The idyllic small town that never was and always will be.
A Walk Through Forest Valley…
The war is over! As soldiers return home, America enters an unprecedented time of peace and industry. While some search for comforts to remind them of a bygone era, others boldly forge a brighter, more inclusive future. In this strange new year of 1955, the idyllic, vibrant small town of Forest Valley pays homage to the past while beginning to imagine things to come.
As guests enter the park, they are first treated to the sight of the beautiful
Disneyland Garden. This colorful display is home to several of Texas’s gorgeous flowers, from bluebonnets to buttercups. There are small pots where guests are allowed to pick the flowers, and vendors sell whole bouquets, for those looking for a unique souvenir or gift. Perhaps more striking are a collection of hedge sculptures. These represent different facets and eras of Disney history. From left to right, guests can admire Snow White, Mr. Toad, Aurora, Ariel, Simba, Stitch, Elsa, Woody, Luke Skywalker, and Iron Man. In-between Simba and Stitch is a patch of flowers arranged to resemble Mickey Mouse.
On both sides of the garden are tunnels leading into Forest Valley proper. These tunnels feature a rotating selection of stylized posters for the park’s attractions, drawn by a mix of famous and obscure artists. Don’t worry, if one catches your eye, you can buy a copy in the Forest Valley Gallery or scan it with your ImagiBand to buy it online. Once you’ve finished admiring the artwork, you’ll emerge in the picturesque town square.
At the heart of this area is a small park where children can play and adults can take a moment to sit down on the soft grass or a comfortable bench, each one of which is dedicated to a different Disney Legend. Families can even enjoy a nice picnic. The centerpiece of the park is a beautiful white gazebo, which holds a telescope operated by one’s ImagiBand. This gives excellent views of Forest Valley, as well as the magnificent castle in the distance. While guests eat or rest, they can enjoy the musical stylings of
The Sharps, a well-dressed “rock and roll” band. What an odd, exciting new form of music...
Off to the left is
City Hall, where guest services can be found. To the right is
Great Moments of American History, located inside the Forest Valley Concert Hall. In front of the gazebo is the boarding station for the
Forest Valley Tram. Behind the park is where guests can get on or off the
Longhorn Railroad and purchase
Track Snacks or
Spare Parts. From there, guests can go down one of three streets. To the left is Holiday Street, in the middle is Main Street, and to the right is Liberty Street. For the purposes of our walkthrough, we’ll go down Holiday Street first.
As you walk down Holiday Street, your eyes will probably be drawn to the classy
Tony’s Italian Restaurant, whose architecture is a relic of the early 20th century. Also on this side of the street is the
Holiday Street Creamery and
Java! Beans & Baked Goods. To the right is
Joy’s Toys and the
Snack Stand.
Main Street holds the largest building in Forest Valley, a stunning multi-floored shop named
The Emporium. Past this store is the scrumptious
Forest Valley Sweets and the
Main Street Cinema, a theatre which shows a rotating selection of classic Disney cartoons. On the left side of the street is Forest Valley’s famous
Roy’s Diner.
Liberty Street is regarded as the most wealthy and illustrious part of town, and it’s hard not to see why.
Lillian’s Department Store is a gorgeous Art Deco boutique off to the right. The shop is only a short walk from the renowned
Forest Valley Gallery.
Now that we’ve taken a lovely stroll through Forest Valley, let’s have a closer look at the attractions, shops, eateries, and secrets that bring the wonderful small town to life...
Great Moments of American History
Guests will surely be drawn to the newly renovated Forest Valley Concert Hall, a sleek white venue in the mid-century modern style which has hosted everyone from the Mellomen to the Dapper Dans. The marquee announces that currently, the concert hall has the pleasure of hosting
Great Moments of American History. What a curious name for a musical group.
As guests enter the gorgeous lobby, pictures, grainy television broadcasts, and chatty employees reveal the grand history behind the building. Apparently, it dates back to the origins of Forest Valley during the Revolutionary War, in which it served as the headquarters for the Forest Valley Gazette. In the 19th century, it was bought out by the Hightower Corporation and converted into the Marceline Opera House. In the 1920s, the Opera House was sold to the local government, who turned it into the Forest Valley Concert Hall. The building is the town’s biggest source of income, and something of a claim to fame for Forest Valley.
