Disney World’s Stealth Tomorrowland Transformation

Walt Disney World’s Trouble with Tomorrowland has been an ongoing issue for decades, as the Magic Kingdom had one foot in the past and dated-but-popular attractions and an aesthetic that no longer felt futuristic. Imagineering has been quietly fixing this over the last few years, beginning with placemaking in the lead-up to TRON Lightcycle and accelerating more recently with ride reimaginings.

It’s also not just a problem unique to Walt Disney World. Almost every Tomorrowland has this same issue to varying degrees, and it only gets worse with the older parks. Disneyland Paris gets somewhat of a pass by eschewing Tomorrowland in favor of the more timeless Discoveryland, but that land also needs help. Even the much-newer Hong Kong Disneyland has Tomorrowland troubles, with that Star Wars-meets-Marvel land being a bit of a mess.

Then there’s Disneyland. There’s a reason “New Tomorrowland” makes our wish list for every D23 Expo (and will again in 2026), and why the company itself announced “A Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrowland Entrance Coming Soon to Disneyland” back in November 2019. The walls are still up and the concept art on them had become so faded that they replaced it. That construction wall will soon be of legal drinking age in some territories.

When we first discussed this possibility of an overhaul, it appeared that Imagineering was teeing up a transformation of Tomorrowland as part of the 10-year plan in the early 2030s once the current 5-year plan involving Cars and Villains Land is finished. For the reasons discussed below, it seemed probable that those and other projects would facilitate a Tomorrowland overhaul.

Now it’s looking increasingly likely that Imagineering takes a piecemeal approach, and will start to reimagine Tomorrowland before then, with smaller-scale projects undertaken to give guests a reason to visit between now and the 2030s when the Magic Kingdom expansion is finally finished.

Or rather, that Imagineering is already quietly in the midst of a Tomorrowland reimagining, with a stealth project that was never announced, but will leave the land feeling fully futurized before the 2030s. This actually isn’t anything new. Imagineering has been slowly working in the shadows on Tomorrowland for almost the last decade. We’re just now starting to see the fruits of that, and zooming out a bit, how it could come together in a few more years.

Prior to the opening of TRON Lightcycle Run, there had been rumors of an aesthetic overhaul of Tomorrowland to modernize the land. Or perhaps more accurately, to mid-century modernize the land. To declutter it, peeling back the layers of artifice added during Tomorrowland ’94, and reveal the original design underneath.

In fact, this project actually began in 2018 and was never finished. Or perhaps more accurately, was not finished at the time. Like so many other Walt Disney World projects of the time, it was slated to be done in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Then March 2020 happened.

In the post-COVID years, Walt Disney World has quietly resumed the placemaking component of the Tomorrowland refresh. There have been several little updates, from refreshing the rockwork to removing more of the artifice and restoring the mid-century modern aesthetic.

One great example of this is the AstroFizz snack stand replacement. This looks shockingly good for what it is, with an eye-catching aesthetic, swooping lines, fun lighting, and striking shapes. This is small scale in the grand scheme of things, but symbolic of the direction that Tomorrowland is heading.

This brings us to the latest development, which is that two towers flanking the rockwork at the entrance to Tomorrowland have been completely demolished. These towers were originally installed as part of the land’s 1994 reimagining, and are consistent with other past work to peel back that added artifice.

The demolition of these two towers follows a permit filed for the Tomorrowland bridge last month. That tapped D.H. Griffin Wrecking Company to conduct “general construction” work. Sometimes construction means destruction, and that was true in the case of this permit. (The name of the contractor should’ve been a clue!)

The starship-esque tower on the left side of the land’s entrance has been removed, with scaffolding and scrim still up in its place. The larger spaceship tower closer to Cosmic Ray’s is still in place, but presumably will soon be removed.

On the other side of the entrance adjacent to Tomorrowland Terrace, a tower with three yellow legs and its concrete base are also gone. Green tarps remain on the ground near the recently-refilled moat.

The rockwork that supported the concrete base have also been removed, which is curious since all of the other rockwork was recently repainted and is thus (presumably) safe from demolition. It’ll be interesting to see what else, if anything, happens here.

These projects are undeniably minor, but that’s precisely why they stick out to me. Disney wouldn’t be spending the money to demolish a few starships or refine the color scheme of the rockwork unless it were tied to a bigger picture project that is still a work in progress. These are (or were) thematic flourishes that largely blended into the background. They did not stick out as dated nor were they egregiously off-theme. By Tomorrowland standards, they were perfectly fine.

