Remembering the Rocket Rods

From PeopleMover to Rocket Rods to...Pretty much nothin'....

The old tower loading platform has become the saddest sight in Disneyland. Many fans avert their eyes as they walk past it, and everyone hopes that maybe--just maybe--this will be the year that Disney announces a great new project that will finally take over the location and erase the memory of Rocket Rods.

But we shouldn't forget the ill-fated PeopleMover replacement, because--truth be told--the Rockets Rods were a lot of fun...while they lasted.

DCA's Extinct Dino

The doomed Apatosaurus of Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack peers down at us in a shot from 2008. The ominous sky and the background construction crane are a coincidence; Dinosaur Jack would survive one more year of operation before getting demolished.

A sunglass shop shaped like a prehistoric beast, Dinosaur Jack's was designed as a tribute to some of the wacky roadside architecture of California's past. Long before the much better Route 66 appeared in Cars Land, Paradise Pier had it's own micro Route 66 area -- a version few noticed or admired.

Dino Jack's area companions -- Corn Dog Castle and the Mulholland Madness wild mouse coaster -- were spared the wrecking ball. People still line up for the incredibly delicious corn dogs and the coaster's Goofy re-theme...but no one seems to miss old Dinosaur Jack's goofball sunglass hut.

I'm wondering if that giant pair of shades still exists somewhere...