Saturday, May 21, 2011

A Selection of Images from New Tomorrowland Media Day

I have previously blogged about some of my experiences with the New Tomorrowland. Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the Media Day. I actually went to school that day and didn't acquire my credential with help from Bruce Gordon until late in the day, after the events were through. The following are most of my images from that day. I probably also shot some Hi-8 video that day, but that will have to wait for another time.

The first is the newly repainted Starcade (they were still finishing this and The Star Trader up in the previous week):

I do not believe there were any children at Media Day:

This might be the nicest of the bunch; Tomorrowland almost seems welcoming and exciting!:

Various broadcasting tables were set up around the land:

Mickey on the Astro Orbitor:

Fresh and new:

This was only the second day I had ever been on the second level of the Carousel Theater (the first being May 1, 1998, when Bruce escorted me up there). I took a few shots:

The Premiere Shop interior (oddly, I did not take any photos of the Disneyland Forever kiosks):

Tomorrowland Rapid Transit logo from Rocket Rods exit into Premiere Shop:

Why so cartoony?:

This photo is noteworthy for including a Rocket Rod on the track above the Autopia:

I couldn't stay away from snapping other second level photos in the fading sunlight:

At this time the Innoventions interior was still a mystery:

Since the media had largely gone home, it was just me going through the Rocket Rods queue again and again:

Finally, a few taken while waiting to "blast off":

I've been busy lately with a number of activities, some of which will hopefully be useful long-term to my Disneyland research. I finished scanning my APS film photos from 1996-1998 (and discovered two rolls that need to be finished so they can finally be developed!). Once I match up dates with the photos I'll be in a better position to use them here and at Drop In Again Sometime. I've begun the task of organizing my 10,000 Disneyland photos from the past year. I also, of course, continue to visit Disneyland so that 2011 can be the best documented year in the thesaurus!

1 comment:

Major Pepperidge said...

I'm not sure I've seen you editorialize about the generally-disliked "New Tomorrowland" of 1998... did you like it? Hate it? Somewhere in between?

I believe that the various designers had nothing but the best intentions, but the money required to do the Jules Verne style makeover right was just not there. And perhaps the steampunk aesthetic was just too generally dark for Disneyland, as cool as it could have been.

I'm still glad that I had several chances to ride the Rocket Rods, which must be right up there with the Viewliner as far as short-lived attractions go.