Disneyland '61

[Deleted member 107043]

I stumbled across this fun infomercial showcasing Disneyland updates in 1961 on Youtube. Many of you DL fans have probably seen this already, but it's new to me. A couple of things stood out to me - the plans for a "dancing" topiary garden in Fantasyland and live aquatic life in the Submarine attraction (was that really a thing?).

 

[PrincessJenn5795]

That is awesome!

 

[catmom46]

Wow, thanks so much for posting that! I've never seen it and thought it was amazing. I love how they had so much live entertainment all over the park back then, including having the band play while riding the tea cups. And the mine train ride looked incredible! I thought it was funny that the POV on Matterhorn is almost exactly the same as the video I recorded on my last visit.

Not sure about the submarine stuff, though. It looked like the mermaids were real women, but I don't see how that could be possible.

 

[Kramerica]

Thanks for this. I love Disney, and even more specifically Disneyland for the rich history. This was a great watch.

 

[PrincessJenn5795]

Not sure about the submarine stuff, though. It looked like the mermaids were real women, but I don't see how that could be possible.

They had real women as mermaids for a while. They discontinued it because of health concerns related to highly chlorinated water and the diesel exhaust from the subs and the freezing water. There were also some issues with male guests harassing them. There are some articles written about them, and some of them are written by the women who were mermaids.

 

[catmom46]

They had real women as mermaids for a while. They discontinued it because of health concerns related to highly chlorinated water and the diesel exhaust from the subs and the freezing water. There were also some issues with male guests harassing them. There are some articles written about them, and some of them are written by the women who were mermaids.

Yeah, doesn't sound like it was a very good idea to begin with.