We all are aware of the sad state of Tomorrowland and the basically non existent need to update the land. Throughout Tomorrowland’s history, it has gotten updated about every ten years or so but not anymore. Here is a history of updates to the land along with my reasoning as to why I don’t see much reason to get out hopes up on any announcements of real change.
In addition to the land getting some update in 1959 and throughout the early 60’s, it was completely updated in 1967. In the mid to late 70’s, Space Mountain, Starcade, Space Place restaurant, an updated PeopleMover, America Sings and Mission to Mars were all introduced.
In the mid to late 80’s, Captain EO, Star Tours, Circle-Vision added Wonders of China and American Journey, a new Monorail debuted, Star Traders store were all introduced. The Subs and PeopleMover were both repainted as well. In 1998, the land got a somewhat complete refresh along with a new Autopia in 2000.
The damage done to the land in 1998 was touched upon in the mid 2000’s with the additions and a refresh to the land. This included a new Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, a new Monorail, Tomorrowland Terrace got a renovated stage with Jedi training show, a new store under the PeopleMover station was created and the land was completely repainted.
We now arrive at the last 14 years of Tomorrowland, the only real addition has been Star Tours: The Adventures continue. This was an addition in 2011 that had been in talks for a long time and I think Disney only really did it so they could have a huge announcement for Disneyland during the parks panel at the very first D23 Expo event. Other things that have been added were purely for specific reasons. In 2015, Season of the Force’s Star Wars Launch Bay and Hyperspace Mountain were only added to promote the new Star Wars film that was debuting the same year. The Autopia was also remodeled in 2016 but only because Disney had ended their sponsorship with Chevron and Honda was fitting the bill for the renovation of the ride.
Disney did begin to clean up and renovate the entrance to Tomorrowland, only to give up on it later. Is there really any hope that the land will get updated? There’s no real motivation to even add a couple of new additions to the land like they have regularly have done in the past.
IMO, I really don’t see anything happening within the next 10 years or more. Regardless of the land’s current state due to the PeopleMover tracks and all these rumors that keep popping up suggesting that we will get some kind of announcement, I don’t think Disney cares at all about it because they seem pretty comfortable with the way the park is operating currently. I think Disney management’s current justification of this is as follows: Why fix something that’s clearly not possible to fix unless we close the land entirely. There are still rides, people are still flooding the land, so why fix it when it’s not truly broken. And furthermore, why add any new rides or attractions today because it may be a short term investment if at some point, future Disney management will change their mind.
And there lies the problem, if the future keeps getting pushed back and back and back because you think someone else will find fixing the land to be a priority then the future will never come.
In addition to the land getting some update in 1959 and throughout the early 60’s, it was completely updated in 1967. In the mid to late 70’s, Space Mountain, Starcade, Space Place restaurant, an updated PeopleMover, America Sings and Mission to Mars were all introduced.
In the mid to late 80’s, Captain EO, Star Tours, Circle-Vision added Wonders of China and American Journey, a new Monorail debuted, Star Traders store were all introduced. The Subs and PeopleMover were both repainted as well. In 1998, the land got a somewhat complete refresh along with a new Autopia in 2000.
The damage done to the land in 1998 was touched upon in the mid 2000’s with the additions and a refresh to the land. This included a new Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, a new Monorail, Tomorrowland Terrace got a renovated stage with Jedi training show, a new store under the PeopleMover station was created and the land was completely repainted.
We now arrive at the last 14 years of Tomorrowland, the only real addition has been Star Tours: The Adventures continue. This was an addition in 2011 that had been in talks for a long time and I think Disney only really did it so they could have a huge announcement for Disneyland during the parks panel at the very first D23 Expo event. Other things that have been added were purely for specific reasons. In 2015, Season of the Force’s Star Wars Launch Bay and Hyperspace Mountain were only added to promote the new Star Wars film that was debuting the same year. The Autopia was also remodeled in 2016 but only because Disney had ended their sponsorship with Chevron and Honda was fitting the bill for the renovation of the ride.
Disney did begin to clean up and renovate the entrance to Tomorrowland, only to give up on it later. Is there really any hope that the land will get updated? There’s no real motivation to even add a couple of new additions to the land like they have regularly have done in the past.
IMO, I really don’t see anything happening within the next 10 years or more. Regardless of the land’s current state due to the PeopleMover tracks and all these rumors that keep popping up suggesting that we will get some kind of announcement, I don’t think Disney cares at all about it because they seem pretty comfortable with the way the park is operating currently. I think Disney management’s current justification of this is as follows: Why fix something that’s clearly not possible to fix unless we close the land entirely. There are still rides, people are still flooding the land, so why fix it when it’s not truly broken. And furthermore, why add any new rides or attractions today because it may be a short term investment if at some point, future Disney management will change their mind.
And there lies the problem, if the future keeps getting pushed back and back and back because you think someone else will find fixing the land to be a priority then the future will never come.
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