Before Disneyland was loaded with enormous rides and eye-popping attractions, the theme park was built around special areas planned by Disney himself. There was historical fun in Frontierland, Exotic thrills in Adventureland, and characters and sets from Disney's films in Fantasyland. But the most unique area in the park was Tomorrowland. Disney was very interested in technology and how it would change our lives, and Tomorrowland was his place to explore these ideas.
"Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come," Disney said, and some of the Tomorrowland attractions gave people a glimpse at that future.
See what they got right - and wrong - in this list!
1. Space Travel
When Tomorrowland opened in 1955, the idea of humans visiting the moon was still pretty far-fetched. One of the park's biggest attractions - literally, it was 76 feet tall - was the TWA Moonliner. The rocket was meant to represent the kind of crafts that would take us all on space trips in the near future. Once we actually reached the moon, the Flight to the Moon attraction became Mission to Mars, which you can still visit today.
Well, we're not exactly soaring among the stars yet. While you can pay a lot of money for a space trip, it's not possible for 99% of people. The park's "imagineers" also guessed that the rockets would use nuclear reactors,which hasn't really come about - yet.
2. Modern Transportation
One of the most popular early attraction at Tomorrowland was Autopia, a car ride that was meant to give tourists a preview of the upcoming National Interstate System. That's right: back then even highways were science fiction for most Americans!
While Autopia and America's highway system was probably the closest Tomorrowland ever came to predicting the future (because it was already happening) most people would love to ride Tomorrowland's monorail instead. Sadly, America's railways have pretty much died out, and there are only a handful of monorails in the whole country.
Click the next page for more predictions, including the House of the Future!
3. The House of the Future
Monsanto's House of the Future was one of the biggest attractions at Disneyland, because it offered average people a look at how their lives might change. The futuristic home featured picture phones (like iPhone FaceTime), flat screen TVs, TV remotes, flat-screen thermostats, and microwave ovens, all before they were commercially available.
The house also had some pretty lousy predictions: why would people have refrigerators built into their ceilings? Although, the idea of a dishwasher that also puts the dishes away would still be a bestseller today.
4. The Carousel of Progress
You might remember visiting this attraction yourself, because it still exists. It's a play using animatronic actors that shows how electricity and other inventions have changed our lives.
In the last segment, we get a glimpse at the world of the future, with smart appliances that can listen and talk to us and virtual reality video games. Of course, this attraction has been updated a few times since 1955, so they've had lots of chances to update their predictions.
5. Wrong Answers
It turns out the park's designers had a real knack for guessing how the future would unfold, but nobody can be right all the time. Lots of the attractions were also sponsored by companies, so it makes sense that the Aluminium Hall of Fame sponsored by Kaiser Aluminium would be a little skewed.
Some of the weirder predictions include cars and planes running on methanol (wood alcohol) and building houses out of plastic, which would be better for the environment but kind of ugly.
It's funny to think about the kind of predictions today's Tomorrowland would make, and whether they would turn out to be right or wrong!
){kind=link}
Share this list if you remember visiting Disneyland as a child!