As an Imagineer, it seems to be a requirement that you live and breathe Disney trivia. Your friends and family look forward to your insider stories about all that is Disney. This column will regularly highlight a Disney attraction that no longer exists, with the aim on excavating the historical facts, some of them not-so-well known.
It was in I966 that Walt Disney approached the Monsanto Company with his idea of building a new and expanded Tomorrowland. The original Tomorrowland had, within a decade, become more of Todayland and it was time to think about updating the entire land, including replacing the Hall of Chemistry attraction, presented by Monsanto, with something that reflected the excitement of the present and future.
The earliest concept for a ride into the world of the microscope appeared in 1957 as part of a proposed Tomorrowland land attraction called Adventures in Science. When the idea resurfaced in the 1960s for New Tomorrowland, Journey into the Microscope, (as it was originally titled) was to take guests into the microscopic realm of a drop of water. The attraction was intended to share space with an exhibit to be presented by the Ford Motor Company.
The Ford attraction never materialized and the design for Adventure Thru Inner Space, (as it was renamed) was expanded to encompass the entire building. It was also decided that a snowflake would make a more exciting destination than a drop of water.
Adventure Thru Inner Space opened as a “free attraction” with Disneyland's New Tomorrowland in June 1967. One of the highlights of the attraction was the “mighty microscope,” a 37-foot long, 12-foot high microscope that appeared to “miniaturize” guests. Those waiting to board the Omnimover chain of "Atomobiles," which would carry them into the microscope could see inner space travellers apparently shrinking as they moved through a translucent section of the microscope.
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