These 20 Disneyland rides and attractions are closed for good, from the Phantom Boats of 1955 to Splash Mountain, which closed on May 31, 2023. The ones people miss most are the PeopleMover (1967 to 1995) and the Skyway (1956 to 1994). Tomorrowland has lost more rides than any other land, because the future keeps going out of date.
Updated October 11, 2026.
I have captioned a lot of old park photos, and the closed rides are the ones I study longest. A snapshot of the Flying Saucers or a home movie from the Skyway shows a Disneyland that no longer exists. Most of these rides closed for ordinary reasons: they broke down, cost too much or made room for something bigger.
Adventure Thru Inner Space (1967 to 1985)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: August 5, 1967
Closed: September 2, 1985
Replaced by: Star Tours
Monsanto sponsored this ride, which pretended to shrink guests down to the size of an atom. It was removed to make room for Star Tours, and patches cast members wore on the ride now turn up as rare Disneyland memorabilia.
Flying Saucers (1961 to 1966)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: August 6, 1961
Closed: September 5, 1966
Each guest steered a saucer that floated on a cushion of air, like a bumper car without a floor to touch. The idea was ahead of the technology. D23 says the saucers broke down often and were among the hardest rides in the park to keep running, until the technicians gave up.
Rocket Rods (1998 to 2000)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: May 22, 1998
Closed: September 5, 2000
Rocket Rods sent fast cars around the elevated track the PeopleMover had used. It lasted a little over two years, one of the shortest runs of any major Disneyland ride. Its loading area sat in the old Circle-Vision building at the front of Tomorrowland.
Phantom Boats (1955 to 1956)
Location: Tomorrowland lagoon
These small motorboats with tail fins ran on the Tomorrowland lagoon in the park’s first year. D23 lists them as a 1956 Tomorrowland attraction. They were gone soon after, making them the shortest-lived ride on this list.
Country Bear Jamboree (1972 to 2001)
Location: Bear Country, later Critter Country
Opened: March 24, 1972
Closed: September 9, 2001
Replaced by: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The singing bears started at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, which opened its version on October 1, 1971. Disneyland’s copy followed six months later. It was renamed the Country Bear Playhouse on July 4, 1986, and a Winnie the Pooh ride took its place after it closed.
Pack Mules (1955 to 1973)
Location: Frontierland
Names: Mule Pack (1955 to 1956), Rainbow Ridge Pack Mules (1956 to 1959), Pack Mules Through Nature’s Wonderland (June 10, 1960 to 1973)
Yes, you could ride a live mule through Disneyland for nearly two decades. The trail wound through the Nature’s Wonderland area of Frontierland, the same ground Big Thunder Mountain Railroad covers now.
Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland (1960 to 1977)
Location: Frontierland
Opened: May 28, 1960
Closed: January 2, 1977
Replaced by: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
It began as the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, which ran from 1956 to 1959. The slow train ride gave way to a coaster: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened on September 2, 1979, and kept some of the old ride’s set pieces.
Viewliner Train of Tomorrow (1957 to 1958)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: June 26, 1957
Closed: September 15, 1958
The Viewliner was a streamlined, futuristic train that ran through Tomorrowland for just over a year. It looks like a sketch for the Monorail that came next.
Videopolis (1985 to 1995)
Location: Next to Fantasyland
Opened: June 22, 1985
Became: Fantasyland Theater, June 23, 1995
Videopolis was a teen dance club with a 5,000-square-foot floor and 70 TV monitors playing music videos. Seats later covered the dance floor, and it switched to stage shows. It took its current name when The Spirit of Pocahontas opened there.
Disneyland Skyway (1956 to 1994)
Location: Tomorrowland to Fantasyland
Opened: June 23, 1956
Closed: November 10, 1994
Small buckets rode a 2,400-foot cable between the two lands, and the Fantasyland station looked like a mountain chalet. After the Matterhorn went up in 1959, the line ran straight through the mountain. For a bird’s-eye view of the park, nothing replaced it.
Carousel of Progress (1967 to 1973)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: July 2, 1967
Closed: September 9, 1973
General Electric’s rotating theater show began at the 1964 to 1965 New York World’s Fair. It walked the audience through a century of home appliances. Disneyland lost it, but the show did not die: it reopened at Walt Disney World on January 15, 1975.
Monsanto House of the Future (1957 to 1967)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: June 12, 1957
Closed: December 1967
This walk-through home was built largely of plastic. By 1967 it looked dated and was slated for demolition, but D23 says the wrecking ball bounced off it. Crews had to take it apart piece by piece with saws and crowbars.
