Last Updated: November 4, 2024
Guests riding the Disneyland Railroad between Tomorrowland and Main Street U.S.A. are treated to a view along the south edge the Grand Canyon accompanied by the musical score of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite.
hile, Disneyland souvenir books, have always located this attraction in their Main Street section and while the images and animals in the diorama seem more suited to Frontierland the beautiful Grand Canyon Diorama is actually situated in Tomorrowland behind Space Mountain. The diorama lines one interior wall of a long tunnel that sits along the perimeter railroad track just east of the Main Street Station. Like many other attractions in the park the Grand Canyon Diorama was inspired by a Disney movie in this case the Oscar-winning 1958 documentary Grand Canyon. As in that documentary the diorama pairs visually stunning images with the clip clopping of horses to portray the On The Trail passage from Frede Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite.
The Grand Canyon diorama presents a 90 second pass along one rim of the immense canyon the view includes a sunrise, an ancient cliff dweller ruins, a storm, a 180-degree rainbow and a sunset all separated from the train by a wall of glass.Combining a detailed 300 foot wide 34 foot tall background painting with dozens of foreground animals and hundreds of rocks bushes, and other props.
The diorama was touted for years as the longest in the world.With a 1958 price tag estimated at $375,000 it was also most likely one of the world's most expensive certainly it is still one of the world's most realistic.Disney Legend Claude Coates was its primary creator and painter. The painting was done on a special seamless canvas, and it required 4,800 man-hours to complete, using 300 gallons of paint in 14 colors.The diorama is kept at 74 degrees. All animals are real taxidermied animals.
The music that plays is Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite.
The Diorama was billed as the longest Diorama in the world.
The diorama is kept at 74 degrees inside.
All animals are real taxidermied animals.
The painting of the Grand Canyon diorama background is 300 feet long and 34 feet high. The painting was done on a special seamless canvas, and it required 4,800 man-hours to complete, using 300 gallons of paint in 14 colors.
From Disneyland Report To Anaheim And Orange County 1958:
A 300-foot long enclosed diorama of the Grand Canyon will be added to the route of the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad which travels the perimeter of the Park.
As the train travels through the tunnel-like enclosure, passengers will view the breath-taking beauty of the Grand Canyon as it looks in morning, daytime and evening light. Various lighting and three-dimensional viewing effects will spotlight the beautiful natural colors and breathtaking scenery which characterize the Grand Canyon.
From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Portrays the famous Grand Canyon of the Colorado River at early morning, as the sun Sets and during a thunder and lightning storm. Even the seasons vary from spring in an adobe village of Pueblo Indians to winter snows covering the trees and wild animals. Wildlife includes mountain lion, deer, wild turkey, desert mountain sheep and other birds and animals native to that area of Arizona. It is visited by guests aboard trains of the Santa Fe a Disneyland Railroad.
The next leg of our trip takes us along the rim of the Grand Canyon. The wildlife around here is rather sheepish, so please, no flash photography.
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