Ride Ready Guide Independent & unofficial

Disneyland Park

Tomorrowland

A visually incoherent land carrying three of the park's most-searched attractions, plus a 1959 submarine lagoon that should not still exist.

  • Opened1955
  • Attractions6
  • Places to eat2
  • HeadlinerSpace Mountain

Tomorrowland has been rebuilt so many times that it no longer commits to a single look, and it shows. Bronze, white, and rust-orange from different eras sit next to each other with no through-line. It is the weakest land aesthetically at Disneyland and one of the strongest by attraction quality, which is an odd combination to plan around.

Space Mountain is the anchor: a single-track indoor coaster with two-across seating and a synchronized onboard score, requiring 40 inches — four inches lower than Magic Kingdom's version. The same supervision rule as the Matterhorn applies, with one adult permitted to accompany only one child under seven. Star Tours randomizes its destinations from a growing pool, so two rides in a row genuinely differ.

The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage runs the original 1959 submarine lagoon, and it divides people completely. Thirteen minutes on a fixed stool inside a narrow steel hull looking through a porthole is either the most unusual thing at Disneyland or a claustrophobic mistake, and there is no accessible boarding route — it is the least accessible attraction in the park.

Autopia has run since 1955 and is where the numbers surprise people: 32 inches to ride with an adult, but 54 inches to drive alone, which is roughly a nine or ten-year-old. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters has detachable handheld blasters that the Florida version does not, and Astro Orbitor sits at ground level at the land's entrance rather than on a roof.

Do not miss

  • Space Mountain's onboard soundtrack and two-across seating
  • Star Tours, which randomizes destinations every ride
  • The 1959 submarine lagoon, still running
  • Detachable blasters on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
  • Astro Orbitor after dark, when the armature is lit

Tomorrowland tips

  • Space Mountain requires 40 inches here versus 44 at Magic Kingdom — a child too short in Florida may clear it in California.
  • Autopia needs 54 inches to drive alone. Set expectations before you queue, and let a child steer while an adult works the pedal.
  • Skip Finding Nemo entirely if anyone in your party is claustrophobic. There is no discreet exit once the sub is moving.
  • Take the blaster out of its holster on Astro Blasters and aim freely — most first-timers never realize it detaches.

Attractions in Tomorrowland

Space Mountain

40"102cm

Roller coaster · 3 min · Multi Pass

An indoor coaster in the dark with onboard music and two-across seating. 40 inches, and one adult per child under 7.

Space Mountain opened at Disneyland in 1977, five years after the Florida version, and the two are different rides in almost every respect that matters. Disneyland's has a single track rather than two, seats riders two abreast rather than single file, runs a smoother and faster-feeling layout, and pipes a synchronized score through speakers in each rocket.

Tips for Space Mountain
  • Ride it first thing or during the fireworks. It closes for the show if the pyrotechnic safety zone requires it, and reopens with a very short line.
  • One adult may supervise only one child under seven. This catches out single parents with two kids constantly — use rider switch.
  • Ask for the back if you want the roughest ride; the front row has the best view of the light effects and a smoother run.
  • It gets an overlay for part of the year that changes the music, the effects, and the whole tone of the ride. If you want the standard version, check what is running before you queue.
  • Anything loose will go. There is no seat pocket, the ride is dark, and lost items are not retrievable until the end of the operating day.
  • The queue descends a long ramp and climbs back out. Factor that in for anyone with limited stamina, because it is longer than it looks from Tomorrowland.

Full guide to Space Mountain →

Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

40"102cm

Simulator · 5 min · Multi Pass

A motion simulator that randomizes its destinations, so no two rides are the same. 40 inches, and the queasiest ride in the park.

Star Tours opened at Disneyland in 1987 as Disney's first serious motion simulator and was rebuilt in 2011 as Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, swapping the single fixed storyline for a randomized structure. The ride selects an opening, a middle destination, a hologram message, and a finale from a pool of options, which means the specific five minutes you get is one of a very large number of combinations.

Tips for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
  • Ride it twice. The destinations are randomized and getting two different combinations is the normal outcome, not a lucky one.
  • If you get motion sick, middle rows and a fixed gaze on the center of the screen help. So does not riding it right after eating.
  • Disneyland's requirement is 40 inches, matching the Hollywood Studios version exactly.
  • The queue is air conditioned and one of the better places to wait in Tomorrowland on a hot day.
  • It is a decent Multi Pass use when the standby line is long, because unlike some rides here the wait genuinely does not drop much in the evening.
  • Someone in your row will be selected as the rebel spy and their face appears on screen. Sit toward the front if you want a chance at it.

Full guide to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue →

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Any height

Dark ride · 4½ min · Multi Pass

A shooting-gallery dark ride where Disneyland's blasters come off the mount — a real advantage over the Florida version.

Astro Blasters opened at Disneyland in 2005 in the building that housed the old Circle-Vision theatre. You ride a two-person car through black-light rooms full of targets, scoring points by hitting them, with a joystick that spins the vehicle so you can aim at things behind you.

