The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (121 page)

If you’re not hungry enough for a full salad, pizza, or pasta dish, there are sides available. 
Breadsticks
($5),
Parfaits
—
Chocolate
or
Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt
—for $5 each, and the aforementioned
Starfield of Greens
house salad ($4.39).

Kids too little for hearty pasta dishes and monster slices of pizza can order
a
Kid-Size Pizza
($6.50) or
Space-getti with Meatballs
($6.50).  Both children’s meals include apples, carrots, and a choice of juice, milk, or water.  Toddlers dine on
Arroz con Pollo
(rice with chicken) for $4.50; apple sauce and milk are included.

Beyond the
good food,
Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port
anchors an interesting location.  Many Guests have no idea that they’re devouring pizza in the very place where
Disneyland
’s popular
Rocket to the Moon
, later
Flight to the Moon
, and finally
Mission to Mars
transported hundreds of thousands of Guests through the solar system from 1955 to 1992.  Guests experienced their astounding journey in one of two domed theaters, named
Diana
and
Luna
in honor of the moon goddesses, then changed to
Arcturus
and
Polaris
, named after the stars.  The domes are now long gone, but the word is that Cast Members take their breaks in a space that contains remnants of the theaters.

Similarly, contemporary Guests don’t realize that a large portion of the
Grand Canyon Diorama
is housed behind the
Pizza Port
’s eastern wall.  Beyond the wall are the gorgeous diorama painting, the posed taxidermy animals, and the slowly passing
Disneyland Railroad Trains
filled with admiring Guests.  The
Grand Canyon Diorama
, inspired by the Academy Award-winning
Disney
film
Grand Canyon
, was installed in a tunnel along the railroad tracks in 1958.

When it comes to
Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port
, the bottom line is this:  If you’re an impatient sort, and pizza and pasta aren’t at the top of your menu choices, give the
Pizza Port
a pass.  But if you’re a patient sort, and you and your party are hankering for pizza and pasta, then the
Pizza Port
is your gateway to a great meal. 
Did You Know?
  Wondering who
Redd Rockett
is?  There isn’t a
Redd Rockett
character, but the restaurant’s name still has significance. According to
Chris Strodder
’s definitive
The Disneyland Encyclopedia
,
Redd Rockett
is a reference to
Disneyland
’s iconic red-and-white
Moonliner
that was dismantled in the mid-1960’s; today, a replica of the original
Moonliner
appears at the nearby
Spirit of Refreshment
stand. 
Pizza Port
is a reference to the never-built
Space Port
attraction, a
John Hench
designed roller coaster that would’ve raced over interlacing tracks along the exterior of a
Space Mountain
-like structure.  Although once considered for
Tomorrowland
, the design was discarded as the concept developed into the coaster-in-the-dark experience of
Space Mountain
.
Did You Also Know?
  For a brief period in 1996, this site hosted a
Toy Story Funhouse
.  A temporary attraction that had originally appeared at
Disney
’s
El Capitan Theatre
in Hollywood,
Toy Story Funhouse
was an interactive promo for the 1995 movie.  The funhouse featured meet-and-greets with
Toy Story
characters, a
Toy Story
videogame,
Hamm’s All-Doll Revue
, and a
Green Army Men
obstacle course.  Guests–especially those who were kids at the time–seem to remember the obstacle course fondly.  You wore a platform on your feet, akin to the base that plastic army soliders bear, and had to navigate the course largely by hopping
!
 
Kid’s Eye View:
  I really like this place because they have good pasta.  I like their pizza too.  When I was little it seemed too big, but I like it a lot now that I’m older.

Spirit of Refreshment
(S)

[
FastView:
 
A cool spot for cold beverages.  Dig the retro rocket.
]

What makes this beverage stand between
Innoventions
and
Redd Rockett
’s
Pizza Port
so cool?  It includes a replica of the sleek
Moonliner
rocket, a treasured
Tomorrowland
icon that stood in that area from
Opening Day
until it was dismantled in 1966.

As part of the new
Tomorrowland
that was rolled out in 1998, a scaled-down version of the
Moonliner
was created for Coke’s
Spirit of Refreshment
stand.  The new
Moonliner
is only 53 feet tall to the original
Moonliner
’s 76 feet, but it still evokes the ultra-cool (or as the sign reads, “hypercool”) futuristic feel of the 1950’s–looking at it, you can’t help thinking about jet packs and jet cars and Googie architecture, and you can almost hear the smooth tones of a jazz soundtrack.

On hot summer days, the
Moonliner
sprays a refreshing mist on Guests below—it quite literally doesn’t get “cooler” than that!

Another thing
that makes the
Spirit of Refreshment
so nifty?  If you request it, Cast Members don’t simply hand you a soda, they rocket it into the air via the soda launcher and then catch it.  You’d expect the soda to then explode all over you and anyone standing within a ten foot radius when it’s opened, but for some no-doubt-highly-complex physics reason, it doesn’t.  The launch might look out-of-this-world but doesn’t actually shake up the soda to the point of combustion
.
 
