Would you be in favor of a Jules Verne adventure themed land to replace all of TL?

[DLcub]

When I think about the future of TL it makes the most sense to me to abandon the "futuristic" theme altogether. The longevity of any futuristic concept is and will always be very limited, which is what I believe to be the core of the problem in terms of TL's appeal.
When looking at DLP's version of TL: Discoveryland, as well as Tokyo DisneySEA's Mysterious Island I think that they've been really successful at depicting a specific vision of the future as it would be imagined by people 100-500 years ago. The theme is romantic and charming while still maintaining that sense of vision and adventure, and another important factor is that it will never look dated in the same way the the current TL's do.

DLP Discoveryland:

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TDS Mysterious Island:

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If it were up to me, I would re-theme all of TL to a more Verne-ish steam punk sci-fi theme, gut Autopia and build a replica of Disneysea's Mysterious Island - including Journey To The Center Of The Earth - which everyone agrees is amazing, and perhaps re-theme finding nemo to 20K Leagues Under The Sea.

Not that I believe that any of this will ever happen, but considering the constant buzz about the future of TL, what would you guys think IF they decided to go in this direction?

[calsig31]

No thank you. I want Tomorrowland to reflect where we are going, not what people 100 years ago thought the future might be.

[RegionsBeyond]

I would support that fully: if was possible to send Star Tours to DCA, retheme the outside of Space Mountain and modify the Subs to be the classic Nautilus/Verne version and scrap all the rest (Buzz, Innoventions, PM track, Autopia).

I love the Mysterious Island section of TDL, but admittedly, if they really wanted to, they could bring back the 'technology of the future' angle for Tomorrowland with a slight fantasy touch and keep movies out of it: the trouble is, no one at Disney management or Parks oversight actually seems to want to do that.

[Elias1955]

No thank you. I want Tomorrowland to reflect where we are going, not what people 100 years ago thought the future might be.

^This.

Tomorrowland is a unique case by it's own nature... Its not a fixed moment in time, its always out ahead of us. We don't know whats there, but the land exists to keep us as visitors on the very cusp of the future.

I don't think the Jules Verne idea is a bad one, but I don't want to see it replace one of the core parts of the park. Sure, it needs some help. A lot of help, even... But thats solely because it, more than any other area in the park, needs constant updating.

If I really had to pick a solution for Tomorrowland, it wouldn't be a complete re-theme... It would be to place a group of Imagineers in charge of keeping new, future-things rolling in and out.

Plus, didn't they already try to give it the rust paint scheme in the late 90's? And wasn't it hideous​?

[DLcub]

No thank you. I want Tomorrowland to reflect where we are going, not what people 100 years ago thought the future might be.

I hear you, but the problem is that our vision of where we're going changes constantly and it's a massive project to try to keep up with the times.
To me TL looks like a messy mix of 50's, 60's and 80's futurism which I don't think was the original intention.

[DLcub]

^This.

Tomorrowland is a unique case by it's own nature... Its not a fixed moment in time, its always out ahead of us. We don't know whats there, but the land exists to keep us as visitors on the very cusp of the future.

I don't think the Jules Verne idea is a bad one, but I don't want to see it replace one of the core parts of the park. Sure, it needs some help. A lot of help, even... But thats solely because it, more than any other area in the park, needs constant updating.

If I really had to pick a solution for Tomorrowland, it wouldn't be a complete re-theme... It would be to place a group of Imagineers in charge of keeping new, future-things rolling in and out.

Plus, didn't they already try to give it the rust paint scheme in the late 90's? And wasn't it hideous​?

Correct, but my guess is that it was seen as hideous because people knew that it was a lazy hack job attempt at updating something that half the people didn't think needed updating and half the people thought needed a LOT more than new paint to be "new".

[fifthrider]

DLcub's kind of got a point. I'll go so far as to say it's a reasonable topic to bring up. When "Tomorrow" is something that's changing so fast that it's hard to keep up with, why not crank it back to a more retro idea that had to do with what we once thought the future would be? Kind of an alternate reality future? It's a reasonable question.


My answers:

A) Because Walt probably thought his choice of "Tomorrow" through pretty well, I can't say, but I'm guessing.
B) Because they tried this already in the 1997 redux of Tomorrowland, to be a more Jules Verne version of Tommorrowland and it wasn't received well. Granted, it was done kind of half-***** but you get the idea.
C) Because I'm sick of steampunk

Other than these three answers? I'd really applaud you for at least asking the question. It's not unreasonable. Maybe in another Disney park in the future?

[Elias1955]

Lest we forget! The old Discovery Bay concept would have been an actual additional land. So its not like WDI hasn't considered the idea, but they certainly never thought of replacing Tomorrowland...

[DLcub]

Let me ask this question then: what do you guys think is a good idea for updating TL to something that will last longer than the current mishmash of 60's futuristic white minimalism and bright 80's neon?

[thedustycoyote]

i would not want to scrap tomorrowland, but i would like to see the sub/autopia/innoventions area to be made into a discovery bay type land. there is certainly enough room, & it would be a nice transition between tomorrowland and fantasyland. also this would mean being able to keep the bay there, and possibly add even more water features.

i'm not sure what i would do to tomorrowland, it most definitely needs an update of some sort though...

[PiecesOfEight]

No. Don't encourage steampunk enthusiasts/dorks.

[Retrocool]

[Elias1955]

No. Don't encourage steampunk enthusiasts/dorks.

Said the member of a Disneyland discussion forum!

Why so against it? It works really well for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo...

[whitestrat]

Call me nostalgic or whatever else, but I love me some clean and beautiful Tomorrowland '67 as far as the feel and asthetic of the land goes.

There's no doubt that the content of the land needs to be re-thought, as far as attractions, rides, shows, etc. (not all of them) but I just think the look of Tomorrowland from that time period is very appealing and pleasing to the eye.

The long running issue of keeping up wih the future is always going to be a tough one, and I'm not sure they should keep chasing that as an overall concept. I think there should be things throughout the land that showcase cutting edge technologies, that could be rotated out for new and exciting things that come along, without the need for a complete re-theme of the land when things get stale.

If they got the right sponsors on board form tech companies etc. they could also showcase things that are in development as well, thus giving you your "Tomorrow" aspect. And of course, they could just come up with fun and crazy technologies that are pure, wild speculation, you know, like flight, and microwave ovens...

[calsig31]

I hear you, but the problem is that our vision of where we're going changes constantly and it's a massive project to try to keep up with the times.

They just have to set the time period far enough in the future so we don't catch up to it for a long time. There are plenty of ways to do that.

It works really well for Disneyland Paris and Tokyo...

That is there, not here.