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merlinjones
06-11-2004, 12:56 PM
PhotoEssay:
TOMORROWLAND, THEN AND NOW

During Michael Eisner's tenure as CEO, much has changed in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. Here, we present a three-set photo essay matching shots of Walt's 1967-1997 Tomorrowland with the current reality. Is this Tomorrowland the symbol of Disney's future?

http://www.savedisney.com/news/disneyland/tl/tl_ss061104.1.asp

Opus1guy
06-11-2004, 01:01 PM
I think they should make a movie about the battle between Eisner and merlinjones. Perhaps they could name it "The Devil and Mr. Jones?" ;)

Great photo essay, MJ. Please keep 'em coming. :)

Unfortunately, you currently have almost no limit on available "material." :(

JTCarrey
06-11-2004, 02:01 PM
ok that made me want to cry, and it angers me, why is Eisner in charge anyway? (I never got into all that) Isn't there someone that can take over and make Disneyland magical again?

disNeytEen
06-11-2004, 02:15 PM
i was flipping between the four pictures of the people mover, rocket jets, skyway before and after, and the Launching Pad (Spacebar) before and after pictures, its amazing how back then it was so nice and white and futurastic looking and know its like they just throw some piecie of "space junk" as you mentioned on top. Also how many people were at Tommorowland before and after also has drasticly changed in the pictures. Sad :crying:

Great Album though i always find it fun to look at your albums keep it up! :)

Disney Vault
06-11-2004, 03:09 PM
I cant believe how great TL was. I was to young to remember it that way. Why did they redo it in 98?

JTCarrey
06-11-2004, 03:12 PM
cuz they're crazy, Tomorrowland used to be a lot better before they changed it :(

Disney Vault
06-11-2004, 03:35 PM
I will never say i hate any of those old rides again (except the skyway). Anything is better than nothing and eventhough the subs and people mover werent my favorite fide they still add so much to TL. I cant believe how trashy and junky it looks today.

JeffG
06-11-2004, 03:58 PM
And, of course, it is all Eisner's fault... :rolleyes:

-Jeff

Disney Vault
06-11-2004, 04:17 PM
To punish Eisner i think we should lock him in the golden dreams theater and make him watch it over and over.

merlinjones
06-11-2004, 04:18 PM
>>And, of course, it is all Eisner's fault...<<

For not fixing it NOW, absolutely...

disNeytEen
06-11-2004, 04:44 PM
And, of course, it is all Eisner's fault... :rolleyes:


its not his fault for what happened to it but it is his for doing nothing about it

Klutch
06-11-2004, 05:10 PM
The tomorrowland photo essay at SaveDisney.com is very well done. It reminds of Al Lutz articles from a couple of years ago.

I am fortunate enough to have experienced the old Tomorrowland as a child. It was my favorite part of Disneyland. Considering Disneyland was my favorite place in the whole world, that's saying something! I was oh so disappointed to see what had happened to it when I took my children there several years ago. The word "Lame" kept coming to mind.

Alas, I fear mostly Disney fans will be the ones viewing the photo essays at SaveDisney.com. The folks who could really have an influence, like large shareholders, will likely never see it. Anyway, thanks Roy.

merlinjones
06-11-2004, 05:49 PM
Alot of shareholders are on our emailing list and have received the link to the photo essay, so hopefully it will be seen by many. :)

If you know someone who should see it, send them a link...

JeffG
06-11-2004, 08:56 PM
its not his fault for what happened to it but it is his for doing nothing about it

Nothing, of course, other than the re-painting and refurbishment of Space Mountain and greenlighting the new Buzz Lightyear attraction. I do agree that more needs to be done in Tomorrowland, and I even agree that they should get more projects underway sooner rather than later, but this problem can't be fixed instantaneously.

Screaming about Eisner certainly isn't going to do much to address the issue. That is unless, of course, you represent disgruntled ex-board members with an axe to grind and your real focus is on trying to settle some sort of personal score...

-Jeff

sleepyjeff
06-11-2004, 08:57 PM
Don't worry, in 2008 whats left of Tomorrowland can be destroyed, um, I mean fixed ;)


:crying:

disNeytEen
06-11-2004, 09:06 PM
Screaming about Eisner certainly isn't going to do much to address the issue. That is unless, of course, you represent disgruntled ex-board members with an axe to grind and your real focus is on trying to settle some sort of personal score...

-Jeff

I don't believe i was screaming just saying that it has taken him rather slow to green light Buzz when it isn't even considered much of a present for the 50th , and what was he going to do wait until Space just broke down.

merlinjones
06-11-2004, 10:33 PM
>>but this problem can't be fixed instantaneously<<

Why? The Family Channel could be bought instantaneously for over 1 BILLION dollars...

