View source for Mission to Mars (attraction)

{{Short description|Amusement ride at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox attraction
| name                = Mission to Mars
| logo                = <!--Use ONLY the filename, not a full [[Image:]] link-->
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| caption             = 
| location            = Disneyland
| section             = [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]]
| status              = Removed
| cost                = 
| soft_opened         = 
| opened              = July 22, 1955 (as Rocket to the Moon)<br>July 2, 1967 (as Flight to the Moon)<br>March 21, 1975 (as Mission to Mars)
| closed              = November 2, 1992
| previousattraction  = Flight to the Moon
| replacement         = [[Alien Pizza Planet|Redd Rockett's Pizza Port]]
| coordinates         = <!--Use ONLY if attraction is at one park. Use {{coord}}-->
| location2           = Magic Kingdom
| section2            = [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]]
| coordinates2        = <!--Use {{Coord|display=inline}}-->
| status2             = Removed
| cost2               = 
| soft_opened2        = 
| opened2             =December 24, 1971<!--Christmas Eve--> (as Flight to the Moon)<br>June 7, 1975 (as Mission to Mars)
| closed2             = October 4, 1993
| previousattraction2 = Flight to the Moon
| replacement2        = [[ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter]]
| type                = Show
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'''Mission to Mars''' was an attraction located in [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]] at [[Disneyland]] and at [[Walt Disney World]]'s [[Magic Kingdom]]. It originally opened as '''Rocket to the Moon''' at Disneyland in 1955, and as '''Flight to the Moon''' in Walt Disney World on Christmas Eve 1971, before it was retooled to the Mars version in 1975. It then closed down in 1992 and 1993, respectively. The attraction simulated taking guests on a space trip to the Moon or Mars.

The attraction was [[Mission to Mars|adapted by Disney into a feature film]] in 2000, eight years after the ride closed.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Schwarzbaum|first1=Lisa|title=Mission to Mars|url=http://ew.com/article/2000/03/17/mission-mars-4/|access-date=March 28, 2017|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=March 17, 2000}}</ref><ref name=ew>{{cite magazine|last1=Bacle|first1=Ariana
|title=Theme park ride-based movies: Will 'Small World' follow the trend?|url=http://ew.com/article/2014/04/23/disney-theme-park-movies-small-world/|access-date=March 28, 2017|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=April 23, 2014}}</ref>

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
[[File:Rocket-to-the-moon.ogg|thumbtime=8|thumb|200px |alt=Park employees walk by wearing spacesuits, and the camera pans up to show the sign reading Rocket to the Moon.|The outside of the attraction in 1963, when it was still named Rocket to the Moon]]
The show was originally named Rocket to the Moon, and it opened in 1955 along with [[Disneyland]]. The ride was refurbished as Flight to the Moon in 1967.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strodder |first1=Chris |title=The Disneyland Encyclopedia |date=2017 |publisher=Santa Monica Press |isbn=978-1595800909 |edition=3rd |pages=334–335}}</ref> On March 21, 1975, the destination was changed to [[Mars]] because humans had already been to the [[Moon]].<ref name="ocr20140314">{{cite news|title=Disney history: Pirates of the Caribbean opens|url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-605675-history-.html|access-date=20 March 2014|newspaper=[[The Orange County Register]]|date=March 14, 2014}}</ref>

The technology of Rocket to the Moon was reminiscent of the [[Hale's Tours of the World|Hale’s Tours of the World]] amusement park rides, made to simulate travel by train. Walt Disney encountered this attraction as a child at [[Electric Park, Kansas City|Electric Park]], [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City.]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fielding |first=Raymond |date=1970 |title=Hale's Tours: Ultrarealism in the Pre-1910 Motion Picture |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1224994 |journal=Cinema Journal |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=34–47 |doi=10.2307/1224994 |jstor=1224994 |issn=0009-7101|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bukatman |first=Scott |date=1991 |title=There's Always Tomorrowland: Disney and the Hypercinematic Experience |journal=October |volume=57 |pages=55–78 |doi=10.2307/778872 |jstor=778872 }}</ref> 

The show was initially sponsored by [[McDonnell-Douglas]]. After sponsorship ended, logos referring to the company were removed from the attraction, but the outline of the stylized [[vertical stabilizer|tail fin]] in the McDonnell-Douglas logo still remained part of the building's [[facade|façade]] as [[Alien Pizza Planet]]. After the show closed in 1992, McDonnell-Douglas merged with [[Boeing]] in August 1997 in a US $13 billion [[stock swap]], with Boeing as the surviving company.{{CN|date=January 2024}}

==Show==
{{More citations needed|date=January 2024}}
The show was designed in cooperation with [[NASA]] and was basically a revised and updated version of the previous attraction Flight to the Moon. Guests would now be launched on a spacecraft into space and then approach the surface of the red planet Mars.<ref name=story>{{cite book |last1=Gennawey |first1=Sam |title=The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream |date=2014 |publisher=Keen Communications |isbn=978-1-62809-012-3 |page=265}}</ref>

