We have a new rumor in today from sources that suggests that Disney World is planning an event called “Welcome to Tomorrowland”. Unfortunately, that’s all we have right now in terms of official details, but what could Disney be planning? Let’s take a look.
As you may know, Tomorrowland is undergoing a bit of an overhaul at Walt Disney World and has been for a couple of years now. The land has seen a lot of attention since the TRON Lightcycle Run roller coaster was announced at the 2017 D23 Expo. Since then, we’ve been closely monitoring the construction progress of not only the roller coaster, but some aesthetic changes made to the land such as a new paint scheme, new attraction signage, and more.
Back in March 2019, then Disney CEO Bob Iger was asked about plans for a refresh for Tomorrowland. He said that Imagineers have been hard at work on a number of concepts and that they “recently reviewed” some of those plans. Iger said that the company didn’t have anything to announce at the time, but that there would be “a lot of Tomorrowland activity” in the years to come. With so much change, Tomorrowland might look and feel a lot different since the last time you visited.
So, what could the “Welcome to Tomorrowland” event be? With the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary on the horizon and currently published plans from The Walt Disney Company call for the TRON Lightcycle Run roller coaster to be completed in time for the anniversary (although rumors suggest otherwise), “Welcome to Tomorrowland” could be a seasonal event or even marketing campaign to reintroduce guests to the new Tomorrowland. We’ve previously seen a seasonal event in the form of the Incredible Tomorrowland Expo a couple of summers ago.
Guests who haven’t visited in some time will find a greatly transformed Tomorrowland in terms of visuals, even if most of the attractions remain the same. That said, the current state of Tomorrowland is almost a bit sad.
Disney finally confirmed the demise of Stitch’s Great Escape and, more recently, the company removed some signage for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which remains shuttered after Disney decided to lay off more than 700 equity performers. On top of that, the Tomorrowland PeopleMover remains closed for refurbishment through early January 2021, although the refurbishment has been extended so much that fans are wondering if it’ll ever come back.
Of course, if the rumors of a construction pause for the TRON Lightcycle Run come to fruition, then it’s possible that any sort of relaunch or “Welcome to Tomorrowland” would be pushed back as a result. At this point, it’s too early to tell, but one thing just about everyone can agree on is that a refresh of Tomorrowland was needed.
As with any rumor, any information here should be considered unofficial unless and until officially announced by Disney.