Saturday, February 7, 2009

Tomorrowland Terrace, Part 1

The Tomorrowland Terrace as it exists now opened in 1967 with the rest of New Tomorrowland: A World on the Move. The architectural styling clearly shows the personal influence of Disney Legend Roland 'Rolly' Crump. The style of the futuristic planter sculpture motif was evident throughout the facility on both of the 'Coke' banners and other planters. Sadly, many of these elements have been removed over the years. The bandstand roof planter was removed in 1990 and replaced with a double-sided '35 Years of Magic' logo sign and later a space themed sculpture. In the last few years a sculpture similar to the original was put brought back.









'Systems' as described in the article also made use of a verbal short-hand that could allowed quick communication of orders to other team members. The elegant efficiency of 'Systems' gave way to technology around 1992, when electronic cash registers gave way to computer registers. I'm not a luddite, but it's a mistaken assumption that upgrading technology will necessarily improve processes. I would like to know what Coke Terrace sales are for a peak hour today versus 1991.

Other features of Tomorrowland Terrace included a garbage chute that allowed quick elimination of waste into a garbage compactor in the Tomorrowland tunnel.

The bandstand sits on a hydraulic lift similar to the ones used for the nearby Rocket Jets. For safety purposes the lift requires two buttons to operate: one in a nearby planter and one on the bandstand itself.

The menu items at the Tomorrowland Terrace have changed throughout the years but for many years the staples were Spaceburgers (hamburgers), Moonburgers (cheeseburgers), and Magic Kingdom Burgers (Canadian bacon cheeseburger).
The pillbox hats were intended to evoke an image of a bottle cap. When Coke Terrace opened bost soda was still sold in glass bottles! The bottlecaps were replaced with hairnets in 1987 when the costumes were redesigned.

One of the last remaining Club 55 members, Marion Schawacha worked in the Central Foods Kitchen at the time of her retirement in 1990.








3 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Wow, great post! I really miss the original Rolly Crump sculpture on top of the stage, but at least what's there now is better than any of the other past replacements. Remember the psychedelic tile wall that used to be behind the cashiers? I wonder if it is still there and just covered over with that ugly brown paneling or if it was completely ripped out. I would love to see it all restored to it's original 1967 design.

Westcot2000 said...

My understanding is that the tile was removed. I loved the tile too...but it is *supposed* to be Tomorrowland.

TokyoMagic! said...

Westcot, you are right...it's supposed to be Tomorrowland. So I guess they think the color of a dirty baby diaper represents "tomorrow"? I'm okay with them changing stuff, but I think the changes should be at the very least, equal to what was there previously...if not better.