Original Disneyland

[Harvey1977]

Hi Folks.

Thought this might be of interest.

Its the original plan and idea behind Disneyland.

Enjoy

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/disneylandprospectus.html

(feel free to move it to the right thread)

 

[LAKid53]

Hi Folks.

Thought this might be of interest.

Its the original plan and idea behind Disneyland.

Enjoy

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/20/disneylandprospectus.html

(feel free to move it to the right thread)

How lovely! And plopped down in the middle of the industrial wasteland that was that part of Anaheim back then....

 

[TP2000]

How lovely! And plopped down in the middle of the industrial wasteland that was that part of Anaheim back then....

Huh? It was all orange groves back then. I think there were a few acres of almonds and some farmhouses, but mostly oranges.

Here's what Disneyland looked like in early 1954, before construction started. Orange groves, with a sliver of the new I-5 freeway running along the northeast boundary. Harbor Blvd. appears to be only two lanes wide as it passes Disney's new property. The clearing across the freeway are new tract homes under construction. Older pre-war homes sit farther to the north.

Here's Disneyland construction taken in November, 1954 from a higher elevation and looking due north. Anaheim proper sits a mile or two north of the developing theme park, with its iconic wedge shape already formed in the earth. The orange groves are disappearing fast!

The park opened to the public on July 18th, 1955 (after the celebrity party on July 17th), and the rest is history. The area surrounding Disneyland saw mostly motels and coffee shops built on its eastern and southern flanks, while middle-class tract homes built up quickly on its western and northern flanks, beyond Jack Wrather's Disneyland Hotel property.

Here's a fun comparison of 1955 to 2014, from London's Daily Mail newspaper, of all places!

 

[LAKid53]

Walt's main complaint about DL, which is why he formulated WDW the way he did, creating dummy corps to purchase land, find a place with plenty of land (not warehouses, cheap motels, etc.) was because of his experience with DL. The DL I remember as a little kid (was 2 when it opened) was this oasis in the middle of warehouse/motel and other not so magical businesses, with NO room for expansion. Which has changed as that area of Anaheim has evolved (and those warehouses are now gone). The parking lot was right in front of DL (amazed a WDW friend of mine in the 80s when she came to visit). It looks much different now, but trust me, it was in a not so nice area of town. The ONLY motel was right on the parking lot, which made the whole monorail thing funny, given the distance from the parking lot to the park entrance and the hotel. And you could walk across the entire park in 30 minutes.

 

[TP2000]

Walt's main complaint about DL, which is why he formulated WDW the way he did, creating dummy corps to purchase land, find a place with plenty of land (not warehouses, cheap motels, etc.) was because of his experience with DL. The DL I remember as a little kid (was 2 when it opened) was this oasis in the middle of warehouse/motel and other not so magical businesses, with NO room for expansion. Which has changed as that area of Anaheim has evolved (and those warehouses are now gone). The parking lot was right in front of DL (amazed a WDW friend of mine in the 80s when she came to visit). It looks much different now, but trust me, it was in a not so nice area of town. The ONLY motel was right on the parking lot, which made the whole monorail thing funny, given the distance from the parking lot to the park entrance and the hotel. And you could walk across the entire park in 30 minutes.

Not sure what warehouses you are remembering.

I also remember the last half of the 20th century very well, and don't remember any "warehouses" within a mile or two of Disneyland. There is a light industrial area a few miles away near State College and Ball Road, but that didn't develop until the 1970's and early 80's. There were plenty of motels and coffee shops on Harbor Blvd. and Katella though, beginning in the late 1950's through to today. Some larger hotels, like the Grand Hotel on Manchester or Sheraton on Harbor, arrived in the 1960's and early 1970's when the Anaheim Convention Center (1967) was new.

An aerial view of Disneyland from 1958, three years after opening. Still several large plots of orange groves and vacant land around, but also a growing collection of motels and coffee shops on Harbor and Katella, with the succesful Disneyland Hotel on West Street. No "warehouses" that I can see.

But then I think I found your "warehouses"! They appear in this aerial from 1964, on the far east of the shot near the Grand Hotel. Those buildings still exist today on Manchester Avenue and are a dental supply business and a US Customs Office. Technically they aren't warehouses, but they are broad and flat. Still lots of vacant land and a few orange groves left. Harbor Blvd. is becoming Little Las Vegas by the mid 1960's.

Here are those two buildings, your "warehouses", as seen from a westward angle in the late 1960's or around 1970.

FUN FACT: This photo was obviously taken on a Monday or Tuesday in the off-season, because it's early afternoon by the angle of the sun, but Disneyland is closed and the visitor parking lot is empty!

The larger of those two buildings was originally Altec's sound labs. Altec moved it's sound and speaker labs to San Diego in the 1980's and the building now is home to Sybron Dental Specialties. It obviously had a new front façade put on around the 1980's, as it looks like this today as you drive by on Manchester.

 

[gboiler1]

Can you imagine Disneyland actually closing. I found that out earlier this year and was astonished. My how times have changed!

 

[TP2000]

Can you imagine Disneyland actually closing. I found that out earlier this year and was astonished. My how times have changed!

Disneyland was closed Mondays and Tuesdays about eight months of the year from 1955 until 1984. That was one of the first things Eisner changed when he arrived in '84; keep the park open seven days a week.

 

[Figments Friend]

Some great photos there TP.

It is amazing to look at those images through the years and notice all the alterations and charges to not only the Property, but it*s surroundings as well.

 

[TP2000]

Some great photos there TP.

It is amazing to look at those images through the years and notice all the alterations and charges to not only the Property, but it*s surroundings as well.

Thanks. Those are always fun photos to look at.

I love trying to peg the year based on what's happening in the park. That color mid-60's photo I pegged as '64 because of the initial excavation construction on the pirates wax museum that would later become Pirates of the Caribbean. The Haunted Mansion façade was built in the winter of 1962-63 when it was going to be a walking tour only, with an undetermined show building waiting past the berm. I suppose that photo could be during calendar year 1963 instead of '64, but it's definitely not 1965 because the New Orleans Square show building and beyond the berm was under construction by then.

One way to confirm if it was 1964 would be to look at the Skyway cabins, because they were changed from round cabins to the larger square cabins in early '64. But the photo isn't high res enough to zoom in on them.

I pegged the shot of the Altec building as 1969-71 because of the Marina Tower at the Disneyland Hotel which was built in 1968-69, and the late 60's appearance of the cars in the foreground - including what appears to be a 1970 Datsun hatchback in the number 2 lane of the northbound Santa Ana Freeway. And look how tiny it is compared to that big Ford Country Squire station wagon coming up behind. Run, Datsun, run!

Someone correct me if I missed something.

 

[Figments Friend]

Dang boy....you KNOW your DL history...!

 

[TP2000]

Dang boy....you KNOW your DL history...!

I'm fun at parties, too.

 

[BubbaQuest]

Thanks TP2000 for the pics and info!!! That color picture is amazing. It shows how much the park has expanded from the original footprint. Is that canopy between Fantasyland and Frontierland the Carnation Plaza Gardens? It looks much larger than I remember.

 

[Axoman]

I love looking at historical DL photos! Thanks for posting, do you have more?

 

[gboiler1]

Disneyland was closed Mondays and Tuesdays about eight months of the year from 1955 until 1984. That was one of the first things Eisner changed when he arrived in '84; keep the park open seven days a week.

Interesting...thanks for the knowledge. I was young and had attended the parks a few times when visiting relatives but obviously didn't pay attention like I do now.

 

[TP2000]

Thanks TP2000 for the pics and info!!! That color picture is amazing. It shows how much the park has expanded from the original footprint. Is that canopy between Fantasyland and Frontierland the Carnation Plaza Gardens? It looks much larger than I remember.

Yeah, that red and white striped circus tent there is Carnation Plaza Gardens. You can also see the food service building behind it, as that was the real reason it existed and was named how it was. It was a Carnation Ice Cream stand that sold Carnation dairy products for sundaes, cones, as well as cheeseburgers and milk. People call it "Carnation Plaza" often without realizing that was a corporate sponsorship agreement, like saying Coke Corner instead of the actual title "Refreshment Corner, Hosted by Coca-Cola".

Bands and dancing only happened there a few hours a week, usually on Saturday nights. For the rest of the week it all just sat there operating mainly as a minor Carnation ice cream parlor and snack bar.

The Carnation company was a holdover of 1950's corporate sponsors who got their name right in the title of their location, instead of the usual "Hosted by" tagline for food service facilities or "Presented by" for shows and attractions that came after the proper title. The Hosted by and Presented by format was formalized by Disney's legal team later in the 1960's, but some original park sponsors from 1955 kept their original corporate top billing for decades.

Another sponsor who got top billing was Sunkist, who operated the Sunkist Citrus House on Main Street and Sunkist, I Presume snack bar in Adventureland.

