Episode Details

Jim Hill and Len Testa explore the complicated history of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, a land that has always struggled to keep pace with the future. They trace its evolution from opening-day exhibits such as Rocket to the Moon, the House of the Future, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea through the ambitious 1967 redesign, Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Jim also reveals abandoned plans for a massive Star Tours terminal, Discoveryland-inspired renovations, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and a possible Iron Man attraction. Recorded live at Disneyland, this episode examines what Tomorrowland was, what it failed to become, and how Disney might reinvent it again.

Original Air Date: January 7, 2013
Original Title: Disneyland's We'll-Build-It-Tomorrow-Land. Recorded Live at Disneyland (Jan. 2013)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Why Disneyland’s Tomorrowland earned a reputation as the land Disney would finish building tomorrow.

• How Tomorrowland nearly failed to open with the rest of Disneyland because Disney lacked sufficient money, attractions, and finished concepts.

• The land’s original depiction of the distant future of 1986, the year Halley’s Comet was expected to return.

• How empty Tomorrowland buildings were filled with corporate exhibits such as Crane’s Bathroom of Tomorrow.

• Why Disney installed a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walkthrough beside exhibits promoting futuristic plumbing fixtures.

• The landscaping solution that turned ordinary weeds into labeled botanical displays when Disney lacked money for plants.

• The unreliable Phantom Boats and the abandoned Florida-style airboat attraction that proved too loud for Disneyland.

• Why early Tomorrowland relied heavily on films and walkthroughs that could be produced faster than complex ride systems.

• The development of Circarama and Disney’s early experiments with panoramic motion-picture presentations.

• How Walt repeatedly returned to Tomorrowland with new concepts because he knew the opening-day land had fallen short.

• The earliest Space Mountain concepts, including multiple tracks that would have carried ride vehicles outside the show building.

• How Disneyland’s Rocket to the Moon simulated acceleration with vibrating floors and moving theater seats.

• The unusually popular Rocket to the Moon seat that reportedly produced a stronger vibration than the others.

• The House of the Future and Disney’s realization that walkthrough attractions created capacity and crowd-flow problems.

• Why guests waiting outside a walkthrough became frustrated when those inside moved at their own pace.

• How General Dynamics helped finance Disneyland’s original Submarine Voyage.

• Walt Disney’s decision to make Tomorrowland feel futuristic by filling it with constant movement.

• The kinetic combination of the PeopleMover, Monorail, Submarine Voyage, Autopia, and other transportation systems.

• How Adventures Thru Inner Space used scientific subject matter and the Sherman Brothers’ “Miracles from Molecules” song.

• Why Disneyland brought Carousel of Progress west after its successful run at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

• The unsuccessful negotiations that prevented Disney from transferring the complete Ford Magic Skyway attraction to Disneyland.

• How the Primeval World dinosaurs became the surviving Disneyland component of Ford’s World’s Fair attraction.

• Walt’s final involvement with Tomorrowland’s major 1967 transformation shortly before his death.

• Why Disneyland received relatively little attention after Walt died while company resources shifted toward Walt Disney World.

• The creation of the Main Street Electrical Parade as Disneyland searched for a new nighttime attraction in the early 1970s.

• How the first Electrical Parade test reportedly lost battery