Here are photos of the area after the rocket towers were removed:

We can safely assume there’s more on the horizon and a bigger picture plan for Tomorrowland’s stealthy transformation because we’re already seeing it unfold.

The recently-redone Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin showcases this on stylistic and substantive fronts. The new facade drags the aging attraction into the retro-future with a cleaner mid-century modern aesthetic, and is a night and day improvement over what was there before, despite being fairly simple itself.

Then there’s the inside of the attraction, which was ‘recharged’ and turned out fantastic. The ride has refreshed show scenes, new blasters, interactive targets, clearer aiming, vehicles with new real-time displays, and a more competitive scoring system. The new gameplay loop is both easier to pick up for first-timers, while also being deeper for skilled players. (Read our Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin Strategy Guide & Recharged Ride Review.)

Walt Disney World has also confirmed that there’s more to come. The circa 1994 version of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress will close on July 6, 2026, for a massive overhaul that shifts its timeline forward by 60 years before reopening sometime in 2027.

The reimagined ride will begin with a brand-new introduction scene featuring an advanced Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney himself, inspired by his 1964 television special. The 1900s, 1920s, and 1940s eras are being completely replaced by the 1960s, 1980s, and 1999, finishing with a retro-futuristic finale in an off-planet home.

The iconic core family, classic gags like Uncle Orville in the bathtub, and the beloved theme song “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” will all remain part of the new show. (See New Decades for Carousel of Progress for more details, concept art, and our comprehensive commentary.)

Then there are all of the D23 Expo announcements from two years ago: Piston Peak Cars Land at Magic Kingdom and Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The Piston Peak area will feature two rides, both of which (shockingly) focus on Cars. One is a rally race that puts guests behind the wheel (sort of) in a vehicle that simulates the excitement of driving on diverse terrain. Think of this as Tomorrowland Speedway on steroids, what Avatar Flight of Passage is to Soarin.

Tomorrowland Speedway sits on a large and valuable plot of real estate in a park that Disney would very much like to grow without building beyond the berm. Freeing up that space would be hugely beneficial, allowing for future expansion of both Tomorrowland or Fantasyland. My best guess is that this happens after Piston Peak debuts, but who knows. It’s one to watch for at the 2026 D23 Expo.

With Monstropolis coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland becomes redundant. The secondary attraction in that land is a theater show, and Walt Disney World doesn’t need two separate Monsters, Inc. shows in two separate parks.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is probably at about the end of its life without a reimagining, anyway. Accordingly, this is a project that we could see being announced at the 2026 D23 Expo, and potentially debuting before Monstropolis or around the same time. Unlike Tomorrowland Speedway, the Laugh Floor doesn’t fill a vital role as a rite-of-passage attraction, so it could really close whenever.

Another theater show is probably what replaces it given space constraints. The bigger questions concern characters featured. Potential options include Wall-E, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero Six, Lilo & Stitch, or the Incredibles. Really, though, it could be anything. It’s not like Monsters, Inc. is particularly futuristic!

That puts at least two more Tomorrowland attractions in play for future developments. We’d go a step beyond that, and say that pretty much anything in Tomorrowland could be ripe for redevelopment, with the exception of TRON Lightcycle Run. Another obvious one is the defunct Stitch’s Great Escape.

Given how much of a smash success the live action “Lilo & Stitch” reboot was, this attraction making a comeback is plausible. Stitch’s Great Escape had a solid pre-show set-up and the Audio Animatronics figure of the character was one of the best created by Imagineering. That alone could come close to carrying a show.

Imagineering could write circles around the old Stitch’s Great Escape, and inject fresh life into this attraction in a similar way to what was done with Country Bear Musical Jamboree. Given the success of that and the space constraints here, a quick reimagining utilizing existing assets and introducing new seating is the most efficient option. It would be another ‘singles and doubles’ success that could be announced as ‘backfill’ at the 2026 D23 Expo and debut before Piston Peak and Villains Lands in 2029 and beyond.

The even bigger 2026 D23 Expo announcement would be a reimagining of Space Mountain. Or more accurately, a year-plus retracking project similar to one that just wrapped up at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The reasons for this should be pretty straightforward to anyone who has ridden Space Mountain in the last decade or two.

