On this day in 1956, Astro Jets, the first rocket-spinner Disneyland attraction, opened to guests in Tomorrowland.
Manufactured by Klaus Company Bavaria, the 12 jets traveled around a large red-checkered rocket and had the ability to rise 36 feet up in the air. Astro Jets stood between Flight to the Moon and Submarine Voyage. The jets were given futuristic names such as Canopus, Vega, Sirus, Castor, and Antares.
Astro Jets was renamed Tomorrowland Jets in 1964 when United Airlines became its sponsor. (United felt the name was free advertising for its competitor American Airlines whose coast-to-coast jet service was called ... "astro jet.")
Yet in 1967 the attraction was once again renamed, this time as the Rocket Jets. This version was located atop the PeopleMover platform.
In 1998, after Tommorrowland was refurbished, the attraction was once again renamed to Astro Orbitor (a replica of the Orbitron, Machine Volantes in Disneyland Paris).
Click HERE for more March 24 Disney history.
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