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View Full Version : Do You Remember The Sky Buckets ?



pirate pixie
04-07-2008, 09:15 AM
My DH and i were looking at pictures of our honeymoon yesterday ( disney of course )
and there they were !!!
The sky Buckets . We both just screamed because we have been back 10 times since then and never once thought about or missed them . we also found pictures of us in River Country . Do any of you remember the sky buckets and river country .:mickey:

TheMartellFamily
04-07-2008, 09:25 AM
Growing up and staying at Ft. Wilderness we would go at least once each visit. They had the best inner tube ride that I would go on over and over again. They had to close it due to the use of lake water and a parasite found in Florida lakes. I really miss that area and tell my kids about it. Maybe one day they will be able to open it up again.
As for the other we would ride that but I do not like heights so I would ride it once each visit and that was enough.

c&d
04-07-2008, 10:06 AM
I miss the "sky buckets" also. I have pictures of us sitting in them. Every time we go I always say how much I miss that ride. I always look sadly over at the stroller parking area.

slpngbty56
04-07-2008, 12:13 PM
I remember the sky buckets! It was one of my favorite rides when I was younger. I have some great pictures of the amazing views from that ride.:mickey:

just2mickey
04-07-2008, 12:16 PM
I do remember those and I loved them. I think of them every time we pass the area where we got on them by It's A Small World.

Jasper
04-07-2008, 12:23 PM
Add me to the list of those who sadly miss the sky lift! I always loved it because you could see what the buildings really looked like rather than just seeing their fancy facades plus you could see into the backstage areas.

I was young enough back then that things like safety didn't really cross my mind but I did always wonder that with the way Disney always wanted to control the entire park experience why they would allow us to see things from above like that. It is also interesting to see the reaction from my kids when I point out the old loading area because they never got to experience this ride.

Von-Drake
04-07-2008, 12:40 PM
I definitely remember the Sky Way. The last time my granddad went with us I remember me and him having a conversation about them, and a great pic of him standing at the base of the of the FantasyLand entrance to the Sky Way.

IloveDisney71
04-07-2008, 01:09 PM
I also remember the Skyway. I have some pictures of myself with various family members while we were riding them. I was too little to remember much about them and if I didn't have the pictures I might not remember riding them at all.

Taja
04-07-2008, 07:36 PM
I grew up riding the SkyWay at Disneyland and was fortunate to ride it at WDW in 1981. Yep. WDW! Not MK! It was just one park open at the time! :)

And River Country is the only water park I've ever enjoyed! I wouldn't do it now--just not my thing--but I certainly had fun in 1981!

Space Mountain Man
04-07-2008, 07:39 PM
I believe this may be the only ride that ever had two legitimate names: Skyway to Tomorrowland, and Skyway to Fantasyland.

I surely remember this ride, and the "rooftop" view you got on it. In a way, it was disappointing to see the vast roof of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and others, but I liked the relaxing trip, and how it never seemed to have any kind of long line.

I wish it were still there...:(

ibelieveindisneymagic
04-07-2008, 09:10 PM
DH remembers the skyway...and he keeps pointing out where it went, and the buildings that are left over from it.

(I think he's just rubbing it in that I never went to WDW as a child, but he did!)

locodemickey
04-07-2008, 10:59 PM
We have some home-video footage from on the ride. I wonder if they closed it down for fear that someone would fall out.

McGoofy
04-07-2008, 11:28 PM
I always loved it because you could see what the buildings really looked like rather than just seeing their fancy facades plus you could see into the backstage areas.


Maybe that's why they got rid of them!;)

I remember the sky buckets! That was a great part of going to Disney as a child. I do have a story about that...I was 15, and I was with my then "boyfriend." He chose to spit out of the skyway bucket. When we got to the end of the ride. Security was standing there waiting for him and told him if he ever did that again that he would be ejected from the park!!:cop: I was mortified to say the least!:eek: I didn't have anything to do with that, but I was afraid that I was going to be in trouble too. Fortunately, I wasn't.

I think the last time I saw the sky buckets was in 1994. I have a photo of an ariel view of 20,000 leagues, and I'm pretty sure that was taken from the sky bucket.

Does anybody know what year they closed the sky buckets?

Melanie
04-07-2008, 11:45 PM
Does anybody know what year they closed the sky buckets?

Believe it or not, the Skyway at the Magic Kingdom didn't close until 1999. I thought it was earlier. Disneyland's Skyway closed in 1994.

ShanPooh
04-08-2008, 12:14 AM
I remember Sky Way!
I remember my mom not riding them because she is so afraid of heights :eek: - never mind that she rode Space Mountain with me! :silly:

I fondly remember River Country and I'm so sad to see that they aren't doing anything with it.
I loved the slide that you did a free-fall drop from several feet up to land in the pool (separate from the lake). I also really enjoyed the inner tube ride. There was a similar inner tube ride at Dover Lake in Ohio, but now they are both gone :cry:

GrmGrninGost
04-08-2008, 12:17 AM
I never went to River Country, I'm not a water person. However, the Sky Way is one of my most missed attractions, along with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!

