Is Disneyland's Autopia Doomed?

[greenalfonzo]

That's a rather elitist statement considering the number of errors journalists make on a daily basis.

As for the future of Tomorrowland, here's my take:

- There's no way Disney will touch the Monorail track. Any Monorail modification would be crazy expensive. They will literally build attractions around the Monorail track; just like they built another theme park, shopping center and upscale hotel around the Monorail track

- No matter what the plan is for Tomorrowland, Autopia will not be part of it in any form. It's a dated concept. The lines are long because is a slow-cycling ride. Sure, kids already at Disneyland want to drive the Autopia cars. But nobody comes to Disneyland to drive the Autopia cars. Disneyland needs attractions that will give people a reason to visit from out of state. Yes, Autopia is doomed

- No matter what the plan is for Tomorrowland, it will not include the submarines in any form. That attraction was a quick-fix for a park that was jammed with people and lacking attractions. It's a labor-intensive, slow-cycling maintenance nightmare. Say , "Buh-bye" to the subs

- DCA taught the Walt Disney Company a very hard lesson about building attractions on the cheap. And the competition from other theme parks is more intense than ever before. Therefore, we should expect something new and impressive in the Disneyland Tomorrowland and not a Walt Disney World retread

- I think it's very unlikely Disney will duplicate Mission:Space anywhere. That attraction makes far too many people sick. They won't be building another "Vomit Comet" at Disneyland or anywhere else

- The People Mover track will be demolished and not replaced. The original track was damaged beyoned repair by the Rocket Rods. It's not structurally sound enough to support anything other than itself. And rebuilding the track for a snoozer ride isn't going to happen

I admit I don't have any good predictions for what will be in a new Tomorrowland. But I'm pretty sure about the stuff that won't be there.

Can't argue with anything you wrote. Well said.

[mratigan]

^sadly I agree

[Sapphire-Light]

^sadly I agree

Me too impressive post


I remember the first time I went into autopia at MK and DL , I had 9 years old and even at that age I noticed how the attraction is outdated and found it boring actually, I wondered what was going to be it's replacement.

However they are still there untouched.

[MANEATINGWREATH]

Very well put, Klutch. There're'd be some things that I'd like to experience for myself (mainly the PeopleMover) but everything you said is absolutely correct. There has to be a point in time when nostalgia and reality clash, reality often times being the winner. This is reality. One can only hope that whatever may be brought to Tomorrowland is just as good, if not better than all the before-mentioned titles.

[electricfire]

How can this even be considered to close one of the original rides of Disneyland. Autopia is one of the rides my family looks forward to every time we go to Disneyland. As a small boy my husband couldn't wait to be able to ride Autopia by himself he is 65 years old now. He went to Disneyland the first year it was open and has gone every chance he has gotten since. One of his special memories of Disneyland is going to see if he was tall enough to ride Autopia by himself, and was thrilled when he could. It breaks our heart to think they are even considering taking autopia out.

[TacAlert]

I really don't think this is anything that should be even considered a rumor. It was written on Wikipedia - anyone can go in and edit. If I wanted to, I could go in and say that Tomorrowland will be relocated to Mars, it's that easy. The fact that there's no source listed, and it uses the word 'may' more than once, also leads me to believe that someone just wanted to start a new rumor.

Rumors. Kind of like Micechat? Just saying. A lot of stuff on here is made up as well.

[fifthrider]

Make them all Flying Cars. We were supposed to have those by now right?

Ha-ha!

...wait.

That's actually a pretty good idea. Wading through the discussion of how contemporary or not Autopia is ( Eisenhower era attraction to promote freeways ) the fact remains that cars are a strongly ingrained part of our society and our tomorrow. Make them electric or better yet flying. Either way, there will probably be cars 100 years from now. They may look vastly different from anything we can predict, but they WILL be there. The world just won't turn into some Star Trek utopia of public transportation, that's pure sci-fi. We love our cars here in the US of A.

[DJS]

How can this even be considered to close one of the original rides of Disneyland. Autopia is one of the rides my family looks forward to every time we go to Disneyland. As a small boy my husband couldn't wait to be able to ride Autopia by himself he is 65 years old now. He went to Disneyland the first year it was open and has gone every chance he has gotten since. One of his special memories of Disneyland is going to see if he was tall enough to ride Autopia by himself, and was thrilled when he could. It breaks our heart to think they are even considering taking autopia out.

There is always K1 and Pole Position (electric) if you need to satisfy your autopia urges.
I look forward to the day that track becomes a pit, which will be a sign of progress. Which will in turn bring forth a new adventure and create new memories.

[DoctorQ9]

Ha-ha!

...wait.

That's actually a pretty good idea. Wading through the discussion of how contemporary or not Autopia is ( Eisenhower era attraction to promote freeways ) the fact remains that cars are a strongly ingrained part of our society and our tomorrow. Make them electric or better yet flying. Either way, there will probably be cars 100 years from now. They may look vastly different from anything we can predict, but they WILL be there. The world just won't turn into some Star Trek utopia of public transportation, that's pure sci-fi. We love our cars here in the US of A.

I think that this is a terrific idea, Fellas. How about making them hovercraft ala Star Wars with a Star Wars theme? If they tell the Imagineers to pretend that it will be for a Tokyo Disneyland attraction, I know that they could rise to the challenge.

[B2D]

- There's no way Disney will touch the Monorail track. Any Monorail modification would be crazy expensive. They will literally build attractions around the Monorail track; just like they built another theme park, shopping center and upscale hotel around the Monorail track

They've only modified the DLR monorail track twice... once in 1961 to add track to go to the Hotel and then in 94-95 or so to curve it around the Indiana Jones show building... but even so you're right in that Monorail track additions/modifications are prohibitively expensive and DLR generally avoids doing it unless there is absolutely no other option.

[Chesire]

Rumors. Kind of like Micechat? Just saying. A lot of stuff on here is made up as well.

Did I ever say I believe everything on the internet? All I'm saying is that any website rumor (including Micechat) should be taken with a grain of salt, especially one that anyone can go in and edit.

[TacAlert]

Did I ever say I believe everything on the internet? All I'm saying is that any website rumor (including Micechat) should be taken with a grain of salt, especially one that anyone can go in and edit.

No you didn't. And I didn't say you said it either. Geez.

[Klutch]

They've only modified the DLR monorail track twice... once in 1961 to add track to go to the Hotel and then in 94-95 or so to curve it around the Indiana Jones show building... but even so you're right in that Monorail track additions/modifications are prohibitively expensive and DLR generally avoids doing it unless there is absolutely no other option.

I wasn't aware the Monorail track was modified to clear the Indiana Jones show building. That's interesting. Thanks for mentioning it.

As I recall, Disney was FLUSH with cash after the phenominal box office success of "The Lion King" and they used some of that cash to create the Indiana Jones attraction. So, perhaps if Disney is ever again flush with cash, then maybe they will again modify the Monorail track. But I think it's still pretty unlikely.