Tomorrowland has one foot in the future and another stuck in the past. This is not a new problem in Magic Kingdom. We’ve been writing about the “Trouble with Tomorrowland” since Walt Disney World began building TRON Lightcycle Run, and it was hardly a novel take even at the time. The issue has existed for a while–arguably decades.
It’s also not just a problem unique to Walt Disney World. With the exception of Shanghai Disneyland, every Tomorrowland has this same issue to varying degrees, and it only gets worse with the older parks. You could maybe say that Disneyland Paris gets a pass by eschewing Tomorrowland in favor of the more timeless Discoveryland, but that land also help. Even the much-newer Hong Kong Disneyland has Tomorrowland troubles, with that Star Wars-meets-Marvel land being a bit of a mess.
Then there’s Disneyland. There’s a reason “New Tomorrowland” makes our wish list for every single D23 event, and why the company itself announced “A Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrowland Entrance Coming Soon to Disneyland” back in November 2019. Over 5 years later, that new entrance still has not come to fruition. The walls are still up and the concept art on them had become so faded that they recently replaced it–as opposed to removing it. So there’s still hope!
That entrance was likely the first step in a planned, long overdue transformation of Tomorrowland at Disneyland. If the concept art was any indication, the next “new” Tomorrowland would revisit the 1967 ideas of Walt Disney and his Imagineers that envisioned it as a “world on the move,” streamlining the design to remove the visual hodgepodge and replace it with clean mid-century modern stylization.
Then there’s Tokyo Disneyland. That park already contracted the footprint of its massive Tomorrowland to make way for a New Fantasyland featuring Beauty and the Beast, as well as The Happy Ride with Baymax (the latter of which is part of Tomorrowland). Currently, Tokyo Disneyland is investing over $400 million (56 billion yen) to create a reimagined area of Tomorrowland that entails rebuilding Space Mountain.
The new Tomorrowland plaza at Tokyo Disneyland will express the connection between Earth and the universe, representing an image of a future where humans are in harmony with nature. It’s also expected to “harmonize” the disparate areas of the sprawling Tomorrowland, which is a medley of different designs from different eras, from mid-century modern to 1990s outer space to modern Monstropolis.
We’re starting by mentioning these other Tomorrowland projects because they represent potential blueprints for Magic Kingdom. It’s fairly clear that Walt Disney World does have plans for a reimagining of Tomorrowland and has for a while, but they haven’t happened for whatever reason.
As mentioned above, we previously wrote about the ‘Trouble with Tomorrowland’ back during construction of TRON Lightcycle Run. Prior to that, there had been rumors of an aesthetic overhaul of Tomorrowland to modernize the land. Or perhaps more accurately, to mid-century modernize the land. To declutter it, peeling back the layers of artifice added during Tomorrowland ’94, and reveal the original design underneath.
Sort of like what happened to the still-standing CommuniCore building at EPCOT (ironically, not the one with CommuniCore in the name) but only in part. Perhaps a better example is a historic home in Palm Springs being restored, which mostly involves removing the junk added over the years. Another good example that I hope to write about in the future involves the Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary and all the layers of clutter that have accumulated over the last few decades. But I digress.
We know these rumors of a Tomorrowland aesthetic overhaul were credible because they happened! At least, in part. If my recollection is correct, the project began in 2018/2019 and was dubbed ‘Tomorrowland 2021.’
That name did not refer to the timeline of the new Tomorrowland, but rather, the year it’d be completed. Like so many other Walt Disney World projects of the time (including TRON Lightcycle Run), it was slated to be done in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
A lot of work was done to refresh Tomorrowland. Honestly, I have no idea how much of that was completed. What I do know is that it stopped along with many of our other dreams for a brighter future in March 2020. You probably know how the story goes from there. As with so many other Walt Disney World projects, it would seem plans were shelved indefinitely to update Tomorrowland.
But not completely! Several months before the opening of TRON Lightcycle Run, Tomorrowland’s Top Two Attractions (Carousel of Progress and the TTA PeopleMover) Got Updates.
These weren’t blockbuster changes, but were incremental upgrades that were also clearly passion projects. As had been suggested before, there were people heading up the Tomorrowland project who cared. What they might’ve lacked in budget they made up for with heart…but there’s only so far that’ll get you without much money.
