Astro Orbiter

Astro Orbiter takes Guests of all ages for a flight aboard a rocket-like spaceship in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom theme park. The Astro Orbitor is a rocket-spinner attraction featured at all five Magic Kingdom-style parks at Walt Disney Resorts around the world. Although each ride may have a different name, all share the same premise of rockets spinning around a central monument. As each form of the attraction appeared, new designs and locations have been implemented to fit with changing schemes of several Tomorrowlands.

Soar high above Tomorrowland and enjoy a spectacular aerial view as you take a spin in a 2-person, rocket-like space vehicle. Use the joystick to pilot your rocket higher or lower as you orbit around a retro sci-fi style central structure full of brightly-colored planets.

To board Astro Orbiter, you must take an elevator to the loading area. Astro Orbiter is located near the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover attraction.

Touring Tips

• You'll often see a line for Astro Orbiter. Between taking the elevator and not being able to accommodate a lot of guests per ride, this one requires patience.
• The elevator is small and dingy (and some have an aversion to the odor inside), so if you are at all claustrophic, don't try to board this ride.
• This is not for anyone with a fear of heights. Not only can you move your rocket 'up', you have to take an elevator to get to the loading area. The views are great but make no mistake, this is much, much higher than Dumbo.

Facts

• There are 12 vehicles with up to 2 passengers per car making it a total capacity of 24 per ride.
• This attraction first opened November 28, 1974, as StarJets. It was closed, refreshed and repainted during the Tomorrowland change-over in the mid-1990s. It reopened April 30, 1994, as Astro Orbiter.
• Your Astro Orbiter rocket travels at 11 rotations per minute and averages 1.2 million miles a year!

History

No form of the attraction existed in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World until 1974, three years after the park's opening, when Tomorrowland underwent a massive expansion including the creation of Space Mountain, a new location for the Disneyland-attraction, Carousel of Progress, and the WEDWay PeopleMover. Star Jets was considered the focal point of Tomorrowland due to its soaring, spinning rockets and central location.

This version of the attraction was based on the Disneyland version, in both location (on top of the PeopleMover platform) and in style (both feature a large Saturn V rocket). However the attraction vehicles were different than any other previous form as they were much larger and featured a flatter back-end and larger tail fins. Each of the 12 open-air vehicles was attached to the central axis by a 20 foot arm. The vehicles held up to two passengers who circled round and round, 80 feet above the ground, while controlling their ascent and descent with a metal control stick.

In 1994, the attraction was re-designed and re-opened as the Astro Orbiter, part of the complete renovation of the park's Tomorrowland section. The attraction featured a highly stylized iron-work tower in lieu of the center rocket along with various planets on the outside of the attraction as to appear as if the rockets were weaving between the planets. The ride at the Magic Kingdom does 11 rotations per minute and averages 1.2 million miles a year. In the narration for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the ride is referenced as the "League of Planets Astro Orbiter."