Disneyland is a marvel of immersion. When you step into the gates, the real world melts away, replaced by little vignettes of fantasy. Except Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland is a mess. There have been better and worse versions of Tomorrowland. But none have ever really worked, and Walt Disney himself knew it from the start.
Tomorrowland was a last-minute addition. Disney had grand visions but not unlimited funds, and many ideas went by the wayside during the planning and construction of Disneyland. Tomorrowland was always in limbo. It was supposed to have a submarine ride, the monorail and a “house of the future.” Then the project’s timeline started falling further and further behind, and park general manager C.V. Wood convinced Disney to shelve the land and open it sometime after the rest of the park.
The only problem? Disney kept talking about it in his ABC show chronicling the park's construction. Feeling he’d said too much already, he decided he couldn’t backtrack. Tomorrowland would need to open with the rest of the park in 1955. Now four months behind, work began again. Almost all of its attractions were scrapped, replaced by partially empty exhibition halls (they couldn’t get enough sponsors together at the last minute) and a restaurant. When the first guests arrived on July 17, 1955, workers were still frantically applying the finishing touches.
The problem with Tomorrowland, as the joke goes, is that tomorrow always comes.
Full article... Disneyland's Tomorrowland was terribly conceived from the start. There's only one way to fix it.
Thoughts On Tomorrowland
-
hobie16
- Permanent Fixture
- Posts: 10546
- Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:45 pm
- Park: DLR
- Department: Fruity Drink Land
- Position: Mai Tai Face Plant
- Location: 717 Miles NNW Of DLR
Thoughts On Tomorrowland
Don't be fooled by appearances. In Hawaii, some of the most powerful people look like bums and stuntmen.
--- Matt King
Stay low and run in a zigzag pattern.
Re: Thoughts On Tomorrowland
I think the first time we visited Disneyland was in 1961 or 1962. I remember going through a "House of the Future", but it wasn't terribly exciting. I remember I had gotten one of those big lollipops before we went in, and my brother telling me that the men in suits that were watching everybody wouldn't let me lick my lollipop while we were in there. I don't even remember what made it a "home of the future". Looked like a typical house of the time to me.