Adventure Thru Inner Space

Adventure Thru Inner Space
Poster for Adventure Thru Inner Space
Disneyland
Area	Tomorrowland
Status	Closed
Opening date	August 5, 1967
Closing date	September 2, 1985
Replaced	Monsanto Hall Of Chemistry
Replaced by	Star Tours
General statistics
Attraction type	Dark ride
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Designer	WED Enterprises
Theme	Microscopic world
Music	"Miracles from Molecules"
Vehicle type	Omnimover
Riders per vehicle	2–3
Hosted by	Paul Frees
Sponsor	The Monsanto Company (1967-1977)
Must transfer from wheelchair

Adventure Thru Inner Space (the spelling "Thru" instead of "Through" was deliberate), presented by Monsanto Company, was an attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. It was the first attraction to utilize Disney's Omnimover system.

Adventure Thru Inner Space opened on August 5, 1967, as part of the New Tomorrowland, and closed in 1985 to make way for Disney and George Lucas's new Star Tours attraction, which opened in early 1987. The attraction was narrated by Paul Frees, who also lent his voice to the Haunted Mansion attraction, another Omnimover attraction which is still open to this day.

The attraction was designed to simulate humans shrinking to a size smaller than an atom (the "inner space"). As riders waited for their journey into the atom, they were able to see other riders entering one end of the Monsanto Mighty Microscope. The other end of the Monsanto Mighty Microscope had a glass tube in which miniaturized riders could be seen moving across. The microscope was aimed at a panel beyond which snow could be seen falling.

Upon boarding their 'Atommobiles', riders were greeted by the voice of an unseen scientist (Paul Frees) who explained: "I am the first person to make this fabulous journey. Suspended in the timelessness of inner space are the thoughtwaves of my first impressions. They will be our only source of contact once you have passed beyond the limits of normal Mag-ni-fi-ca-tion."

The Atommobile entered the Monsanto Mighty Microscope and began to shake back and forth as the riders entered the darkness. As their vision returned, the riders saw giant snowflakes all around them, some still spinning as they fell. As they continued to shrink, the narrator exclaimed, "I am passing beyond the magnification limits of even the most powerful microscopes. These are snowflakes – and yet they seem to grow larger and larger. Or can I be shrinking – shrinking beyond the smallness of a tiny snowflake crystal? Indeed, I am becoming smaller and smaller!"

The snowflakes took on a crystalline form, eventually becoming large enough to cover the entire field of the riders' vision. Approaching the walls of ice crystals, the voice of the unseen scientist marveled, "These tiny bits of snowflake crystal tower above me – like an enormous wall of ice. Can I penetrate this gigantic prism? And yet, this wall of ice only seems smooth and solid. From this tiny viewpoint, I can see that nothing is solid, no matter how it appears." Indeed, it then became obvious to the Atommobile riders that the ice crystals were not solid, but a lattice-like structure that they pass through. "And still I continue to shrink! What compelling force draws me into this mysterious darkness—can this be the threshold of inner space?"