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1956 Film - Aerial view of Disneyland
- Thread starter Darkbeer1
- Start date
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Fantastic!
Us Disneyland fans always focus on 1955 as an important year. But if I could go back in time I think I'd go to 1956. Why?
Because 1956 represents the park as Walt wanted it to be upon opening in the summer of 1955. In '56 they'd finally gotten all of Fantasyland completed and open, and the Frontierland area was also more fleshed out with the Mine Train and Indian War Canoes and Tom Sawyer Island. Tomorrowland, the most infamously incomplete in 1955, also finally looked kind of workable by 1956. Although to spend a few hours in Tomorrowland meant you'd need to visit the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow and the Dutch Boy Paint Color Gallery, just to stretch the time a bit.
Already been on Autopia? You haven't truly seen Tomorrowland '56 until you've spent minutes and minutes in the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow exhibit! I'd love to know what's going through this lady's mind, wouldn't you?
1956 was what Walt wanted Disneyland to be when it opened in 1955. And yet there were still lots of oddball areas and clumsy operation and questionable showmanship on display as they tried to figure out how Disneyland was supposed to act and operate. I would have loved to have seen it firsthand!
Also, in 1956 you had a much better shot at scoring a great parking space right up at the front gates!
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I parked right in front once. It was 1970s for Night of Joy, a bunch of christian bands. I took a friend of my sister's and mine. I got there early. Not a lot of cars. I didn't write down that I was in Eeyore 5A. When we came out, the lot had completely filled in. I could not find the car for the LIFE of me! My date was sooo mad.
After much wandering around, we finally found the car.
After much wandering around, we finally found the car.
smooch
Well-Known Member
Fantastic!
Us Disneyland fans always focus on 1955 as an important year. But if I could go back in time I think I'd go to 1956. Why?
Because 1956 represents the park as Walt wanted it to be upon opening in the summer of 1955. In '56 they'd finally gotten all of Fantasyland completed and open, and the Frontierland area was also more fleshed out with the Mine Train and Indian War Canoes and Tom Sawyer Island. Tomorrowland, the most infamously incomplete in 1955, also finally looked kind of workable by 1956. Although to spend a few hours in Tomorrowland meant you'd need to visit the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow and the Dutch Boy Paint Color Gallery, just to stretch the time a bit.
Already been on Autopia? You haven't truly seen Tomorrowland '56 until you've spent minutes and minutes in the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow exhibit!
1956 was what Walt wanted Disneyland to be when it opened in 1955. And yet there were still lots of oddball areas and clumsy operation and showmanship on display as they tried to figure out what Disneyland was supposed to be and how it was supposed to act. I would have loved to have seen it firsthand!
Also, in 1956 you had a much better shot at scoring a great parking space right up at the front gates!
I am only 20 so I've never parked directly in front of the parks and every time I see pictures like this it looks so strange and fake to me. I remember when I watched Saving Mr. Banks and Ms. Travers is chauffeured right into the gate to the area in front of the flower portrait of Mickey and while obviously this wasn't something that happened even remotely often, it is just funny because it is so impossible now and the way I have always known Disneyland to be. Especially because I have only ever seen Disneyland with huge lines out the front gate, it's funny to me how the crowds on most days wouldn't fit on that little space given the road in front of the turnstiles. I know lines didn't get backed up as much because there wasn't really any security / bag checks / etc. but it is still so interesting to look at, but I guess that just comes back to my fascination with the world pre 9/11 when people could go right up to the terminal to say goodbye to their loved ones going on flights and that sort of stuff.
BubbaQuest
Well-Known Member
Great video. What's the building on the Rivers of America at the 1:23 mark?
