Should Tommorowland be renamed?

[Mickey Jr.]

I know it sounds sacriledge but in light of the excellent thread posted by aerinpegadrak, I started to wonder if we, as a society, do not embrace visions of a future, then maybe the whole idea of Tommorowland, is outdated as well? I mean Walt, himself said he didn't want Disneyland to become a museum, that he wanted it to constantly be changing and be fresh. I really like the idea of Discoveryland in Paris and think something like that would be much better here in Disneyland. I just think the idea of trying to constantly create futuristic attractions for Tommorowland is futile. We ARE in the future. I believe there would be much more room for creativity and growth if Disneyland were to embrace imagination, science fiction and the "what if's" more than the "what do we think the future will bring" type of mentality.

This kind of goes hand in hand with saving old unpopular attractions which are "forced" to hang around because the vocal few can't stomach the idea of a Disneyland without them. Can you imagine a Disneyland without Mr. Lincoln? I have to admit that I can only because I hate to admit that I never go see him. Yea he's an "institution" but again...is he just becoming a nostalgic exhibit for the few who "remember when..."?

I vote for Tommorowland to be renamed or at the very least, rethemed instead of floundering about the way it has been for the past 10 years.


What do you think?

[Gunny]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

No dont rename it.

Yesterdays tommorrow land?

[mycroft16]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

I don't know about renaming it... we are in yesterdays future, but there is still a future for today. That's why it's so hard for Tomorrowland to keep up with things. And I think Walt knew that. That's why there were a lot of exhibits back in the day. They were easier to update and keep "futuristic". Edutainment is so much easier to theme into one cohesive whole than just plain rides are. I think a retheming and rethinking of what Tomorrowland is is definitely needed. I like Discoveryland as it promotes the "idea" of discovering what the world and the future holds. It's all about adventure on the forefront of science and thinking, presented in a Jules Verne style theme. It works. Tomorrowland needs something like that. One theme that doesn't have to change, but that allows for attractions to smoothly be updated easily within the theme.

[Disneyland Daddy]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

It should not be renamed. But it should be almost all the way rebuilt. It's a mess and it should deal with TOMORROW - not yesterday's tomorrow or last weeks next week - TOMORROW.

[barfownz]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

NO!! Tomorrowland has had its name since 55'!

[UncleTom]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

They don't need to fix the name but the content in TL.

[Speedway]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

NO!! Tomorrowland has had its name since 55'!

Ever the rationalist, are we?

[fjhuerta]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

Keeping Tomorrowland's name should be the logical answer here.

After all, it's what Walt wanted. That's the way Disneyland should stay, right?

Then again, Tomorrowland has never been about Tomorrow. It has always been about a supposed tomorrow (white paint, rockets, pods) that never came, a stylized version of the future that never was (1998), and right now, just about anything they can put in there, even if it has nothing to do with the future (the Nemo ride, Buzz Lightyear).

IMHO, Tomorrowland is a flawed concept from the start. Every other land has a static theme to it. You can't change your vision of what Fantasyland is, because it's set, and tales and stories of times gone by. Adventureland tells tales of discovery and action; Frontierland is a homage to the old West. New Orleans Square, Toontown, you name it - they start from a basic, static concept and build their attractions, rides, and themes from there.

But, you tell me. What's static about the future? Nothing, really. The future is in a state of constant change.

Either you try and build a Tomorrowland that tries to guess what the future will be in 50, or 100 years, or risk having an Innoventions / Circuit City display, where the future passed you by.

Right now, Tomorrowland isn't even trying to stand for anything. It's as themeless as a land can go. Sure, Space Mountain still has the "futuristic space port" theme. And Star Tours could be thought of as a futuristic ride throughout the galaxy.

But that's it.

Buzz... what is Buzz? A trip through your local toy aisle in a mall store? Don't get me wrong - I like Buzz. But it has no business doing anything in Tomorrowland. It'd be a cool Fantasyland ride. The same as Nemo.

I think DL Paris got the right idea. It's not Tomorrowland - it's Discoveryland. The future that never was. (Yeah, Jules Verne was my childhood hero). I say that's the sort of thing the rest of the parks should try and go for.

As it stands, though, DL's Tomorrowland will never be able to satisfy anyone if its mission isn't clearly stated. I'd say it's the land with the most problems, and it's quite simple to see why...

