Tomorrowland
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| Tomorrowland | |
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| Attraction type | Themed Land |
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| Theme | The Future, Space, and Moving Forward |
| Opening date | July 17, 1955 |
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Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands at the five "Magic Kingdom-style" theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions that depict views of the future. Disneyland Paris includes a similar area called Discoveryland, which shares some elements with other Tomorrowlands but emphasizes Jules Verne-inspired visions of a future that never came to fruition.
Walt Disney was known for his futurist views and, through his television programs, showed the American public how the world was moving into the future. Tomorrowland was the realized culmination of his views. In his own words: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."
It is this movement into the future that has, on occasion, left Tomorrowland mired in the past. Disneyland's Tomorrowland is now in its third generation, and the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland is in its second. The Walt Disney Company has mentioned that it wanted to keep Tomorrowland from becoming "Yesterdayland". As a self-referential joke along this line, Disney's 2007 film Meet the Robinsons (which is set mainly in the year 2037) features an amusement park called Todayland, which has rides that look remarkably like Space Mountain and Disneyland's original Rocket Jets.
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[edit] Disneyland
[edit] Tomorrowland 1955-1967
The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 17, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. Because the construction of the park was rushed, Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase, despite Walt Disney's reluctance. Monsanto Company, American Motors, Richfield Oil, and Dutch Boy Paint were some of the many companies to open showcases in Tomorrowland in the first few years. Since the park was on a strict budget, one cost-cutting idea was to use the sets of the Nautilus from the 1954 movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a walkthrough attraction. This remained open until 1966. For the first four years, most of Tomorrowland was generally open space and considered to be very corporate-fueled.
However, the area gained more attractions as time passed, many of which have since been removed. Tomorrowland's showpiece was the TWA Moonliner, derived from the "Man In Space" television show developed in the 1950s. It was the tallest structure in the park at the time, even taller than the park icon Sleeping Beauty Castle. Autopia, an opening-day attraction, gave visitors a view of the National Interstate System that was to be built in the future. The attraction still remains open today, though it has been modified and rebuilt several times.
In 1957, the Monsanto House of the Future, a plastic house with four wings cantilevered from a central plinth, was built. This was similar to precursors at previous World's Fairs, though those were simply homes furnished with modern conveniences and aimed at housewives. Disneyland's attraction displayed conveniences such as picture phones and television remote controls, and it introduced many people to their first microwave oven.
In 1959, three major attractions, the park's first billed E-ticket attractions, opened at Tomorrowland. These were the Disneyland Monorail, Submarine Voyage, and the Matterhorn (which later became part of Fantasyland). These additions were collectively so large in scope that they were televised as the second opening of Disneyland. New attractions came and some went as Walt Disney focused his efforts on the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. After the Fair closed, he turned his attention to a new Tomorrowland and the Florida Project, which would later become Walt Disney World.
[edit] Tomorrowland 1967-1998
Walt Disney died in December 1966, almost seven months before the new Tomorrowland would open. In 1967, the area was completely rebuilt with new attractions and scenery. The original layout was demolished, and a new set of buildings were erected. The addition of the Carousel of Progress, Adventure Thru Inner Space, an improved and larger Circle-Vision auditorium, Flight to the Moon, and the PeopleMover helped give Tomorrowland its "World on the Move" theme.
In 1973, "The World On The Move" began to change. General Electric decided to close Carousel of Progress, which would later reopen at a new home in Walt Disney World in 1975 as part of its expansion. In 1974, with the American Bicentennial approaching, Disney designers seized the opportunity of the vacant carousel theater to present a large musical extravaganza called America Sings, which featured 114 Audio Animatronics. The following year, Flight to the Moon was updated into Mission to Mars, as actual flights to the moon had become a reality since the former's construction. Then, in 1975, construction began on Walt Disney's proposed 1965 "Space Port." In May 1977, this project opened to the public as Space Mountain. The same year, the Super Speed Tunnel was added as part of the Peoplemover experience.
In 1984 Circle-Vision 360 received a brand new travelogue of the United States, to replace the aging "America The Beautiful" film - American Journeys. Two years later, two new attractions found homes in Tomorrowland: Star Tours and Captain EO. Captain EO replaced the Space Stage in September 1986, and Star Tours replaced Adventure Thru Inner Space in January 1987. Tomorrowland then remained largely unchanged for much of the following decade, until the land was again redone in 1998.
