Disneyland Tomorrowland History: Space Mountain, Star Tours and Lost Attractions (Ep. 33)

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 power before all the floats completed the route.

• Why Tomorrowland’s 1967 vision of the future began looking dated only a few years after it opened.

• The construction of Disneyland’s Space Mountain and the decision to place much of the structure below ground.

• How Space Mountain gave Tomorrowland a major attraction while reducing the building’s visual impact on Disneyland.

• Why America Sings was installed in Tomorrowland despite its Bicentennial theme having little connection to the future.

• Disney’s difficulty developing futuristic attractions while its science-fiction films struggled at the box office.

• The proposed Black Hole and TRON attractions that disappeared after their respective films failed to meet expectations.

• Ron Miller’s early conversations with George Lucas about creating a Star Wars attraction for Disneyland.

• George Lucas’ childhood visits to Disneyland and his long-standing affection for the park.

• The proposed Star Wars roller coaster that would have allowed guests to choose between the Jedi and the dark side.

• Mark Eades’ discovery of flight-simulator technology and its potential for a Star Wars attraction.

• Why Star Tours had to present the action as though guests were looking through the windshield of a moving vehicle.

• The design challenge of telling a complete Star Wars adventure without relying on traditional cinematic close-ups.

• How Disney raised the roof of the attraction building and used cranes to install the original simulator cabins.

• The enormous popularity of Star Tours and the lines that initially stretched through Tomorrowland toward Main Street.

• Disney’s unrealized plan to close the successful original Star Tours and replace it with a much larger terminal complex.

• The proposed T-shaped Star Tours terminal with separate flights to Hoth, Dagobah, and Tatooine.

• The airport-style baggage systems, departure concourses, food court, and Audio-Animatronic alien bands planned for the terminal.

• How the former Carousel of Progress building would have been demolished to make room for the Star Tours expansion.

• Why Star Tours remained too popular for Disney to close it long enough to construct the proposed terminal.

• The Discoveryland-inspired Tomorrowland redesign and its combination of bronze, blue, salmon, brown, and mustard colors.

• How the ceiling of Tomorrowland Terrace preserved a color test for an unrealized renovation.

• Why the visual style later associated with Treasure Planet resembled elements considered for Tomorrowland.

• Disneyland’s Autopia as a childhood rite of passage that Disney remained reluctant to remove.

• The proposed Cars-themed Autopia overlay considered before Disney California Adventure built Cars Land.

• How Finding Nemo characters transformed the original Submarine Voyage into a modern franchise attraction.

• The specialized glass-infused paint developed to retain brighter colors beneath the submarine lagoon’s water.

• Disney’s proposed Atlantis submarine attraction and its mechanical sea-monster encounters.

• The promotional signs Imagineering installed for the Atlantis project before Disneyland management ordered them removed.

• How Pixar’s acquisition and John Lasseter’s involvement helped make Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage possible.

• Why the submarine attraction’s enormous opening crowds eventually declined among Disneyland’s repeat visitors.

• Disney’s challenge of creating repeatable experiences for a regional audience that visits the park frequently.

• The proposed Stark Expo and Iron Man attraction considered for the Innoventions building.

• Why Disney needed Robert Downey Jr.’s participation to make a convincing Tony Stark attraction.

• How negotiations over Downey’s Marvel contract complicated development of the proposed Disneyland experience.

• The abandoned PeopleMover track and the continuing debate over what to remove or preserve in Tomorrowland.

• Why Space Mountain, Autopia, and Star Tours remained among the land’s most secure attractions.

• How the 1998 Tomorrowland redesign, Astro Orbitor placement, and entrance rockwork created new crowd-flow problems.

• The enduring challenge of building a Tomorrowland that can remain futuristic for more than a few years.

HOSTS

• Jim Hill - X/Twitter and Instagram: @JimHillMedia - jimhillmedia.com

• Len Testa - Bluesky: @lentesta.bsky.social - Instagram: @len.testa - touringplans.com

FOLLOW

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SUPPORT

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PRODUCTION CREDITS

Edited by: Len Testa

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