[sleepyjeff]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

It should stay Tomorrowland and it should be themed-forward with that in mind.

1-Peoplemover track could provide the base for a flying cars attraction; using optical camouflage on the both the pillars and beamway this could be done... http://projects.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp...DIA/xv/oc.html The flying cars then would follow the invisable track around TM appearing to both riders and pedestrians below as if they were really flying. A smooth floating feel along with small altititude adjustments would lend to the overall effect.

2-Replace Star Tours, The Starcade, and HISTA with a multi-faceted attraction featuring a mock-up of the Nuclear Starship Orion.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project..._propulsion%29 This attraction would start with a short journey in Space Planes from Earth to the Orion Starship in orbit(with a nice fly around of the starship before docking). After docking a short tour of the interior of the Starship, including the bunk rooms, galley and mess hall, engineering and science labs and the Captains quarters; the tour would end on the Ships Bridge just in time for a test fire of the engines. Due to a small but potentially dangerous malfuntion the tour would end abruptly with an emergency pod exit required. Pods would go to a low Earth orbit Space Station/gift shop

3-Autopia should have its' cars replaced with solar powered electric vehicles(which would also eliminate one of the most polluting aspects of the Disneyland Resort) with special heads up display devices projecting weather, road cond., traffic, and even how long the line at your favorite drive thru is right on your windshield.

4-The Pavement of TL should be embedded with tens of +thousands of fiber-optics to give the effect of walking on stars after the Sun goes down... not unlike the one at Epcot, except all over TL.

5-Innoventions should give way to a new AA show featuring several models of Homes of the Future not too unlike those shown at the old Epcot attraction Horizons....except the concepts should be a little more forward than that mid-80 attraction.

[Disneyland Daddy]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

It should stay Tomorrowland and it should be themed-forward with that in mind.

1-Peoplemover track could provide the base for a flying cars attraction; using optical camouflage on the both the pillars and beamway this could be done... http://projects.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp...DIA/xv/oc.html The flying cars then would follow the invisable track around TM appearing to both riders and pedestrians below as if they were really flying. A smooth floating feel along with small altititude adjustments would lend to the overall effect.

2-Replace Star Tours, The Starcade, and HISTA with a multi-faceted attraction featuring a mock-up of the Nuclear Starship Orion.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project..._propulsion%29 This attraction would start with a short journey in Space Planes from Earth to the Orion Starship in orbit(with a nice fly around of the starship before docking). After docking a short tour of the interior of the Starship, including the bunk rooms, galley and mess hall, engineering and science labs and the Captains quarters; the tour would end on the Ships Bridge just in time for a test fire of the engines. Due to a small but potentially dangerous malfuntion the tour would end abruptly with an emergency pod exit required. Pods would go to a low Earth orbit Space Station/gift shop

3-Autopia should have its' cars replaced with solar powered electric vehicles(which would also eliminate one of the most polluting aspects of the Disneyland Resort) with special heads up display devices projecting weather, road cond., traffic, and even how long the line at your favorite drive thru is right on your windshield.

4-The Pavement of TL should be embedded with tens of +thousands of fiber-optics to give the effect of walking on stars after the Sun goes down... not unlike the one at Epcot, except all over TL.

5-Innoventions should give way to a new AA show featuring several models of Homes of the Future not too unlike those shown at the old Epcot attraction Horizons....except the concepts should be a little more forward than that mid-80 attraction.

SUPERB!

[Jspider]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

the name Tomorrowland should stay but Disney's already doing the right thing with sci fi influence in the land which should continue

a sci fi future is what tourists will want it's the most exciting to do a fictional city of the future with a unique style

Discoveryland doesn't really work since the yesterdays future idea doesn't leave much room for the kinds of attractions Disney wants to add Buzz is already ruining that

as far as the Nemo area goes I'm sticking to my feeling that it was never really part of Tomorrowland to begin with

[Disneyland Daddy]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

as far as the Nemo area goes I'm sticking to my feeling that it was never really part of Tomorrowland to begin with

You have a point there. For many years, Matterhorn was 'in' Tomorrowland and then it was in Fantasyland......according to the maps. Maybe Subs could be sucked into Fantasyland therefore eliminating it from Tomorrowland.

