News Tomorrowland love

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
Since when did Space Mountain make anyone hopeful about the future of space travel? It’s a rollercoaster with barely any story.

You still have rides like Mission Space which is a lot more based in reality and the future of space travel. Which just got a significant refurb last year.

I think that we are expecting a bit too much from a roller coaster if we think that it is a sounding board for society's ills. Most roller coasters don't have strong political views and are more concerned with gravity.
 

geekza

Well-Known Member
Since when did Space Mountain make anyone hopeful about the future of space travel? It’s a rollercoaster with barely any story.
While that's true, the decision to make it a space-travel-themed attraction came out of the general enthusiasm for space exploration that was prevalent in the culture at the time. Remember that, when it was built, it had only been a few years since we landed on the moon and Cape Canaveral was at the center of space exploration.
 

Br’er Rabbit

Well-Known Member
While that's true, the decision to make it a space-travel-themed attraction came out of the general enthusiasm for space exploration that was prevalent in the culture at the time. Remember that, when it was built, it had only been a few years since we landed on the moon and Cape Canaveral was at the center of space exploration.

I get that. But some posters are acting like Space Mountain used to be some big inspirational message and the Tommorwland of today has lost that message. Despite Space Mountain being essentially the same ride since 1975. Nothing has changed other than’s people’s nostalgia goggles.
 

geekza

Well-Known Member
I get that. But some posters are acting like Space Mountain used to be some big inspirational message and the Tommorwland of today has lost that message. Despite Space Mountain being essentially the same ride since 1975. Nothing has changed other than’s people’s nostalgia goggles.
Oh, no doubt that it isn't a "message" ride. The same year it opened, however, we got Mission to Mars, which was very much a promotion of space travel and it replaced Voyage to the Moon. We also have the Astro Orbiter. With the exception of the Speedway, which was always a bit of a head-scratcher, and the Circlevision film, Tomorrowland did try and stick to a theme of futurism and technological progress. Even If You Had Wings, which was basically a big Eastern Airlines ad, was centered around the, then modern, idea that it was easier than ever to hop on an airplane and go around the world. Add the Carousel of Progress and Peoplemover and, well, you get the idea. Compare that to today and Tomorrowland has definitely lost much of its focus, although parts of it are still around.
 

Br’er Rabbit

Well-Known Member
Oh, no doubt that it isn't a "message" ride. The same year it opened, however, we got Mission to Mars, which was very much a promotion of space travel and it replaced Voyage to the Moon. We also have the Astro Orbiter. With the exception of the Speedway, which was always a bit of a head-scratcher, and the Circlevision film, Tomorrowland did try and stick to a theme of futurism and technological progress. Even If You Had Wings, which was basically a big Eastern Airlines ad, was centered around the, then modern, idea that it was easier than ever to hop on an airplane and go around the world. Add the Carousel of Progress and Peoplemover and, well, you get the idea. Compare that to today and Tomorrowland has definitely lost much of its focus, although parts of it are still around.

Which isn’t really Disney’s fault. It’s the same reason Epcot has difficulties. You can’t have rides about the future becasue they become outdated quickly. Unless it’s something like CoP where the future is in the past. Or vague like Space Mountain.
 

geekza

Well-Known Member
Which isn’t really Disney’s fault. It’s the same reason Epcot has difficulties. You can’t have rides about the future becasue they become outdated quickly. Unless it’s something like CoP where the future is in the past. Or vague like Space Mountain.
I think that you have a point, but it really depends on how you handle the "future" part. You don't want to be overly-specific because, as you said, that information becomes outdated. Broad ideas are safer. Anything dealing with speculation, though, definitely requires the will and means to update after a few years. Disney could have done it with Epcot, but they didn't, because they were relying on the outdated model of having companies pick up the cost instead of reinvesting profits into the parks. With the Eisner era, the focus changed from "we're doing it because it's important and cool" to "don't do it if you can't make money off of it." The attractions were left to stagnate for too long, so one-by-one they've been demolished. I'm honestly shocked that Living with the Land still exists except that they don't really have anything to put in there as a replacement. Spaceship Earth is only still around because it would cost a fortune to gut and the building was purposely constructed with the attraction in mind. It's easier for them to leave it and say, "Hey! See? We love Epcot's past!"
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Oh, no doubt that it isn't a "message" ride. The same year it opened, however, we got Mission to Mars, which was very much a promotion of space travel and it replaced Voyage to the Moon. We also have the Astro Orbiter. With the exception of the Speedway, which was always a bit of a head-scratcher, and the Circlevision film, Tomorrowland did try and stick to a theme of futurism and technological progress. Even If You Had Wings, which was basically a big Eastern Airlines ad, was centered around the, then modern, idea that it was easier than ever to hop on an airplane and go around the world. Add the Carousel of Progress and Peoplemover and, well, you get the idea. Compare that to today and Tomorrowland has definitely lost much of its focus, although parts of it are still around.
The futurism of the Speedway only made sense for Autopia in DL before we had so many highways.
 

Br’er Rabbit

Well-Known Member
I think that you have a point, but it really depends on how you handle the "future" part. You don't want to be overly-specific because, as you said, that information becomes outdated. Broad ideas are safer. Anything dealing with speculation, though, definitely requires the will and means to update after a few years. Disney could have done it with Epcot, but they didn't, because they were relying on the outdated model of having companies pick up the cost instead of reinvesting profits into the parks. With the Eisner era, the focus changed from "we're doing it because it's important and cool" to "don't do it if you can't make money off of it." The attractions were left to stagnate for too long, so one-by-one they've been demolished. I'm honestly shocked that Living with the Land still exists except that they don't really have anything to put in there as a replacement. Spaceship Earth is only still around because it would cost a fortune to gut and the building was purposely constructed with the attraction in mind. It's easier for them to leave it and say, "Hey! See? We love Epcot's past!"

