Disneyland's 75th Anniversary: Desires and Predictions

[Homemade Imagineering]

Abraham Lincoln Removed - It's a historically controversial figure
Walt Disney Statue Removed - He's the guy that made all the racist rides and films that have to be expunged from history
City Hall Removed - Don't want to remind people of Portland
Peter Pan Removed
Dumbo Removed
Small World Removed - Each culture is appropriated with stereotypical attire, settings, and dolls with stereotypical features

All of this, would completely alienate the entire Disney Parks fandom. You're taking about horrible business decisions too. Again, just another example of overboard sensationalism surrounding the Splash Mountain re-theme. Look, as I've said before, I respect you, and everyone on this forum. However, with that being said, I don't think posts, which ride off of fear mongering tactics like this are necessary, as they only add fuel to an already existing fire. A fire, which was started last summer surrounding the SM announcement.

Removing Walt from the parks isn't something that's going to happen, ever. Enough said there, moving on... IASW is arguably one of the most sacred attractions ever conceived, and to suggest a complete, utter permeant removal, from DLR, the original park, is blasphemy. Might as well remove PotC and HM while you're at it... It's also located in all of the parks sans Shanghai, so they'd really need to spend some serious CapEx to remove all incarnations, and the message alone would give them a difficult time justifying its removal anyways. Peter Pan and Dumbo being removed is also very much unrealistic. They'll leave Dumbo alone, and remove and replace the Indian encampment scene from Pan, it's as simple as that. City Hall... seriously? I haven't seen anyone calling for Lincoln's removal from the parks, and yes, I am aware people attempted to "cancel" him not too long ago, though I'm sure by then it'll all fade away. If this post is meant to be sarcastic, then I apologize for my tirade, it just gets really, really exhausting, seeing so much fear mongering surrounding this community.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

- Disney Moana replaces Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

- All Fantasyland dark rides become empowered women meet and greets

- Castle removed

 

[Sharon&Susan]

The Matterhorn will be renamed the Slippery Slope.

 

[truecoat]

-New scrim barricade in front of the castle that look like the castle. Castlepass is only $49.99.
-Space Mountain lights on until 4pm. Space Mountain in the dark Spacepass is only $49.99 from 4-close.
-It's A Small World is free with admission. Headphones to hear the music, $49.99.
-Virtual drink 10 pack is $49.99. 10 virtual alcoholic drinks with your favorite characters.
-Haunted mansion glasses (only way to see the ghosts) only $49.99
-more to come when we get closer to the 75th.

 

[mickEblu]

My honest desire... I hope they do as less as possible.

And a new Tomorrowland, preferably a 1967 revival. Leave the rest of the park alone. Add a coaster to Galaxies Edge and make the land more fun and inviting.

 

[Anjin]

I'm pretty sure I heard the Mary Poppins carousel was cut.

If they're not going to do Tony Baxter's Mary Poppins Carousel, it's for the best.

 

[Stevek]

My honest prediction for the 75th:

Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters Removed - Positively portrays police officers and gun usage
Abraham Lincoln Removed - It's a historically controversial figure
Walt Disney Statue Removed - He's the guy that made all the racist rides and films that have to be expunged from history
City Hall Removed - Don't want to remind people of Portland
Peter Pan Removed
Dumbo Removed
Launch Bay Removed - Too many star wars stores, no need for it
Small World Removed - Each culture is appropriated with stereotypical attire, settings, and dolls with stereotypical features

I think the removal of Astroblasters and Launch Bay will be part of an entire Tommorowland Retheme. Mr. Lincoln could potentially become a history lesson with Fredrick Douglas or Dr. Martin Luther King. I see the space for It's A Small World becoming an Arrendelle boat ride of sorts, they could also make the facade a castle.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

Alright, here are my REALISTIC predictions...

-Buzz may be gone and replaced with something else entirely. My guess, is either full demolition, or gutting. Same goes, more so for Launch Bay. Peoplemover tracks removed, with further demolition work done surrounding Space Mountain.

-By then, SM will have received the PatF re-theme, and there's a good chance Pooh may still be there... or not.

-Classic attractions will receive further touchups.

-An SWGE expansion, with an E-ticket coaster.

-All fantasyland dark-rides will be present, with further touchups given to Toad, Pinocchio, and Pan.

-Fantasyland theater removed for an E-Ticket

-Subs by then, will have been converted to another attraction. Something, which will allow them to work around the Subs/Autopia area, without having to spend too much CapEx on demolition.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I noticed many of the responses are related to how the park will evolve over the next nine years and not necessarily what will happen specifically for the park’s 75th anniversary. Interesting.

