The Timekeeper

The Timekeeper was added to the Magic Kingdom in 1994 when Tomorrowland was renovated, but it originally appeared in Disneyland Paris.  This attraction provides an entertaining 20-minute journey in time with the audio-animatronic Timekeeper, voiced by Robin Williams, as the escort.  9-Eyes, voiced by Cheers’ star Rhea Perlman, is the sidekick to the Timekeeper.  This camera-droid is named such because of its nine cameras, which it uses to project scenes onto the nine screens surrounding guests in the Circle-Vision 360 degree theatre.  There are no seats in the theater, but there are rails to lean on.

During the preshow, guests enter the Metropolis Science Center lobby.  Here, they can sit on the floor as they wait for the next showing.  There is also a four-minute preshow that is shown on elevated television monitors.  This show highlights the Timekeeper’s career through the eyes of 9-Eye.

The premise of the attraction is that 9-Eyes is the test pilot of a time machine.  Guests of the attraction join her as she begins her journey in pre-historic Europe.  As she continues on into the future, guests have the opportunity to watch geniuses such as da Vinci and Mozart hard at work.  They also get to meet authors H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.  In addition, guests are able to see amazing views from a hot air balloon soaring over Red Square and from the driver’s seat of a 1200 meter 60 mile per hour bobsled run

The Timekeeper is usually more popular with adults than with children, who often don’t appreciate the history discussed or the amazing camera work involved in the production of the attraction. 

The attraction does offer assistive listening devices for the hearing impaired.  These can be picked up at Guest Services.  Reflective Captioning is also available for the deaf and can be requested from a Cast Member located at the outside entrance of the attraction.  In addition, the ride is wheelchair accessible.