If You Had Wings
| If You Had Wings | |
|---|---|
| Park | Magic Kingdom |
| Land / area | Tomorrowland (Magic Kingdom) |
| Type | Omnimover dark ride |
| Opened | June 5, 1972 |
| Closed | June 1, 1987 |
| Designer | WED Enterprises
|
| Status | Closed |
If You Had Wings was an Omnimover dark ride in Tomorrowland (Magic Kingdom) at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Sponsored by Eastern Air Lines, then the official airline of Walt Disney World, it carried two guests per vehicle past projected scenes of the holiday destinations Eastern served. It opened on June 5, 1972, and was unusual in the ticket-book era for being completely free: Eastern's sponsorship meant guests needed no ticket at all to ride.[1][2]
History
The ride was not ready for the Magic Kingdom's opening day in October 1971. Its show building, attached to Tomorrowland's Circle-Vision theatre building, was finished around an attraction still being designed for a sponsor. Eastern Air Lines signed on as Walt Disney World's official airline and reportedly invested around $10 million in the project, on the understanding that the ride would promote the places Eastern flew to — principally Mexico, the Caribbean and New Orleans.[3]
Designed under Claude Coats at WED Enterprises, the ride borrowed the continuously moving Omnimover system already used by the Haunted Mansion. More than a hundred vehicles carried guests through the show at a gentle pace, giving the attraction a high capacity and, helped by its free admission, usually a short wait. It was formally dedicated on July 2, 1972, a month after opening to the public.[3]
Experience
After a loading area styled like an airline terminal, complete with departure announcements, vehicles passed a large globe and a stylised take-off sequence, then moved through a series of short scenes built largely from projected film, simple sets and sound. The itinerary included Mexico and its Aztec pyramids, a Caribbean port and straw market, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and New Orleans, each presented as a bright, carefree invitation to fly Eastern.[4]
Two sequences were remembered long after the ride itself. The "speed room" surrounded the vehicles with projected images that created a sensation of rushing speed, and a mirror room used reflections to suggest flight. Throughout, guests heard the attraction's theme song, written by Buddy Baker, whose refrain promised that if you had wings, you could do many things.[1]
Closure and legacy
Eastern withdrew its sponsorship in 1987, and If You Had Wings closed on June 1 of that year. The closure lasted only days: with Eastern's name, signage and song references removed, the ride reopened on June 6, 1987, as If You Could Fly, otherwise substantially unchanged.[2][4]
That interim version closed in January 1989. Delta Air Lines then sponsored a thorough rebuild of the show as Delta Dreamflight, which retold the history of flight while keeping the same building, track layout and Omnimover system. After Delta's sponsorship ended the ride continued as Dreamflight and then Take Flight, before closing in January 1998. The building reopened later that year as Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which still follows the route first laid out for If You Had Wings in 1972.
See also
- Tomorrowland (Magic Kingdom)
- Magic Kingdom
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "If You Had Wings". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IYHW
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Disney's "If You Had Wings" – Looking Back 40 Years. The DIS Unplugged. http://disunplugged.com/2012/08/05/disneys-if-you-had-wings-looking-back-40-years/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "If You Had Wings". Widen Your World. https://widenedworld.com/if-you-had-wings
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "If You Had Wings". Extinct Disney. https://www.extinctdisney.com/if-you-had-wings/