Tips for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
  • The blasters detach and are on a cord. Take yours out of the holster and aim freely — most first-timers never realize they can.
  • The highest-value targets are the small diamond and triangle shapes rather than the large obvious circles. The big glowing targets everyone shoots are worth the least.
  • Hold the trigger down rather than pulling repeatedly. The blaster fires continuously and the scoring registers on contact.
  • Use the joystick to spin backwards in the final room, where several high-value targets sit behind the vehicle.
  • It is on Multi Pass, but standby is usually reasonable and there are better uses of a selection in Tomorrowland.

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Any height

Boat ride · 13 min

Thirteen minutes inside a real submarine hull looking through portholes — claustrophobic, slow-loading, and unlike anything else.

The submarine lagoon dates to 1959 and is one of Disneyland's original engineering showpieces. The subs were retired in 1998 and the lagoon sat empty for nearly a decade before reopening in 2007 with a Finding Nemo story layered over the original hardware. The vessels are the same hulls, running the same submerged track around the same lagoon.

Tips for Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
  • If you are claustrophobic, do not ride. The hull is narrow, the stool is fixed, and thirteen minutes is a long time to discover you cannot leave.
  • The queue has poor shade and slow movement, which makes a 45-minute posted wait here far worse than a 45-minute wait almost anywhere else. Go in the first hour or the last.
  • Boarding is a steep, narrow stairway down into the hull. This is the least accessible attraction at Disneyland — there is a surface-level alternative for guests who cannot manage it, so ask at the entrance.
  • There is no height requirement, so babies can ride, but the sit-still-for-thirteen-minutes requirement is real for a toddler.
  • The submarine lagoon has been here since 1959 and the hulls are original. That context is most of why the ride is worth doing at all.

Full guide to Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage →

Astro Orbitor

Any height

Spinner · 1½ min

Rockets that circle a bronze orrery at the Tomorrowland entrance — better than Dumbo, and a much worse queue.

Astro Orbitor sits at ground level at the entrance to Tomorrowland, unlike Magic Kingdom's version which is on the roof of the building. The rockets circle a spinning bronze armature of planets and rings, and each rider controls their own vehicle's height with a lever, tilting up to a steep angle at the top.

Tips for Astro Orbitor
  • Ride it after dark. The armature is lit, the queue is out of the sun, and the whole thing is a completely different experience.
  • The rockets tilt steeply at full height. Keep the lever down if you are riding with a child who is nervous about heights.
  • It is one of the least capacity-efficient rides at Disneyland. If the posted wait is over 20 minutes, come back later.
  • The seat is cramped and requires stepping over a high side. Two adults will be uncomfortable; an adult and a child is the intended configuration.

Autopia

32"81cm

Transportation · 5 min · Multi Pass

One of the last opening-day attractions still running, and the only place a six-year-old can drive. 32 inches to ride, 54 to drive alone.

Autopia has run since 1955 and is one of the few original opening-day attractions still operating in something like its original form. You drive a small car along a landscaped course with a center guide rail preventing you from leaving the track, at a speed somewhere between a brisk walk and a jog, for about five minutes.

Tips for Autopia
  • 54 inches to drive alone is the number that surprises people — it is a much taller requirement than the 32 inches to ride. Set expectations with your child before you get in line.
  • An adult can work the accelerator while a child steers. That is the normal arrangement for younger kids and cast members will not object.
  • Steer slightly toward the center of the lane rather than following the rail. Riding the rail is what produces the constant grinding and the jerky ride.
  • The queue is long, slow, and only partly shaded. If the posted wait is over 30 minutes, this is one of the weakest uses of that time in Tomorrowland.
  • It is on Multi Pass, and unusually, this is one of the better places to spend a selection precisely because standby is so inefficient.
  • Sit in the left car of a pair if you want the better view of the landscaping — the right lane runs closer to the fence.

Full guide to Autopia →

Eating in Tomorrowland

Quick service · Tomorrowland

Alien Pizza Planet

Toy Story-themed pizza and pasta in Tomorrowland, with a large dining area and food that does not repay the walk.

$$Mobile order

  • CuisinePizza and pasta
  • ReservationsNo reservations

Quick service · Tomorrowland

Galactic Grill

The burger counter on the Tomorrowland Terrace, with a stage that occasionally hosts live music and a lot of open-air seating.

$$Mobile order

  • CuisineBurgers and American
  • ReservationsNo reservations

Snacks worth stopping for

Personal Pizza

Alien Pizza Planet

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A personal-size pizza served with a side salad or breadsticks in the large Toy Story-themed dining room in Tomorrowland.

Our take: Skip it. This is the weakest substantial food in the park, and Tiana's Palace or Rancho del Zocalo are both about ten minutes away for similar money and much better cooking.

Savory Vegetarian

Cheeseburger

Galactic Grill

—

A standard quarter-pound cheeseburger with fries, served on the open-air Tomorrowland Terrace where live music sometimes plays on the stage.

Our take: An ordinary theme-park burger you order because you are hungry and standing in Tomorrowland. Check whether anything is playing on the terrace stage first — that is the only thing that lifts this above a food-court meal.

Savory

Nearby

Disneyland Park map See where this land sits All attractions Every ride in Disneyland Park Main Street, U.S.A. The turn-of-the-century street every guest walks down twice a day, with the park's best coffee, its worst evening crowd crush, and more detail than anyone stops to look at. Adventureland The narrowest, most congested land in the park, and home to its single best-built attraction queue and its roughest ride.