Space Mountain was once slated for a total overhaul in 2009, but that instead ended up being a multi-month project that involved TLC but was mostly cosmetic and thematic in nature. Over 15 years later, it’s safe to assume the ride needs a re-tracking more now than it did then. From what I understand, roller coasters don’t age like wine.

It’s really a question of when, not if, and whether to make this a fully-fledged reimagining or just a re-tracking. There isn’t enough space for a demolish and rebuild a la Tokyo Disneyland, but at the same time, it seems unlikely that the dual track layout could be preserved given modern ride envelope safety standards. That makes an in-between project that rises to reimagining level and takes roughly 24-28 months the most likely outcome.

Pair this with the aforementioned Stitch’s Great Escape project and add the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (which would almost certainly close during any major Space Mountain project), this could make for a trifecta of Tomorrowland announcements at the 2026 D23 Expo to go along with an aesthetic refresh.

If a more encompassing announcement is made at the 2026 D23 Expo, the Tomorrowland project probably goes from stealth transformation to fully-fledged and marketable reimagining that debuts in 2027 or 2028. Maybe it even gets a fun name, like Tomorrowland 2071. Maybe we get really lucky and Disney announces that for Magic Kingdom and Tomorrowland 2055 for Disneyland!

I’m fine with this, and I say this as a big fan of Tomorrowland ’94.

It’s the version of the land from my childhood, and both the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and Timekeeper still rank as two of my all-time favorite Walt Disney World attractions. However, as with both of those attractions, the cohesive design of Tomorrowland ’94 is long gone.

The land I loved is gone, and has been for the better part of a decade. To whatever extent Tomorrowland ’94 still exists, it’s mostly as a corpse. Stray design details and other artifice that was forgotten, or purposefully painted over as part of a “no dough” redo. It’s like Future World circa 2019–something I already missed, even before that ill-fated project began.

Tomorrowland no longer has a distinct visual identity. Well, that’s not exactly true. It’s arguably the best exemplar of Raygun Gothic anywhere, as it has “collected” a wide variety of architectural styles and design elements that, broadly, fall under the umbrella of the “future that never was.”

There are remnants of the Space Age flourishes and Googie architecture of the original Tomorrowland in the core structures. There’s still a melange of Streamline Moderne, Factory Pomo, and industrial design, even as more of this is peeled back. There’s also a hodgepodge of various other stuff thanks to additions and partial removals.

There’s also TRON Lightcycle Power Run with its swooping organic design and biomimicry features. This architecture is unlike anything currently existing in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland, which is easy to understand once you realize the ride was cloned from Shanghai Disneyland, where it fits alongside both the land and city itself. I don’t see a scenario where Walt Disney World goes all-in on making the rest of Tomorrowland resemble TRON.

This is a fairly safe assumption because we can already see Imagineering’s playbook for an aesthetic overhaul based on the new signage and snack stands that have been added over the last few years.

They’re going to remove all of the Tomorrowland ’94 details to reveal the mid-century or streamline style underneath and adding new thematic elements reminiscent of Googie or Space Age design. There are some elements of Tomorrowland ’94 that probably won’t be lost because their removal is too costly, like the rockwork flanking the entrance. I hope the Palms of Tomorrow are another example, as those can coexist peacefully alongside the biomimicry of TRON.

There are kernels of ideas and thematic elements that can exist in harmony, and additional thematic elements could bring further symbiosis to the land. Sort of like Tomorrowland ’94 did three decades ago. Imagineers used the same core forms but managed to transform them into something new and novel. They could do it again. They arguably already are with some of the smaller placemaking projects around the land.

Walt Disney World fully leaning into nostalgia and restoring the original entrance Tomorrowland would be the optimal outcome. Replace the towers that were just removed with two much more iconic ones that were previously lost. I’m skeptical that Walt Disney World has plans to remove the rockwork, but I really hope they do and replace it with these twin towering monoliths.

These monoliths are bright and sleek, evoking promise and progress, beaconing guests into the land. Nothing would signal a land overhaul better than the restoration of these monoliths at Magic Kingdom. There’s a reason this front entrance is the only thing Tokyo Disneyland isn’t touching in its Tomorrowland, and why Disneyland announced a reimagined entrance that evokes this look. Because it holds up.

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Your Thoughts

What do you think about the quiet transformation of Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom? Think the twin rocket towers being removed is a sign that this project is still in progress? Expect any ‘singles and doubles’ announcements for Tomorrowland at the 2026 D23 Expo? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!