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Tokyo Disneyland Resort Expansion
- Thread starter The_Mesh_Hatter
- Start date
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yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
If you'll all indulge my quick Photoshop effort:
These two separate pieces of Concept Art are from Tokyo and Shanghai respectively - I'm not necessarily thinking Tokyo is planning on adding a TRON ride, but it's very evident that the buildings do look good next to each other.
What they're doing to Tokyo's Space Mountain does make me wonder if they might try doing this to WDW's Space Mountain to make it fit more next to its new TRON neighbor. I would be surprised . . . but then, I already am surprised they're doing this in Tokyo.
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
My first immediate glance at the concept art, I thought that's what it was. And I was surprised.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
This is TOTAL speculation on my part . . . but looking at aerial imagery of the park, I almost can't help but wonder if they're secretly considering something like I've Photoshopped here:
The only real expansion space they seem to have in Tomorrowland would be if they reclaimed some of the parking lot behind Space Mountain, and doing something like this would suddenly make more sense of reskinning the Space Mountain exterior. It would look sort of strange as-is with the TRON canopy as a backdrop.
You'd think that if they WERE planning something like this they would have just announced it with this, so this speculation is likely entirely unfounded. But it's interesting to imagine.
It's such a weird project to decide to reface Space Mountain like this, once of the most iconic icons in the Disney universe.
The only real expansion space they seem to have in Tomorrowland would be if they reclaimed some of the parking lot behind Space Mountain, and doing something like this would suddenly make more sense of reskinning the Space Mountain exterior. It would look sort of strange as-is with the TRON canopy as a backdrop.
You'd think that if they WERE planning something like this they would have just announced it with this, so this speculation is likely entirely unfounded. But it's interesting to imagine.
It's such a weird project to decide to reface Space Mountain like this, once of the most iconic icons in the Disney universe.
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
OLC also released a 2024 Medium Term Management Plan today. While most of it is typical vague corporate speak, notable is that they state explicitly that similar to the direction the U.S. parks are going, the strategy going forward will be to admit fewer daily visitors than pre-pandemic and exercise greater control over how many guests are in the parks at any given time. There's also vague mention of using "renewals of existing attractions" to drive attendance.
Still no mentions of when or if annual passes and traditional FastPass will ever return.
Still no mentions of when or if annual passes and traditional FastPass will ever return.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
I really don't like the new design for Space Mountain. It looks like Cool Whip.
No Name
Well-Known Member
This looks awesome! Looks modern and futuristic just from the outside, and I can’t wait to see what they do inside.
Magic Feather
Well-Known Member
I can’t help but feel like this isn’t the whole story for this redo. 3 years feels a little long to just redo Space Mountain. Wouldn’t be shocked to see another new attraction, or for the overhaul inside of Space Mountain to be more drastic than I’d think.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
Right? This announcement feels suspiciously incomplete.
I can't help but wonder if this is going to be less like new facing on the building and more like complete demo of the existing structure. The similarities to the current building basically end with "It's white and vaguely conical". That would give them the chance to do basically anything they wanted inside without being hampered by the existing dome. Though if it's closed for 3 years they probably won't have any problem ripping it wide open for interior access, at the very least.
I suspect there may be some technological influence from EPCOT's Cosmic Rewind, if not in the ride system then at least in the projection systems and internal aesthetics. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that Disney can do better by Space Mountain than they did when most of them were built - and even this version, which was redone in 2007. Already there's buzz that Cosmic Rewind is "like Space Mountain on steroids".
But it seems really odd to go to so much trouble for an attraction that's already overwhelmingly iconic, especially in its exterior design. They must have something really big up their sleeves that will justify this complete and total facelift.
britain
Well-Known Member
I don't think it's THAT - This has more to do with "What's futuristic looking now".
I also think it's funny that this new design makes Space Mountain simultaneously look MORE like a volcano and LESS like Mt. Fuji.
denyuntilcaught
Well-Known Member
I literally just let out the most aggressive "What?!"
montydysquith-navarro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I do hope so. The naturalistic Tomorrowland Square will look very odd next to the original retrofuturistic entrance. Maybe they'll add more natural/eco-futuristic (read: wavey) motifs to the existing entry structures so it would blend in better with the new square? As several people have mentioned earlier, the announcement feels suspiciously incomplete so maybe a retheme of the existing structures is next in the "New Tomorrowland" announcement pipeline.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
That's what's so weird - is this new design really significantly more futuristic than the original Space Mountain dome? So much so that it's worth the millions they're gonna spend to get it there? I would argue that Space Mountain has FAR more problems on the inside than it does on the outside . . . like, to the degree where the inside is practically a liability after how cool and (I would have thought) timeless the original exterior is. Tokyo's Tomorrowland feels more like a throwback than any of the others, but the look of Space Mountain seems hardly the problem.
It seems silly to ask if Tokyo's Space Mountain sustained any damage in the 2011 earthquake, but . . . did it? They nearly moved Small World a few years ago due to problems the building had even years after. If Space has been in constant need of bandaids I can see why they might decide it's time to just swing big and start fresh. But short of that it's hard to fathom why they'd make SUCH a big project out of an already-headlining attraction.
I know OLC takes more pride in their parks than management does stateside, but this seems too big to simply ascribe to that, doesn't it?
montydysquith-navarro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
DPB made an official announcement about the new Space Mountain as well, now including comments from Imagineers Kathleen Davis and Owen Yoshino:
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/04/a-new-space-mountain-coming-to-tokyo-disneyland-in-2027/
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/04/a-new-space-mountain-coming-to-tokyo-disneyland-in-2027/