An opening day land at Disneyland Park in 1955, Tomorrowland was conceptualized as an area that could capture the potential of ‘tomorrow,’ a place Walt Disney described as “a step into the future, with predictions of constructive things to come.” One ‘constructive thing’ that has been created since the land’s opening is the internet, which was seemingly not consulted when crafting the historical plaques recently installed on the construction walls currently surrounding the Astro Orbitor attraction at Disneyland Park.
The new decorations contain ‘fun facts’ about different versions of the ride found at Disney’s global parks, but some of the information printed about the Magic Kingdom edition of the attraction is incorrect.
Astro Orbitor Work Wall Plaque Contains Incorrect Information
Work walls were placed around Astro Orbitor earlier this week as the ride closed for a refurbishment that will stretch into 2024. Plaques detailing the history of different versions of the ride were added to the walls after initial installation, with the decoration detailing the past of the Magic Kingdom attraction featuring incorrect dates.
The plaque suggests that Astro Orbiter opened at Magic Kingdom in 1995 as a reimagining of Star Jets, which itself was an opening day attraction at the park. Neither of these dates are correct.
Star Jets did not open at Magic Kingdom until November 1974. It closed in January 1994 before reopening just over three months later — in April 1994 — as Astro Orbiter.
The Magic Kingdom plaque is the lone decoration to feature such inaccuracies, with all other plaques containing accurate dates.
While it may seem senseless to point out inaccurate dates printed on an inconsequential plaque, this lack of attention to detail is a tad irksome. This information is easily accessible and verifiable on the internet; instead of taking an additional 10 seconds to certify the information on Wikipedia or through another source, there’s now a visible decoration inside Disneyland Park that’s misreporting the company’s history.
The timing of the incorrect plaques roughly coincides with the introduction of a new holiday map at Disneyland Park. The front of the guide is decorated with a photo of the famous Christmas tree erected on Main Street U.S.A. each year, but the quality of the image itself is poor, resulting in a pixelated map cover that is noticeable and easily avoidable.
In January of this year, a statue was installed on Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland Park to kick off Disney100 celebrations. The Mickey Mouse sculpture featured a banner that read “It all started with a mouse,” a misquote of the Walt Disney statement “It was all started by a mouse.” The statue was promptly updated with the correct quote.
What do you think about incorrect dates being printed on a historical plaque currently displayed on the construction walls surrounding Astro Orbitor? Let us know in the comments.
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The attraction needs to go back up on the tower. At the very least, it needs to be moved from the entry of Tomorrowland where it blocks the paths. Disney really needs to retheme the attraction as well since they appear to be going back to the austere white vibe in Tomorrowland which the current Astro Orbiter is not.
You forgot to mention all the wrong dates on the banners for the 100 at disneyland. Some dummy luckily got a job at Disney and nobody checks their work.