That is more or less where things have stood with Tomorrowland since last year. There have been minor projects here and there, but my understanding is that those are part of regularly-scheduled FAM refreshes that have nothing to do with Tomorrowland, specifically.
With that said, there have been a few more recent developments. The first is that Tokyo Disneyland is replacing its Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters attraction with a Wreck-It Ralph ride. There are two potential implications of this.
There was a seemingly credible rumor pre-closure that a Wreck-It Ralph Sugar Rush attraction would be coming to Stitch’s Great Escape. Obviously, that did not happen and the venue sits dormant, save for backstage storage space. While Tokyo’s concept is obviously for a different ride reimagining, there’s no reason Imagineering couldn’t use shared assets (similar Audio Animatronics, set-dressing, etc) for two different Wreck-It Ralph attractions to reduce project costs (or rather, to have OLC foot the bill for designs Disney plans to use later).
Equally as notable, Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters at Tokyo Disneyland was modern and in really great shape when it closed. Far better than any other version of that attraction, save for Shanghai, which is almost its own thing entirely. It also wouldn’t be the first time that Walt Disney World “inherited” hand-me-downs from Tokyo Disneyland. This also recently happened with the vehicles at Tomorrowland Speedway. Heck, they could put the stuff from Astro Blasters on the same ship as parade floats for Disney Starlight Dream the Night Away Parade! This is purely speculative, though.
The most recent development is that Walt Disney World has announced that Astro Orbiter will close for refurbishment beginning January 13, 2025. The closure is expected to last through Summer 2025, with no exact reopening date specified at this time.
That could mean it returns as early as Memorial Day or as late as Labor Day (Disney’s normal timeframe for summer). It could also be shortened or extended based on the scope of the work, which is presently unknown.
There are a lot of things that could be happening here. One of the reasons we love Astro Orbiter at Magic Kingdom–and put it ahead of even Dumbo when it comes to spinners–is because it’s perched high above the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover platform. The sweeping views of Magic Kingdom are what elevates this spinner…but also makes it a bit of a hassle.
They could be working on the elevators, queue, or ride system itself. The current duration of the refurbishment suggests that Astro Orbiter is receiving more than just routine maintenance. This is something major…but it probably stops short of a fully-fledged reimagining.
It’s worth noting that Astro Orbitor (different spelling, more or less the same ride) at Disneyland was closed for a lengthy refurbishment from last year through this spring. During the downtime, the spinner was completely dismantled and put back together. It reopened with new lighting, fresh coat of paint, and (presumably) a repaired or refreshed ride system.
Our expectation is something similar for Astro Orbiter at Magic Kingdom. We are not expecting major guest-facing changes. It’s still going to be a spinner, and probably not “The Happy Rocket Ride with Baymax” (cool as that sounds).
Magic Kingdom’s Astro Orbiter last received significant updates in 2014, when its color scheme and lighting were refreshed. I don’t recall whether it received ride system work at that time, or if it was completely cosmetic. About one decade before that, a similar project was undertaken. So it seems the spinner is due for its 10-year check-up!
The final development is all of the D23 Expo announcements. That’s correct–the D23 news. You might wonder why, given that literally none of this concerned Tomorrowland. You sure ’bout that?
Among other things, Disney announced a new Cars area in Magic Kingdom will replace the Rivers of America, resulting in permanent closures of Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat. They also announced MuppetVision 3D closing to make way for the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster and Monstropolis.
This still might seem unrelated to Tomorrowland. However, there are a couple of fairly major connections.
With Monstropolis coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland becomes redundant. It’s not completely clear whether Laugh Floor is going to be relocated to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but there does appear to be space for a stage show. This will be in Monstro Theater, which is shown in the concept art as taking over the space that currently houses MuppetVision 3D.
Our expectation is that it’s a new show, but it doesn’t really matter–the point remains that Walt Disney World doesn’t need two separate Monsters, Inc. shows in two separate parks. Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is probably at about the end of its life without a reimagining, anyway.
It’s a similar story with the Cars land coming to Magic Kingdom. This area will feature a new attraction, which we strongly believe will be a trackless E-Ticket off-road thrill ride that’s like put guests behind the wheel (sort of) in an autonomous vehicle that simulates the excitement of driving an ATV. We’ve called this Tomorrowland Speedway on steroids–think of it as iterating on that attraction in a somewhat similar way to what Avatar Flight of Passage does with Soarin.
