Alien Pizza Planet, formerly known as Redd Rockett's Pizza Port, is a futuristic, quick-service/casual, dining Italian restaurant nestled underneath Space Mountain, on the north end of Tomorrowland in Disneyland. Known for its pizza, pasta, salad, and slushies, the restaurant features a wide variety of Italian fare. Seating is located inside and outside the restaurant for convenience. Outside guests can admire a wide view of Tomorrowland's center or watch children playing at the fountain, while eating their meals. Or, in the inside the restaurant, guests can enjoy the interior of the port, lined with attraction posters of past Tomorrowland attractions. The restaurant itself is sponsored by Buitoni, an Italian food brand owned by Swiss food company Nestlé. As a simple pizza joint, Alien Pizza Planet does not offer reservations. The restaurant re-themed itself to Alien Pizza Planet on April 13, 2018, as part of the Pixar Fest event.[1]. Similar to the Galactic Grill and the Red Rose Taverne, the restaurant's re-theming was permanent after the conclusion of the event it was tied into, despite being advertised to be operating only for a limited time.
Disneyland Description
"Fuel up with out-of-this-world fast fare like breadsticks, pizza, salad and slushies—it’s an Italiano meal you can’t refuse!"
History
The restaurant was originally to be named Planet Cool, with a heavy Tomorrowland nostalgia theme featuring classic attraction vehicles such as Skyway buckets, PeopleMover cars, and Mickey's Mouseorail as dining booths, with classic Tomorrowland footage being incorporated into video screens, though these would be cut from the budget[2]. Redd Rockett's Pizza Port first opened its doors to Disneyland guests on May 22, 1998 with the opening of New Tomorrowland. The restaurant itself is located in the former location of the Mission to Mars attraction, which closed on November 2, 1992. The former attraction offered daily "flights" to the red planet, Mars, from 1975 to 1992. This attraction was preceded by Rocket to the Moon and Flight to the Moon, which the Moonliner rocket erected in front of the restaurant originates from. The restaurant's swooping wing-shaped sign dates back to the Flight to the Moon attraction from 1967, with the sign itself emulating the logo of the attraction's then-sponsor McDonnell Douglas (with the logo living on to present day in McDonnell Douglas' successor, Boeing).
A backstory given in Cast Member previews of New Tomorrowland read[3]:
- “"The only real problem with long-term space travel is that you can't get a decent pizza"”
- ―Dr. Tyrone Montanio, INSA Sector 5
By the early 21st century, thousands of eager scientists, space enthusiasts and tourists were busily exploring the Galaxy. Some surveyed distant planets, some worked on space stations and others enjoyed the rare luxury of interstellar tours. It has been decadeds since scientists had solved the problems of fuel and gravity, years since they had successfully recreated sunlight and oxygen. But they still had not solved the problem of good food.
Space travelers loudly grumbled about the quality of space food. "It's bland. It's reconstituited. It's BORING!" they said. "Give us some texture!" demanded one settler. Another piped in, "I'll settle for flavor!" All in all, the situation was becoming so bad that space stations were fearful of mutiny, all because of food. One small colony became so incensed by their meals that they ran over the cook's workstation with their T-1 Probe. When asked why they did it, the colonists replied, "We couldn't stand it anymore. Just once, we wish he would have offered us a pizza."
Monitoring this exchange was an enterprising pilot and space trader, Redd Rockett. His mind froze at the sound of a word he hadn't heard in years, "pizza". Redd's eye glazed over as he recalled the tantalizing scent of freshly baked pizza, the sight of freshly grated cheese gently melting over pepperoni.
Redd suddenly snapped out of his reverie, snapping on the booster controls and taking off on his mission into deep space. But he couldn't stop thinking about the colonists and pizza. Then it hit him like a pound of space debris. "That's it! I'll set up a pizza port right in the middle of the sector. I'll bring in the freshest ingredients and offer foods that people haven't tasted in lightyears! Why there's not a spacecraft in the Galaxy that wouldn't go a light year out of its way just to enjoy a good meal!"
And so, Redd Rockett brought pizza to space travelers, along with fresh pastas, salads and desserts. Redd's original restaurant was such a hit that he soon opened a chain of Pizza Ports around the galaxy, including a Tomorrowland outpost on Earth. Space travelers are now content, knowing that wherever they are in the Galaxy, good pizza is just a shuttle away.
Alien Pizza Planet
In 2018, as part of Pixar Fest, Redd Rockett's Pizza Port was given a permanent Pizza Planet overlay. An official summary reads: "Little Green Men have sourced the finest ingredients from across the universe to deliver fresh, hot pizzas that are out of this world in Pixar Fest event. A specialty of their home planet Pepperonia is a special pepperoni pizza topped with green peppers and mushrooms. They’ll also be cooking up a hearty cheeseburger pizza with ketchup, yellow mustard and pizza sauce on a sesame seed crust and topped with cheese, caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, slider patties, a house-made burger sauce, and pickles."[4]
Props from the defunct Pizza Planet restaurants at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park (Paris) were utilized in the overlay.
Public Reception
Overall, Alien Pizza Planet, as well as its previous incarnation, received good reviews from critics and Disney-goers with a rating of 3.5 stars on Yelp based on 283 reviews. Common complaints include portion size and price however many guests argue that the flavour and quality of the food out weigh the prices. On Urban Spoon, the restaurant was afforded an 80% rating based 57 on reviews for being expensive but easily accessible with fast food. According to Tripadvisor, Alien Pizza Planet has: "Good food but it's super expensive." The cite awarded the eatery with 3.5 stars (from 21 reviews) for its service, atmosphere, food, and value. Overall, the restaurant has an average rating of around a 73.3 percent.
Gallery
Redd Rockett's Pizza Port
Alien Pizza Planet
References
- ↑ "Alien Pizza Planet Landing Soon at Disneyland Park".
- ↑ Rowe, J. (1997, February 2) Imagine This If You Can. Orange County Register
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ericthomaschu/status/1491617620176498690
- ↑ "Disneyland is building Toy Story’s Pizza Planet in their Anaheim theme park".
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