A Review of the New Autopia - Jason Schultz

MousePlanet thanks Jason for his hard work in assembling this terrific ride preview / review for the readers! 

The new Autopia

"Cute." That's the first word that came to my mind after experiencing the Autopia firsthand at the Imagineering Preview Party Friday night. Cute isn't necessarily a bad thing - I really like the new Autopia. It has a very different feel than its predecessor, but it's a marked improvement over the Autopia that operated from 1955 until 1999. How so? The cars are now much quieter (not to mention 50% more efficient), the queue isn't the same old boring switchbacks, and there are finally things to see along the track!

Like other parts of "Tomorrowland: Imagination & Beyond," the new Autopia pays homage to Disneyland's past - an aspect I really like, due to my fascination with Disneyland history. Just what are these tributes? Let's go for a spin on the Chevron-sponsored attraction and I'll point them out along the way...

Autopia entrance and sign

We enter the queue underneath a towering new sign adjacent to the Hatmosphere shop. The original intent was for the sign to be animated, with the pistons and letters of "Autopia" moving up and down. The main reason that didn't happen? Money. Continuing on... the line travels uphill slightly, then turns to the left, elevating us enough to see other Guests begin their journey through motoring. We pass over the track, turn again and approach the grandstand.

The grandstand portion of the queue

Because of the switchbacks, the grandstand is somewhat reminiscent of the old Autopia queue. At the Preview Party that portion of the line wasn't in use, but it seems it would be the least entertaining to stand in. However, it is covered and there are some things which make it noteworthy. 

The first - and possibly my favorite part of the refurbished Autopia - is the music loop that plays in the background. The loop consists of songs from old Tomorrowland rides! During my brief time walking through it I was able to pick out the Monorail song and some PeopleMover music, but there are others that I couldn't identify. Anyone who ever stood in line for the old Autopia will remember how noisy it was while standing in line; the new queue is much quieter, both because the cars don't produce so much noise and because it is elevated from the loading area.

The backside of the sign provides entertainment for those waiting in line

Also providing entertainment to those waiting in line is a lengthy computer-animated film about - what else? - cars. After watching it for a good twenty minutes, I can tell you it's best left as ambience rather than something to be intensely watched. It's a series of recurring "segments" with different content. For instance, one of the portions has car jokes (appearing in bubbles above the heads of the cars, ala comic books). Like the rest of the video, these jokes are cheesy (but "cute") puns: "What is a car's favorite flower? A carnation!", "What holds up an engine's pants? A fan belt!", etc.

"Driver Alerts" are broadcast every few minutes on the screen

Every few minutes there's also a "Driver Alert." There are about six drivers lined up (as in a police line-up) and one is picked. A faux driver's license is displayed, showing their specific driving problem (and more bad puns!). One of these is "Nervous Ned, 10 Shake Street, Big Scare Lake, CA" who "fears everything about driving." The driver is then shown driving around Tomorrowland (a simplistic and stylized version of its major landmarks) with some problem befalling them. The video is entertaining to see for the first time, but quickly becomes repetitive.

Talking Chevron cars, presented using the "Pepper's Ghost" effect

Contained inside the large circular structure adjacent to the grandstand are three short shows presented by the talking Chevron cars (made familiar by the television advertisements). They're presented using an effect known as "Pepper's Ghost," around since the early 1900s and utilized in the Haunted Mansion ballroom scene. In short, it allows for a projection-like effect on a pane of glass. The talking car offer a light-hearted look at what the life of a car is like, including a talk on the "birds and the bees" (which has a different meaning for cars) and filling up at a gas station (a Chevron station, naturally). 

At the party the effect was still being perfected; a square around where the projection was hitting the glass was somewhat visible. It should be fixed by the grand opening. The three presentations are fun to watch, but because it's an enclosed environment it'll be difficult to hear the audio once it's packed with Guests.

Autopia loading area

After looping through the circular structure, it's back along the grandstand and toward the stairs down to the load area. The operations aspect hadn't quite been worked out; the line seemed to be moving exceedingly slow. However, I have no complaints as this was just a preview and the first real testing of the attraction. They still have a few weeks to work out the kinks. The numbers on the ground were only marked off by blue tape stuck to the curb - my guess is that they're still trying to figure out where to permanently stripe the ground.

