April 3 - Midget Autopia

On this day, in 1966, the Midget Autopia ride burned its last gallon of gas in Fantasyland at Disneyland. The attraction got its name from being the smallest of the three Autopias in Disneyland. You heard that correctly. At one point there were three different versions of the same ride spread out across Disneyland. The original Autopia was an opening day attraction in Tomorrowland. It’s multi-lane, limited access design was actually a precursor to the American highway system (President Eisenhower didn’t authorize real interstate highways until 1956). If you’ve ever driven around one of the Autopia tracks and gritted your teeth when you get bumped from behind, you’ve actually experienced a pretty mild version of an Autopia accident. The original cars didn’t have the benefit of a guide rail or bumpers. When folks took them out for a test run before the park opened, it was more like a demolition derby than a driving course. They smacked into each other so much, the cars were nearly destroyed. Bumpers were retrofitted around the remaining cars for opening day, which limited the damage the vehicles took but not necessarily the spines of the riders. Static bumpers eventually turned into spring-loaded bumpers (which absorbed some of the impact) which led to the inclusion of a center guide rail, keeping accidents to minor rear ends only.

Image copyright Disney

The popularity of the Tomorrowland Autopia led to a slightly smaller duplicate of the ride to pop up in Fantasyland in 1956. Originally called the Junior Autopia, since it wasn’t as big, the second version benefited from the mistakes of the first one: it had that center guide rail from day one. In 1959, the Junior Autopia was closed, expanded and reopened as the Fantasyland Autopia, now basically indistinguishable from its Tomorrowland counterpart. In 1957, the Midget Autopia opened at the edge of Fantasyland near the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Not only was the track shorter, but the cars were smaller as well. While adults were a necessity on the other two Autopias (at least for kids too short to reach the gas pedal), they weren’t allowed to ride the Midget version.  

Image courtesy yesterland.com

After the Midget Autopia closed to make way for the installation of It’s a Small World, Walt packed it up and shipped it to Marceline, Missouri. For the next eleven years, visitors to the city’s Walt Disney Municipal Park could get a little taste of Disneyland in the Midwest. As parts for the ride became scarce, Marceline was forced to close the attraction in 1977. A single car is still on display at the town’s museum. The ride’s cement track actually survived until 2016, when it was finally demolished to make way for a new swimming pool.

Image courtesy autoweek.com

Disneyland’s two remaining Autopias dueled with each other all the way until September 1999 when they were both closed down, demolished and a single, larger Autopia was built in their place. The attraction proved so popular over the years that versions of it currently exist in Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris and were once part of Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (the latter two only recently being removed to make way for new rides). And if you think affection for one of the loudest, smelliest rides in all of Disney has waned at all, you clearly missed the uproar when folks thought the Tron coaster was going to replace it in the Magic Kingdom (don’t worry: the track will be a little shorter but the two will live side by side for years to come).