[edit] Tomorrowland 1998
Tomorrowland reopened in 1998, loosely based on the retro-futurist concepts that Disneyland Paris's Discoveryland featured. The entire land was painted in bronzes, golds, and dark browns, with occasional green highlights. New landscaping featured apparent vegetable plots and made reference to "neo-agrarian" concepts. The flagship attraction of the makeover was the Rocket Rods, which attempted to run a fast-paced ride on the former slow-paced PeopleMover track; the ride would close three years later due to intractable mechanical problems. Many of the attractions remained fundamentally the same, but Circle-Vision, Captain EO, and Mission to Mars were all removed. The space formerly occupied by Circle-Vision was partly used for the queue of the Rocket Rods, while Captain EO was replaced by Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and Mission To Mars was replaced by a restaurant called Red Rockett's Pizza Port. The Rocket Jets attraction was redressed as a moving sculpture called the Observatron, while a similar attraction called the Astro Orbitor was placed at ground level in the entrance of Tomorrowland. The former America Sings theater became Innoventions, a technology showcase based on the Walt Disney World: EPCOT original.
Following the opening of the New Tomorrowland for summer 1998, the Submarine Voyage was closed in September. The Skyway linking Tomorrowland and Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom closed after its last day of operation on November 9, 1999. Disneyland's version of the ride closed in 1994.[1]
[edit] Today
In late 2003, Matt Ouimet became president of the Disneyland Resort and sought to change some of the cost-cutting trends that had become the status quo there. Space Mountain was closed for two full years as the ride was refurbished and the track was completely replaced by a new track with the same track plan. The former Rocket Rods queue building was converted into Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters for a 2005 opening.
In February 2005, Walt Disney Imagineering approved a repaint of Tomorrowland for the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" fiftieth anniversary celebration. This new paint scheme is predominantly white, blue, and silver, although some of the former gold and bronze colors were kept. The largest remainder from the 1998 color scheme was the Astro Orbitor until mid-2009, when it was repainted to match the rest of the land and mechanisms that once caused its top to rotate properly were repaired.
In 2007 the Submarine Voyage reopened as: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, with the submarines fully refurbished with Nemo and friends in a new adventure.
[edit] Attractions
- Astro Orbitor
- Autopia
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Disneyland Monorail
- Disneyland Railroad
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
- Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
- Innoventions
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours
- Starcade
[edit] Restaurants
- Redd Rockett's Pizza Port
- The Spirit of Refreshment
- Tomorrowland Terrace
[edit] Shopping
- Little Green Men Store Command (Formerly "Premiere Shop")
- Star Trader
- Tomorrowlanding
[edit] Magic Kingdom
The second Tomorrowland opened on October 1, 1971 at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, and, like at Disneyland, was opened unfinished. But by 1975, the entire land was completed, and much more closely resembled Walt Disney's vision for Tomorrowland.
Some of the most popular Disney park attractions premiered here, such as Space Mountain, which opened in 1975 and is now part of every Tomorrowland around the world. Some classic Tomorrowland attractions that have closed in Disneyland still live on at the Magic Kingdom Park include the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (similar to the PeopleMover) and the Carousel of Progress, which was moved from Disneyland to Walt Disney World in 1975. Walt Disney's model display of the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow is also used as a display visible only from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
For most of its history, Tomorrowland's color scheme was predominantly white with soft blues, creating a retro-modernist landscape. Huge monolithic towers, spires, and clean lines completed the futuristic look. In 1994, using inspiration from Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris, Tomorrowland was completely re-built and altered to resemble a galactic spaceport as it would have been envisioned by the science-fiction comic strips of the early 20th century, like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Tomorrowland has since been given a much more metallic look, along with new darker blues and purples, especially along its main concourse leading from the central hub.
[edit] Attractions
- Astro Orbiter
- Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
- Space Mountain
- Stitch's Great Escape!