When I first saw the new cars, I must admit I wasn't too thrilled with them. Perhaps it was just nostalgia over the ones that have been used all my life, but they didn't strike me as appealing. Once seeing them all circling the track - and how they fit in the fun atmosphere - I've completely changed my opinion. 

The cars all have license plates - honoring those Imagineers who have worked on it, of course. The new cars - designed by Jason Hulst - were quite a logistical challenge; the exteriors were all new, but they had to fit on the existing undercarriage! The three different cars - "Cute," "Off-Road," and "Sport" - come in a variety of colors, but the sport vehicle is by far the most fascinating. As Guests drive around the track in it, the metallic chrome color actually changes! It is a very neat effect.

One of the two Autopia billboards

After boarding the car, we're off to the back corner of Tomorrowland, roughly following the path of the old Tomorrowland Autopia. The first element of theming along the track is one of the two billboards - this one advises you to "...Fill it up! You'll be 'Tankful' you did!" (See what I mean about the puns?) The landscaping next to the track has been completely changed and new light poles (in that familiar Tomorrowland bronze color) have been added. 

After some uneventful driving, we pass another billboard, an advertisement for "Birdbath Carwash". The billboards are a nice attempt to add theming, but because there are only two I didn't sense much continuity. However, it does provide something to look at along the way.

The off-road section of the track

In all truthfulness, the off-road section of the Autopia seemed rather cheesy to me. It does, however, fit in with the "cute" and fun nature of the renovated attraction, so I have no complaints. Cast Members were advising everyone to slow down through this section at the party; it wasn't fully completed and I guess having lots of cars tearing through there at "full" speed might have upset the work that still needed to be done. 

The track was a little bumpier than in other parts and culminates (5 seconds later) with water squirting out from under the tires (triggered by a photo electric eye). The idea was to tie it in with the Alpine setting of the Matterhorn and I'd say it was about 75% successful. If I hadn't heard that that was the intent, I wouldn't have figured it out just by driving through it.

Bronzed tributes along the Autopia track

Now we come to my favorite part of the journey. The Midget Autopia was something of a kin to the full-sized Tomorrowland and Fantasyland Autopias. It operated from 1956 until 1965 where "it's a small world" is now located, fulfilling the need for an Autopia designed for children too short to drive the cars on the main tracks. The youngsters weren't actually driving the Midget Autopia cars, however - they were electric cars that ran on a bus bar, a configuration similar to the Fantasyland dark rides. 

When the attraction closed, Walt Disney donated them to his hometown of Marceline, Missouri where they ran for a few years, but now sit in disrepair. Disney was able to negotiate with the town and got one of the cars back, bronzed it, and placed it on a pedestal adjacent to the track. Across from the Midget Autopia car - and much easier to miss if you're not paying attention - is a bronzed original Mr. Toad's Wild Ride car. Nearby is an odd fountain - scaled down versions of the "Cute Car" have crashed and water is spewing forth from their radiators!

Traveling downhill and a tunnel

After traveling past the bronzed transportation vehicles, it's another straightaway and time to start heading back to the unloading area. The track soon begins going downhill in a side-to-side pattern - it looks like more fun than it really is! (Maybe if the governors were off the engines...) At the bottom of the hill is a tunnel bearing the emblem of "Tomorrowland Roads & Parks." 

After passing under the overpass, it's time to slow down...our ride has come to an end! The "approaching the unload area" spiel (and the loading one) are now given by the voice of one of the cars. I'll miss the Jack Wagner announcements, but the new ones definitely fit in better with the current Autopia atmosphere. After unloading, we exit up the stairs (opposite the ones we descended to reach the load area) and travel down a ramp that lets out right at the old Submarine Voyage entrance. [Where a new Autopia shop is conveniently located, of course!]

As I said at the beginning of the article, I really do like the new Autopia. It's definitely not an "E" ticket attraction, but it was never meant to be. The change very much reminded me of that done to Tarzan's Treehouse - it's different, but there's still a lot of the feeling of the original. The attraction is the same as it's always been, but improved. The queue is much nicer (and finally entertaining to stand in), the cars are nicely themed, and it finally fits in with the new- for- 1998 Tomorrowland. All of the things I didn't care much for or had a problem with are minor, and many will be fixed by the time the attraction opens to the public. I believe the refurbishment of the Autopia was very successful in bringing an aging attraction up- to- date.

Some MPEG video of the cars taken just before the official opening:

By clicking on the links you can see video of the cars in motion, both files are 320 x 240 pixels.