TROR
Well-Known Member
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
That's the Swift Chicken Plantation House, it was demolished when the construction for New Orleans Square started in 1962. The New Orleans exterior seen from the ROA, inspired the mansion inside the Blue Bayou.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Another thing to remember about 1956 is that the ticket booths were located barely 10 yards in front of the actual turnstiles. And back then, and even into the 1990's, there was really no other way to buy Disneyland tickets until you were actually standing in front of the park. In the 1970's the Magic Kingdom Club brought the ability to buy tickets through your employer (if your employer was big and savvy enough to join the Magic Kingdom Club), and the 1980's brought the ability to buy tickets at a Disney Store.
But in 1956 almost everyone had to buy their tickets right in front of the park (I imagine the new Disneyland Hotel had a ticket counter in the lobby though). In this 1956 aerial you can see four (4!) ticket booths right in front of a short arch of shaded turnstiles.
This didn't last long as attendance boomed in the late 1950's, and by the 1960's they'd pushed the curb back a bit to fit in more ticket booths and an expanded line of turnstiles with more space for lines. But that basic setup remained the same until 1997 when the Resort expansion project got underway.
And yes, pre 9/11 going to the airport to pick up grandma or drop off dad was often a big family event. Everyone went out to the gate. In my 20th century business travel days I remember often walking off the jetway in a strange city and seeing a crowd of giddy families in the gate area waiting for the guest of honor to deplane, and often they'd be holding big handmade signs and bouquets of flowers. It always made you smile to see that.
The airport departure lounge of the 20th century could often be a very happy and vibrant and exciting place, compared to now where it's usually silent as passengers just sit there glumly staring at their phones.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
Only one time can I remember parking right up front. It was sometime during 1985 because the 30th Anniversary had brought a new pedestrian mall thing with shade structures down the middle that led right up to the gates. For whatever reason, we were directed by parking lot CM's into an already very full parking lot and were assigned to the section right up front and directed into one of the last open spaces there.
It was memorable because we didn't ride the parking lot tram that time, and I remember not having to worry about where we parked because we were literally about 20 yards in front of the Gift Giver Extraordinaire machine for the 30th!
Here's the large pedestrian mall right through the middle of the lot leading directly up to the Gift Giver Extraordinaire machine, with these giant white pavilions bedecked in flags and 30th logos. It made an imprint on my brain that helped brand the one amazing time we got to park right in front.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
That gazebo in the area that is now New Orleans Square is found at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach. I have photos of it somewhere.
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
Here's the story.
Looks like it was born on Main Street, then moved over to the west side.
And here it is in it's relatively current form and location
Not to be confused with the more visible one at the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and San Joaquin Hills Rd.
(I think I got this mostly right, but I could be mixing things up.)
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure you got that right.
Like so many wayward Disneyland fans, for 20 years whenever I'd go to Fashion Island and make the turn off MacArthur I'd pass that decorative gazebo and say out loud to an empty car or a car with passengers who didn't care "That's the gazebo from Disneyland".
But it turns out that was not the gazebo from Disneyland. A few years ago I had brunch at the wonderful Roger's Gardens Farmhouse restaurant and we were seated in the real gazebo and learned the story. (A story I had to secretly double check for myself online later).
Now when I go to Fashion Island and make the turn off MacArthur I say out loud to an empty car "That's not the gazebo from Disneyland" and then give a knowing smirk to myself in the rearview mirror.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
You're right, it is much better now. It's a miracle the place even took off 65 years ago and could meet payroll each week.
I just thank God that Disneyland has you to guide it during this incredible crisis. What with your intrinsic understanding of gracious hospitality and your dedication to showmanship at any cost, I'm positive the Disneyland Resort will be primed for years of dynamic financial returns when it reopens in Spring, 2021. Godspeed, Bob Jr.!
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
You've got it right. Here it is with a description on the sign.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
Fantastic!
Us Disneyland fans always focus on 1955 as an important year. But if I could go back in time I think I'd go to 1956. Why?
Because 1956 represents the park as Walt wanted it to be upon opening in the summer of 1955. In '56 they'd finally gotten all of Fantasyland completed and open, and the Frontierland area was also more fleshed out with the Mine Train and Indian War Canoes and Tom Sawyer Island. Tomorrowland, the most infamously incomplete in 1955, also finally looked kind of workable by 1956. Although to spend a few hours in Tomorrowland meant you'd need to visit the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow and the Dutch Boy Paint Color Gallery, just to stretch the time a bit.