Living with the Land is easy to keep as it’s not so futuristic where it can become easily outdated like say Ellen’s Energy Adventure. Spaceship Earth also is much like CoP where it examines the past and how the future is shaped by it. Which is easier to do as history won’t change. Minus the end of SE which we all agree needs to be updated.
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
I get that. But some posters are acting like Space Mountain used to be some big inspirational message and the Tommorwland of today has lost that message. Despite Space Mountain being essentially the same ride since 1975. Nothing has changed other than’s people’s nostalgia goggles.
Nostalgia Goggles are great, but that does not change the fact that the entire attraction of Space Mouintain has changed significantly... It was inspirational in that it made you feel excited to live in an age where there were limitless possibilities coming... The music set the tone with an up tempo song about the wonders of life in the future...
The entry tunnels had displays on sections that are now just "windows"... The Sound of the Future was one section, then later in the queue, the windows into space complete with narrations of what you were looking at. The track section of the ride is essentially the same except brakes have been added to slow the vehicles down, and the reentry tunnel sound effects never fire off on time...but you are right, that portion has not changed much... The old ride had nore star effects, and the glow panel;s on the rocket made them visible in the darkness which added a little more to look at in the darkness of Space. The ride ended with a speedramp and a look at what our future might be like in the Home Of Future living... Inspirational? yes..who didn't want to live in that futuristic home with angled walls and amazing technology in use everywhere...(Yes I know we now have all of those things, but never with the style that was shown there)... The end of the ride was the musical anthem... Here's To The Future...yes, it was a commercial...and yes, it was inspirational as well...incidently it was recorded with and without sponsor name so it could work either way... the music now sound quaint to out modern ears, but at the time it was fresh and vibrant...Maybe it is just as you say "nostalgia Goggles" but the fact remains that it was a different experience... richer, more complex...not just a waiting queue and a roller coaster...
 

Br’er Rabbit

Well-Known Member
Nostalgia Goggles are great, but that does not change the fact that the entire attraction of Space Mouintain has changed significantly... It was inspirational in that it made you feel excited to live in an age where there were limitless possibilities coming... The music set the tone with an up tempo song about the wonders of life in the future...
The entry tunnels had displays on sections that are now just "windows"... The Sound of the Future was one section, then later in the queue, the windows into space complete with narrations of what you were looking at. The track section of the ride is essentially the same except brakes have been added to slow the vehicles down, and the reentry tunnel sound effects never fire off on time...but you are right, that portion has not changed much... The old ride had nore star effects, and the glow panel;s on the rocket made them visible in the darkness which added a little more to look at in the darkness of Space. The ride ended with a speedramp and a look at what our future might be like in the Home Of Future living... Inspirational? yes..who didn't want to live in that futuristic home with angled walls and amazing technology in use everywhere...(Yes I know we now have all of those things, but never with the style that was shown there)... The end of the ride was the musical anthem... Here's To The Future...yes, it was a commercial...and yes, it was inspirational as well...incidently it was recorded with and without sponsor name so it could work either way... the music now sound quaint to out modern ears, but at the time it was fresh and vibrant...Maybe it is just as you say "nostalgia Goggles" but the fact remains that it was a different experience... richer, more complex...not just a waiting queue and a roller coaster...

So nostalgia goggles is what you’re saying?
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
So nostalgia goggles is what you’re saying?
no...I am saying i think it is more than Nostalgia Goggles...there really have been changes that have sort of erased a lot of that feeling you got... Much like Horizons, the original Space Mountain was more than the sum of it's parts...and all those little parts and details mattered...as they went away, it dimished the overal... It is still a great ride and a lot of fun... but now missing those details that made it just a little more....
 

DisneyGentlemanV2.0

Well-Known Member
Nostalgia Goggles are great, but that does not change the fact that the entire attraction of Space Mouintain has changed significantly... It was inspirational in that it made you feel excited to live in an age where there were limitless possibilities coming... The music set the tone with an up tempo song about the wonders of life in the future...
The entry tunnels had displays on sections that are now just "windows"... The Sound of the Future was one section, then later in the queue, the windows into space complete with narrations of what you were looking at. The track section of the ride is essentially the same except brakes have been added to slow the vehicles down, and the reentry tunnel sound effects never fire off on time...but you are right, that portion has not changed much... The old ride had nore star effects, and the glow panel;s on the rocket made them visible in the darkness which added a little more to look at in the darkness of Space. The ride ended with a speedramp and a look at what our future might be like in the Home Of Future living... Inspirational? yes..who didn't want to live in that futuristic home with angled walls and amazing technology in use everywhere...(Yes I know we now have all of those things, but never with the style that was shown there)... The end of the ride was the musical anthem... Here's To The Future...yes, it was a commercial...and yes, it was inspirational as well...incidently it was recorded with and without sponsor name so it could work either way... the music now sound quaint to out modern ears, but at the time it was fresh and vibrant...Maybe it is just as you say "nostalgia Goggles" but the fact remains that it was a different experience... richer, more complex...not just a waiting queue and a roller coaster...
Richer and more complex - what the overall experience once was.
 

WDW862

Well-Known Member
As of today
 

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