How Is Autopia Different at Each Disney Park?
Autopia is a well-loved attraction at various Disney parks across the world. Giving children the chance to “drive” a vehicle — complete with gas and brake pedals as well as a moving steering wheel — this ride has constantly been crowded any time I visit a Disney park. But how does Autopia differ at each park? Let’s take a look and explore the history of this classic Disney attraction.
What Disney parks have Autopia?
Across all Disney parks except one, there was — at some point — an iteration of Autopia. The parks that currently have a dedicated Autopia attraction, as of the time of writing, are Disneyland (California), Walt Disney World (Florida), Disneyland Paris (France), and Tokyo DisneySea (Japan). However, there have been some changes made over time, providing visitors with an original experience at each park!
Autopia at Disneyland (California)
Autopia is one of the few attractions at Disneyland in California that has remained in the park since its opening day of July 17, 1955. This was the first iteration of the ride, giving park-goers a glimpse at the future of multi-lane automobile travel in America. It wasn’t until a year later that President Eisenhower enacted the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which was the foundation for the Interstate Highway System we know today.
The ride vehicles at Disneyland’s Autopia were originally powered by Kawasaki two-stroke gasoline motors. When Honda agreed to sponsor the attraction in 2008, the cars were converted to include a 270 cc Honda four-stroke gasoline engine instead. Just a couple of months ago, however, Disney announced that the vehicles would become fully electric in late 2026. Honda’s sponsorship could expire in 2026, but with the automaker focusing on creating EVs, like the all-new Prologue, the partnership could continue. There has been no official indication of this decision, though. Over the course of the last 69 years, Autopia has also been sponsored by Richfield Oil and Chevron.
It wasn’t just the current Autopia that existed at Disneyland. There were others located throughout the park, including Fantasyland Autopia (also known as Rescue Rangers Raceway), Midget Autopia (the smallest track), and Junior Autopia (where no adults were allowed to ride).
Autopia at Walt Disney World (Florida)
When the Magic Kingdom opened at Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971, one of its attractions was the Grand Prix Raceway, sponsored by Goodyear, who supplied all of the tires on the ride vehicles. Rather than focusing on futuristic roadways like Autopia, this ride was based on international race tracks. The track was expanded 2 years later and remained that way until 1994.
The attraction was eventually renamed the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway in 1994. However, it wasn’t until 1999 that Disney partnered with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to re-theme the track with famous items from Indy like The Yard of Bricks, Gasoline Alley, and more.
Just 9 years later, the “Indy” part was dropped from the name and became what it is known as today: Tomorrowland Speedway. In early 2019, the ride had track adjustments made to accommodate the inclusion of TRON Lightcycle / Run.
Autopia at Tokyo Disneyland (Japan)
Although it is no longer open, Tokyo Disneyland did have its own version of Autopia when the park opened in 1983. The Grand Circuit Raceway was sponsored by Bridgestone and even included a grandstand for “fans” to watch the races. Unfortunately, as with many attractions that have existed at Disney parks, Grand Circuit Raceway closed in 2017. Soon after, a Beauty and the Beast-themed area took its place.
There is, however, a ride that pays homage to the original Autopia that’s located in Tokyo DisneySea, just next to Tokyo Disneyland park. The water-based attraction, with vehicles that look like personal hovercrafts, has a trackless ride system that uses computers to take people through the water “track.” This attraction is still running today!
Autopia at Disneyland Paris (France)
Before becoming Disneyland Paris, the park that opened in France in 1992 was known as Euro Disneyland. As such, it featured many similar attractions that were found at Disneyland in California. One of these rides was Autopia, keeping the name from the 1955 original ride.
While the name is the same, the theming is quite different. The Paris version of the ride was the first to actually have a storyline. Before this, Autopia and its iterations were simply treated as a fun attraction where kids could “drive” cars. The Autopia story at Disneyland Paris had guests in their “Astrocoupes” as they drove around the city of Solaria, near Discoveryland. Unfortunately, all remnants of this storyline were removed in 2012 and the attraction is currently described as “a casual countryside cruise” that celebrates an “automobile utopia.”
Autopia at Hong Kong Disneyland (China)
Unlike all other Disney parks, Hong Kong Disneyland did not open with an Autopia attraction in 2005. It wasn’t until 2006 that Autopia made its debut in Tomorrowland alongside a Stitch Encounter. The Hong Kong Autopia ride was ahead of its time, as it featured electric vehicles with an onboard audio system and lighting effects. But even with its more advanced setup, Autopia didn’t last here. The attraction was replaced by Avengers Quinjet Experience in 2016.
Photo: MasaneMiyaPA via CC
Autopia at Shanghai Disneyland (China)
Shanghai Disneyland in China is the only Disney park that has not had some kind of Autopia ride. Similarly, its Tomorrowland area also doesn’t have a Space Mountain attraction. It seems that Shanghai is doing its own thing when it comes to attractions, including the exceedingly popular and new Zootopia-themed area that opened in late 2023.
Have you ever been on any of these Autopia rides across the globe? Which park do you think has the best version of the attraction?
Ben never thought he’d be writing about cars for a living, but here he is, knowing more about the Kia Stinger than he’d care to admit. When he’s not devoting his time to researching engine specs and other oh-so-exciting car details, he can be found enjoying time with his wife and dogs. See more articles by Ben.