Autopia and the Phantom Boats

Arg, this is one of only two slides that I own in which you can see the Phantom Boats, and even then they are barely in the picture. That's them in the lower right hand corner. Apparently, Disneyland bought them directly from Batman. The caped crusader got rid of them because they had a tendency to overheat and conk out.

This attraction lasted only about a year, opening in July 1955 (when they were known as the "Tomorrowland Boats") and closing forever the following summer.


At this point, the park was still surrounded by fields and orchards rather than hotels and restaurants. Hard to believe how much it has changed!