Staying on that same track, something might happen to the Innoventions building within that time. Would be nice if Disney could be trusted and we got a complete Tomorrowland overhaul. At this point, I’d be happy with mid 20th century ideas of futurism.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I noticed many of the responses are related to how the park will evolve over the next nine years and not necessarily what will happen specifically for the park’s 75th anniversary. Interesting.

Staying on that same track, something might happen to the Innoventions building within that time. Would be nice if Disney could be trusted and we got a complete Tomorrowland overhaul. At this point, I’d be happy with mid 20th century ideas of futurism.

I just want something that’s consistent and good. Not a trash bin for rejected ideas that didn’t fit in any of the other lands.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I just want something that’s consistent and good. Not a trash bin for rejected ideas that didn’t fit in any of the other lands.

Honestly, an acknowledgement is good enough for me. I’ll be honest, I happen to enjoy the anniversary merchandise that they come up with. The designs are usually well done, in my opinion, and worth purchasing. So I guess an acknowledgement and some good merchandise will do.

 

[Too Many Hats]

Predictions:

- Tom Sawyer Island becomes Stitch Island

I laughed out loud.

 

[Too Many Hats]

More than anything else, I'd love to see Tomorrowland addressed in time for the 75th. Not to be hyperbolic, but its deterioration has been pretty damaging to the soul of Disneyland. It's shameful that a land comprising nearly 1/3 of the park has been operating at sub-Disney quality for decades. It's also sad that the park has completely lost the emotionally-engaging, Walt-era "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" sensibility, which accompanied innovations like the Monorail, Carousel of Progress, and Peoplemover.

If it were up to me, I'd start bulldozing the land in 2027 and spend a few years rebuilding from scratch. But I'd accept a comprehensive renovation of the existing infrastructure, if that's more realistic. Can't think of anything that would be more meaningful to offer guests for the 75th.

 

[mickEblu]

More than anything else, I'd love to see Tomorrowland addressed in time for the 75th. Not to be hyperbolic, but its deterioration has been pretty damaging to the soul of Disneyland. It's shameful that a land comprising nearly 1/3 of the park has been operating at sub-Disney quality for decades. It's also sad that the park has completely lost the emotionally-engaging, Walt-era "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" sensibility, which accompanied innovations like the Monorail, Carousel of Progress, and Peoplemover.

If it were up to me, I'd start bulldozing the land in 2027 and spend a few years rebuilding from scratch. But I'd accept a comprehensive renovation of the existing infrastructure, if that's more realistic. Can't think of anything that would be more meaningful to offer guests for the 75th.

Did you see the new Alberta Falls backstory for the Jungle Cruise? We better hope and pray that what they do to TL is just a comprehensive renovation of existing infrastructure. There is about a 1% chance that TL would be come out better than it is now if the whole thing is Demo’d. Sorry, I don’t trust modern Disney/ WDI with the Monorail, the lagoon, Autopia and all the trees. And I don’t trust them to come up with a more interesting layout.

 

[Too Many Hats]

Did you see the new Alberta Falls backstory for the Jungle Cruise? We better hope and pray that what they do to TL is just a comprehensive renovation of existing infrastructure. There is about a 1% chance that TL would be come out better than it is now if the whole thing is Demo’d. Sorry, I don’t trust modern Disney/ WDI with the Monorail, the lagoon, Autopia and all the trees. And I don’t trust them to come up with a more interesting layout.

Haha, I hear you. My dream of bulldozing-and-rebuilding Tomorrowland is more or less pure fantasy at this point, not only because Disney almost certainly lacks the will to do it, but also because the current Imagineering team may very well lack the talent and vision to rebuild an entire land.

I'm not totally down on modern Imagineering; I love a lot of the smaller touches they've contributed to Disneyland in recent years (the upgrades to Alice, the Hatbox Ghost, the new Yeti, the booby-trap pirate/octopus scene on Pirates, the Rivers of America additions), but they've dropped the ball so, so hard on larger-scope things like Guardians, Pixar Pier, and Galaxy's Edge (outside of ROTR, which I think is fantastic). I'm very, very concerned (and pessimistic) about the Splash Mountain replacement.

