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Astro Orbitor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Astro Orbitor (known in other parks as Star Jets and Orbitron) 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, commonly a large rocket. As each form of the attraction appeared, new designs and locations have been implemented to fit with changing schemes of several Tomorrowlands.
Magic Kingdom 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 the first Space Mountain, a new location for the Disneyland-attraction the Carousel of Progress, a new WEDWay Peoplemover, and of course the Star Jets also opened.
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 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. This form of the attraction lasted until the 1994 rehab.
In 1994, the Astro Orbiter opened when "The New Tomorrowland" premiered. The land was now a haven for retro-futurism with a 1920's view of the future. 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 and guests feel as if they are going much faster than they actually are. The ride at the Magic Kingdom does 11 rotations per minute and averages 1.2 million miles a year.
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