Walt Disney Imagineering will reimagine Tomorrowland at Disneyland using Walt Disney’s original vision for the 1955 opening day land that dreamed of an imaginative, wondrous and optimistic future.
“We are going to reimagine Tomorrowland,” Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino said during a D23 media briefing. “It is coming. We are finally committing to it and doing it. And I could not be more excited.”
Disneyland announced the third major overhaul in Tomorrowland’s 71-year history on Saturday, Aug. 15 during the Horizons: A Carousel of Progress showcase at the Honda Center as part of the D23 fan expo in Anaheim.
Disneyland’s reimagined Tomorrowland will feature new attractions and open spaces full of attention to detail, immersive storytelling and emotional experiences, according to Imagineering’s Disneyland Resort Executive Creative Producer Emo O’Brien.
“I understand the gravitas and the responsibility that I have with our teams to guide us through this journey of reimagining the only Tomorrowland that Walt actually envisioned, designed and walked in,” O’Brien said during a D23 media briefing.
Reimagining Tomorrowland is an honor, privilege and huge responsibility for O’Brien, who will lead the Imagineering team working on the Disneyland project.
“We literally are just getting started,” O’Brien said.
Imagineering has already begun imagining what Tomorrowland could be at Disneyland using Walt Disney’s original vision for the 1955 opening day land as “our guidepost and our North Star,” according to Estorino.
“We really looked back to Walt’s opening day speech that he gave and we were inspired by his vision of Tomorrowland being a vista into wondrous worlds,” O’Brien said.
Walt Disney dedicated Tomorrowland on July 17, 1955 with these words: “A vista into a world of wondrous ideas, signifying man’s achievements. A step into the future with predictions of constructive things to come. Tomorrow offers new frontiers in science, adventure and ideals: The Atomic Age, the challenge of outer space and the hope for a peaceful and unified world.”
Optimism was at the core of everything Walt envisioned for Tomorrowland, according to O’Brien. Imagineering plans to respect the heritage and legacy of Tomorrowland while continuing to evolve the land for new generations, O’Brien said.
“The way that we approach our work as Imagineers is always with a lot of care and thoughtful intention as to how we are going to bring things to life,” O’Brien said.
The constructive criticism leveled at Tomorrowland over the years has been valuable, painful and true, according to Estorino.
Estorino acknowledged that today’s Tomorrowland “feels a bit tired” and has “very little tomorrow.”
She even joked that the construction wall that has stood at the entrance of Tomorrowland since 2019 “will soon be of legal drinking age.”
The challenge of Tomorrowland has always been that the latest vision of the future eventually becomes outdated.
“Tomorrow is a heck of a thing to keep up with,” Walt Disney said.
Fans have been clamoring for Disneyland to announce a major renovation of Tomorrowland for years.
The land’s first update in 1967 was dubbed the New Tomorrowland with the 1998 makeover jokingly referred to as the New, New Tomorrowland. The latest iteration is already being called the New, New, New Tomorrowland.
Disneyland’s Land of Tomorrow has plenty of empty spaces in need of some Imagineering magic with the Tomorrowland Theater, Star Wars Launch Bay and PeopleMover track all sitting underused.
Imagineering’s Tomorrowland makeover will likely begin with an Autopia update and could include a refreshed Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Space Mountain facelift and even a return of the Carousel of Progress — although no plans have been announced yet.
Disneyland plans to retire the gas engines on Autopia early next year and update the Tomorrowland race track with fully electric vehicles.
Imagineering has been updating the Buzz Lightyear attractions at Florida’s Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland.
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Tokyo Disneyland will open a major renovation of Tomorrowland and Space Mountain in 2027.
The Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom will reopen in 2027 after a major update to the ride’s backstory and timeline.