Seize The Future With X-S!

A lot of my preferences at Walt Disney World are rooted in nostalgia rather than logic. For instance, Tomorrowland is my favorite land in the Magic Kingdom. I can’t logically defend this. Although I love Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover, and Space Mountain (I’ve rambled about this in the caption of another recent photo), when trying to look at the land objectively, it has a lot of faults. Anyone who has been visiting Walt Disney World for years or decades but says their opinions aren’t at least somewhat biased by nostalgia is feeding you a line of crap. There’s nothing wrong with nostalgia and liking certain things because of it. Now, it’s a different story when you advocate change (or lack thereof) because of nostalgia. For example, hoping that Captain EO stays in the Imagination pavilion. No one in their right mind can objectively think that this is an appropriate attraction for Epcot (or anywhere, for that matter). That location deserves a new attraction that fits Future World. From a personal perspective, I preferred Kitchen Kabaret over Soarin’, but I would never contend that Kitchen Kabaret should still be around because, objectively, Soarin’ does more for Epcot than Kitchen Kabaret (even if it doesn’t fit theme perfectly).

But this photo is of Tomorrowland, so back to that. On our trip in 1995, we saw the “new” Tomorrowland for the first time, and I was blown away. (I’ve written about this trip and other childhood trip in my “childhood trip report.”) I was 10 at the time, which was probably my sweet spot for visiting Walt Disney World as a kid. Not too cool for anything, but “brave” and tall enough to do everything. I loved the new look of Tomorrowland, which seemed distinctly futuristic to my 10 year old eyes.

The highlight of that trip was the all new ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (check out that page for an extensive look at Alien Encounter). The attraction was closed on and off while we were there, so it felt like something special when we finally did get to experience it. And what an experience it was. I was at an age where I could grasp some of the dark humor in the pre-show, but not so old that the attraction didn’t scare me a little. It had everything that made an attraction awesome to me: an interesting story, an entertaining wait in line, and most important–-an awesome character in Skippy! After exiting the attraction, I flew into its gift-shop and snatched up the largest Skippy plush I could find. I had been saving up money I had earned for the past year (in my lucrative career cleaning up dog poop for my grandpa) just for such an investment! I still have that Skippy to this day, complete with his original “MousekeToy” tag attached. To date, Alien Encounter is still my second favorite attraction in the history of Walt Disney World behind the original Journey into Imagination. Sarah and I even bravely go where no man should go and experience Stitch’s Great Escape every once in a while just to see the pre-show and my old friend, Skippy.

While I love the look of the current Tomorrowland, neon and all, I know that a big part of the appeal is due to the memories I formed in this incarnation of Tomorrowland as a kid. It also still deeply disappoints me that Alien Encounter, an attraction I still consider incredibly brilliant, has been replaced by an abomination of an attraction. Objectively, I realize that the aesthetics of Tomorrowland aren’t the best, and that Alien Encounter might have been a bit too “adult” for Tomorrowland…but I still love that Tomorrowland of 1995.

What Disney attraction or land tickles your nostalgia bone? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments!

Merchant of Venus Tomorrowland Photo

Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, especially at night, is my favorite land at Walt Disney World. It has three of my favorite attractions: Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover, and Space Mountain. It has great background music, fun puns for restaurant and shop names, and details that I love–such as the palms and Sonny Eclipse. I also enjoy the neon, which I think is quite photogenic and adds to the ambiance.

All of these things easily help the land overcome the loses of the amazing Alien Encounter and Timekeeper attractions, and the general thematic misfire and lack of cohesiveness of the land. Those issues do push Tomorrowland just behind New Orleans Square in Disneyland as my overall favorite land, but second place isn’t too bad, all things considered. A replacement for Stitch’s Great Escape that captures the spirit and dark humor of Alien Encounter without the scares would push Tomorrowland back into first place.

Tomorrowland, with its swooping lines, is also great for the fisheye. While I love my Rokinon 8mm fisheye (check out my review of it), I plan on using it a lot less on our upcoming trips. I have found myself processing fewer and fewer fisheye photos, plus, I have the new Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, which will be getting a serious workout!

Technical details: Nikon D7000 and Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

Tomorrowland Palm Trees – Walt Disney World Photo

Those fans of alternative energy out there should love these palm trees in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, as it turns out Walt Disney Imagineering has found a way to harvest metal coconuts and convert them to energy! Why the government hasn’t invested billions of dollars in these palms, I don’t know.