The first video is a large file of 1.04 meg, it shows the three different models of car going by in close-up

The second MPEG file is much shorter at 475k - but only shows two cars at a distance, it's provided for people who may not be able to download the larger file easily.

If you'd like to write Jason, you can drop him a line at: wed@thegrid.net

Surviving since the Park‚s Opening Day is no small feat. Only a handful of attractions have done it, and those that have are considered classics. Now on its 8th generation car and having passed through only two major roadway change (1959 and 2000), the Autopia truly is an enduring classic.

The first Autopia roadway was designed by Marvin Davis and was about a mile long. The forests and jungles of Frontierland and Adventureland consumed nearly all the plants available to Disneyland for construction, so when it came time for Bill Evans (Disneyland‚s head landscaper) to design the landscape for the Autopia, he was left with next to nothing. Traffic signs and Richfield ads were used to help cover up this lack of scenery. 

In that earliest Autopia highway, Autopia motorists would travel near the tracks of the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, and also the Tomorrowland Lake, where the Phantom Boats could be seen circling the barren islands in the middle. There was no guide-rail originally, allowing speed demons to pass on the double-wide roadway.

Designs on the first Mark I Autopia car had already been started by the time Bob Gurr joined Walt Disney‚s staff as "Director of Vehicular Development." Bob made a series of design sketches that were presented to Walt and made a full-size clay mock-up of the car, which was soon approved. The 40 fiberglass bodies were manufactured by the Glasspar Company. The shells were then shipped to Mameco Engineering for final testing and assembly. 

The finished Mark I car had a black rubber steering wheel, soft wraparound aluminum bumpers and safety belts that extended the full width of the open car. One design feature of the Mark I (that would be retained until the Mark V as pure decoration) was the sealed-beam headlights. 

Given the chance, the 7.5 horsepower engine could power the car as fast as 25 mph, but the governor kept it to under eleven. The 475 lb. car originally had two accelerator pedals, one being for the many expected younger visitors. 

Of the 40 cars originally produced for the Richfield Autopia, one was made up as Walt‚s special "show car" featuring luxurious upholstery and sporting a metallic maroon coat of paint. Two more Mark I cars were painted as police squad cars, mostly giving children too small to drive a ride around the track. Once this idea failed, the cars were repainted and put in service for use by Guests.

The Mark II Autopia car debuted in late 1955, featuring internal improvements over the previous car. Stronger castings and a different engine were tried, but the exterior remained the same.

The Mark III car never carried Guests. It was used by the designers in 1956 solely to test out different mechanical components for the car.

The advent of the Mark IV also brought about a reconfiguration of the track. Now featuring "A" and "B" sides, the Autopia could handle twice as many cars - and Guests. For much of the time spent on the attraction (and in line), Guests on the two sides exactly opposed each other. The Mark IV‚s exterior was still the same as the Mark I‚s, but the inner workings had again been changed.

The Mark V (the first Autopia car to have a completely new design) came about with the extensive redesign of the Autopia area that also saw the addition of the Submarine Voyage, the Matterhorn, the Monorail, and the Fantasyland Autopia. 

It was termed the "committee car" because of the input received from so many different people. As a result, it was the worst Autopia car from a design standpoint. It was slow and heavy, weighing 1100 lbs. and soon began to break down the Autopia roadway curbs.

Arrow Development (who provided equipment for some of the Fantasyland attractions as well) was soon at work building an "ultimate car." This car was similar to the Mark V but had an extremely light frame, lowering the weight to 600 lbs. 

Unfortunately, these light frames weren‚t designed for the abuse they received at Disneyland and thus broke down frequently. The welding done to repair the frames would make them heavier, making them easier to break, continuing in a vicious cycle. Because of the addition of a center guide-rail in 1963, these were the first cars to not have a wraparound bumper.

In 1967, with the construction of "A World on the Move," the Autopia received new Mark VII cars, completely remodeled inside and out, correcting problems that had occurred since the Park‚s opening. The 830 lb., 10 ft long cars were able to reach a maximum speed of 7 mph and could stop in the length of itself though the automatic braking system.

The next "major" change to the Autopia came in March 1998, when a new neon sign and numerous flag poles were added to the entrance to retheme it to "Imagination & Beyond." It continued to function - somewhat out of place with the new Tomorrowland - until its time had come in September, 1999 and the rehab you now can read about on the right side of this page.

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