Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest.asp?I1=ID&I2=3102" target="_blank"><b>Latest: A look back Disneyland's New Tomorrowland - 10 Years Ago Today</b></a> The Disneyland Nomenclature blog presents a very interesting look back at Disneyland's 1998 New Tomorrow which officially opened 10 years ago today. Included is a look back at a Vanity Fair article at the time that includes quotes from the blog's author. <a href="http://disneylandcompendium.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-been-ten-years.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Here's a direct link to the item in question: <a href="http://disneylandcompendium.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://disneylandcompendium.bl...pot.com/</a>
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>I kept my eye on the TIME magazines flowing into our house. The May 25, 1998 edition featured a story called "All Our Yesterdays," which described how difficult it was to keep Tomorrowland relevant. << Gee ... Disney's favorite term these days - Relevant. If they want to make Tomorrowland "relevant" ... then this how they can do it with the current view of the future: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/43fsqc" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/43fsqc</a> <a href="http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1919/1200328052.jpg" target="_blank">http://media.teamxbox.com/game...8052.jpg</a> If they are to make something "relevant" .. then it's always going to be a representation of how we view the world - TODAY. True, we are not in an era where we "collectively" look toward to fanciful future ... but there's still plenty of futuristic visions from minds who are quite imaginative. I think the future depicted in Meet The Robinsons represents a level of imagination that does exist. It's a matter of who's in charge at WDI .. and their willingness to embrace ideas that may not exactly be their own .. but are a better pic for Tomorrowland's future.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "If they are to make something "relevant" .. then it's always going to be a representation of how we view the world - TODAY." But isn't that what Tomorrowland has always been - a view of the future from the perspective of when it was created? This is exactly why I have maintained that futurism is dead.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle *sigh* I loved Tomorrowland 98 - at least, I loved the look of it. And Rocket Rods were such a cool idea, even if they weren't executed properly.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt I agree about Rocket Rods. The vehicles were pretty nifty looking and fun to ride.
Originally Posted By mstaft I loved the look of it, too. The colors of bronze and patina green were cool. LOVED the Rocket Rods. HISTA should have never been added, however...
Originally Posted By ArchtMig >>>HISTA should have never been added, however...<<< Or Innoventions. Even though they try to improve it, it's mostly a waste of space in my opinion. Hopefully this latest revamp upcoming will compel me to change my mind. And I'm still waiting for them to take Le Orbitron (that's what I call it because it's the one they did for the French) out of the hub choke point and put that type of ride back up on the roof where it belongs.
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>This is exactly why I have maintained that futurism is dead.<< I hate to agree with you .. but you are absolutely right! Where in pop culture is there a look into a brighter future? Maybe in small "gadgetry" but that's it.
Originally Posted By oc_dean I often think of this subject ... and I feel the only way to go, at the moment, ... is to exploit the 50s and 60s visions of the future. Which is what I think they are going to do.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Following moonwaffle and mstaft .... Even before it opened May 22, 1998 ... I was not happy at all with a net loss of 2 attractions. Those being the McDonnel Douglas (Mission to Mars) attraction facility .. and combining Circle-Vision and Peoplemover into 1 attraction. Tomorrowland in my opinion did not become the hip and happening place to be .. following the '67 renovation just on it's uniform (cool) theming. It was also about enough rides to keep people entertained for a good part of the day. Tomorrowland was also the most exciting land to visit .. because there was so much to do. Here's the list: 1. America The Beautiful 2. America Sings 3. Adventure Thru Inner Space/Star Tours 4. Captain EO 5. Flight to the Moon/Mars 6. Skyway 7. Submarine Voyage 8. Monorail 9. Autopia 10. Peoplemover 11. Rocket Jets 12. Space Mountain (and if you want to throw in an arcade where you pay extra): 13. Starcade (TWO stories of fun) The return of Tomorrowland in May 1998 brought a significant drop! 1. Innoventions 2. Honey I Shrunk The Audience 3. Rocket Rods 4. Astro Orbitor 5. Space Mountain 6. Autopia 7. Monorail 8. Star Tours (and if you want to throw in the passé arcade with X-Box in most households): 9. ½ a Starcade (one story) ... and don't even add Cosmic Waves as an attraction. They only officially added that as an attraction in the guides a year or so later when they realized the attraction count for Tomorrowland was pretty pathetic.
Originally Posted By oc_dean And with the loss of Rocket Rods by Sept 2000 (officially) .. that count dropped to 7. The only other time Tomorrowland's attraction count was that low or worse .. was during the Ghetto years 1988-1995 when America Sings ('88), then Mission to Mars ('92), then Skyway ('94).. and finally Peoplemover ('95) were lost for good. With the major disappointment of Innoventions .. with it's grand opening August 1998 ... and having already seen HISTA at EPCOT in 1995 ....... I would have prefered the GhettoTL:88-95 over TL:98. Atleast there was the more entertaining Captain EO .... and Mission To Mars was more exciting than a Pizza joint with only old attraction posters to keep me entertained. I'll be happy when the last remnants of TL:98 are gone for good! There is nothing about it worth keeping. I will say ... the positive thing I thought was going to be good .. was borrowing the themes of Disneyland Paris' Discoveryland. That bronze "Jules Verne" color scheme (if carried through properly) could have been so utterly cool.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "and I feel the only way to go, at the moment, ... is to exploit the 50s and 60s visions of the future." I think that this could be good, so long as they don't cartoonize everything in the process. It might be interesting (and entertaining) to look back 40 years at how the future was going to look using today's latest technology.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I don't kno, those retro-futures have been done an awful lot, from the Incredibles to Jimmy Neutron. If futurism is dead, then maybe it's okay to simply lose "Tomorrowland" as a theme. I mean, there's no law that says they have to keep each land what it traditionally has been, especially if there isn't the will or the intent to actively add things in support of that theme.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle Following up my earlier comment: I loved TL98's look - the colors, the uniformity, the concept of retro-future. I LOVED it miles beyond what was there before and miles beyond what is there now. I loved the Rocket Rods. They were cool looking, sounding, and the idea was so great. We all know why it failed. But I loved the idea and wish is was done correctly. As for the rest of TL98 I agree, they took too many rides out, and brought in a bunch of fluff (Rocket Rods aside). My perfect Tomorrowland would take the theme, colors, and style of TL98, add a properly built Rocket Rods to the track, upgrade Star Tours, and dump Innoventions, HISTA, and Starcade for new attractions. (I'm OK with keeping the pizza place if they put something new in place of the Starcade).
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The dumbest thing they did with Tomorrowland '98 in my opinion was to paint Space Mountain copper. It was just plain awful.
Originally Posted By mstaft I liked copper Space Mountain alot. It was different and unique compared to the WDW look.
