliner at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. While the Skyliner and Skyway are both aerial ropeways, the Skyliner gondolas would be larger than the Skyway cars since the Skyliner would act as a commuter transport. This gondola system, which opened on September 29, 2019, connects four resorts, Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation, Pop Century and Disney's Riviera Resort, with two theme parks,

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Br ...

and Epcot; the latter's station located at International Gateway, rather than the front entrance like the Hollywood Studios station.

Gallery

File:Matterhorn Bobsleds and Skyway at Disneyland.jpg,

and the Skyway at Disneyland File:Defunct Skyway station at Magic Kingdom.jpg, The defunct Fantasyland station at the Magic Kingdom in 2008 File:DisneylandSkyway.jpg, The Skyway passing through the

File:Matterhorn Bobsleds and Skyway in 1979.jpg, Skyway and Matterhorn Bobsleds in 1979

References

External links

Yesterland Skyway page

Disney's Magic Kingdom , Guests with Needs , Plain Text , Walt Disney World Resort
{{Disney rides Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Fantasyland Tomorrowland (Disney Parks) Amusement rides manufactured by Von Roll Disneyland Magic Kingdom Tokyo Disneyland 1956 establishments in California 1994 disestablishments in California 1971 establishments in Florida 1999 disestablishments in Florida 1983 establishments in Japan 1998 disestablishments in Japan