Already been on Autopia? You haven't truly seen Tomorrowland '56 until you've spent minutes and minutes in the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow exhibit! I'd love to know what's going through this lady's mind, wouldn't you?
1956 was what Walt wanted Disneyland to be when it opened in 1955. And yet there were still lots of oddball areas and clumsy operation and questionable showmanship on display as they tried to figure out how Disneyland was supposed to act and operate. I would have loved to have seen it firsthand!
Also, in 1956 you had a much better shot at scoring a great parking space right up at the front gates!
I've been lucky enough to visit Disneyland regularly since 1970 or so (I was born in 66 and think I might have gone before 70) and wish I could have experienced DL in these first few opening years as well.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I find those first few years after opening, 1956-1958, to be the most interesting. Those are the years I'd like to go back in time to visit just for the laughs.
We all have these very high standards for the place and over the decades we've built up this mythology that Walt and his team knew exactly what they were doing right out of the gate. But it actually took several years to establish a series of standards and protocols and training techniques to get into the groove of what Disneyland was supposed to be.
Before that foundation was established, there were some years of bizarre operation and CM behavior. Like this exciting trip along the barren banks of Storybook Land Canal Boats, with a CM standing up in the middle of the boat. What must have this presentation been like for those passengers?
Do I remember correctly that they used moonlighting Marines from a nearby base, but they had to move them to another area because they kept flirting with cute girls?I find those first few years after opening, 1956-1958, to be the most interesting. Those are the years I'd like to go back in time to visit just for the laughs.
We all have these very high standards for the place and over the decades we've built up this mythology that Walt and his team knew exactly what they were doing right out of the gate. But it actually took several years to establish a series of standards and protocols and training techniques to get into the groove of what Disneyland was supposed to be.
Before that foundation was established, there were some years of bizarre operation and CM behavior. Like this exciting trip along the barren banks of Storybook Land Canal Boats, with a CM standing up in the middle of the boat. What must have this presentation been like for those passengers?
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I think you are combining two noteworthy, and fascinating, stories of Disneyland yore.
Until the 1990's the nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar offered a seasonal employee base for Disneyland. Marines based there used to moonlight at Disneyland, and Disneyland was happy to employ them because they were clean cut and knew how to follow the rules. But when they were deployed or PCS'ed out of El Toro, they could often leave their Disneyland schedulers in the lurch in the name of national defense.
Meanwhile at Storybook Land, in David Koenig's Mouse Tales book he spoke of an infamous 1970's Attractions Hostess at Storybook Land that became a favorite of the Marines from El Toro who would go to Disneyland with the cheap tickets available at their base Morale & Welfare office. A gaggle of Marines would wait in line inexplicably to ride Storybook Land Canal Boats, perhaps the most effeminate and wimpy ride in all of Disneyland. The hostesses at Storybook Land would shuffle the queue around to make sure the Marines got a "private boat" with this one specific hostess, who would instantly modify her spiel to suddenly become R rated.
The trip through Storybook Land would being with the Marines enraptured as this hostess started her journey by guiding her boat of Marines into Monstro's gaping mouth. And then the boat would back up again and exit the whale's mouth. Then it would go forward into Monstro's mouth again. Then back up again. Before going all the way back into Monstro's mouth and entering Storybook Land where the versions of classic Walt Disney storybooks she would tell were not quite what Walt had in mind. I think you get the idea.
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
It looks like this aerial footage is from the 1956 special "People and Places: Disneyland USA," which is one of the features on the Disneyland: Secrets, Stories, and Magic DVD of the Walt Disney Treasures sets that were released in the 2000s.
Great special, and on that particular DVD set it also has optional commentary by Tony Baxter!
Great special, and on that particular DVD set it also has optional commentary by Tony Baxter!