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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2000 |
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Tomorrowland takes you to the future—but some things never change. People still have to eat. It’s good to know that future generations will find pizza at distant spaceports. |
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This place is run by Redd Rockett. It’s said that he’s a space pilot and entrepreneur, but it seems nobody knows much about him. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2009 The restaurant with a tailfin |
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Okay, this is really a theme park restaurant. Grab a tray and help yourself to pizza slices or order a whole pie. If you wish, make it a full meal, perhaps with pasta, Caesar salad, a sparkling beverage, and dessert. Find a table inside next to vintage Disneyland Tomorrowland posters or go outside to dine at the base of mighty Space Mountain. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2017 Proudly displaying the name of the proprietor, Redd Rocket |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005 Goofy eats here too |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005 What’s for lunch and dinner? |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Pizza by the slice |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2009 Add a salad to pretend it’s a healthy meal |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Food stations and round tables |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Decorated with vintage Tomorrowland posters |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 TWA Moonliner from the 1950s—much like the Moonliner at Redd Rockett’s |
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Who would have thought that a space entrepreneur of the future would decorate his restaurant with Disneyland posters of the past? Perhaps Redd Rockett reads Yesterland archives. |
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Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port opened at Disneyland on May 22, 1998. It was part of the “New Tomorrowland” of 1998, which also included Rocket Rods, the American Space Experience, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, and a copper-with-a-green-patina paint scheme for Space Mountain. The idea for a “pizza port” with a fictional proprietor probably came from Tokyo Disneyland’s Pan Galactic Pizza Port Restaurant (1989-to-present). There, Audio-Animatronic chef-owner Tony Solaroni prepares pizza on his elaborate pizza-making machine. If there were ever plans for similar Audio-Animatronic entertainment at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, such plans did not survive the tight budgets of Disneyland’s 1998 New Tomorrowland. |
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Photo by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor Same building when it was an attraction |
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Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port reused the building that had been Flight to the Moon (1967–1975) and Mission to Mars (1975–1992). It was sad to see an attraction replaced by a quick-service eatery—but, then again, Mission to Mars had been closed for almost five years, so it was good to see the building once again open to guests. And it was good to see the Moonliner rocket return to Tomorrowland, even if the replica was substantially smaller than the TWA Rocket to the Moon original. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2005 Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port at Disneyland in 2005 |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2019 Alien Pizza Planet at Disneyland in 2019 |
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Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port changed its name to Alien Pizza Planet on April 13, 2018. The new name and an accompanying interior overlay were billed as temporary for Disneyland’s 2018’s Pixar Fest promotion. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Temporary banner |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2019 Permanent signage |
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The change wasn’t temporary. Pixar Fest ended September 3, 2018, but Alien Pizza Planet remained. In mid-2019, new permanent exterior signage replaced the overlay signage—which had been a banner literally overlaying the Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port signage. |
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© Disney-Pixar Pizza Planet in Toy Story from Disney-Pixar |
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The change made sense. In fact, it’s surprising that it was ever Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port. It’s not as if Redd Rockett is a beloved Disney character with a memorable Pizza Port. Walt Disney World had Disney’s Toy Story Pizza Planet from December 15, 1995—slightly more than three weeks after the release of Toy Story—until January 18, 2016. The building Disney-MGM Studios (later Disney’s Hollywood Studios) park bore no resemblance to the “space age” eatery in the groundbreaking Disney-Pixar movie. Toy Story (1995) quickly became an established hit with beloved characters and memorable scenes—including the events at the movie’s Pizza Planet. In 1998, Disneyland would open a pizza restaurant in a “space age” building that, while different from Pizza Planet in the movie, also had Mid-Century Googie architecture. Yet Disneyland went with Redd Rockett. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Custom posters featuring the “Little Green Men” Aliens in place of attraction posters |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Updated ceiling decor |
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As they say, better late than never. The changes in 2018 and 2019 sent Redd Rockett to Yesterland. But, to tell the truth, his eatery is still going strong at Disneyland, with just cosmetic changes. |
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© 2023 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated December 22, 2023 |
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