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 caption for the image is, "Giant's Eye Studies Visitors."  The eyeball would actually shift 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!

 

A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report from February 20, 1985 (& A New Camera for Me!)

Picture it.....February, 1985.  I was leaving for Hawaii in just a few weeks, and I was determined to take some decent photographs on that upcoming vacation. For quite some time, I had not been very happy with the Disneyland photos I had been taking, with my brother's Kodak Instamatic camera and it's "110" film. (We have seen some of those pics posted here, in the past.) I really wanted to buy an "automatic" 35mm camera that would do everything for me, just like the ones I had seen Bruce Jenner and Cheryl Tiegs advertise on TV.

I went to a store called "Consumers," which was similar to Service Merchandise or Jewelcor, if anyone remembers those stores. They would only have one of each item out on display, and if you were going to purchase something, they would have to go bring it out from the stockroom.

The camera that I ended up purchasing, was the 35M Canon "Sure Shot" with auto focus.

Here is the cover of the camera's instruction manual:

I found the original store receipt, tucked inside the manual!

So, now I had a brand new 35mm automatic camera. I was very excited and I wanted to try out all of it's features right away, so the very next day, I went to Disneyland!

The park had already begun it's year-long 30th anniversary celebration.  This first shot that I took shows one of the 30th anniversary "tents," which were set up in front of the ticket booths. Below them, various GM cars were out on display. The promotion for the 30th anniversary was "It's our birthday, but you get the gifts." That year, they were giving away a GM car to every 30,000th guest who walked through the gates.

Notice the old Disneyland parking lot in the background. And is that a boat strapped to the roof of a van on the left? It looks like something is also strapped to the van on the right, but I can't make out what it is. The Grand Hotel can also be seen in the distance. That hotel was eventually imploded and I believe that site is now a parking lot for Disney cast members.

The "Gift Giver Extraordinaire" machine had been installed at the park's entrance. It kept track of the number of guests passing through the turnstiles. For every 30th guest that passed through, an alarm went off and a light bulb lit up at that particular turnstile. The guest was then awarded a prize. As I mentioned above, some of those prizes were cars. We'll see some of the other prizes in just a minute.

The turnstiles also produced a ticket for each and every guest, letting them know what number guest they were, and whether or not they had won a prize. This was my ticket for the day, which reads, "Sorry No Win."  It was also letting me know that I was the park's 242,206,833rd guest!

This was the Disneyland Guidebook for that day:

I don't seem to have an entertainment guide from that same day, but here is one from about a month later:

And here is a list of the various prizes, which were awarded to guests:

The explanation for the Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt contest seems a little convoluted.

An "Official Birthday Party" was held daily:

This is the button which was included in the "Birthday Party" price of $2.50.  It was exclusive to the guests who paid for the birthday party package. The button shown at the very beginning of this post, was smaller in diameter and could be purchased in various souvenir shops throughout the park.

I just had to take a picture of the train engineer, since he was so friendly and waving to us from up above. I'm glad that the Global Van Lines lockers building can be seen through the archway, because I don't have any other personal photos of it. I have never liked the building/facade that replaced it. In my opinion, it never matched the rest of the architecture on Main St. It's really too bad they didn't just leave the facade of that original building, when they expanded the Emporium into that space.

I climbed the steps up to the train station, to get this pic of Town Square with the Castle in the distance. Of course, if you try to "center" the photo, then the flag pole will block the Castle, so you have to step to one side. Notice the special signage and bunting on the lampposts. This was for the park's "Salute to American Heroes" promotion. Each sign had a different hero on it. The one closest to us and on the right, is John F. Kennedy.  The one on the left is, Ronald Reagan.  To see close-up shots of these signs, taken just about two weeks later, check out this post from Major Pepperidge and "Lou and Sue," over at Gorillas Don't Blog. 

Back in the day, the free Disneyland guidebooks would state that "It's A Small World" was the only attraction, where flash photography was allowed. We went on the attraction that day, so I could test out the camera's built-in flash.

Two years earlier (in 1983), while the "New Fantasyland" was still under construction, many of the Tomorrowland cast members were telling us that Tomorrowland was going to be the next "land" to be completely remodeled. Because of this, I decided that I better start documenting it on film. That is the reason for this shot of the Mission To Mars facade. I probably should have waited for that PeopleMover vehicle in the distance, to come a little closer!

Even though plans were obviously changed, and Tomorrowland did not get remodeled for many more years, Adventure Thru Inner Space was rumored to be closing at the end of the year, for a brand new attraction. For this reason, I tried (in vain) to capture several of the scenes within the ride.

This first one didn't turn out too bad, I guess. The only thing missing here, is the projection of the smaller snowflake, rotating in the center of the larger three-dimensional snowflake. The projection ended up being "washed out" by the camera's flash. I know, I know....that's what I get for using a flash inside the attraction!

I also tried to capture the wall of "vibrating" water molecules; "What are these strange spheres? Have I reached the universe of the molecule? Yes, these are water molecules, H2O! They vibrate in such an orderly pattern, because this is water, frozen into the solid state of matter!"

The molecules in this part of the ride, were behind a two-way mirror (and I believe they were also in front of another mirror, which helped create the effect that they went on forever). Unfortunately, the bright camera flash was reflected back in the mirror. I know, I know......don't say it! But at least one of the molecules showed up in the photo (upper left corner).

This is the part of the ride when the vehicles, or "atomobiles," would pass by the eyepiece of the microscope and riders would see a giant eyeball looking back at them. As the eye shifted back and forth, riders would hear the narrator state, "There is no cause for alarm! You are back on visual and returning to your normal size!" I LOVED everything about this attraction, but the giant eyeball was my favorite part! Unfortunately, the flash from the camera reflected on the piece of glass in front of the eye and blocked out most of it. I know.....I KNOW!

I took this pic of the Atomobiles in the unloading room, just as a PeopleMover car was passing by. The hourglass-shaped structure on the other side of the Atomobiles, was at one time, a giant floor-to-ceiling "rain lamp." Rather than try to give my own description of what a "rain lamp" is, here's the definition from Wiktionary: "A type of lamp, popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, that moves droplets of water or oil along filaments, to create the illusion of falling rain." Disney turned off the oil on their lamp, sometime in the 1970s.

That's it for the photos I took that day. Well, actually, I placed the camera on top of a trash can, in order to test the automatic timer. It worked and I got a decent photo of myself and a friend, but there wasn't anything very interesting in the background. And since I would have to place white ovals over our faces, I decided to leave that one out!

As an added bonus, here is the GM flyer, which was being handed out at that General Motors car display, in front of the park:

 

 

And one last item.....in addition to the prizes awarded to every 30th guest, all winners were given one of these buttons:

 

 

I hope everyone enjoyed this trip back to 1985!