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Autopia Queue 2000 - 2017

Posted by SSrustworthy on 09/02/2022; Updated 07/04/2024

Note as of 7/4/24: I am overhauling this post for clarity and to fully delineate the entire loop based on some recently obtained recordings.

The Autopia Grandstand v.1 loop played in the grandstand queue area from the beginning of the Chevron sponsorship days continuing into the first year of sponsorship by Honda. The loop changed over with the introduction of ASIMO and Bird as the central characters of the attraction, so it was roughly installed from June 29, 2000 until March 1, 2017. After the Chevron car dioramas were replaced with video screens of the short film “Magic Highway, U.S.A.”, which aired on The Magical World of Disney on May 14, 1958, the music was clearly audible in the dark portion of the queue.

The loop entirely consists entirely of on-board background music previously played on the east and west coast Peoplemover attractions. Given the public disappointment around the replacement of the cherished attraction with the doomed Rocket Rods, presumably the queue loop helped to stir up some nostalgia for the attraction that once was at Disneyland, and perhaps never will be again.

The first mention of this loop I could find was on March 20, 2002 by Jason/Progressland of the Magic Music forums, who wrote “Unfortunately I don't have a complete list, but it consists of some PeopleMover music, the Monorail Song, and a song from "Magic Highways" (the 1950s film that played in the pre-show area of the Rocket Rods queue).” (see Re: Disneyland Music Loops).

The tracklist is as follows. Given that there are many versions of these tracks, I did not make note of edit points or speed.

Autopia Grandstand Queue 2000-2017

Loop length 00:19:23.042

  1. Outdoor Life #1 - Henrik Nielsen - MEGS-8 - Media Music Release No. 7 - No. 8 - Outdoor Life / Supersoundic Strings [Reel L-163] (loop length 00:01:52.938)
  2. Outdoor Life #2 - Henrik Nielsen - MEGS-8 - Media Music Release No. 7 - No. 8 - Outdoor Life / Supersoundic Strings [Reel L-163] (loop length 00:01:34.268)
  3. The Monorail Song / Nation on Wheels - Buddy Baker - Disneyland Forever (loop length 00:03:20.242)
  4. It's Windy - Jan Kimberly - MEOS-3 - Media Music Release No. 12 - No. 3 - Musical Weather Report [Reel M-128] (loop length 00:02:23.357)
  5. Vast Resources - Jan Kimberly - MEOS-4 - Media Music Release No. 12 - No. 4 - Modern Life-Styles [Reel L-178] (loop length 00:02:15.796)
  6. Today's Action #10 - Neil Amsterdam - MEHS-1 - Media Music Release No. 8 - No. 1 - Today's Action [Reel X-168] (loop length 00:01:46.942)
  7. Window Shopping - Robert Ascot - MELS-9 - Media Music Release No. 11 - No. 9 - Then & Now/Here & There [Reel L-176] (loop length 00:01:45.675)
  8. Neutral Strings #2 - Neil Amsterdam - MEHS-7 - Media Music Release No. 8 - No. 7 - Neutral Strings in Motion [Reel L-99] (loop length 00:02:19.261)
  9. Neutral Strings #3 - Neil Amsterdam - MEHS-7 - Media Music Release No. 8 - No. 7 - Neutral Strings in Motion [Reel L-99] (loop length 00:02:04.557)

My Reconstruction

Since these tracks are not commercially available (to the general public anyway), I am happy to share my reconstruction:

DL - Tomorrowland - Autopia Queue pre-2017 (reconstruction).flac

https://app.box.com/s/kopav2uj6f0ek6dtlnpglrth2tgx6gil

References

I was able to reconstruct this loop based on the following materials:

Disneyland Autopia Complete queue/Drive Thru POV, July 31st 2016, 360p, Tomorrowland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4CD_DzUZeQ&t=66s

(Transition from Neutral Strings 2 to Neutral Strings 3)

2012 Disneyland Autopia Billboard, Feb 5th HD (1080p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge74OysLLxg#ws

(end of Outdoor Life #1 into Outdoor Life #2)

Autopia Run (Ride #2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgc_qhJfFRw

(Neutral Strings #2 → Neutral Strings #3 → Outdoor Life #1 → Outdoor Life #2)

Along with two 2013 live recordings by wedroy1923 and pixelated.

Acknowledgements: RocketRodsXPR for his slick ID skills, pixelated, wedroy1923, and the YouTubers that uploaded the above videos. SoCalRyan of the Library Music Themes forum for assistance with finding and identifying media music tracks.