Tomorrowland is perpetually troubled. So why is it so popular?

[TP2000]

TL is a mess if viewed as stacking up to what Walt originally intended. It's wildly successful as a mish-mash of vaguely futuristic experiences.

Even what Walt originally intended never really worked out. Tomorrowland in the 1950's had the park's breakout hit with Autopia; a deceptively simple little concept. Autopia was so crazy popular they had to add a second version in 1959 to double the capacity, and add two additional smaller versions for 2nd Graders (Junior Autopia) and Pre-Schoolers (Midget Autopia). By 1959 there were four different Autopia rides available. The rest of the land from 1955 to 1966 was a mish-mash of ideas and concepts and sponsored commercials, plus new Nash Rambler's parked in pre-show areas and a 20K Leagues Under The Sea movie walk-through just to confuse things further.

Lean up against this handsome new Rambler and watch Circarama on the screens above! And the little lady can check out a new Kelvinator fridge. Walt Disney and your friendly Rambler dealer welcome you to the future!

The 1967 New Tomorrowland that we all hold in such high regard had cohesive architecture and an over-arching theme that mirrored the wildly successful World's Fairs of the 1960's ('62 Seattle, '64 New York, '67 Montreal). But it was still a bit of a mish-mash story, with all the kids still just running back to Autopia.

Now it's just a random collection of very popular rides vaguely themed to contemporary culture or "outer space". And most people could care less as long as they can score a Space Mountain Fastpass and get the planet they want on Star Tours. And get little Timmy on Autopia and help him reach the gas pedal.

Not sure there's much you can do with Tomorrowland if you want to think more than 10 seconds about the story or theme. But if you just want something to look spacey and not worry about it for more than 5 seconds of thought, then Tomorrowland will always be popular.

 

[mickEblu]

That wasn't a problem when the original plans for Star Wars were to replace the cars and subs with the Endor Moon. Too bad they never went through with that.

That would habe been cool and left the area nice and forresty. Not to mention you would have a state of the art Star Wars ride where you are really moving and not just simulated. Oh well.

 

[mickEblu]

Depending on if (when) SWL is massively successful, you have to wonder if they use at least a part of TL as a Star Wars expansion pad.

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

For my money, the only perpetual trouble Tomorrowland has is the inability for guests to get where they want to go in a reasonable manner. Stroller, bottlenecks, LARGE USELESS ROCKS, and attractions in the middle of walkways make it a nightmare to navigate, especially during any periods where Main St is being used for a parade.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Not sure there's much you can do with Tomorrowland if you want to think more than 10 seconds about the story or theme. But if you just want something to look spacey and not worry about it for more than 5 seconds of thought, then Tomorrowland will always be popular.

I agree, and with the exception of that flash of time right after TL '67 opened the land has never lived up to Walt's vision, which was a flawed concept for a theme park from the start.

 

[hawkfam]

Tomorrowland suffers from a flawed design (sorry Walt). Very few examples of two attraction spaces across a corridor from one another exist. For good reason!

Attractions rimming a berm (none demonstratably better than the simple yet elegant Epcot layout) are the better design choice. The one other one that immediately jumps to mind is Pan across from Small World in MK... it sucks!

Fantasyland works in part because it splays open.

Then Baxter had the ever so fine idea to plop an attraction in front of said bottle neck.

The only way out of this situation is to level and push back one of the two flanking buildings. Or add a second level walkway akin to Shanghai. Rotting infrastructure everywhere clogs up a land with several relatively popular attractions and ever so much wasted/unused space.

Agree with all of this. Is the simple solution then once Galaxy's Edge opens up Star Tours and Star Trader can both be shut down/demolished which then opens up a lot of space on the south side of the path to alleviate the congestion? Something smaller, but also incorporating both buildings, could then be opened up in the space?

 

[mickEblu]

The future plans for TL are such a mystery. You want to believe they will just knock everything down and present us with some modern version of the original vision but it's hard to believe with everything going the way of the IP. At best we can probably expect huge aesthetic improvements with a mish mash of IP attractions. Some new, some old.

