Old Tomorrowland Month
Presents A Tribute
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TWA ROCKET TO THE MOON
by Paul F. Anderson
DATELINE DHI: July 22, 1955, Disneyland’s TWA Rocket to the Moon opens.
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| TWA Rocket To The Moon Original Attraction Poster, 1955. |
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| The Disneyland News March 10, 1956 |
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| TWA Rocket to the Moon, E Ticket Attraction. |
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WED Concept Art, 1954, oddly putting the Rocket to the Moon at the Tomorrowland Entrance and the
Clock of the World set back into Tomorrowland.
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| WED Concept Art, 1954, by Herbert Ryman. Aerial view of Tomorrowland showing the position of the Rocket so as to visually draw guests into Tomorrowland. The wienie concept. |
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| Fantastic stylized publicity art for summer of 1955 Los Angeles area newspaper supplements that heralded the opening of Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom. |
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| WED Concept Art, 1954, John Hench. This early concept shows the idea of a Space Port and Rocket Ship. |
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| Classic Strombecker Moonliner Model so kids could take a piece of Disneyland home with them. |
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| Wonderful 1950s ticket that visually demonstrates the ride we would undertake. |
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| WED Concept Art, circa 1954, showcasing the Moonliner set back in an idealized Tomorrowland. The toadstools are quite evocative of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Johnson Wax Building, featuring a similar futuristic design in the “Great Workroom.” |
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| Part of the peripheral promotional material that was so important to Walt Disney. This 1955 Whitman Tomorrowland coloring book was part of an overall Whitman Fun Box set, with coloring books, cards, and activities–all designed to encourage an interest and love of the Happiest Place on Earth. |
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| Chip ‘n’ Dale take flight on the TWA Moonliner, from the interior pages of the Tomorrowland coloring book. |
Enjoy!
COMPLIMENTARY MATERIAL PAGE: As per several of the requests in the comments to this essay, I have posted the Ticket Book from which the TWA Rocket to the Moon ticket came from. You can see it here and the back here.
Paul – what ticket book has those illustrations of the rides? Been looking for one of those forever. Thanks, Jed
Ditto What Jed said.
Awesome post!
Can I post a copy of that ticket on my blog???
Thanks!
Hi Jed & Vtg. DL Tickets. First, yes, absolutely, feel free to use the image, all we ask is just a mention/link. As far as I know, I am aware of only two versions of this ticket book. This one (which I’ll post the cover of, probably on the DHI Complimentary Page with a link at the bottom of this essay when it is done), and one other which I believe is in the collection of Tony Baxter (I showed it to him once, and as I recall, he said he had one). The story I get is that it was very short lived, and maybe even a sample that never made it into the park (perhaps from that huge ticket collection discovered at Disneyland back in the 1990s). The complaint on the tickets–again hearsay–was that the images were too realistic, and not fanciful enough for Disneyland. I’ll try to post a few other of the attraction tickets (maybe on the DHI Comp Page, maybe just on DHI) so you can get an idea of their look. Thanks for your comments, kind words, and your wonderful blogs! Paul
As promised, ticket book is now posted on the DHI Complimentary Page at: http://dhicompmaterial.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-trip-through-disneyland-ticket-book.html
Thank you!
Impressive post! I like the concept of having the rocket at the entrance to Tomorrowland.
Thank you. It does sort of look super impressive. I wonder if maybe it competed with the Castle a bit and so they put it back in (the wienie concept). Thanks again for your comment and glad you enjoyed it. Paul