[Gunny]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

You have a point there. For many years, Matterhorn was 'in' Tomorrowland and then it was in Fantasyland......according to the maps. Maybe Subs could be sucked into Fantasyland therefore eliminating it from Tomorrowland.

I think you have a good idea about moving the subs.

[watkinz]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

I say keep the name. However, I do think the recent trend of attractions in TL has been skewed a bit too far in the "Fantasy" direction. I think it would be nice if future additions were geared towards more "Futuristic" concepts, like space exploration, transportion etc. Any number of industries could have attractions depicting their status in 20-30 years, (Innoventions had a great opportunity for this, but really missed the mark, in my opinion.), but it's not as if Tomorrowland only has to be about outer space.

I don't think Tomorrowland has to be solely on one side of the "Fantasy/Reality" fence. To me, a nice balance would be achieved by :

• A full-hearted do-over of Innoventions with Disney trying to offer some incentives for major companies to provide exciting prototypes of futuristic items for all parts of everyday life. Updating these exhibits on a regular basis (yearly?) would also help.
• Replace HISTA and Pizza Port with two attractions that take a stab at some futuristic concepts. Space Travel seems to be the "go to" concept, but other things like attractions based on improving energy efficiency or communications, re-visiting chemistry or even an attraction based on nanotechnology could be interesting topics. (Although after reading Michael Crichton's "Prey", I may want to re-think this )
• Add some sort of People Mover attraction, but this time add some smaller show buildings telling a story about the advancement of transportation. Alternative Fuels can even be a topic for this attraction.
• Work in some futuristic elements for Autopia. The cars themselves can be alternatively fueled, the scenery can depict futuristic buildings (built on a small scale since space is tight?). It's been a couple years since I was last on Autopia, so I don't know if anything like this has been added in recently.

It seems like for their day, attractions like the Hall of Chemistry, Adventure Thru Inner Space, and Rocket to The Moon were a stab at a futuristic outlook (with obvious elements of fantasy thrown in), but we're missing attractions with some element of science.

The bottom line is Tomorrowland needs more attention paid to it by the powers that be. The fact that the settings is in the future, it will need more frequent updates than other lands that can remain the same for a relatively longer period of time. Hopefully management has learned from the '98 version and can continue on the improvements we've recently seen.

[Jspider]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

You have a point there. For many years, Matterhorn was 'in' Tomorrowland and then it was in Fantasyland......according to the maps. Maybe Subs could be sucked into Fantasyland therefore eliminating it from Tomorrowland.

I'm not actualy a big fan of doing that either myself

Fantasyland is very fairy tale based really I think that too many people use the term fantasyland to laxly if you wanna be technical then the HM belongs in Fantasyland (oh wait it is in Tokyo :B) and so does Pirates

I've just always seen Matterhorn and Subs as being their own unique area though I suppose you could draw Autopia into that as well

Matterhorn and Subs were built to look good next to each other but it's kinda funny in that it doesn't seem like a logical connection to either Tomorrow or Fantasyland was ever drawn (though the remake of Fantasyland makes the Matterhorn fit with the sightlines at least a little better)

[WRDup]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

I wouldnt die if it were renamed but i think its a good idea if it stayed the same.

[Druggas]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

How about naming it "day after tomorrow land"?

[ni_teach]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

I'm not a fan of changing the name, but I would love them to re-theme the place...

[Disneyland Daddy]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

How about naming it "day after tomorrow land"?

That's funny - that's what it looks like - all in ruins and such. I know we all say this that Walt Disney is turning in his grave, but really......I think that if he was there and say it, I think he'd probably cry - Tomorrowland was his favorite land. Now it's like BackBurnerLand.

[mycroft16]

Re: Should Tommorowland be renamed?

"Here, age relives fond memories of the past... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future."

That quote covers it... the nostalgia of the past in Main Street, Frontierland and Adventureland as well as the innovation and excitement of the future in Tomorrowland. That's what it's about.

"Disneyland will be the essence of America as we know it, the nostalgia of the past, with exciting glimpses into the future. It will give meaning to the pleasure of the children - and pleasure to the experience of adults."
- Walt Disney

That's the key, exciting glimpses to the future. That's what's missing right now. There are no exciting glimpses of the future. Yes, Star Tours may one day be the kind of thing we do... but it's not exciting like it used to be when it was new. There are no new glimpses. That's what they need.