Did You Know?
  One of the Cast Members at this stand has a special talent:  Name any date in the last two hundred years and he can tell you what day of the week it was.  How does he do it?  He knows a mathematical formula for calculating historical days of the week.  No word on whether he still works at the stand–but if he does, try to stump him.  His talent is an interesting spotlight on the past in the land of the future.

Tomorrowland Fruit Cart
(S)

[
FastView:
 
As more guests try to eat healthier, and to give their children healthy snacks,
Disneyland
carts like the
Tomorrowland Fruit Cart
serve an important role.  Fruit, vegetables, hummus, trail mix—there’s something good here for everyone in your group.
]

In response to the growing trend toward healthier diets,
Disneyland
has dotted the park with vending carts selling a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and beverages.  If you don’t want to chow down on hot dogs, burgers, pizza, and French fries, you now have alternatives like the
Tomorrowland Fruit Cart
.

Parked across from
Star Trader
, near the
Little Green Men Store Command
, the
Tomorrowland Fruit Cart
sells beverages like water and juices for prices ranging from about $2 all the way up to $4.50.  If you’re hungry for something healthy, buy good-for-you treats like fresh apples or oranges, berry bowls, carrots, grapes, hummus, pineapple spears, or watermelon slices for anywhere from $2 to $4.

Did you know that most of the plants and trees planted throughout
Tomorrowland
are actually fruits and vegetables?  It was considered futuristic to plant edible greenery for decoration. However, don’t eat the plants!  Stick to items you purchase at the fruit cart.  ;)
Did You Know?
  When the
Tomorrowland Trash Can Trio
performs, it’s usually near this fruit stand.  Keep your eyes peeled for three custodians wielding push brooms and wheeling trash cans.  Out-of-the-blue they pause in this area and begin a percussive feast for the ears!

Tomorrowland Terrace
(B, L, D, S)

[
FastView:
  Tomorrowland
’s breakfast and burger joint, the terrace is a mixed bag.  Lines can get long and tempers can fray at the congested order and pick-up windows.  But once you have your order, seating is plentiful and the food is tasty.  You might even catch the
Jedi Academy
show!  On weekend nights, bands play.
]

The
Tomorrowland Terrace
restaurant opened in the summer of 1967, and it’s been serving up hearty, basic fare like burgers and fries ever since.  Over the years it’s had different looks (it, too, was part of the
Discoveryland
-inspired bronzing that swept through
Tomorrowland
in 1998), and slightly different menus, but at the core it’s stayed the same, a reliable choice for relatively inexpensive, simple cuisine and lively entertainment on the adjacent
Tomorrowland Terrace Stage
.

Guests queue at one of the battalion of order windows; lines look long
and can sometimes be confusing, but service was quite efficient until a 2010 reconfiguration of the order queue.  Note that you place orders on the left
or
right of each long window, and then wait in the central cattle pen for your order, which will be called out by a Cast Member–listen carefully to avoid delays.

On crowded days, ordering and waiting to pick up meals creates high-stress bottlenecks;
the author suggests you designate a couple of group members to handle these tasks, while others grab napkins and utensils and select tables for your group.

The
Terrace
serves breakfast as well as lunch, dinner, beverages, and snacks.  Once you have your food and drink, even on busy days you can usually find a seat at one of the many tables on the sweeping terraces above the stage area.  If you can’t find a table, seek out one of the low stone walls and park yourself there; they’re surprisingly comfortable for short periods of time.

Seats on the north side of the terrace have the most breathtaking views, with the majestic
Matterhorn Mountain
and sparkling
Submarine Lagoon
so close at hand, not to mention the
Monorail
station where the gleaming retro-future
Monorail trains
glide into view every ten minutes or so.

If you’re lucky (or if you were prudent, and checked your
Entertainment Times Guide
in advance and timed it right) they’ll be a
Jedi Training Academy
session or concert in progress–something to entertain you and your group while you eat.

Tomorrowland Terrace
beverages include cocoa, coffee, tea, juice, milk, soda, and water, and can be purchased for about $2 to $3.50 each.

This is your only
Tomorrowland
choice for breakfast, which is served up fast and fresh until 10:30 am.  Breakfast is usually a lot less crowded than lunch and dinner.  Go healthy with the
Fresh Fruit Platter
for $6.50.  In the mood to indulge your vacation sweet tooth?  Order the
French Toast
($8) topped with powdered sugar and syrup, with bacon and fruit (
something
in the meal has to be healthy!) included.  (Remember to request pats of butter for your French toast, as servers don’t always include or offer butter of their own initiative.)

Other
morning choices are the
Breakfast Burrito
(cheese, eggs, beans, chorizo, potatoes, and salsa) or the
Breakfast Platter
(scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and biscuit) which will run you about $8.

Children enjoy smaller versions of the
Breakfast Platter
or
French Toast
for about $6.50.