Disneyland, the original Disney theme park, is 71 years young, and as today’s artists of Walt Disney Imagineering update old rides and areas, they steward a legacy that began with Walt Disney himself. As changes are made and as classic attractions are refreshed, anything in the park that’s left neglected becomes increasingly glaring over time. There’s one section of Disneyland that’s needed some love for a while, and Disney just provided an update on what’s coming.
Disney is transforming an opening day section of Disneyland, a project that fans have been anticipating for years. Imagineers shared insight directly with us at Mickey Visit about what to expect from this historic reimagining. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including a new Nightmare Before Christmas collection at Bath & Body Works and limited-time savings of up to $2,500 on Disney vacations.
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Tomorrowland Reimagining Coming to Disneyland
It’s really happening! Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park in California will be reimagined as part of a sweeping refresh. This is welcome news for fans who feel that the current state of Tomorrowland shows its age, and that its disparate attractions lack a through line.
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The overhaul will include new attractions, but Disney hasn’t revealed any specific new rides yet. Overall, Imagineers are aiming to infuse Tomorrowland with the hopeful spirit it embodied when it first opened in 1955. We’ll dive into the timeline for the project later in this story.
Disney formally revealed the Tomorrowland reimagining to an arena full of fans at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on August 15, 2026, but Mickey Visit got to hear directly from Imagineers working on the project during a private briefing before the public announcement.
“We were inspired by his vision of Walt being hopeful, of Tomorrowland being a vista into wondrous portals,” said Emo O’Brien, Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disney Resort Portfolio Executive Creative Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering. “We really garnered that this sense of optimism was at the core of everything he was thinking about in Tomorrowland. We’re using that as our basis to go forward.”
Jill Estorino, Disneyland Resort President, said she agrees with fans’ sentiments about Tomorrowland needing an overhaul. She specifically called out comments she had read online about Tomorrowland being “tired” and having “very little tomorrow” in it. “You’re right,” Estorino remarked. She also called out a joke someone posted about the small construction wall near Astro Orbitor, pictured above, being there for so long that it is now old enough to drink. It was originally placed there in 2019 and depicts an expanded entrance walkway to the land that has yet to become reality.
“I personally have spent a lot of time in Tomorrowland, walking back and forth and talking to cast, and talking to guests, and going backstage, and riding attractions,” said Estorino. She continued, “We’re going to start with Walt’s original vision for Tomorrowland. That’s going to be our guidepost and our North Star.”
Disney Imagineers and management are very much aware of the responsibility that comes with adapting anything in Disneyland, which they referred to during the presentation as “Walt’s park.”
“We really want to keep the heritage and the responsibility to honor that legacy at the center, but we have to evolve it for our new generations, current, and future to come,” said O’Brien.
Disneyland previously announced an update to Autopia, Tomorrowland’s miniature car ride. The park will replace all of the attraction’s gas-powered engines with electric ones or close by 2027. That change, however, was mandated by the California Air Resources Board rather than initiated by Disney as part of the broader Tomorrowland refresh.
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Timeline for Tomorrowland Overhaul
Disneyland’s Tomorrowland refresh is several years away. Disney hasn’t committed to a specific year, but emphasized that the project is very early in development.
“We are literally just getting started,” O’Brien said. “We will share with you more as the time comes, but what a thrill to be able to talk about it now.”
It’s also not yet known if the land will be transformed in phases, or if the entire land will close at once. There’s precedent for both approaches across Disney history.
However, Disneyland is prioritizing the Tomorrowland transformation over another previously announced project, the Avatar expansion at Disney California Adventure, concept art for which is pictured below. Disney still plans to build an Avatar land, but it will tackle Tomorrowland first.
Estorino confirmed Disneyland Resort’s major ongoing projects will open in this order:
- Expansion of Avengers Campus with Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab at Disney California Adventure
- Coco boat ride at Disney California Adventure
- Tomorrowland reimagining at Disneyland Park
- Avatar land at Disney California Adventure
Among those projects, Disney is also actively building a new transportation hub east of Disneyland Park, complete with a parking deck and a bridge across Harbor Boulevard.
What Tomorrowland Looks Like Today
Tomorrowland in its current state contains several individually popular rides, like Space Mountain and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, but its lineup doesn’t cohesively meld together very well. There’s also the issue of a very prominent ride track, which formerly belonged to the now-defunct PeopleMover and Rocket Rods, that’s highly visible in much of the land, but hasn’t been used in decades.
Several Tomorrowland venues, like Star Wars Launch Bay and the Pixar Short Film Spotlight, were originally built for other attractions that were replaced over time with makeshift substitutes that didn’t always fit thematically.
Here’s the current lineup of everything that’s in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. Disney has not confirmed the fate of anything on this list as it relates to the Tomorrowland transformation:
Attractions
- Astro Orbitor
- Autopia
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Disneyland Monorail
- Disneyland Railroad
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
- Pixar Short Film Spotlight at Tomorrowland Theater
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
- Star Wars Launch Bay
Dining
- Alien Pizza Planet
- Galactic Grill
- Tomorrowland Skyline Terrace
Shopping
- Little Green Men Store Command
- The Star Trader
- TomorrowLanding
Changes Across Disney Theme Parks
California’s Tomorrowland isn’t the only version of the land receiving a refresh. At Tokyo Disneyland, a new Space Mountain, pictured above, and a ride based on Wreck-It Ralph will both open in 2027. At Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin recently reopened following a major refurbishment with new special effects and updated technology.
Reinvesting in classic attractions is currently a strategic initiative for Imagineers at Walt Disney World. In some cases, the choice comes down to either making changes or closing the attraction permanently. All four Disney World theme parks have revamped major attractions in the past year.
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