Rocket to the Moon (1955 to 1966)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: July 22, 1955
Closed: September 5, 1966
Later versions: Flight to the Moon (1967 to 1975), Mission to Mars (1975 to 1992)
TWA sponsored the ride from 1955 to 1961, and McDonnell Douglas took over from June 8, 1962. The audience sat around screens and felt a simulated launch without leaving their seats. Real moon landings made the trip feel old, so it eventually headed for Mars instead.
PeopleMover (1967 to 1995)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: July 2, 1967
Closed: August 21, 1995
Replaced by: Rocket Rods, on the same track
The PeopleMover is probably the most missed ride on this list. Its cars glided over Tomorrowland with no motors of their own; electric motors built into the track pushed them along. The track is still standing above Tomorrowland, which keeps the hope of a return alive.
Astro Jets (1956 to 1966)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: March 24, 1956
Closed: September 5, 1966
Renamed: Tomorrowland Jets (1964 to 1966)
Riders steered a small rocket up and down as it circled a central tower. The idea came back as the Rocket Jets, and spinning rockets still fly in Tomorrowland today.
America Sings (1974 to 1988)
Location: Tomorrowland
Opened: June 29, 1974
Closed: April 10, 1988
Audio-Animatronics animals sang their way through American music history, with Sam the Eagle as narrator and a pesky weasel interrupting him. The cast got a second life. When the show closed, many of its figures moved to Critter Country and became part of Splash Mountain.
Captain EO (1986 to 1997, 2010 to 2014)
Location: Tomorrowland
First run: September 18, 1986 to April 6, 1997
Return: February 23, 2010 to June 2014
Francis Coppola directed this 17-minute 3D film, George Lucas produced it, and Michael Jackson starred with Anjelica Huston and Dick Shawn. It came back in 2010 as a tribute after Jackson’s death in 2009. Lasers and smoke in the theater made it feel bigger than a movie.
Motor Boat Cruise (1957 to 1993)
Location: Fantasyland
Opened: June 1957
Closed: January 11, 1993
Replaced by: Fantasia Gardens
Guests piloted little boats along a quiet waterway for more than three decades. From March 15 to November 10, 1991, it was redecorated as a Gummi Glen version tied to The Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Fantasia Gardens took over the space after it closed.
Conestoga Wagons (1955 to 1959)
Location: Frontierland
Opened: August 1955
Closed: September 1959
Covered wagons pulled guests through the Frontierland wilderness in the park’s first four years. Like the pack mules and the stagecoach, they belonged to an early idea of Frontierland as a place you crossed by animal power.
Splash Mountain (1989 to 2023)
Location: Critter Country
Opened: July 17, 1989
Closed: May 31, 2023
Replaced by: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, November 15, 2024
This is the newest closure on the list. Splash Mountain’s log flume carried many of the old America Sings figures for 34 years. Disneyland rethemed the ride around The Princess and the Frog, and the new version opened about 18 months after the old one closed.
Disneyland rides closed for good: common questions
What is the most missed closed ride at Disneyland?
The PeopleMover is the usual answer. It ran in Tomorrowland from July 2, 1967 to August 21, 1995, and its elevated track still stands. The Skyway, which carried guests between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland from 1956 to 1994, is a close second. Splash Mountain, closed in 2023, is the most recent ride with a big following.
When did the Disneyland Skyway close?
The Skyway closed on November 10, 1994, according to D23, Disney’s official archive. It had opened on June 23, 1956, and carried riders in small buckets on a 2,400-foot cable. After the Matterhorn was built in 1959, the line passed straight through the mountain. Fans still trade photos of that view.
What replaced Splash Mountain at Disneyland?
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure replaced it. Splash Mountain closed at Disneyland on May 31, 2023, after opening on July 17, 1989. The rethemed log flume, based on The Princess and the Frog, opened on November 15, 2024. Many of Splash Mountain’s original animal figures had come from America Sings, a Tomorrowland show that closed in 1988.
Which Disneyland ride had the shortest run?
Among the rides on this list, the Phantom Boats had the shortest life, lasting about a year on the Tomorrowland lagoon in the mid-1950s. The Viewliner train ran from June 26, 1957 to September 15, 1958. Rocket Rods, the high-speed ride on the old PeopleMover track, lasted from May 22, 1998 to September 5, 2000.
For more park history, see our top theme parks for families and Times Square history in vintage photos.