Looking Back at a New Tomorrowland

If you nose around the internet a bit, it seems that Walt Disney World's fairly refreshed Tomorrowland may be in for a bit of an Imagineering remake. New shades of paint are appearing just about everywhere, from the space styled rocks at the entrance to the Carousel of Progress building an it's striking new sign.

The great folks at WDWMagic share in some speculation that so much of the land is due to change, but Space Mountain won't be touched. (You'll have to go there yourself to pick up on the rumors gaining steam.) It may get a new neighbor, but the iconic building will remain. It's a good thing, too! Not only is it one of my favorite attractions in the World, it's one kids of all ages look forward to conquering! I've got tons of Imagineering concept art on it (and a piece on Space Mountains all over the world that may need some updates). Now for some art.

Disney Imagineer Clem Hall was the man responsible for some of the earliest concept paintings of Space Mountain. There's not much known about he guy, but you can see he was a forward thinker and some of his concepts had a profound affect on the design of Florida's Tomorrowland. On the piece above and below, you can see the Grand Prix Raceway to the left, and the Skyway building to the right.

This nighttime look at Space Mountain intrigues me even more- as most dark skied bright light pieces do. In fact, so does nighttime at any Disney park. The lighting designers are incredibly talented, making even the most mundane lands feel special.

Here's one last piece for this post. By an (unknown to me) Imagineer, showing yet another different potential design for the world's first coaster in the dark. I'm partial to the final result however- and I bet many others share that opinion. Hopefully the changes to come honor the genius of the past artists.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)