As guests continue deeper into the elegant building, they'll discover a room filled with paintings and photographs of famous guests who have visited the Concert Hall. These are actually highly convincing screens, and guests who use their ImagiBands in front of them will trigger an animated short based around that historical figure. These shorts come in various styles and were animated by Disney, Pixar, Fox, and a few guest animators. Some highlights include Paul Rudish's "Paperboy", which stars Mickey as Ben Franklin's apprentice, and Pete Docter's "Copper", about a penny who thinks he's Abraham Lincoln.
As guests approach the stage, they are led by ushers to one of four seating sections. Each of these has four rows, with five seats each, giving the Concert Hall a capacity of 80 people. As guests take a seat, they are directed by an usher to store their belongings in the bags beneath them and pull down their lap bar. Following this, the show begins.
The stage lights up as we see a small Colonial American town. A cold breeze fills the theatre, and guests can smell baked goods and hear the gentle crunching of leaves. The seats beneath them rattle as a live performer playing Paul Revere rides in on his horse. He warns the small town of Lexington that the British are approaching to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams. He is soon joined by William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who offer to assist him on his journey to Concord, where he will warn the local militia. He grins and nods, appreciative of the patriots' help. Prescott and Dawes ride off-stage, but Revere is stopped by the arriving British soldiers, who knock him off his horse and arrest him. As they begin to walk him off, time freezes and Revere turns to the audience. He thanks them for joining him, and reminds them that America's accomplishments are not the result of one person, but of many brave heroes who stood up for what they believed in and fought for progress. He wishes guests luck on their journey before he is taken away.
Suddenly, the four sections of the theatre begin to move, revealing the attraction's great secret: it's a dark ride, not a show, and the seats beneath them are massive ride vehicles. Our next stop is Gettysburg, where we meet a pair of Union soldiers, who are weary after the bloody battle they just fought. The two are interrupted by Abraham Lincoln, who walks on stage to give his iconic address. This version of Lincoln (voiced by actor Michael Krebs) is one of Disney’s most advanced and expressive animatronics yet, drawing on the work done for the Na’vi River Journey. After Lincoln finishes, the crowd and the pair of soldiers give an uproarious applause, inspired to fight on.
The ride vehicles move on to a laboratory in the Tuskegee Institute, the room filled with the scents of peanuts, sweet potatoes, and pecans. Guests are greeted by George Washington Carver, portrayed by a live actor, who introduces himself and explains his work. He tells us that he’s working to invent new agricultural technologies. Carver is particularly proud of a new formula that will result in healthier, more moistorous soil. He pops the cap off of this serum, releasing a mist into the audience and lightly spraying the front rows. He sheepishly scratches the back of his neck and reminds us that science is a process. Carver explains that farming is more than an occupation, it is a way for the poor and vulnerable to live and thrive. He encourages the audience, no matter their job, to hold generosity in their hearts and gives us a piece of advice: “there is no shortcut to achievement”.
Next up is the Woman Suffrage Procession in 1913. A massive crowd of women fight for their right to vote, led by a large parade float which blows programs for the event into the audience. Anna Howard Shaw reminds her fellow protesters to keep things peaceful, a suggestion which draws the ire of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. One woman suggests that the “even temperament” of women will lead to a better America, while another tells her that such an attitude is sexist in its own right. The marching band behind the protesters intensifies as other figures chime in, Ida Wells reminding the group not to forget about black women and Helen Keller signing that disabled women are just as important. Paul remarks that no movement will be perfect or without conflict, but that they must stand together nonetheless. They march on, ignoring the harassment of hecklers.
Just as they continue moving, so must the audience, heading forward to Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. A bus, cut in half so the audience can see inside, puffs exhaust fumes (harmless mist, in actuality) and the smell of diesel into the audience. Several white passengers board the bus, and the driver instructs Rosa Parks and the other black passengers to move to the back of the bus. All of them comply except Parks, who remains in place. The driver is baffled, and asks her once again to move. The scene freezes and a spotlight comes down on her. Parks considers that refusing to give up her seat will make her life harder. She’ll probably lose her job and she’ll be harassed for the rest of her life. Then, she thinks about a boy named Emmett Till, a “real nice boy” who was “gone too soon”. Parks imagines that other protestors who have done the same are with her, spotlights coming down on them. She takes a deep breath and the spotlights disappear, causing the scene to resume. Parks once again says she will not give up her seat, and smiles proudly at the audience as the driver calls the police.
