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Since Tomorrowland is supposedly going to be the next land to get a huge makeover, and boy does it need it, I've been thinking about what could be done to make it a better place. I'm a details person, so I've got quite a bit of stuff mapped out in my head, and I really think the vast majority of what I've put together would work. I've tried to keep it possible with a modest budget. Keep in mind that by 'modest budget', I mean there wouldn't be any exclusive new rides. A lot of this stuff would still cost a considerable sum, but I think everyone would agree it would all be major improvements. In no particular order, let's get on with it!
Space Mountain:
I know what you're thinking. It just got redone, right? But everything could use a little bit of plussing! I hate the 'deck' for a line. So I propose that gets plussed. Make a somewhat smaller scale House of the Future and plant it smack dab in the middle. It wouldn't be a walk through, but the windows could be frosted with some colored lighting behind them so that it could have some action (colors changing and whatnot). I'd like to see a few of the really awesome metal palm trees from the Magic Kingdom in Florida be put around on the deck as well, to maybe make it look like it's the yard. If you really wanted a story, some signs could be put up advertising it as a model home that will be for sale soon.
Starcade:
Gone. Replaced with a sit-down dining option, preferably based on Star Wars. Imagine sitting down in the cantina and watching a band of musicians dressed up as aliens playing. How cool would that be? I think you'd have lots of AP holders coming just to eat and spend money there. If possible, it'd be great if the food were generally healthier items. I'm thinking Blue Milk would need to be on the menu. Even if it wasn't the Cantina, it could still be some sort of outer space area with aliens. The servers could even wear green makeup to add to the ambiance. Maybe Cloud City based?
Autopia:
Electric! It'll be the highway of the future again. The back side of the park would smell so much better it wouldn't even be funny. Make all the cars retro-futuristic with 'spaceship' noises like the HKDL ride. I'd like to see LEDs embedded in the pavement so that it looks like you're driving through lanes (think white along the sides with yellow dashes in the center, but color shifting would be cool too). Possibly a few lit up sculptures along the way just for added scenery and to make it a bit different at night.
I'd also paint or stain the Monorail/PeopleMover beams so that they blend in better with the trees. The highway of the future shouldn't look like it's under industrial infrastructure, right?
The HKDL ride vehicles have a couple of extra features that I'd probably leave out. Namely the safety dashboard and gauges. Those seem expensive. I want rides that will be easy to keep looking brand new, and that means the fewer moving parts exposed to guests the better. A molded plastic or fiberglass dash would work fine and stay looking good for much longer than pretty much anything else.
PeopleMover:
Fixed. Duh. Make it have the linear motors like the TTA at Magic Kingdom and the Submarines next door. Have the loading station right in the center of Tomorrowland again. Basically exactly the same thing everybody has been begging for. If possible, I think it would be great if the vehicles themselves lit up at night. It would be really cool to see them traveling along above your head like the Coke trucks at Christmas (but in more colors).
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage:
Use the computerized projections to the full extent of their abilities. Give a different ride every time! There's really not much more to be said, other than making it not follow the story line of the movie like EVERY OTHER ATTRACTION WITH NEMO IN THE NAME.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters:
I'd like to see some more animatronics. Make more of the targets move. Maybe make Zurg an animatronic that aims at you. Fix it up a bit in general. Otherwise, I'm a fan of BLAB even if everyone else isn't. I think that with other additions to Tomorrowland and the increased foot traffic they would bring, ride attendance would go way up.
General Area Improvements:
The usual. Make all the buildings have better themes. I'd like to see more lighting everywhere so that maybe during the day it looks like the classic blue and white but at night it's more Jules Verne. Some more shrubbery would be nice (hopefully without any black knights). I'd like to see the murals go, to be replaced possibly with simpler geometric shapes. Perhaps at night they could have scenes projected onto them, like a kaleidoscope.
That's it for the simple improvements. I think all of the above could easilyInnoventions:
Gut the building. Move the exhibits into the Magic Eye TheatreMission: Space:
Yes! It's an awesome ride. The technology is established. It should be done!
