Old New Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World / Change Is Good
Hello, Goodbye
A colorful look at the now-old New Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, as seen during the 2019 Band and Chorus Disney Trip.
In the early 1990s, Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom underwent some major changes in architectural styling. Gone were the sleek, white futuristic looks, to be replaced by a retro-futuristic style throughout the land. Everything had a 1930s futuristic feel, and it was pretty cool. I really liked it, even though it was a major change from the Tomorrowland I had grown up with. It was new and different and fun. Even though the name did not officially change, many of us took to calling it New Tomorrowland, because it was, in fact, new.
However, in the last several months, many of those retro features have been removed. Those large fin things sticking out horizontally from the PeopleMover track have been removed. The large structures on the rooftops at the left have been painted white. Much of the land has gone back to something similar to its original white with blue trim look.
So now, New Tomorrowland is Old New Tomorrowland. Would you call what they have now New New Tomorrowland? Or since it somewhat looks like the old style, would it then be New Old Tomorrowland? Do they discuss these kinds of things in planning meetings, or is that just something that we, um, interesting people like to sit around and talk about?
Whatever we are calling the current version, I have not been there to see it in person, so I can’t really say whether I like it or not. But I am glad to have lots of photographic records of my own of the 1994 to 2019 version of Tomorrowland, because it was pretty cool. And colorful.
Color Or Not?
While I was processing this photo, I knew I wanted to go with the selective color look, similar to what I recently used on a couple of other photos. And I really liked the resulting photo, which is what you see above.
But then New Tomorrowland was so colorful, especially at night when this photo was taken and all of the cool neon and other lights were on, adding even more color to the scene. So as a bonus, here is the color version of the same photo, just in case you like that better:
In some ways, this almost looks like a different photo, but in fact it is the same photo, just with more color. Isn’t it interesting how much color can change a photo?
The blue of the sky was just about perfect that evening, as you can also see in this photo of the (now removed) Tomorrowland sign, as well as in this photo of an old ticket booth. As you can see from all of these photos, New Tomorrowland had some great evening atmosphere and color, even if the selective color version works better to tell the story that I wanted to tell in this post.
Who says you can’t have both?
Change Is Good
“Change is afoot.” “No, change is apenny and anickel.”
But seriously, change is not always easy. Change means taking something that we are comfortable with and, well, changing it. Just the thought of change automatically throws us out of our comfort zone and into the street with proverbial cars zooming all around us. It is not always a pleasant thing to think about.
It is difficult to leave behind something that you enjoy, or something that you are comfortable with. That is why parent birds have to push their young birds out of the nest. Otherwise, the young ones may never learn how to fly.
Don’t get so caught up in how things are that you are not willing to try something new. That new thing just might be even better than what you had before.
On the other hand, don’t be too hard on those who aren’t comfortable with change. Realize what they are going through. Recognize the attachment they may have to something. Gently help them along the way without being too forceful. Don’t be too critical of the old things they are comfortable with just to try to get them to move on. Be gentle.
We are all going through some changing times right now. Some have had to change job situations or at least locations. Some have had to change teaching and learning methods. And then most all of us have had to change social customs that we have enjoyed. We have had to change our appearance standards by wearing masks. We have had to change our travel plans by staying close to home where we are safer. It is not always pleasant.
So this is a reminder to me, and to you if you need it, to make changing as easy as possible for others. Don’t look down on someone who is reluctant to change. Remember that you would not like to be pushed out of the nest, either.
Change might be good, but it might not be easy. Let’s do what we can to make it as comfortable as possible.
Bible Verse
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. - Proverbs 25:11-12
About the Photo
As mentioned above, the first photo in this post uses the selective color look, similar to a few other recent photos. I especially like how it makes the red glow of the neon edge lights stand out here.
Unlike the most recent Lifeguard Hut photo that involved some extra processing in Photoshop, this one was all done in Aurora HDR. I first processed it for color, coming up with the second photo in this post. I then used the color sliders in Aurora to decrease the saturation to zero of the colors that I did not want. Because I was not focusing on just specific elements as I was with the Lifeguard Hut photo, I did not have to do any masking in Photoshop. So this one was a little easier to do.
Also, I used a “widescreen” aspect ratio for this photo. That was not as much of an artistic decision as it was a practical one, because I cropped out all of the people walking down the Avenue of the Planets at the bottom of the photo to focus only on the architecture.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Aurora HDR. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 Lens
Date: March 6, 2019
Location: Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida
