Fantasyland Construction Update..... (DL '82!)

sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Traveling back to year 1982... Back when Disneyland was getting it's own Fantasyland expansion! Here's a fun construction update from the past :D thanks to darkfairycthulu for these pictures!

even back then they had really nice construction walls! and some great concept art as well :) it looks like the top sign lit up at night

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Peter Pan building, construction of new exterior

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Snow White exterior construction

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I think this is Pinocchio's Daring Journey

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click here to see the full post with additional pictures: http://micechat.com/forums/disneyla...-fantasyland-construction.html#post1055872818

The commercial that aired once the land opened to the public -

[youtube]ZVYArSbvfNc[/youtube]
 
E

echoscot

New Member
THank you so much for these cool pictures. Did they keep the Skyway open for guests during this time? I think that is the only way anyone could have gotten pictures like this.
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
^ yep, it looks all access to Fantasyland was shut down for construction. hard to believe they shut down the entire land, I don't think they'd do that today. In this picture you can see the construction walls ran along the parade route near IASW.

echoscot - the skyway was indeed open! Kinda like the Fun Wheel at DCA today - it provided really good shots of construction ;)

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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I have heard it said several times that during the New Fantasyland construction in 1982/83 they kept the Skyway running as a round trip experience from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland and right back to Tomorrowland. They would staff CM's in the Fantasyland station to just push the cabins around the 180 turn and right back towards Tomorrowland again. They did this to keep some ride capacity in a park with its heart cut out (and a lot of rides closed), as well as a publicity thing to get people excited about coming back to Disneyland to see the New Fantasyland.

In the pictures, you can see how the entry/exit stairs of the Fantasyland Skyway station lead right down into the mud and parked Datsun pickups, with every Skyway cabin full of people, so that proves to me this round trip Skyway thing actually did happen. People were boarding and disembarking in Tomorrowland after a round trip.

It also provided some amazing pictures! Thank you so much for posting these spoono88! :sohappy:
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
cdunbar said:
So did they completly shut down FL for it's expansion/update?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I think the castle, Matterhorn and Small World were left alone.

In any case, WOW! I thought it looked impressive from so long ago!

TP2000 said:
I have heard it said several times that during the New Fantasyland construction in 1982/83 they kept the Skyway running as a round trip experience from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland and right back to Tomorrowland. They would staff CM's in the Fantasyland station to just push the cabins around the 180 turn and right back towards Tomorrowland again. They did this to keep some ride capacity in a park with its heart cut out (and a lot of rides closed), as well as a publicity thing to get people excited about coming back to Disneyland to see the New Fantasyland.
Click to expand...

In the Disney News magazines of the time, they did mention something about the Skyway giving only round trips at the time. And speaking of this area being DL's heart, I think Tony Baxter, the driving force behind this overhaul, probably put it best in David Koenig's book, "Mouse Tales":

"The worst thing was the night they start bulldozing. We came down to see what had been done, and all the facades were just dumped. Strings of lights were ripped off the buildings. And we thought, 'Oh, my God, what have we done? This is the heart of Disneyland, the very heart. This is Walt's...' And then all of a sudden some trigger went off and the strands of lights lit up, all torn off the buildings. We wondered, is this a bad omen or something?"
Click to expand...

In any case, the new FYL came about during the time of the company's creative and financial performance were pitiful. That would've been fixed with the introductions of Eisner and Wells. And I wasn't even born yet, until just two years after the remodel!
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
I have a kinda sorta related question:

After the skyway closed for good at DL did they just leave the stations there and pretend they don't exist (sorta like WDW did) or did they do something with the spaces fairly quickly? I know DL is more limited on space so I was wondering if they left them as long as WDW did/has.

:wave:
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
sweetpee_1993 said:
I have a kinda sorta related question:

After the skyway closed for good at DL did they just leave the stations there and pretend they don't exist (sorta like WDW did) or did they do something with the spaces fairly quickly? I know DL is more limited on space so I was wondering if they left them as long as WDW did/has.

:wave:
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure both skyway stations still exist at DL. I know there's one next to the Casey Jr. Train (saw it on my last trip, hidden beneath the trees) and the other one is somewhere in TL. But yes, they're still there :)
 
nemofinder22

nemofinder22

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised to see so much of the original Fantasyland ripped out and all that dirt, nice to know that even in the past few years they kept it up by adding all the very pretty brick work in Fantasyland. Its to bad the Pirate ship was damaged in its process of being moved, at least parts of it are now in Peter Pan.

sweetpee_1993 said:
I have a kinda sorta related question:

After the skyway closed for good at DL did they just leave the stations there and pretend they don't exist (sorta like WDW did) or did they do something with the spaces fairly quickly? I know DL is more limited on space so I was wondering if they left them as long as WDW did/has.

:wave:
Click to expand...

The Fantasyland Skyway station is still there although the trees around the area cover parts of it. I do believe the Tomorrowland Skyway station is gone(I dont know the year it was torn down) but if I remember right, today the area that it once stood is now home to some big trees that once lined the Main Entry walkway in the old DL parking lot. Also the holes in the Matterhorn were filled one can see a "tea cup" handle in the Fantasyland side.
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
nemofinder22 said:
The Fantasyland Skyway station is still there although the trees around the area cover parts of it. I do believe the Tomorrowland Skyway station is gone(I dont know the year it was torn down) but if I remember right, today the area that it once stood is now home to some big trees that once lined the Main Entry walkway in the old DL parking lot. Also the holes in the Matterhorn were filled one can see a "tea cup" handle in the Fantasyland side.
Click to expand...

ah, good to know. wasn't sure about the TL station :)
 
sponono88

sponono88

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bringing this thread back to life because I found more amazing construction pictures from that time. They were posted by this blog: http://disneylandcompendium.blogspot.com/search/label/New%20Fantasyland

What surprised me the most was this shot. At one point last year, DCA had a Tunnel of Walls.. but it doesn't compare to this - walking straight through an active construction zone! And it looks like they had no construction walls?! just barricades..

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Take a look through the blog for even more pictures, including the demolition of all the old ride facades!
 
Mukta

Mukta

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the great pictures.
Do you know when this happened? We moved to LA in April of 1982. I'll have to ask my parents if they have any old pictures from our trips there. (though they aren't Disney people).
 
fractal

fractal

Well-Known Member
So in 1982, Disneyland shut down 20% of it's park for an extended period of time to make major improvements, refurbs and additions - and they didn't go bankrupt.

Today, AK is afraid to shut down ONE ride to fix the Yeti (it's headline attraction) for a few months because they fear a drop in attendance.

:confused::shrug::confused:


Thanks for the photos btw, Looks like I may be heading to DL this spring and can't wait.
 

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