Houston's Hidden Disney Subway Still Rolling After 40 Years

Hidden beneath George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, Texas lies a fully operational Disney-designed transit system known as the Subway. This underground train was developed using technology from WED Enterprises, the original name for Walt Disney Imagineering, and has been transporting millions of air travelers every year since its opening on August 17, 1981.

The Subway is an application of Disney's transportation technology that was originally designed to solve everyday problems in the real world. Walt Disney believed that the ideas behind his company's innovations could have a life far beyond the theme parks, and this airport subway stands as a testament to that vision.

Unlike Disneyland's PeopleMover, which closed permanently in 1995 after nearly three decades of operation, the Houston Airport Subway has continued to run smoothly. While Magic Kingdom's WEDway PeopleMover still operates today, it is not a part of this story, as the Houston system represents a later application of Disney's transportation technology.

The airport subway has been extended and periodically updated over the decades, while the original WEDway infrastructure remains intact. For Disney fans traveling through Texas, riding the Subway is like discovering a secret piece of Imagineering history hiding in plain sight.