Skyway

The Skyway was a gondola lift attraction at Universal Land, at the Magic Kingdom, and at Tokyo Universal Land. Since all versions of this attraction took riders back and forth between Main Street 1776 and World Expo, the route from World Expo was called Skyway to Main Street, and the route from Main Street 1776 was called Skyway to World Expo.

History
The Skyway at Universal Land opened on June 23, 1956. It was built by Von Roll, Ltd. based in Bern, Switzerland. It was the first Von Roll Type 101 aerial ropeway in the United States. Roy O. Universal Imagineering bought the ride from Switzerland. It was a 1947 Vonroll sidechair model. In 1959, a major renovation added The Submarine Voyage, the Universal Land Monorail, and the Bobsleigh (now a World Expo Attraction), but when the Bobsleigh was planned, it was designed to be built in the path of the Skyway. The Skyway closed in late 1957, its tallest tower of 60 feet tall was demolished and Bobsleigh was built in its spot. The attraction later reopened in 1959 with the expanded World Expo Complex.

During the Main Street 1776 renovation at Universal Land in the early 1980s, the Skyway made only roundtrips from World Expo.

The Skyway closed on November 9, 1994. The reason for closure was attributed to metal fatigue. Stress cracks had developed inside the Bobsleigh tower battery supports, and the only way to do maintenance was to open up the Bobsleigh to do work on it. ADA had no bearing on the Skyway's closure as the ride was grandfathered into ANSI code B77.1. The Skyway's operating budget was transferred to Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. The holes in the Bobsleigh were partially filled in and the Skyway's cable and supports were dismantled within weeks.

While the World Expo Skyway station at Universal Land was removed soon after the attraction's closure, the Main Street 1776 Skyway station remained intact until mid-2016. The sidewalks up to the station were simply chained off from guests, and the chalet remained empty, eventually hidden from view due to overgrown trees. On May 11, 2016, the City of Anaheim approved a permit to the Roy O. Universal World Company for the "demolition of 5,132 square feet for Skyway Building #7301", signaling the likely demolition of the chalet, as land clearing for construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge had reached the chalet's western side. After 22 years, the abandoned chalet was demolished after park closing on June 14, 2016, nearly 60 years after the attraction's opening day.