Tear out Redd Rockett's and use that space. Since only about half the people actually want the more intense ride, there's really no need for 4 full centrifuges. Maybe put 2 downstairs and then use upstairs space more efficiently with the ride vehicles in a row. I'd like to see varying missions, kind of like ST2. Maybe have launch sequences where things don't go completely right, or trips that stop at the moon as a simple cargo mission.
I don't know whether the current building could handle a conversion to a ride or not. It looks to be about the same size on Google Maps as M:S at Epcot, but a 2 story ride setup with half the centrifuges should take up less interior space. If nothing else, the building originally had 2 theaters in the round which could potentially convert into centrifuge rooms pretty readily. Regardless of what happens, I think the Moonliner should stay. It's a classic, and it could even be the weenie for the ride. It also needs to keep advertising Coke products, because you really don't want to make sponsors annoyed if possible. Coke would probably love the extra traffic from M:S, and would also love the lack of competition from a counter service restaurant right behind.
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There are a couple of things I haven't mentioned in this, namely the Tomorrowland Terrace, Monorail, Star Tours and the Astro Orbitor. Tomorrowland Terrace is pretty much fine as it is, they've been improving that for a while now. Astro Orbitor isn't in the greatest spot, but my understanding is that the existing PeopleMover roof isn't strong enough to hold the current iteration of the ride or the waistlines of its passengers. Also, I tried to do this whole thing with an eye to a budget but still managing to make the place new and interesting for years and possibly decades to come. As such, I'd take new attractions over moving one that's working pretty well where it's at and requiring a huge unneeded structure be built. However, I would like to see the traffic pattern improved somewhat, especially during parades. Oh, and if the AO was moved back up on the roof it would show an awful lot of the backstage areas that don't need to be seen. I do think that the Observatron could use some sprucing up, namely in color scheme and lighting. But it makes a pretty decent sculpture that would be much more visible to people once the PeopleMover is running again.
The Monorail just got redone, so that's probably staying the way it is for a while. I'd like a 4th one as much as anybody, but I doubt we're going to get it. Might as well just accept it and move on.
Star Tours 2 is already on the way, so I didn't think a whole lot about that. But the above restaurant timed to the opening would probably do really well.
What's everybody think?
Oh, yeah. I Thought about a Light Cycles roller coaster, but I just can't see where they'd find the space. Sure, you could knock out some backstage stuff, but that brings the budget way way up. Besides, having 2 new rides in the area already would make Tomorrowland a hot ticket without it. If it's eventually built, I see it happening in DCA.
Space Mountain:
I know what you're thinking. It just got redone, right? But everything could use a little bit of plussing! I hate the 'deck' for a line. So I propose that gets plussed. Make a somewhat smaller scale House of the Future and plant it smack dab in the middle. It wouldn't be a walk through, but the windows could be frosted with some colored lighting behind them so that it could have some action (colors changing and whatnot). I'd like to see a few of the really awesome metal palm trees from the Magic Kingdom in Florida be put around on the deck as well, to maybe make it look like it's the yard. If you really wanted a story, some signs could be put up advertising it as a model home that will be for sale soon.
Starcade:
Gone. Replaced with a sit-down dining option, preferably based on Star Wars. Imagine sitting down in the cantina and watching a band of musicians dressed up as aliens playing. How cool would that be? I think you'd have lots of AP holders coming just to eat and spend money there. If possible, it'd be great if the food were generally healthier items. I'm thinking Blue Milk would need to be on the menu. Even if it wasn't the Cantina, it could still be some sort of outer space area with aliens. The servers could even wear green makeup to add to the ambiance. Maybe Cloud City based?
Autopia:
Electric! It'll be the highway of the future again. The back side of the park would smell so much better it wouldn't even be funny. Make all the cars retro-futuristic with 'spaceship' noises like the HKDL ride. I'd like to see LEDs embedded in the pavement so that it looks like you're driving through lanes (think white along the sides with yellow dashes in the center, but color shifting would be cool too). Possibly a few lit up sculptures along the way just for added scenery and to make it a bit different at night.
I'd also paint or stain the Monorail/PeopleMover beams so that they blend in better with the trees. The highway of the future shouldn't look like it's under industrial infrastructure, right?