The bottom line is that this puts two more Tomorrowland attractions in play for future developments, in addition to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and the now-defunct Stitch’s Great Escape.
We’d go a step beyond that, and say that pretty much anything in Tomorrowland could be ripe for redevelopment, with the exceptions of Space Mountain and TRON Lightcycle Run. To the extent possible, venues could be combined to suit entirely new attractions, rather than just repurposing the existing footprints.
This could be critical, as most of these spaces have been retrofit several times already, and that may not be feasible yet again. Although who among us wouldn’t love to see an Alien Encounter reboot featuring another reboot, Alien Romulus?! (I kid. I know there’s no way that happens in Magic Kingdom. Even if it should.)
My suspicion is that Imagineering has lined up the projects this was purposefully, teeing up a reimagining of Tomorrowland as part of the 10-year plan in the early 2030s once the current 5-year plan is finished. It’s even possible this happens before then, as part of the aesthetic overhaul has already been undertaken, and these could be smaller-scale off-year projects announced at something like the 2025 Destination D23.
I’m fine with this, and I say this as a big fan of Tomorrowland ’94.
It’s the version of the land from my childhood, and both the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and Timekeeper still rank as two of my all-time favorite Walt Disney World attractions. However, as with both of those attractions, the cohesive design of Tomorrowland ’94 is long gone.
The land I loved is gone, and was even before the Tomorrowland 2021 project began. That was just the final nail in its coffin. To whatever extent Tomorrowland ’94 still exists, it’s mostly as a corpse. Stray design details and other artifice that was forgotten, or purposefully painted over as part of a “no dough” redo. It’s like Future World circa 2019–something I already missed, even before that ill-fated project began.
In terms of architecture and design, there’s presently a lot going on in Tomorrowland.
There are remnants of the Space Age flourishes and Googie architecture of the original Tomorrowland in the core structures. The majority of the land is still a melange of Streamline Moderne, Factory Pomo, and industrial design, but this is already being peeled back. There’s also a hodgepodge of various other stuff thanks to additions and partial removals.
There’s also TRON Lightcycle Power Run with its swooping organic design and biomimicry features. This style of architecture is unlike anything currently existing in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland, which is easy to understand once you realize the ride was cloned from Shanghai Disneyland, where it fits alongside both the land and city itself. I don’t see a scenario where Walt Disney World goes all-in on making the rest of Tomorrowland resemble TRON. That could be cool, but would probably be too costly.
The best case scenario is probably further stripping away of the Tomorrowland ’94 details to reveal the mid-century or streamline style underneath and adding new thematic elements reminiscent of Googie or Space Age design. While that’s certainly not the same as the organic design of TRON Lightcycle Power Run, it could be argued that both at least share some ultramodern bloodlines.
Personally, I think that would work. Googie is difficult to define, but I think it’s at least adjacent to both the swooping lines of the PeopleMover track and the canopy of TRON Lightcycle Run. Things like the Palms of Tomorrow are probably post-modern, but also can coexist peacefully alongside the biomimicry of TRON.
There are kernels of ideas and thematic elements that can exist in harmony, and additional thematic elements could bring further symbiosis to the land. Sort of like Tomorrowland ’94 did three decades ago. As someone who loves that incarnation of the land and thinks what Disney pulled off there is one of the great reimagining stories, I’m fully on board. Imagineers used the same core forms but managed to transform them into something new and novel. They could do it again.
I also wouldn’t mind Walt Disney World fully leaning into nostalgia and restoring the original design of Tomorrowland. There’s a reason this is the only thing Tokyo Disneyland isn’t touching in its Tomorrowland, and why Disneyland announced a reimagined entrance that evokes this look. Because it holds up.
Futurist design has aged well, and it remains a novelty that’s rare outside of Southern California. There’s a renewed affection for retro Space Age designs, which are at once futuristic and classic. Ironically, that style is today exactly the type of retro-futurism Tomorrowland ’94 was trying to convey when it replaced the Space Age design.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think about Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom? Any hopes for an overarching reimagining of the land’s aesthetic, or are you fine with Tomorrowland, as-is? Think the land will be overhauled in the 2030s, or perhaps earlier, given the empty spaces and redundancy of Tomorrowland Speedway and Monsters Laugh Floor? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
