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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 |
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It’s 2008. The park has brought back a new version of the long-gone Monsanto House of the Future—just without Monsanto (which has transformed itself from a plastics company into an agribusiness company). |
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Perhaps you saw the AP wire service story back on February 13, 2008. It began with these paragraphs: “Millions of Disneyland visitors will soon get to retrace the thoughts of others who lined up a half-century ago to see a home packed with mind-blowing gadgets expected in the future. “Disneyland’s original House of the Future, a pod-shaped, all-plastic dwelling, quickly seemed quaint and closed its doors after a decade, in 1967. Its oddities included handsfree phones, wall-sized televisions, and electric razors. “But Disney announced Wednesday that it will soon open a new dwelling in Tomorrowland—this time in partnership with 21st century technology giants.” This $15 million project, called the Innoventions Dream Home, would be a collaboration of The Walt Disney Co., Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., software maker Life|ware, and homebuilder Taylor Morrison. Well, actually, there would be more changes than just the sponsor. See for yourself. It’s now open in Yesterland. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Innoventions, home of the Innoventions Dream Home |
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Unlike the old House of the Future, the Innoventions Dream Home is not a freestanding house. It’s an exhibit inside Innoventions, the circular building that had previously housed General Electric Carousel of Progress and America Sings. The new exhibit is a spacious 5,000 square feet, with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room, home office, and backyard. The old House of the Future was only 1,280 square feet, not counting its landscaped grounds. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2009 Mr. Tom Morrow, voiced by Nathan Lane |
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You might think you can just walk into the Innoventions Dream Home. It’s not that easy. You have to wait at a door. Inside, you’re greeted by Mr. Tom Morrow. His signature song is “There’s a Great Big World of Innoventions.” Mr. Tom Morrow is clearly an animatronic robot. The Carousel of Progress family, who used to reside in this building, was also animatronic, but looked like real people. This time, a family of actual real people—or, more accurately, a fictional family played by actors—resides in the home. It’s the Elias family, whose name is a nod to Walter Elias Disney. You’re about to meet them. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Not Monsanto’s House of the Future |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 The style of the future? |
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The original House of the Future got it wrong with its sleek modern style and synthetic materials. The new vision of the future is a return to Art Nouveau, a style that had its heyday from around 1890 to 1910. It’s executed with rich woods and intricate metalwork. The old-fashioned setting is home to plenty of video displays and other newfangled technology (just not any Apple technology). |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Children’s soccer coverage on ABC News |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Young soccer star |
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It’s an exciting time for the Elias family. The whole family is preparing for a trip to China because the son will soon be playing in the World Soccer Championships over there. What would you do if it were your family? Would you lock the doors and start packing? Or would you invite thousands of strangers into your home and demonstrate all your high-tech gadgets and gizmos? The Elias family has chosen the latter. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2009 Dad welcomes you |
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The whole family is wearing yellow soccer jerseys. They’re proud of their technology-laden house. They’re happy to talk to you, but they’ll move you along after a few minutes. Other guests are waiting. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Kitchen of Your Dreams |
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The designer of the kitchen went for a contemporary European style instead of Art Nouveau. The appliances are smart. The whole kitchen is smart—and it talks. As an Elias family member sets ingredients on the light-up counter, the kitchen suggests recipes using those items. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2009 Story Time bedroom, with a pirate ship bed and Big Ben clock |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Sail serving as a projection screen |
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What child wouldn’t want a bedroom in Neverland? Reading Peter Pan aloud becomes a multimedia experience, as story cues trigger lights, sounds, colors, and video. What happens when the child’s interest turns to a book other than Peter Pan? Time to redecorate. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Magic Mirror v2.01 in the bedroom |
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The next room has a mirror, but it’s not an ordinary one. It lets Elias family members try different clothes, accessories, and hairstyles without having to change. The clothes morph to the contours of the body and even sway with body movements. The mirror proves, once and for all, that evening gowns should not be worn over soccer jerseys. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Home Office in the Arts and Crafts style |
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The home office showcases state-of-the-art computer and entertainment technologies. Imagine being able to work from home—especially if there’s a pandemic some day. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Microsoft Surface table-top touch screens |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2008 Backyard party |
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The celebration of the Elias Family’s upcoming trip to China continues in the backyard. The grounds of the old Monsanto House of the Future had better landscaping, but this one has more displays. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 Zune, Microsoft’s iPod killer |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2008 More about the sponsors’ products |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2008 Exit stairs |
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The rest of Innoventions awaits upstairs. Unlike the old House of the Future, the Innoventions Dream Home probably won’t be remembered fondly a half century later—but it is better than some of the other exhibits that have been at Innoventions over the years. |
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Innoventions Dream Home opened at Disneyland on June 16, 2008—a decade after Disneyland’s Innoventions opened on July 3, 1998. The concept of Innoventions came from Epcot, where it opened July 1, 1994. Epcot had its own demonstration house as one of the exhibits. The House of Innoventions evolved over the years to showcase products from various sponsors. Innoventions Dream Home initially drew crowds, as new things tend to do at Disneyland. Over time, it became sparsely visited because it wasn’t something that guests wanted to visit over and over. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2015 “We’re sorry…” |
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Innoventions Dream Home closed permanently in late January or early February 2015. The entire Innoventions pavilion closed March 31, 2015. |
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Photo by Harald Weiss, 2022 Star Wars Launch Bay, still “temporarily unavailable” |
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The former Innoventions pavilion went on to host Super Hero HQ (Nov. 2015–Apr. 2016) on the upper level and Star Wars Launch Bay (Nov. 2015– ) on the lower level. Disneyland closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The park began a phased reopening in April 2021, but, as of June 2022, Star Wars Launch Bay remains “temporarily unavailable.” Could this be due to the labor shortage? Maybe the Elias Family would want jobs at Star Wars Launch Bay. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated June 10, 2022 |
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