Sinewiz
04-08-2008, 10:48 AM
While back in the day of attending a seminar at the old Disney Institute I was given the inside scoop in regard to why the buckets were eliminated. Unfortunately many "teens" “his words not mine” had begun the practice of swinging or rocking the buckets which was scaring the beejebbers out of those with a few more years on them. As opposed to risking a potential accident, and or law suit, they felt it prudent to shut it down rather than take the chance any longer. ;)

hnybear22
04-08-2008, 12:30 PM
I just pickedsome old Disney sing along tapes and one that was obviously a souviner tape called A Day At The Magic Kingdom (vhs) at our local thrift store-
I was thrilled when I got home and watched them- they show not only the Sky Way but alson 20000 Leagues from the top and then from the inside of the boat, River Country and Discovery Island!! Also the electric parade and the fireworks show- the tape was definatley made in the 80's going by the clothes and hairstyles!!
My 10 year old is shocked there was no Splash Mountain in Adventure land!!

mouseketeer mom
04-09-2008, 06:58 AM
I would love to see that tape! I was 12 in 1977 and that was my first visit to WDW. I remember feeling a little afraid on the skybuckets and I remember feeling like I was really deep under the sea in 20,000 leagues. Wow. I am old.;)

DisneyAndRedSox
04-09-2008, 07:59 AM
any of you remember the sky buckets and river country .:mickey:


If you miss river country, go to You Tube and look at River Country: We will never forget

(watch the whole thing for before and after shots)

beksy
04-10-2008, 03:36 PM
The buckets were one of my sister's favorite rides. She was so dissappointed that they were gone this trip (shows how long we had to wait to get back!).

g8rgirl29
04-10-2008, 04:34 PM
From Wikipedia:
"At the Magic Kingdom, the Skyway was removed in 1999, but not before a worker was killed when he was swept off the platform and dropped 40 feet on February 14 of that year. The Tomorrowland station is off-limits to guests, while the Fantasyland station is now used for stroller parking. Another key reason for the decision to remove the Skyways was because they were in technical violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. It was very difficult to load and unload mobility-impaired guests (one must step up when boarding and down when de-boarding), and this usually required having to stop the ride. Furthermore, wheelchairs could not be loaded onboard because the vehicles were too small.

On Sunday morning, 17 April 1994, a 30-year-old man named Randle Charles fell approximately 20 feet from one of the Skyway cabins and landed in a tree near the "Alice in Wonderland" attraction. He was helped out of the tree by paramedics and taken to nearby Western Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries and released. Charles later filed a $25,000 negligence lawsuit against Disney, claiming that he had suffered permanent neck and back injuries as a result of his fall.

Despite the initial assertion of Mr. Charles' attorney that Randle "wasn't doing anything improper, and he certainly wasn't trying to get out of the ride," Charles indeed jumped, not fell, from his Skyway cabin. Charles' lawsuit was dismissed just before it was to go to trial on 23 September 1996; at that time he admitted that he "came out" of his Skyway cabin and that his lawsuit against Disney was "ill-advised."

Events seemingly repeated themselves five years later. In February 1999, a park custodian at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was killed when the skyway started up unexpectedly while he was cleaning one of its platforms. Raymond Barlow, 65, was sweeping off a narrow skyway platform inaccessible to park guests an hour after the park's 9:00 A.M. opening when other cast members, unaware of his presence, started up the ride. Barlow, startled by the approaching gondola, grabbed onto it and tried to climb inside; he fell 40 feet into a flower bed, hitting a tree on the way down, and died. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration later ruled that the area in which Barlow had been working violated federal safety codes and fined Walt Disney World $4,500 for a "serious" violation of safety standards. Several months later, in November 1999, the Magic Kingdom's skyway was also permanently closed. Once again, the decision to close the attraction was supposedly based on factors other than its being involved in a recent accidental death.

wdwgrl377
04-10-2008, 08:40 PM
Oh my!! I so remember the Sky Buckets! how I missed them...and River Country!! thanks for bringing back some happy memories!! :mickey:

CU Tiger
04-14-2008, 12:50 PM
I miss the skyway!:thumbsup: I can still picture in my mind the last time I rode in one with my cousin.:mickey:

Mickey91
04-14-2008, 02:16 PM
I miss the skyway as well! :(

Imagineer1981
04-14-2008, 03:16 PM
Maybe that's why they got rid of them!;)

actually the cost of running them, plus the accident to a CM and the age of the attraction all added to its removal

brertosh
04-14-2008, 03:20 PM
Sky Way rocked..........:(

joonyer
04-14-2008, 03:26 PM
actually the cost of running them, plus the accident to a CM and the age of the attraction all added to its removal

It was also slow loading and had a very low rider capacity. Not enough bang for the buck so to speak. Add the problems with people dropping things and spitting and it was doomed.

Joanna
04-14-2008, 03:41 PM
thanks g8rgirl29 for that informative post. Wikipedia is amazing isn't it?

My favorite memory of the skyway was looking down on Spectromagic.