Projections and speakers surround the audience with an even larger crowd, placing them in the center of Martin Luther King Junior’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. Guests are just in time to hear the great orator speak, with MLK being represented through an incredibly high quality animatronic similar to Lincoln’s. Using recordings of the speech, the animatronic MLK delivers an excerpt of it with passion and style. His voice is able to quiet the massive group in an instant, and keep the group’s attention until the very end. The vehicles continue on, rumbling with the footsteps of countless inspired protesters.
The rumbling continues as the vehicles are faced with a stunning recreation of the Stonewall Inn. A cool wind blows through the audience, projections and paintings creating the feeling of night no matter the hour. Small fires fight back the cold and provide dramatic lighting for the scene, as the police outnumber the patrons of the once-safe bar. Though they harass and threaten the LGBT+ people present, two people stand tall above the crowd, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. They encourage the patrons of Stonewall to stand tall, and as the sun begins to rise, they are joined by countless others who are tired of being tossed aside. Marsha reminds the audience that doing the right thing sometimes means going against the law.
Seats raise to simulate low gravity as the vehicles make their next stop in the most unlikely of places: the Moon. Stars seem to twinkle on for infinity as the Lunar Module
Eagle is lowered onto the rocky gray surface. An animatronic Neil Armstrong takes humanity’s first steps into this brand new world. Unlike the other animatronics, this one is impressive not for its expressions, but for its incredible range of movement as it takes small bounds across the Moon’s surface. He plants the American flag and remarks that he’s taken "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
Vents warm the audience as they peek inside a CERN office on December 20th, 1990. As a Christmas party takes place in the distance, we can hear “O Christmas Tree” and smell freshly baked cookies. Meanwhile, Tim Berners-Lee is hard at work. He is caught off guard by the audience but quickly introduces himself as the scientist who invented the World Wide Web. He’s about to publish the world’s first website, but takes a moment to consider the work of all the inventors before him who contributed to this milestone. Lee reminds us that great moments are not spontaneous, they come from years of hard work on the part of many different people.
Our last stop is Paul Revere’s workshop, where he’s hard at work forging weapons for the Continental Army. He thanks guests for joining him on the journey, and briefly interacts with the audience personally, making fun comments about their anachronistic wardrobes. Revere reminds us that history is always in the making, and that the next great moment could come from one of us. The vehicles return to their starting point, where guests are unloaded and escorted out of the concert hall and back outside.
Forest Valley Transportation
Forest Valley is home to the historic
Longhorn Railroad, one of the first of its kind. Built in the 19th century to transport goods to the Union Army, it now operates a passenger train. Guests make their way through the Longhorn Railroad Station, which details the history of the railroad. Apparently, it was spearheaded by a former mayor of the town, a shrewd businessman who loved trains.
The Railroad operates three steam-powered trains: the
Rohde, the
Baxter, and the
Blair. Each of these is modeled after the Texas State Railroad’s #300, and can be recognized by their color (
Rohde is cherry red,
Baxter is sky blue,
Blair is bright yellow). The Railroad runs around the entire park, with its first stop being in Utopiana, and offers excellent views. A pre-recorded narration points out places of interest along the way. Each train is split into eight cars, six of which are outdoor and two of which are indoor. More information on their routes and amenities will be given below.
For those not looking to travel across the entire park, the nifty new
Forest Valley Tram carries guests around the small town, with witty commentary from their driver. There are two cars, and at least one of them will be operating throughout the day, unless outside circumstances dictate otherwise. These are Car-955 (which is deep red with mustard yellow highlights) and Car-021 (which is a vibrant yellow with amber highlights). The tram is a relatively new addition to the small town, considered by some of its citizens to be an amazing innovation and others to hog the road. The tram’s path takes it through Holiday Street, Main Street, and Liberty Street, with some standout moments being when the cars run over an elevated track inside the Emporium and cross through the Martin Luther King Jr. scene of Great Moments of American History.