The relatively-unknown backstory that these are “Power Palms,” which were planted in an effort by the Tomorrowland Light & Power Co. Arcade to capture energy. Even without this backstory, these palms are ridiculously cool to look at and photograph. They’re definitely one of my favorite Disney Details, and one of the details that really sets Disney apart from the competition, in my opinion. Most guests probably give them little more than a passing glance, yet they’re one of the details that really give Tomorrowland great energy (in more than one way, apparently!). Look for the one palm that differs from the rest and see if you can figure out why it differs!

Technical details: Nikon D7000 and Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

Tomorrowland Classics Sunrise Photo

As I mentioned in my recent review of the book Gardens of Walt Disney World Resort, I love the greenery and details at Walt Disney World. From topiaries to trees that are unordinary and different from what you’d see in the real world, I enjoy it all. It should be no surprise that I really like these trees in Tomorrowland, which have been a favorite photo subject of mine for years. It was a real treat photographing them this particular morning as the sun had just begun to peak up over the horizon near Space Mountain, casting long shadows of the trees onto the nearby Mickey’s Star Trader’s building as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover zoomed past!

Technical details: shot with a tripod-mounted Nikon D7000 with a Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens. See our guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

Want to see more Disney photos? Check out the other photos in our “Disney Photo of the Day” series!

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Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port Review

Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port is a counter service restaurant serving pizza, meatballs, and pasta in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. Redd Rockett’s offers an Annual Passholder discount of 10-15%. Pizza Port is housed inside the former location of the Mission to Mars attraction, and a tribute to the old Moonliner rocket sits in front of the restaurant.

We’ve been to Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port a fair number of times. The first time it was mediocre, but we enjoy the location in Tomorrowland and have heard some pretty positive things about the restaurant, so we decided to head back a second time. The food was a little better this time, and free refills were nice, but it didn’t even come close to comparing to Hungry Bear Restaurant, Rancho del Zocalo, or some of Disney California Adventure’s new restaurants.

However, we decided to head back again, because we heard that we were “doing it wrong” by going at off-hours. This made sense, as the pizza sat out under heat lamps, so if you go at a time that’s not busy, your food is less-than-fresh. We also heard we were making a grave error by not ordering the Count Down Chicken Fusilli. So we gave it another try.

Turns out the third time was the charm, as we finally had an excellent meal at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port on our third visit. We visited right during the busy dinner rush and ordered both the chicken fusilli and a slice of pizza. Both were excellent. Add to that a couple of drinks with free refills and we had an exceptional meal. One of the better counter service meals we’ve had at Disneyland.

The pizza here is different than at most other locations, like like Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta and Village Haus Restaurant, where flatbread is the option of choice. While I prefer thick crust pizza, It seems to me the quality of the flatbreads is a bit higher. It’s entirely possible to make an excellent quality thick crust pizza, so I’d like to see some improvements made on this front at Pizza Port. Still, the pizza is pretty tasty at Pizza Port. Not exceptional, but not terrible.

It may seem reasonably priced at around $7 per slice, but the slices are not sizable-enough to constitute an entire meal. You’ll either want to order two slices or order a side. We’ve been unimpressed by the bread sticks in the past. If you do go at a slow time and the pizza under the lamps looks less than appetizing, consider ordering a gluten-free pizza. It’s made fresh for you, and we’ve heard it’s pretty good. We’ve never done this ourselves, but it’s an option to consider.

The Count Down Chicken Fusilli is the real star of the menu. It’s served in a large portion  and consists of fusilli pasta tossed with moist and well-seasoned grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, parmesan cream sauce, and topped off with fresh basil. For less than $10, it’s actually fairly reasonably priced given its excellent taste and portion size. If there are two light eaters in your party, they could likely share this dish and be satisfied.

The theming at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port isn’t all that impressive, but the old attraction posters on the wall inside are really cool. For whatever reason, we really like eating in the pavilion seating across from Captain EO’s queue near Space Mountain (within the building; pictured below). Not a lot of people head up here, so you can hear the background music and watch people queue up for Space Mountain and Captain EO. If you look around in this area, you can find some alien dinosaur eggs. These eggs were added during the infamous New Tomorrowland project in the 1990s, and have never really been explained, nor is there much online coverage concerning this detail. Although in absolutely no way relevant to this review, they’re fun to spot, though, and you can impress your friends with your obscure Disney knowledge by pointing them out.

Overall, if you do things right, Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port can be a good place to eat in the heart of Tomorrowland. We’ve had one of our better Disneyland meals here, as mentioned above. However, its inconsistency cannot be overlooked. Restaurants should offer good food without guests having to know the “secrets” to getting a good meal. Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port falls a little short there, and is penalized in this review accordingly. Not enough to ding it too much, so if you do plan on eating there, remember to follow these tips!

Overall Score on the Disney Dining Brick-o-meter: 7.5/10