Tomorrowland is a jumble of the past and strange, confusing concepts. As a cast member, I was working when they had small gardens of tomatoes and other vegetables and guests were eating them to the dismay of maintenance! The Rocket Rods destroyed the People Mover and of course we no longer have the Skyway in any of the parks. They do have the Skyliner at Walt Disney World which transports guest to parks and resorts. Disneyland has strange rocks at the entrance of the land, unusual theming, the future will have rocks? Then, they moved the Rocket Jets to the front, which is a let down from the elevator like a gantry at NASA leading up to the attraction. Disney land design has a centerpiece, a “weenie”, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland, there is the EPCOT ball at WDW, but rocks and a ride up front that snares foot traffic? There’s a weird antenna to replace Rocket Jets, who came up with that idea? This part of Disneyland is tired, outdated, and confusing.
What is the future? Let’s look at the film, Tomorrowland (2015), it isn’t about a place, the movie is about an ideal. I think Disneyland needs a Tomorrowland. The other standout park theming for a land is Discoveryland for Disneyland Paris which is steampunk themed! What is needed is to bring some of the concepts from the Tomorrowland movie, the stunning part of the film (if you have seen it) is the wheat fields that open up to the majesty of the spires of Tomorrowland. I would have those tall stalks of wheat surrounding the entrance, maybe thin wires to stop guests from touching or trying to walk in them, possibly it is Imagineered wheat stalks. In the distance which is at the end of the park is the spires, which may be constructed around the railroad track. So what would be the discontinued attractions and areas? I like many of these rides, but I think Star Tours should close, remember that it is also at Disney's Hollywood Studios, just like Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Which also brings Star Wars Launch Bay, I love it, but if there is a large attraction like Tron, there will need to be space to place it. Tomorrowland should have a single theme not different IPs.
I would also bring back in the Mary Blair murals, "The Spirit of Creative Energies Among Children", that were alongside both sides and taken down for standard spacey murals. I would keep Astro Blasters, it is a fun ride, perfect for kids which is needed for Tomorrowland. There is a sequence in Tomorrowland where Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) walks through the city, just stunned by teenagers in jetpacks. The Bell Rocket Belt was shown at Disneyland in 1966 and they have a Jet Packs ride (like Rocket Jets) at Shanghai Disneyland. It should be individual harnesses connected together on an arm that moves you like Rocket Jets if this is ported to Disneyland. The point is that the area should be vibrant, figures in jet packs fly through a tube or section apart from guests, rockets take off, similar to the sounds you hear at Galaxy’s Edge. In the movie, there are circular structures of gardens, trains hover in the air, Monorail!, and Casey Newton sees a woman working on a digital computer screen (no physical object). At the Tesla Station, there is the Levitating Elevated Vehicle, the train. I would like to see the Monorail re-themed like the LEV and the track should be kept intact.
Casey travels on it seeing swimming pools in the air, hover vehicles, and finally rockets landing right out of SpaceX’s Falcon 9! For me, rocket launches are exciting, not as ordinary as the space shuttle launches. The goal of course is to return to the Moon and establish a place to live on Mars! Of course, this could be a port of Mission Space or something like it at Tomorrowland. So this would occupy the Star Tours building. In the movie, Casey passes a cart of exotic metals observed by scientists. There is like Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew with the Muppet Mobile Lab at EPCOT, how about something also mobile, but showing science experiments (which of course you can buy at the gift shop). Possibly, there are screens to show the latest space launch, and video of the International Space Station. This would not be a simple adaptation of the film to the park, but bringing the energy and the wow of the sequence.
It should be interactive, this is the next gen of theme parks, play areas where there also could be learning. There was Innoventions at Disneyland and ImageWorks at EPCOT, but there is not a strong theme in them. Hall of Invention would feature some inventors; Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla (the Tesla Coil is fun to see), Hedy Lamarr (her frequency-hopping system), Katherine Johnson (her calculations that made the space program work! plus Hidden Figures is currently streaming on Disney+), and Heidi Cullen (displays of the environment and her contribution to climate science). I would put the scene in Tomorrowland where teachers are trying to drone on about the despair and Casey says, "Can we fix it?" Also, the end scene where Casey says, "Dreamers. We are looking for dreamers." Frank Walker adds, "Find the ones who haven't given up. They are the future." Sell those Tomorrowland pins! They were sold for years after the movie, a symbol of hope for the future, the whole point of the film! There could also be fictional inventions like those seen at Journey Into Imagination With Figment at EPCOT. I've seen the interaction at the California Science Center. Informative and interactive exhibits. Maybe this could work hand in hand with the STEM program, the displays could be like Spaceship Earth at EPCOT with audio-animatronic figures.
Speaking of which, there should be an area on the opposite side for robots, maybe called Audio-Animatronics. Robotics are now part of school programs, its hands on, and gets young people interested in engineering and science. I haven't been to Droid Depot at Galaxy's Edge, but I think this should be getting into the science and how robots work. It can be tied to Audio-Animatronics with looks at some of the park robots so kids can be inspired to build the next robots. Build-A-Bear, it should be Build a Robot, also with robots for sale. This can be tied to WALL-E (2008) and maybe he can host the area. Central to the park is the People Mover, it really says to me Tomorrowland, seeing it pass overhead. A new track can be laid down, it was shaky in places, I think the old track is worn down by Rocket Rods. It is important because it is the one ride where you can just sit, look around the park, and relax in the open air. I think that Space Mountain should be intact, it is part of the Tomorrowland film, and it is just great with the Hyperspace Mountain upgrade. I’m not certain about Submarine Voyage, it takes up space and is high maintenance. It may be replaced by Tron Lightcycle Power Run, but if a modified Mission Space is brought over, then with Space Mountain there will be enough thrill rides.
If the submarines are replaced, I would make the lagoon into a half-circle, add some waterfalls like what was at Disneyland Hotel, and put the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), or part of it. There is a walk through attraction, Les Mystères du Nautilus, at Disneyland Paris and of course displays from the film lasted for eleven years! If Tron Lightcycle Power Run is built in Tomorrowland, most likely it will need the lagoon and Autopia area. The latter could be upgraded to be kept as an opening day attraction, but it should be EVs with autonomous driving feature so no bumps. Lastly, the food, pizza is not the food of the future, neither should there be standard fast food. Look at Avatar Land at Animal Kingdom or Galaxy’s Edge. Tomorrowland should have healthy, fresh items possibly in a new restaurant area apart from Alien Pizza Planet and Tomorrowland Terrace. Empanadas, bao buns, and falafels (dang!, I’m getting hungry writing this part up). I think Disney has Impossible Foods at parks, under contract, but I don’t think genetically modified food is the future. There should be sensible, vegan food offerings. The point is to be innovative, timeless, and hopeful. Oh yeah, and I would like George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie, Keegan-Michal Key (he hosts Brain Games which can also be brought to Tomorrowland!), and director Brad Bird (if they are available) to attend the opening of the new Tomorrowland!
#Tomorrowland, #Disneyland, #MissionSpace, #BradBird
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