USA 2016 - 09 Disneyland Park - Tomorrowland (2016-07-13)

After many hours of aimlessly strolling about, I had finally entered Tomorrowland, the last themed “land” still left to visit on my once in a lifetime, one day only, exploration of the original Disneyland theme park.

Tomorrowland has always been about the future, as envisioned around a time when the original frenzy of space travel began to grip hold of America’s psyche.

Of course, as we all know these visions of a future quickly become outdated and as such Tomorrowland has had to change a lot over time, far more than any other land situated out there on the sprawling Disneyland complex.

When it originally opened in 1955, Tomorrowland was devoid of several of its planned attractions thanks to budget cuts. Construction had been rushed, and Tomorrowland ended up being the last land to be finished, arriving as somewhat of a corporate showcase with much of its space occupied by company showcase pieces from the likes of Monsanto Company, American Motors, Richfield Oil, and Dutch Boy Paint.

Over time, following numerous changes to the configuration and attractions, the showcases were slowly left by the wayside one by one as Disney took proper ownership of the themed land and made it their own.

These days, the current incarnation of Tomorrowland (still sporting its classic 1950s pulp sci-fi look – though now tinged with a heavy slather of Star Wars theme) is home to the iconic Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Autopia, and Star Tours: The Adventures Continue attractions.

Also, despite not being a particularly big Star Wars fan, it was hard not to be impressed with the very cool display set up in the Star Wars: Launch Bay area, not to mention the jaw-droppingly huge range of Star Wars merchandise on sale in all the official shops. (I suspect that a LOT of my friends would return with empty pockets and most likely a second mortgage on the house).

Given the Star Wars theme, the Matterhorn Mountain Bobsleds and Space Mountain, this was by far the most popular land that I travelled through on the day – and I suspect that this holds true pretty much every day, or will at least until the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land comes online in 2019!