Signs of the Times: Tomorrowland
Admin ;)
Let's look at some wonderful old signs in Tomorrowland that are no longer with us. Some of these signs rarely, if ever, show up in photos anywhere. Each of these photos were sent to us through our Photo Hunt. Thanks everyone for sharing!
Magic Kingdom
Above, Katherine Amante shares this great Space Mountain entrance sign taken sometime between 1982 and 1985. Look at those rad 80s stripes and colors.
This next photo from Shaun Ortolano shows the same sign with an earlier paint design on the wall behind it. This was taken in 1982.
;)
Here Ryan Rewasiewicz shares a similar view that includes that great RCA signage on the pillar with the astronauts.
;)
I was thrilled when Dan Zuccarelli sent in this 1985 photo of the Space Bar Hosted by Wise sign. I've never seen a close-up photo of this sign. Today the location is called the Launching Pad. Disney by Mark (great blog) shares an early look at Disneyland's Space Bar. The two Space Bars were very different in design but served similar purposes.
;)
I was ecstatic when David West Reynolds sent this Flight to the Moon/Mission to Mars photo. It's always exciting to see both the old and new versions of a ride featured in the same photograph. Flight to the Moon closed and Mission to Mars took its place during the summer of 1975, just a few months after Space Mountain opened. Making this photo even more priceless, the story of the 11-year-old lad in the photo. He ended up working on Mars probe missions for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
;)
©DWR This photo is not authorized for free general public use by request of its owner.
Remember Mickey's Mart in Tomorrowland? Today it's Mickey’s Star Traders and couldn't look more different. Mexsana makes sun car products and medicated powders and such. You'll notice Coppertone got equal billing on this sign.
;)
Next we get four old signs in one photo. A large WEDWay PeopleMover sign (left), the classy white Carousel of Progress sign (center), part of the If You could Fly sign with a seagull on it (right) and the Space Bar sign we saw earlier (lower left)– this time with a different face and sponsor. Anyone know the sponsor?
;)
Disneyland
Anna-Marie Villegas shares this beautiful Disneyland PeopleMover shot. The rotating blue sign had the Goodyear logo on one side and the PeopleMover logo on the other. It's said that the PeopleMover logo was designed to resemble that of Goodyear, using a similar typeface.
;)
Ray Osburn sends this view of both rotating Goodyear signs– one in front of the tower, one in back. Notice the one in back is hanging. Then there's one of the Coca-Cola signs that adorned Tomorrowland for so many years.
;)
At some point the diamondy-shaped rotating signs became rectangles. I'm not certain as to why. You'll see this in the following two photos from Connie Moreno. It looks like this first one was taken form a Skyway bucket.
;)
;)
Related post:
THEN AND NOW: MK Tomorrowland [Part 1]
Carousel of Progress Like You’ve Never Seen It
A Look at the Progress City Model- Then and Now
THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
Revisiting Early Space Mountain... Sort Of
America Sings
Disneyland Skyway in Your Backyard?
Tomorrowland
Reader Comments (8)
I absolutely love this collection of pictures. As much as I love looking at pictures from our earliest WDW trips, I'm always upset when I don't find a gem like these... even when I know it's impossible. It's crazy to think of all the treasures hiding away in someone's photo albums and they probably have no idea someone would be so thrilled to see them. Thanks for mentioning Disney by Mark... added it to my reader immediately!
Incredible. I do enjoy the occasion new sign that catches my attention. But there's something wonderful about these old signs. I for one am not offended by attraction sponsorships. They go back many years. And it very interesting ways many have shaped the way an attraction is written and presented.
Thank you for using my photos! I am so glad that you are doing this series of posts!
The Disneyland Peoplemover signs were changed in 1980 with Goodyear dropping sponsership of the ride. In "Kraft's Salute to Disneyland's 25th", during the opening credits you can see that the sign is missing.
Absolutely love the pictures! Thanks so much for sharing!
The sponsor sign from the last picture of the Magic Kingdom set really caught my attention because it reminded me of sign I had seen before. After looking for it, I'm pretty sure the "sponsor" sign is from Disney's Handwhich!
There's more info about it here:
http://www.talkdisney.com/forums/wdw-restaurants/44769-remember-disney-s-handwich.html
If You Had Wings was sponsored by Eastern airlines however If You Could Fly was a modified version of If You Had Wings after Eastern sponsorship ended. Nice pictures you have collected.
I miss the old future!
Great stuff! I'm a Fan of Disney my self and as a matter of fact I too have a blog where my friend and I talk about Disney. If it's not too much trouble you should check out our site.
keep up the good work.
http://disneypunksreviews.blogspot.com/