Fully automated food service? I cant wait! Well, I’m still waiting… StratoSnak was your food delivery system of the future… or so they thought back in 1955 when this concept sketch was done for the Disneyland project. This is from a local newspaper insert promoting the park (the box on the right is a food service tent intended for Fantasyland).

Going back… I can imagine what the StratoSnak experience might have been like. You enter into the glass fronted air-conditioned service line with futuristic push button machines where you make your selections and your meal comes out on a conveyor belt through a little door. Then you go to the register, pay, and take your tray and sit outside. Little did you know that behind the scenes was a crew of chef’s preparing the selections and keeping them piping hot under heat lamps. When the order is made they would place the plates on the belt and Voila, dinner is served! To you it looked so automatic, so 1986. As the sun goes down we see the drive-in like movie screen in front of StratoSnak come to life with Classic Disney shorts or maybe Ward Kimballs “Man  in Space” feature. Isn’t the future great!

So you ask, how come the StratoSnak never happened? Well, there was no time to fully develop the concept and have it ready for opening day. Also there was a budget crunch and Tomorrowland took the brunt of the shortfall. Sponsorship was needed but it didn’t happen so they opted for a more conventional fast food service and re-named it the “Space Bar”. Oh Well!

Mahalo to Tim for the top graphic.