Hollywood C-List actor Don Defore owned and operated a small barbeque restaurant in Frontierland in the late 1950's and it was called Don Defore's Silver Banjo Barbeque - Probably the only time anyone other than Walt Disney was allowed to put their name on the door of a Disneyland business!

That doorway still exists, but is now used only by busboys clearing tables on the patio of the enlarged Riverbelle Terrace restaurant.

 

[Figments Friend]

I love hearing about the history of the Carnation Plaza Gardens.

 

[teacherlady19]

In the 1958 photo, where the words "DISNEYLAND PARKING LOT" is printed, I think there are landmarks nearby, only some of which still exists. (I could be wrong about this, and I feel certain someone will correct me.) First, to the RIGHT of the words, there are some buildings. One is Candy Cane Inn, which still exists, and another building near that corner that also is still around. Directly below those words are two motels that were razed when DCA was built. One was the Tinkerbell, I think, or at least it became that later. I can't remember the name of the other one.


Donna

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Not sure what warehouses you are remembering.

I also remember the last half of the 20th century very well, and don't remember any "warehouses" within a mile or two of Disneyland. There is a light industrial area a few miles away near State College and Ball Road, but that didn't develop until the 1970's and early 80's. There were plenty of motels and coffee shops on Harbor Blvd. and Katella though, beginning in the late 1950's through to today. Some larger hotels, like the Grand Hotel on Manchester or Sheraton on Harbor, arrived in the 1960's and early 1970's when the Anaheim Convention Center (1967) was new.

An aerial view of Disneyland from 1958, three years after opening. Still several large plots of orange groves and vacant land around, but also a growing collection of motels and coffee shops on Harbor and Katella, with the succesful Disneyland Hotel on West Street. No "warehouses" that I can see.

But then I think I found your "warehouses"! They appear in this aerial from 1964, on the far east of the shot near the Grand Hotel. Those buildings still exist today on Manchester Avenue and are a dental supply business and a US Customs Office. Technically they aren't warehouses, but they are broad and flat. Still lots of vacant land and a few orange groves left. Harbor Blvd. is becoming Little Las Vegas by the mid 1960's.

Here are those two buildings, your "warehouses", as seen from a westward angle in the late 1960's or around 1970.

FUN FACT: This photo was obviously taken on a Monday or Tuesday in the off-season, because it's early afternoon by the angle of the sun, but Disneyland is closed and the visitor parking lot is empty!

The larger of those two buildings was originally Altec's sound labs. Altec moved it's sound and speaker labs to San Diego in the 1980's and the building now is home to Sybron Dental Specialties. It obviously had a new front façade put on around the 1980's, as it looks like this today as you drive by on Manchester.

I don't mean to bump the thread so to speak but I gotta say I love that last photo and have a question for you since you are very knowledgeable in Disneyland History. So from that last photo I am to understand correctly that the Mansion Facade was built before the facade and show building were for Pirates of the Carribean?? Fascinating. I was lead to believe Pirates came first and as they were finishing up the show building they started working on the facade for Mansion. It is interesting to see the Mansion Facade complete while Pirates is just getting going and neither has a show building yet. Cool @ss pic. Thanks for sharing this. Sorry for the bump if it is against the forum rules.

 

[BubbaQuest]

I don't mean to bump the thread so to speak but I gotta say I love that last photo and have a question for you since you are very knowledgeable in Disneyland History. So from that last photo I am to understand correctly that the Mansion Facade was built before the facade and show building were for Pirates of the Carribean?? Fascinating. I was lead to believe Pirates came first and as they were finishing up the show building they started working on the facade for Mansion. It is interesting to see the Mansion Facade complete while Pirates is just getting going and neither has a show building yet. Cool @ss pic. Thanks for sharing this. Sorry for the bump if it is against the forum rules.

Hopefully TP2000 has more details, but if I remember correctly New Orleans Square was always planned as part of the park. The Mansion facade building was built as part of the New Orleans Square expansion prior to Pirates of the Caribbean and before imagineering had decided on a final "haunted" ride for the park.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Hopefully TP2000 has more details, but if I remember correctly New Orleans Square was always planned as part of the park. The Mansion facade building was built as part of the New Orleans Square expansion prior to Pirates of the Caribbean and before imagineering had decided on a final "haunted" ride for the park.

Well I know that the facade was first because they had no idea what the actual show was going to be and it changed from a water ride, to a walk through to eventually the ride as we know it today. I have seen tons of " Making of" videos of the Mansion to learn its history but My surprise is that I always thought Pirates was always further along Facade wise than Mansion was. So this pic is shocking and cool to see.