Photographer
06-12-2004, 05:34 AM
Wow, a Tomorrowland that was bright and busy. That must have been fun.

tod
06-12-2004, 06:59 AM
i was flipping between the four pictures of the people mover, rocket jets, skyway before and after, and the Launching Pad (Spacebar) before and after pictures...

Lunching Pad.

--t

JeffG
06-12-2004, 07:27 AM
>>but this problem can't be fixed instantaneously<<

Why? The Family Channel could be bought instantaneously for over 1 BILLION dollars...

What a ridiculous non sequitur. Can you really not see the major difference between a corporate acquisition and the planning, initiation, and construction of major changes to a theme park?

-Jeff

merlinjones
06-12-2004, 08:22 AM
>>What a ridiculous non sequitur. Can you really not see the major difference between a corporate acquisition and the planning, initiation, and construction of major changes to a theme park?<<

So you are telling me that they ARE planning a major reinvestment in Disneyland itself for the longterm future? Rasulo has said the opposite of Disneyland repeatedly in investor calls - that is performing fine without reinvestment. Unless you know something I don't, they are doing NOTHING of substance, other than paint and maintenence for the 50th - - which should have been done anyway, before they started "harvesting".

Disneyland deserves action NOW. If there isn't time, money or will to redesign Tomorrowland anew, there is NO WAY it can be that complicated to restore the attractions that were there - the infrastructure and plans and blueprints and order forms are all extant.

It takes WILL to admit mistakes and the responsibilty to correct them... and the courage to resist trying to line the year end figures with "profits" squeezed from the company assets.

I would LOVE to be surprised here...

DefyingGravity
06-12-2004, 09:00 AM
Wow... that was quite depressing.
It's too bad what happened to Tomorrowland...
I do have to say, though, that I don't blame them for switching the "theme" and colors of TL to the present state. Don't get me wrong, I don't like it, and think it was better before, but I think they had a good idea. It just turned out badly.
The problem with a land themed to Tomorrow is that it needs constant updating to stay futuristic. By theming it as what visionaries of the past envisioned the future as, they were trying to make a land that had more permanent attractions. Unfortunately, probably because of budget cuts, the end product came out half-baked.
Imagine if they spent the money to fix the Rocket Rods track so the cars wouldn't break down, and didn't have to stop at every turn! Imagine if the Observitron did something, like shoot beams of light into the sky, drawing your eyes to TL. Imagine if the Astro Orbitor was really high up. Imagine if Club Buzz was never built, and instead a very cool, futuristic looking stage took it's place. Imagine if the colors were less brown, and more gold. Imagine if Innoventions showcased really top-of the line futuristic products.TL might have been pretty cool!

Just my 2 cents.

JTCarrey
06-12-2004, 10:27 AM
"As long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be complete" - Walt Disney

Well guess what! It's not complete!! I hope people didn't take Walt's message literally, I mean come on! I think we should all make t-shirts with the old tomorrowland and protest against the new one, I hope Eisner doesn't make every land look desolate :(

Disney Vault
06-12-2004, 11:08 AM
I think DL was just becoming too complete and Eisner wanted to keep Walts dream alive, so he is making DL uncomplete again by taking stuff away :rolleyes:

sambo
06-12-2004, 01:27 PM
Great work Mr. Jones! Being old enough to remember the original, the 67 update, and the 98 makeover, I must say that I am sad at what Eisner's poor decisions have done to a once stellar vision of the future. I was even excited about the 98 makeover. A Jules Verne future realized - What possibilities! I saw the pictures of Innovations external construction and thought if it's half as cool inside... Bringing back the Moonliner, and a new speedy attraction on the old Peoplemover tracks - I looked like the dream was returning.

It turned out to be a sad disappointment. Not awful - just sad. At least we still had the Subs, Tomorrowland Stage, and the Monorails. Even those disappeared or are disappearing. Club Buzz? What an awful show. Even the kids think it's insipid and talks down to them. Innovations? A tradeshow that features products that are older than what many of us own at home. Rocket Rods died. The Observatron became boring. The fountains succumbed to acid rain. Astro Orbitor looks cool but is in the worst place imaginable. The subs... Need I say more? The sad thing is the trend continues. The Buzz attraction going in will be more of the same downward spiral. Sadly, we are so starved for some vision in Tomorrowland we will accept a Buzz Shoot-em-up as exciting. It is only exciting when compared to what is there now. When compared with what was there or what could be there, it appears in it's true light - sad.

Thanks merlinjones for reminding me of the line from a song...

" You don't know what you've got till it's gone..."

We had paradise, now we have a parking lot.