Photo by Werner Weiss, 1996

It’s the Space Age. The centerpiece of Rocket Jets is a rocket that would look at home on a NASA launchpad, complete with three prominent letters—USA.

From the central rocket, twelve arms holding open-air rocket vehicles radiate in all directions.

Photo by Bill Nelson, 1969

Rocket Jets, aligned with the flagpole, PeopleMover track, and Carousel of Progress

Rocket Jets is easy to find. As the focal point of Tomorrowland, the attraction is centrally located. Walk under the PeopleMover track, as PeopleMover trains continually glide overhead. Walk past Adventure Thru Inner Space. Enjoy the huge tile murals by Mary Blair as you walk between them.

Photo by Chris Bales, 1996

Gantry elevator

Photo by Chris Bales, 1996

Ride level

Ready for a ride? Take a gantry elevator from ground level up to the loading area. Taking the elevator is like being a NASA astronaut preparing for an Apollo launch. You’re now high above the PeopleMover loading area.

Squeeze into an open rocket with a friend, date, family member, or spouse. The space is rather tight, and the seating is quite cozy.

When the ride begins, use the lever to raise and lower your rocket.

Photo by Robert DeMoss, 1987

Space age rocket centerpiece

Photo by Werner Weiss, 1996

Flying high

Photo by Werner Weiss, 1996

Night flights

Because the rockets fly so high above Tomorrowland, the ride is surprisingly thrilling.

Enjoy the view!

Rocket Jets circled above Disneyland’s Tomorrowland from July 1967 until January 1997—almost 30 years. It wasn’t the first or the last rocket-themed spinner at Disneyland.

Rocket Jets replaced an earlier ride, Astro-Jet, which opened in March 1956. Unlike the Rocket Jets, the Astro-Jet loaded at ground level, similar to Dumbo.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2004

Astro Orbitor at Disneyland Park

In 1998, Disneyland opened the third incarnation of this type of attraction, the visually stunning Astro Orbitor. This version is reminiscent of brass astronomical models from centuries ago. The moving planets add to the fun of the ride. The location changed from the top of the PeopleMover platform to the entrance to Tomorrowland.

Astro Orbitor looks great, but the ride’s location close to the Hub of Disneyland isn’t so great. It makes the entrance to Tomorrowland overwhelming, compared to the entrances to Frontierland and Adventureland—especially at night, when it’s all lit up. From some angles, it even detracts from Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Guests board the ride at ground level, so it lacks the “high in the sky” thrill of Rocket Jets. It’s too bad that Disneyland can’t have the best of both worlds—the visual exuberance of the Astro Orbitor, located high on the old elevated platform of Rocket Jets.

Photo by Chris Bales, 1998

The New Tomorrowland of 1998, with Observatron where Rocket Jets had been

The old Rocket Jets structure gained a new mission in 1998. The loading area of PeopleMover became the loading area for Rocket Rods. On the level where the Rocket Jets had orbited the USA rocket, something called Observatron appeared.

Photo by Chris Bales, 1998

Above Rocket Rods, Observatron with its dishes facing outward

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005

Observatron with its arms raised and its dishes facing up

Observatron was not a ride. It was a kinetic sculpture with satellite dishes on arms. It was supposed to be a device that communicates with a distant home planet, although cynics suggested it was just a way to recycle the remains of the old Rocket Jets ride. When it operated (every 15 minutes in its early years), it spun like a spinner ride, with its arms moving around, its dishes changing their orientation, and music blaring—but hardly any guests noticed what was happening. It’s human nature that people tend not to look upward.

There is (or was) a spinner ride in the Tomorrowland (or Discoveryland in the case of Paris) section of each of Disney’s six Magic Kingdom-style parks around the world. The rest of this article is a quick photo tour to look at the rest of them.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007

Astro Orbiter at Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World

Astro Orbiter (with an “e” instead of an “o” in the penultimate position) at Walt Disney World is also the result of a makeover of Tomorrowland—in this case, Magic Kingdom Park’s New Tomorrowland of 1994. The previous version, looking similar to Rocket Jets at Disneyland, but with different rockets, was called Star Jets. Astro Orbiter is more colorful than its cousin in California, and still sits atop the PeopleMover platform in the heart of Tomorrowland.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2017

Orbitron at Disneyland Paris

The Orbitron ride at Disneyland Paris will look familiar to anyone who has been to Disneyland in California since 1998. The ride sits at ground level. Its style is consistent with the rest of Discoveryland, which is a Tomorrowland as it might have been built in the 19th-century.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2000

StarJets at Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland had a spinner in its Tomorrowland from 1983 until 2017. Similar attractions in the United States replaced their USA rocket centerpieces, but Tokyo kept the USA rocket until the end. Although Tokyo Disneyland never had a PeopleMover, the StarJets ride was elevated anyway. The rockets, resembling NASA Space Shuttles, allowed side-by-side seating, rather than the traditional tandem seating in bullet-shaped rockets.

The location of StarJets is now home to The Happy Ride with Baymax, a Big Hero 6-themed whip ride similar to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at Disney California Adventure Park and Alien Swirling Saucers at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019

Orbitron at Hong Kong Disneyland Park

The Orbitron at Hong Kong Disneyland has round flying saucers rather than rockets. With two rows of bench seating, each saucer can accommodate four riders, increasing the capacity of the ride.

Photo by Jeremy Thompson, 2016 (CC BY 2.0)

Jet Packs at Shanghai Disneyland

We conclude this global tour with the newest Tomorrowland spinner. At Shanghai Disneyland, instead of climbing into a rocket or flying saucer, guests sit with their feet dangling.

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Updated September 9, 2022