Guests would first enter a viewing area known as ''Mission Control'', which was modeled after a typical [[Mission Control Center|mission control center]] with chairs and control panels for about ten seated Audio-Animatronic "technicians" whose backs were to the audience as they moved their heads and arms. Facing the audience was the Audio-Animatronic flight director Mr. Johnson. He would then talk and show film clips to explain how humans had made numerous advances in space travel and manufacturing in [[microgravity]], and also learned how to deal with the effects of space. The lecture was interrupted once per show by an intruder alarm caused by a large bird crash-landing near the spacecraft launch pad. The voice of Mr. Johnson was provided by George Walsh, who also was the narrator on the television show ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' as well as other Disney specials like ''Pacifically Peeking'', an episode of ''[[The Magical World of Disney|Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]'' and ''The Magic of Disneyland'' special.{{CN|date=January 2024}}

After the pre-show, guests would move on and finally board their spacecraft. Inside was a circular theater with stadium-like seating with circular flat screens on the ceiling and floor. During the mission, guests could look at the views from outside the spacecraft from either of these screens. There were also side screens that showed film clips or graphics. "Third Officer Collins", voiced by [[Peter Renaday]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission to Mars |url=https://waltdatedworld.com/mission_to_mars.htm |website=waltdatedworld.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.micechat.com/116466-sweep-spot-episode-171-pete-renaday/|title = The Sweep Spot Episode 171 Pete Renaday|date = December 6, 2015}}</ref> was the tour guide, and discussed the mission as the spacecraft explored space and Mars. Eventually, the ship was damaged, possibly by a volcanic eruption, and the ship had to quickly head back to Earth. The seats in the attraction would simulate the vibrations and [[G-force]]s from "Hyper-space" during take-offs and landings by filling up with compressed air. Finally, the spacecraft landed safely back on Earth and Officer Collins would then urge guests to return and visit again. As he explained, "there's a lot more to see on Mars".

==Disneyland==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
The attraction closed at Disneyland on November 2, 1992, having first been removed from most visitor documentation by 1991. One reason behind the closure was that the controversial attraction [[ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter]] was to open in the building as part of CEO Michael Eisner's ambitious "Disney Decade". Along with Alien Encounter, [[The Timekeeper]] and "Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue" would have opened in the radical and richly detailed "Tomorrowland 2055" concept.{{CN|date=January 2024}}

However, the "Tomorrowland 2055" project was cancelled in early 1993 when [[Disneyland Paris]] became a failure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20160103/31169/possibilityland-tomorrowland-disney-almost-built-and-failure-it-got-instead|title=Tomorrowland 2055: The Path to Imagineering's Never-Built "Timeless" Tomorrow|date=January 4, 2016 }}</ref> Michael Eisner started cutting costs around the company, and was not happy with the estimated cost of the Tomorrowland project, though he had liked the idea. Start of construction on Disneyland's New Tomorrowland was changed from Fall 1994 to Spring 1997, but Alien Encounter, The Timekeeper, and Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue never opened. In 1996, Mission to Mars was temporarily replaced with Toy Story Funhouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yesterland.com/moonrocket.html|title=Rocket to the Moon - Yesterland}}</ref> The building remained unused until it officially reopened as a restaurant, [[Redd Rockett's Pizza Port]] in Disneyland's New Tomorrowland on May 22, 1998.{{CN|date=January 2024}}

==Walt Disney World==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
{{One source section|date=January 2024}}
Mission to Mars closed its doors at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida on October 4, 1993. It re-opened on June 20, 1995 as [[ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter]] as part of the Magic Kingdom's New Tomorrowland, along with [[The Timekeeper]]. Alien Encounter closed in 2003 and was replaced by [[Stitch's Great Escape!]], which operated from 2004 to 2018 and re-tooled many of the elements from ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter in a more light and comical context. The space in the building in which all such attractions operated is currently unused for any attraction.{{CN|date=January 2024}}

A ride with a similar theme, [[Mission: Space]], opened in 2003<ref name=ew/> at [[Epcot]].{{CN|date=January 2024}}

==See also==
*[[List of former Disneyland attractions]]
*[[List of Magic Kingdom attractions|Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://waltdatedworld.com/mission_to_mars.htm: Mission to Mars]
* [http://www.yesterland.com/moonrocket.html yesterland.com: Mission to Mars/Flight to the Moon]
* {{DisneyAtoZ}}

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{{Authority control}}
{{Disney rides}}
{{Disney Theme Park Adaptations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission To Mars (Attraction)}}
[[Category:Amusement rides introduced in 1975]]
[[Category:Amusement rides that closed in 1992]]
[[Category:Amusement rides that closed in 1993]]
[[Category:Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions]]
[[Category:Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)]]
[[Category:Audio-Animatronic attractions]]
[[Category:Outer space in amusement parks]]
[[Category:Amusement rides using motion pictures]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:1992 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:1993 disestablishments in Florida]]