Adventure Thru Inner Space at Disneyland

Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction opened in 1967, as a part of the park's "New Tomorrowland."  In this souvenir "Pana-Vue" slide, the ATIS signage is mostly blocked by the PeopleMover, but the Monsanto logo (the attraction's sponsor) can be seen on the right side of Tomorrowland's entrance.

Once inside the building, guests would see a giant microscope ("The Mighty Microscope"), with the attraction's vehicles, a.k.a. "Atomobiles," entering the microscope on the left side.  A glass tube was located on the right side, containing the moving vehicles and their riders in "miniaturized" form.  Those shadow boxes to the left of the elevated walkway contained previews of scenes inside the attraction.  This is another image from a set of souvenir slides that were sold at the park.

When I was in elementary school, a good friend of mine had two of these souvenir booklets, so he gave me one.  I don't remember seeing these at the park, so I don't know if they were sold or if they were given out free as an advertisement from Monsanto.  The front and back covers were actually postcards that could be torn off and mailed.

Front cover:

The back cover featured a depiction of the 1967 updated version of the "Clock of the World."  This was originally located at the exit to Adventure Thru Inner Space.  I wonder why they got rid of it?

The pages inside gave a synopsis of the attraction itself, along with some pretty cool artwork.

This drawing of the unloading and exit area, shows the Clock of the World on the back wall, and also the giant floor-to-ceiling oil lamp (far right).  Sadly, the oil lamp was turned off at some point in the early 1970s.

These last three pages are what make me wonder if this was a free handout from Monsanto.

The exit area to the attraction also included these Monsanto advertisements, which featured some limited animation.  These were similar to the Goodyear advertisements located next to the PeopleMover's entrance and exit Speedramps.

When the attraction opened in 1967, a souvenir record was included in the official Monsanto press kits.  The record contained the original theme song, "Miracles from Molecules," which used to play in both the queue and the exit/display area.

The song was written by the world-renowned Sherman Brothers!

I bought this ATIS Child/Junior ticket in a vintage clothing store....of all places!  It's dated 1968, but I'm not sure how long they continued to include these in ticket books.  I never saw them in any of the ticket books during my childhood visits.  I do remember the attraction being "free" and not requiring a ticket up until 1972.  That was the year that ATIS started requiring a "C" ticket.

Here's a "newer" ATIS souvenir item.  It's an enamel pin that came out in 1998, as part of a "Tomorrowland Attractions" series.  This was before the official "Disney Pin Trading" program began.

Unfortunately, with all of the photos that I have taken at Disneyland over the years, I never took a really good photo of the entrance to the attraction.  This was as close as I came.  (I took this one on July 17, 1981, Disneyland's 26th birthday.)

I've previously posted the following interior photos (taken in 1985), back in February of 2021.  To see that entire post, you can click here:  A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report from February 1985,:

This was my attempt to photograph the "wall of vibrating molecules."  Unfortunately, there was a mirror behind them, which reflected my camera's flash.  But we can see one of the many molecules from that scene, in the upper left corner of the photo.

The same thing happened when I tried to photograph the giant eyeball, which was "watching" guests pass by the microscope's eyepiece.  There was a plastic or glass panel in front of the eye, which reflected the flash and kept it from being captured on film.

This unloading area pic shows a pretty good view of the giant floor-to-ceiling oil lamp, but without the drops of oil running down it's strings.  Even after being permanently turned off, it remained in place until the attraction's 1985 closure.  And if you look at the back of that "Atomobile" on the far right, you can see a sticker......

 ......this sticker, which warned guests to "Please Remain Seated."  I remember a childhood friend's mom had a story about dropping her camera in this attraction, getting out of her vehicle to retrieve it, and then running back to catch up with the vehicle that her family was riding in.  Even at that young age, I knew that was not a very smart thing to do.  The vehicles traveled through most parts of the attraction, at an elevated level.  I remember being able to look down and see the floor along with an occasional "emergency exit" door, located at a level far below the track.  It was also very dark in the attraction, and there were no safety rails alongside the winding track.

The Disney Gallery in New Orleans Square used to have special themed exhibits.  In 1997, there was a "Tomorrowland" exhibit, which included this miniature Atomobile.  The miniature was just one of many that was visible to guests, while waiting in the attraction's queue.

The only other photo I took of that Tomorrowland exhibit was of this replica of the Tomorrowland "Spaceman" costume, from the 1950s.  I did videotape the entire exhibit, but I still need to digitize that footage.

Prior to that 1985 attempt that I made to photograph the giant "eyeball," I had made one earlier attempt.  I took this photo in the summer of 1978, but once again, my efforts were all in vain.  However, the reflection of the flash didn't block out quite as much of the eyeball!

Fortunately, one of View-Master's "Tomorrowland" sets included a view of the eyeball.  The eyeball would actually shift very slightly from left to right. I wish there was some footage of it available.

Adventure thru Inner space was one of my favorite Disneyland attractions.  I have very fond memories of going on it during every single childhood visit, beginning with when it was "free," and then continuing after it required a "C" ticket.  Even after all of the years that have passed since it's closure, I still miss this very unique attraction!