Nonetheless, I almost can't imagine a dramatically worse version of Tomorrowland than what currently exists. Buzz Lightyear, Finding Nemo, and Star Wars have virtually nothing to do with "tomorrow." The gas-guzzling cars of Autopia, the rotting Peoplemover tracks, and the very existence of Pizza Port do not inspire optimism for the future. In my daydreams/delusions, the most competent people (the Baxters and Rohdes of Imagineering) would tastefully renovate or rebuild the land. I know that won't happen, but at the end of the day... something needs to be done to clean up and update Tomorrowland. It will be beyond depressing if we end up seeing "Celebrating 75 Years!" banners hanging from the rotting Peoplemover tracks.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Did you see the new Alberta Falls backstory for the Jungle Cruise? We better hope and pray that what they do to TL is just a comprehensive renovation of existing infrastructure. There is about a 1% chance that TL would be come out better than it is now if the whole thing is Demo’d. Sorry, I don’t trust modern Disney/ WDI with the Monorail, the lagoon, Autopia and all the trees. And I don’t trust them to come up with a more interesting layout.

I don't trust them to do anything at this point. Heck, look what they did to the castle. The roofs are literally reflective because of the plastic they made them out of. It looks artificial, fake- like a cheap toy.

Let's compare that to the more subdued color palette it had in the '70s. It looks believable, especially alongside Main Street.

Some people would probably argue that the old colors were to subdued, and I'd agree- but there's a middle ground that WDI didn't achieve.

So now we look at Splash Mountain, which has a subdued color scheme because it stands alongside New Orleans Square, Mansion, Tom Sawyer's Island, and across the way from Big Thunder. It can't clash or stand out. It looks believable, even though it's based on a cartoon. And let's compare that to the art for Frog Mountain, which is going to be very, very different.

 

[CaptinEO]

I don't trust them to do anything at this point. Heck, look what they did to the castle. The roofs are literally reflective because of the plastic they made them out of. It looks artificial, fake- like a cheap toy.

View attachment 541159

Let's compare that to the more subdued color palette it had in the '70s. It looks believable, especially alongside Main Street.

View attachment 541160

Some people would probably argue that the old colors were to subdued, and I'd agree- but there's a middle ground that WDI didn't achieve.

So now we look at Splash Mountain, which has a subdued color scheme because it stands alongside New Orleans Square, Mansion, Tom Sawyer's Island, and across the way from Big Thunder. It can't clash or stand out. It looks believable, even though it's based on a cartoon. And let's compare that to the art for Frog Mountain, which is going to be very, very different.

View attachment 541161 View attachment 541162

Are the giant Tiana and Aligator supposed to be a part of the ride? If so that'd be awful.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Are the giant Tiana and Aligator supposed to be a part of the ride? If so that'd be awful.

Doubtful, although less easily dismissible now than before Disney decided everyone loved giant Toy Story characters.

 

[britain]

The best way for them to remove the subs without removing what they contribute to DL’s soul would be to park a full size Nautilus in the lagoon as a walk through, but free up the sub show building for other new Tomorrowland/Fantasyland attractions.

Add a couple of Jules Verne shops, call the lagoon area Discovery Bay, and tout that as the big 75th gift. Fans will go wild.

 

[Miru]

Okey dokey...
- Toad and Pinocchio will be gone by then, along with most likely a good chunk of Toontown and Frontierland respectively, some of the surplus Star Wars attractions, the DCA trail, and maybe a flat ride or two.
- Limited-edition revival of a beloved extinct attraction... and it’s California Screamin’. Whoopee-doo.
- Protests against the parks and things they’re doing will have become mainstream by then, even as the oldest gnashers stop caring or die off. Given the state of things here...
- A third gate will have begun by then. It makes DCA’s current state look like Tokyo DisneySea by comparision, but whether it’s worse than 1.0 and WDSP is up to fate to decide.
- Fads from the era are incorporated in a painfully gratuitous way.
- Celebrations apply to all parks at the time. By then, losses may have caused WDSP to have been sold or even shuttered.
- Fox properties will have been used at some point, but not for very long in the end due to the comparative ephemerality of Blue Sky’s films, for example.

Those were the predictions. For my desires...

- Unused areas of Tomorrowland, etc, utilized or leveled.
- To be more specific, a clone of the original Journey Into Imagination now occupies the Carousel building.
- GE to be no longer just sequels. Star Tours may also be moved there, with options for either the randomized or original films.
- MV3D restored to its rightful place.
- SM restored to its rightful place.
- Indy remastered
- Scary Adventures somehow restored
- Revised TLM with an Ursula battle
- Kingdom Hearts ride
- More meetable characters.
- Pixar Pier recolored