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority
- Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
[edit] Former attractions
[edit] Tokyo Disneyland
At Tokyo Disneyland, Tomorrowland opened on April 15, 1983 after the Imagineers set out to create an more urban Tomorrowland, much like a working community than a land of future technology. The rides are much more technology-specific, and the special effects are much more expensive, due to a much larger budget from The Oriental Land Company.
The area closely resembles the original 1970s Tomorrowland, which used to be at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Florida until 1994. The Space Mountain area, however, is more similar to Disneyland's Tomorrowland. The paint scheme of the Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland is also mostly white, with some blues and turquoise.
[edit] Attractions
- Star Jets
- Grand Circuit Raceway
- Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
- MicroAdventure!
- Monsters Inc: Ride And Go Seek
- Showbase
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours
[edit] Restaurants
- Lite Bite Satellite
- Pan Galactic Pizza Port
- Plaza Restaurant
- Soft Landing
- Space Place FoodPort
- The Popping Pod
- Tomorrowland Terrace
[edit] Shopping
- Cosmic Encounter
- ImageWorks
- Planet M
- Solar Ray's Light Sopplies
- Stellar Sweets
[edit] Extinct Attractions
- Captain EO
- The Timekeeper
- Eternal Seas
- Magic Journeys
- Meet the World
- Starcade
[edit] Disneyland Park Paris
Disneyland Resort Paris has Tomorrowland with an entirely new concept, Discoveryland. European culture was used distinctively in the park and Discoveryland uses the ideas of famed European thinkers and explorers, with Jules Verne featured most prominently. This land was heavily inspired by the abandoned Disneyland concept Discovery Bay, which would have sat at the north end of the park's Rivers of America.
Architecturally designed using Jules Verne's vision of the future as inspiration, the land is laid out very differently from its predecessors. Major Tomorrowland classics exist here, such as Autopia and Star Tours, but Space Mountain is significantly changed. Originally conceived as "Discovery Mountain", it was originally proposed to hold more than one attraction (including an improved version of Horizons from Epcot) and a restaurant. But due to budget cuts, it opened in 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon).
Opposite the Space Mountain show building is the Nautilus Lagoon, with a walk-through recreation of the Nautilus submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Also in Discoveryland is Autopia and "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience". The showcase attraction on opening day was a Circle-Vision 360 film, titled Le Visionarium. The attraction featured an eccentric time-traveling robot and his robotic assistant, who take Jules Verne into the world of today, which is pictured as the future he dreamed of.
Space Mountain was completely refurbished in 2005 for the Happiest Celebration on Earth, with a new soundtrack and special effects. Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast opened April 8, 2006, in the former building of Le Visionarium, which closed in September 2004.
[edit] Attractions
- Arcade Alpha & Arcade Bêta
- Autopia
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast
- Disneyland Railroad- Discoveryland Station
- Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
- L'Astroport Services Interstellaires
- Les Mystères du Nautilus
- Orbitron, Machines Volantes
- Space Mountain: Mission 2
- Star Tours
- Videopolis (Currently showing Cinéma Mickey)
[edit] Restaurants
- Buzz Lightyear's Pizza Planet Restaurant
- Café Hyperion
- Cool Station
- Rocket Café
[edit] Shopping
- Constellations
- Light Speed Photography
- Star Traders
[edit] Extinct Attractions
- Arcade Omega
- Captain EO
- Le Visionarium
[edit] Hong Kong Disneyland
The newest Tomorrowland opened on September 12, 2005, at Hong Kong Disneyland. Like the newer generations of the American Tomorrowlands, Hong Kong's version features an emphasis on metallic trim, with lots of blue and purple hues.
Since the opening of the park, some unique attractions have been added into the Hong Kong's Tomorrowland, such as a newer version of Autopia and Stitch Encounter.
[edit] Attractions and Entertainment
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Stitch Encounter
- Autopia
- Muppet Mobile Lab
- Orbitron
- Push the Talking Trash Can
- Space Mountain
- UFO Zone
[edit] Restaurants
- Comet Café
- Starliner Diner
- Refreshment Corner
[edit] Shopping
- Space Traders
- Star Command Suppliers
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Verrier, Richard (Nov 10, 1999). "Disney Grounds Skyway Ride at Orlando, Fla., Park.". Tribune Business News. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-57515808/disney-grounds-skyway-ride.html. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
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