...the Disney cartoon characters are given total access to Disneyland the day before it officially opens.
Splitting up to visit the various sections, Mickey Mouse and his nephews Morty and Ferdie go to TomorrowLand and meet Gyro Gearloose, who rigs the Rocket to the Moon flight simulator to actually work!
On the Moon, they run into the villainous Black Pete who stole Gearloose's spare space-travel device...
Yes, it's the "It was all a dream!" plotline!
Written by Carl Fallberg, penciled by Tony Strobl, inked by John Liggera (all of whom had extensive experience working on Disney
characters), this section of the 100-page 25 cent comic Donald Duck in Disneyland is a classic
example of Disney's knack for cross-media marketing for promotional
purposes.
In fact, it was so effective that, when DisneyWorld opened in Florida in 1971, most of this issue (including this chapter) was reused in Walt Disney Comics Digest #32 (1971) as promotion for DisneyWorld along with new material about the elements of the theme park that differed from Disneyland!
Note: the various Disney characters did not appear in the actual TomorrowLand theme park.
They're just used here to introduce Disney-oriented kids to the concepts promoted by the exhibits.
opens Friday!
