Skyway (Disney)

Skyway
The Skyway passing through the Matterhorn Bobsleds
Disneyland
Area	Fantasyland, Tomorrowland
Status	Closed
Soft opening date	June 10, 1956
Opening date	June 23, 1956
Closing date	November 9, 1994
Magic Kingdom
Area	Fantasyland, Tomorrowland
Status	Closed
Opening date	October 1, 1971
Closing date	November 10, 1999
Tokyo Disneyland
Area	Fantasyland, Tomorrowland
Status	Closed
Opening date	April 15, 1983
Closing date	November 3, 1998
Replaced by	Pooh's Hunny Hunt (Fantasyland station) Stellar Sweets (Tomorrowland station)
General statistics
Attraction type	Gondola lift
Manufacturer	Von Roll Holding
Designer	WED Enterprises
Model	Vonroll Type 101 detachable monocable gondola lift
Height	60 ft (18 m)
Length	1,200 ft (370 m)
Speed	4 mph (6.4 km/h)
Vehicle type	Gondola
Vehicles	42
Riders per vehicle	4
Duration	3:36
Required Ticket	D (Disneyland) D (Magic Kingdom)

The Skyway was a gondola lift attraction at Disneyland, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Tokyo Disneyland. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, the route from Tomorrowland was called Skyway to Fantasyland, and the route from Fantasyland was called Skyway to Tomorrowland.

The Skyway at Disneyland opened on June 23, 1956. It was built by Von Roll, Ltd. based in Bern, Switzerland. It was the first Von Roll Type 101 aerial ropeway in the United States. Walt Disney Imagineering bought the ride from Switzerland. It was a 1947 Vonroll sidechair model. In 1959, a major renovation added The Submarine Voyage, the Disneyland Monorail, the Matterhorn (now a Fantasyland Attraction), and the Motor Boat Cruise, but when the Matterhorn was planned, it was designed to be built in the path of the Skyway. The Skyway closed in late 1957, its tallest tower of 60 feet tall was demolished and Matterhorn Bobsleds was built in its spot. The attraction later reopened in 1959 with the expanded Tomorrowland Complex.

During the Fantasyland renovation at Disneyland in the early 1980s, the Skyway made only roundtrips from Tomorrowland.

The Skyway closed on November 9, 1994. The reason for closure was attributed to metal fatigue. Stress cracks had developed inside the Matterhorn tower battery supports, and the only way to do maintenance was to open up the Matterhorn to do work on it. ADA had no bearing on the Skyway's closure as the ride was grandfathered into ANSI code B77.1. The Skyway's operating budget was transferred to Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. The holes in the Matterhorn were partially filled in and the Skyway's cable and supports were dismantled within weeks.