With Mars Ride Now in Yesterdayland, ‘Imagineers’ Dream of Science-Fiction, ‘Indiana Jones’ Journeys

When Tomorrowland starts to look like yesterday, it’s time to make a change.

That’s why Mission to Mars, one of Disneyland’s original rides, may soon go the way of Spiro Agnew, the Hula-Hoop and swine-flu shots.

In its place, the team of engineers, artists and storytellers whom Walt Disney called “imagineers” is considering building a futuristic, science-fiction-based attraction.

A second show built around the car-chase scene from the film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” is also being developed, according to executives with the Walt Disney Co.

The company’s executives and attraction designers, who recently met with the media to launch Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday bash, stressed that no plans are definite yet.

“Probably 10 different things have been conceptually designed,” said Robert W. McTyre, vice president of marketing and entertainment for Disneyland. “I don’t ever believe anything is imminent until there’s a budget appropriated and we’ve started construction,” added Jack Lindquist, executive vice president with Walt Disney Attractions.

Still, several Disney executives said that with more sophisticated patrons visiting Disneyland these days, Mission to Mars has outlived its time and could soon make its last voyage.

It’s no wonder. The ride--designed with input from German rocket scientist Werner von Braun--first opened in 1955 as Rocket to the Moon.

“It was one of the most popular attractions in the park in its day,” Lindquist recalled. “Sputnik hadn’t gone up yet, and (rockets to the moon) were a very hot topic.”

But interest cooled considerably when real astronauts eventually journeyed into space. The attraction’s name was changed, but little else.

Visitors to Mission to Mars sit in crudely vibrating chairs and watch big, brown TV sets in the ceiling and floor. To simulate space travel, the earth pictured on a TV set on the floor gets smaller as the moon in a set overhead gets larger. The pictures are reversed for the return trip back to earth.

It’s light years away from the high-tech gear of Star Tours, Disneyland’s newest space simulator ride that opened in 1986.

So Mars may soon see its last visitor from Anaheim.

Walt Disney Imagineering “has got a great new attraction with a Tomorrowland theme. It’s futuristic, with a science-fiction theme,” McTyre said. He added, however, that the attraction right now is “just a concept” with “no definite discussion” yet.

If Mission to Mars is not the next ride to be replaced, another candidate is America Sings, a Tomorrowland attraction which was closed in April.

A separate new attraction could be a project built around the adventures of movie hero Indiana Jones, possibly with creative input from George Lucas, McTyre said. Lucas, a longtime Disney fan, worked with Imagineering to develop Star Tours and produced the “Captain Eo” film with Francis Ford Coppola.

“There is a project themed around Indiana Jones that is in development, but it hasn’t been fully developed yet, or approved,” McTyre said.