The HKDL ride vehicles have a couple of extra features that I'd probably leave out. Namely the safety dashboard and gauges. Those seem expensive. I want rides that will be easy to keep looking brand new, and that means the fewer moving parts exposed to guests the better. A molded plastic or fiberglass dash would work fine and stay looking good for much longer than pretty much anything else.
PeopleMover:
Fixed. Duh. Make it have the linear motors like the TTA at Magic Kingdom and the Submarines next door. Have the loading station right in the center of Tomorrowland again. Basically exactly the same thing everybody has been begging for. If possible, I think it would be great if the vehicles themselves lit up at night. It would be really cool to see them traveling along above your head like the Coke trucks at Christmas (but in more colors).
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage:
Use the computerized projections to the full extent of their abilities. Give a different ride every time! There's really not much more to be said, other than making it not follow the story line of the movie like EVERY OTHER ATTRACTION WITH NEMO IN THE NAME.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters:
I'd like to see some more animatronics. Make more of the targets move. Maybe make Zurg an animatronic that aims at you. Fix it up a bit in general. Otherwise, I'm a fan of BLAB even if everyone else isn't. I think that with other additions to Tomorrowland and the increased foot traffic they would bring, ride attendance would go way up.
General Area Improvements:
The usual. Make all the buildings have better themes. I'd like to see more lighting everywhere so that maybe during the day it looks like the classic blue and white but at night it's more Jules Verne. Some more shrubbery would be nice (hopefully without any black knights). I'd like to see the murals go, to be replaced possibly with simpler geometric shapes. Perhaps at night they could have scenes projected onto them, like a kaleidoscope.
That's it for the simple improvements. I think all of the above could easilyInnoventions:
Gut the building. Move the exhibits into the Magic Eye TheatreMission: Space:
Yes! It's an awesome ride. The technology is established. It should be done!
Tear out Redd Rockett's and use that space. Since only about half the people actually want the more intense ride, there's really no need for 4 full centrifuges. Maybe put 2 downstairs and then use upstairs space more efficiently with the ride vehicles in a row. I'd like to see varying missions, kind of like ST2. Maybe have launch sequences where things don't go completely right, or trips that stop at the moon as a simple cargo mission.
I don't know whether the current building could handle a conversion to a ride or not. It looks to be about the same size on Google Maps as M:S at Epcot, but a 2 story ride setup with half the centrifuges should take up less interior space. If nothing else, the building originally had 2 theaters in the round which could potentially convert into centrifuge rooms pretty readily. Regardless of what happens, I think the Moonliner should stay. It's a classic, and it could even be the weenie for the ride. It also needs to keep advertising Coke products, because you really don't want to make sponsors annoyed if possible. Coke would probably love the extra traffic from M:S, and would also love the lack of competition from a counter service restaurant right behind.
-------------------
There are a couple of things I haven't mentioned in this, namely the Tomorrowland Terrace, Monorail, Star Tours and the Astro Orbitor. Tomorrowland Terrace is pretty much fine as it is, they've been improving that for a while now. Astro Orbitor isn't in the greatest spot, but my understanding is that the existing PeopleMover roof isn't strong enough to hold the current iteration of the ride or the waistlines of its passengers. Also, I tried to do this whole thing with an eye to a budget but still managing to make the place new and interesting for years and possibly decades to come. As such, I'd take new attractions over moving one that's working pretty well where it's at and requiring a huge unneeded structure be built. However, I would like to see the traffic pattern improved somewhat, especially during parades. Oh, and if the AO was moved back up on the roof it would show an awful lot of the backstage areas that don't need to be seen. I do think that the Observatron could use some sprucing up, namely in color scheme and lighting. But it makes a pretty decent sculpture that would be much more visible to people once the PeopleMover is running again.
The Monorail just got redone, so that's probably staying the way it is for a while. I'd like a 4th one as much as anybody, but I doubt we're going to get it. Might as well just accept it and move on.
Star Tours 2 is already on the way, so I didn't think a whole lot about that. But the above restaurant timed to the opening would probably do really well.
What's everybody think?
Oh, yeah. I Thought about a Light Cycles roller coaster, but I just can't see where they'd find the space. Sure, you could knock out some backstage stuff, but that brings the budget way way up. Besides, having 2 new rides in the area already would make Tomorrowland a hot ticket without it. If it's eventually built, I see it happening in DCA.
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