After over a year-long closure, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in Disney’s Magic Kingdom has now reopened to guests!
In this post you will find more information about the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover refurbishment when it was down.
(Update 4/23/21): Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle has just posted on his Instagram account that the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover is ahead of schedule and reopening this weekend!
On the official Disney World refurbishment calendar it says the PeopleMover was supposed to be closed through April 30, so it’s nice to see a surprise like this one.
Believe it or not, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover has been closed since March 2020, about one week before the park closure. That’s more than 1 year already!
The attraction was having issues then closing unexpectedly and hasn’t reopened since. It wasn’t even running during the Cast-Member or annual passholder preview events before the park reopened to the public.
Jeff Vahle gave the news while visiting an engineering team working on the refurbishment who give it the go-ahead!
Looking a bit closer at the refurbishments page on the Walt Disney World website, the PeopleMover it is still currently being listed as “Closed for Refurbishment,” but since this news is coming from the president of Walt Disney World, we’ll take his word for it.
The ride has been seen operating without guests since the parks reopened on July 11, and testing has been more frequent of late.
Things have taken much longer than originally thought because it was supposed to reopen with the Magic Kingdom on July 11, then November 2020, then Christmas, then January 2021, then this Spring.
Just recently, the ride was listed as being under refurbishment through March 2021, with a reopening in early April, but that obviously wasn’t enough time and it is the reason for this extension.
Disney hasn’t publicly commented on what the exact problem is with the PeopleMover or what they are doing to repair it, but sources have indicated that part of the attraction’s refurbishment includes replacing the magnetic linear induction motors throughout the track.
Not an easy task and obviously they are nowhere near ready and need more time to get things right. There were even reports of some of the ride vehicles colliding during the testing which would be a good reason not to open yet.
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When is it Reopening?
Finally we know that it will be open either on April 24 or 25, 2021. This time they got the work done early than expected.
Delays are common and as we’ve seen over the last year, some attraction refurbishments don’t always go the way they are planned and often need more time to fix. For example, the Astro Orbiter went down in Tomorrowland in 2019 and it was supposed to reopen after one month. In the end, the refurbishment ended up lasting 2 months.
Primeval Whirl is another recent example where it mysteriously went down for refurbishment, turned into a seasonal ride, and then recently was announced as closing for good.
Some readers have expressed fears that the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover is going to end up shutting down for good. Thankfully we now know that to not be true!
As soon as we learn anything new about the situation, we’ll let you know.
Check out the Full List of Disney World Refurbishments and Ride Closures to see what else is being worked on.
Your Thoughts
I want to know what you think about the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover reopening from refurbishment…
- Does the ride need upgrading?
- What changes would you make to it?
Let us know in the comments section below!
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My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. I started young when my parents took me to Disney World when I was 18 months old. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA.
marion
Thursday 25th of February 2021
Thanks for the update. Look forward to riding it. Would hope it's ready by Sept 2021.
Colin J
Tuesday 23rd of February 2021
In their defence none of the parts for one of these was ever "off the shelf" and power handling would have been mechanical not electronic so the whole thing will be a learn how it works, figure out what doesn't and then figure out what modern era electronic solutions exist, if they are experiencing colliding cars then they have possibly changed the blocking control and system management, likely one of those thing you wish you hadn't touched when you start. Most rides are based on more modern equipment and even the older stuff they built multiples like the omnitrack so may have spares and upgrades available.
marion
Wednesday 6th of January 2021
The People Mover is great for when you want to just relax and review plans for the rest of the day. Not exciting, most always are on it once during the visit to the MK.
Aiks
Saturday 17th of October 2020
Ziggy, great work as always. I've been there many times since '92, including annually, usually Pres week.
The last 5 years the hallowed Mover has been a constant breakdown in long increments of like 15 mins, 30 mins, etc. Quite honestly it's just wearing out. They really should bite the bullet and rip out the Goodyear travellator track and complete redo that, coupled with a complete redo of the Mover tracking system.
SO glad they are not taking it out as it's one of the best breaks of the day, like the railroad -which we haven't had for almost 2 years now due to TRON.
But it REALLY needs a complete tracking system makeover for a consistent operation.
Mark
Thursday 17th of September 2020
A Tomorrowland employee told me that they are replacing all the Linear Induction Motors on the ride and that the ride will remain the same. Only charge I would make would be to extend it into the TRON area.
Ziggy
Thursday 17th of September 2020
That's great info Mark, thanks for sharing!!