Aesthetics, kinetics and Some cool restaurant like they are getting at EPCOT would make all the difference.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Can you imagine if they had built the Star Wars area in TL, the ugliest part of the train ride? There could have been Endor trees, Ewoks, bike speeders.

 

[shortstop]

Can you imagine if they had built the Star Wars area in TL, the ugliest part of the train ride? There could have been Endor trees, Ewoks, bike speeders.

Sounds charming.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Can you imagine if they had built the Star Wars area in TL, the ugliest part of the train ride? There could have been Endor trees, Ewoks, bike speeders.

If Disney had put GE in Tomorrowland, that probably would have been the nail in the coffin for me.

 

[shortstop]

If Disney had put GE in Tomorrowland, that probably would have been the nail in the coffin for me.

See, at least they aren't THAT dumb

 

[Californian Elitist]

See, at least they aren't THAT dumb

They're still dumb enough lol. It's still going in the park, tucked away or not.

 

[shortstop]

They're still dumb enough lol. It's still going in the park, tucked away or not.

Perhaps I've been a bit of a Star Wars apologist, but I should clarify my stance on it being in the park as more of a "it doesn't make my skin crawl but only because of its location". But I have to say that the thought of it replacing TL made me sick to my stomach, and given a choice between SW and something original going in the back of the park, I'd have picked something original. Wrong thread, though!

Down with Astro Orbiter!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Perhaps I've been a bit of a Star Wars apologist, but I should clarify my stance on it being in the park as more of a "it doesn't make my skin crawl but only because of its location". But I have to say that the thought of it replacing TL made me sick to my stomach, and given a choice between SW and something original going in the back of the park, I'd have picked something original. Wrong thread, though!

Down with Astro Orbiter!

Definitely!

Astro Orbiter should be put back in its original location. Hate that it sits RIGHT IN THE FRONT. Putting it back where it once stood would make a big difference. Disney also needs to take out the Peoplemover tracks. I think starting with those two would be a good idea, then work from there.

 

[shortstop]

Definitely!

Astro Orbiter should be put back in its original location. Hate that it sits RIGHT IN THE FRONT. Putting it back where it once stood would make a big difference. Disney also needs to take out the Peoplemover tracks. I think starting with those two would be a good idea, then work from there.

I like the kinetic energy but it's too much of a roadblock and it's too close to the hub. I agree, but it back on the peoplemover station! And why tear out the tracks when you could just bring the Peoplemover back

 

[Californian Elitist]

I like the kinetic energy but it's too much of a roadblock and it's too close to the hub. I agree, but it back on the peoplemover station! And why tear out the tracks when you could just bring the Peoplemover back

If there was a guarantee the Peoplemover would be at least updated, if not futuristic, I'd be all for its return.

 

[BrianLo]

The other thing that boggles my mind is that this Tomorrowland in Disneyland is easily the worst version in the world. Despite that, the runners-up (MK, HKDL) are actually getting some serious investment. Instead, all we've heard out of the rumour mill is about Fantasyland.

 

[NobodyElse]

If Disney had put GE in Tomorrowland, that probably would have been the nail in the coffin for me.

Oh, you're thinking of a different GE...

 

[NobodyElse]

Seriously. They should just call it Strollerland. It's a mystery to me why there are so many strollers at DL now. It wasn't always like that.

Disney needs to once again set the bar for innovation and creativity. Tomorrowland would be the perfect place to highlight the technology of the world's first automated stroller parking storage system. Think a scaled-down version of something like this:


think of all the walking space we could regain.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The other thing that boggles my mind is that this Tomorrowland in Disneyland is easily the worst version in the world. Despite that, the runners-up (MK, HKDL) are actually getting some serious investment. Instead, all we've heard out of the rumour mill is about Fantasyland.

Disneyland's Tomorrowland may be the worst major land in any Magic Kingdom style park.