Submarine Voyage Articles
The Majestic History Of Matterhorn Bobsleds
Disneyland Park opened its gates for the first time ever on July 17, 1955. Since that notable date in history, Disneyland has grown, expanded, and renovated countless times making it the enticing vacation point that it is today. For some people, however, Disneyland is not just a vacation spot. The rich history that Disneyland holds along with the captivating attractions within its gates is why we, the ...
Disneyland Memories
Two months ago, I was warned that my article for the July issue would be about my first memories of Disneyland.
I knew from the outset how hard this would be.
If I had been asked about my first visit to Florida's Magic Kingdom this would be easy. It was November 18th 1988, which was Mickey's 60th birthday. I could write reams about my memories: the parades; my first trip on a monorail; finding ...
A Brief History Of Disneyland, An American Classic
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"The thing will get more beautiful year after year. And it will get better as I find out what the public likes; I can't do that with a picture it's finished and unchangeable before I find out whether the public likes it or not." Walt Disney on Disneyland.
Walt Disney found different reasons to build his seventeen million dollar Magic Kingdom in Anaheim in 1955. The idea had originally stemmed ...
First Visit To Disneyland: Unforgettable
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For many years, Disneyland which celebrated its 56th anniversary this past July 17 was a place we thought we might never see. Since 1972, we were "regulars" at Walt Disney World, yet Disneyland was as far away in distance as it was in our travel plans.
We finally broke down and made it to The Happiest Place on Earth in Anaheim, Calif., in late July, 1998, some 43 years after Walt Disney's fabled ...
All Aboard Disney's Fort Wilderness Railroad
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It's no secret that Walt Disney had a special place in his heart for railroads. Years before Disneyland opened, he built a model railroad in his backyard which he dubbed the Carolwood Pacific Railroad and spent countless hours riding it, tinkering with it and giving his family and friends much-coveted rides.
When Disneyland opened in 1955, the narrow-gauge Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad circled ...
Wall-E Perfect Replacement For Captain EO At Disneyland
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Reports are surfacing that Disneyland is actively looking to replace Captain EO in its 3D theatre in tommorrowland. The park brought it back for an encore run after a 13 year run of "Honey, I shrunk the audience" made its home there. Now Captain EO's return has run its course as well and the park is looking for an upgrade.
Disneyland brought back Captain EO in January of 2010 after the death of ...
Disneyland Matterhorn Ride Closes For Extensive Overhaul
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The Scharff family of Spokane, Wash., made a special trip to Disneyland recently to celebrate the birthday of 5-year-old Mason with a ride on the Matterhorn.
So they were disappointed to see the 147-foot-tall attraction covered in scaffolding and closed for repairs until June.
"We came to the park for a few specific rides, including It's a Small World and Matterhorn," said Ronald Scharff, who ...
Disneyland Memorabilia Is A Fascinating Look Back
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Of the millions and millions of phone numbers that have been in use since Alexander Graham Bell (or Antonio Meucci, if you're so inclined) invented the telephone, a handful of numbers have managed to live on despite the passage of time ... and the introduction of more numbers and area codes.
"PEnnsylvania 6-5000," a hit song by Glenn Miller and his orchestra in the 1940s, comes to mind, as does the ...
Still Returning After 36 Years
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Having first visited Disneyland as a 2-year-old, Fairfax journalist James Croot reflects after his recent sixth visit.
"To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future."
Walter E Disney's words when he opened his theme park in July 1955 have never felt truer than ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part Two
This month I shall continue my comparison of California's Tomorrowland with Paris's Discoveryland, by looking at their versions of Nautilus and Star Tours, as well as the two Lands' arcades, shows, theatres and eateries
Les Mysteres du Nautilus at Disneyland Paris is nothing like the submarine attraction in California, either in its present Finding Nemo state or its previous incarnation. Contrary to ...
Basketball Court Inside The Summit Of Disneyland Matterhorn
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The first time I went to Disneyland was in 1966. I was five years old. My parents, who were in their 20s, drove our Volkswagen Beetle from Boulder, CO to Anaheim, CA in the middle of summer.
I remember four things from the trip:
1. A motorcycle cop pulling over my father for speeding. When my father produced his driver's license, the cop looked at it and did a double take. The cop said that his ...
Disneyland To Close Submarine Ride For Upgrade
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Disneyland's Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage will close for a refurbishment that won't be complete until late 2014.
Disney announced Friday that the underwater ride that circles a lagoon will close on Jan. 6. About 5 million gallons of water will be drained, then workers will make improvements to the attraction.
The water will go into the local groundwater aquifer after it is treated.
The ...
How Futurist Bob Gurr Shaped Disneyland Past
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In his 27 years as a Disney Imagineer, Bob Gurr was known for doing the impossible: He designed a submarine fleet, the cars of Autopia, and the Monorail that soars above the park on a single beam. With the opening of Tomorrowland in 1955, Gurr shaped a vision of the future (1986 to be exact) that still feels out of reach. Six decades after Gurr began creating ride vehicles for the theme park, director Brad ...
I Was A Real-Life Disneyland Mermaid
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Did you know there used to be live mermaids at Disneyland in the late '50s and '60s? It's true! In this excerpt from Chris Strodder's book The Disneyland Book of Lists, one of these former Disneyland mermaids shares her tale.
When the new Submarine Voyage launched in mid-1959, eight costumed mermaids splashed around in Tomorrowland's lagoon as part of the celebratory festivities. Six years later, ...
Disneyland 60 Things You Might Not Know About The Magic Kingdom
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TV show named "Gunsmoke" made its debut, and another named "Make Room for Daddy" won two Emmys. Elvis Presley and Pat Boone had young hearts all shook up, and for the first time, they could listen to those crooners and others on a new gadget called a pocket transistor radio. A new car cost $1,900, gasoline was 23 cents a gallon and rents averaged $87 a month..
It was 1955. On July 17 of that year - a ...
5 Disney Ride Ideas That Never Saw The Light of Day
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Disney parks are known for bringing the magic of their movies and making it into a tangible experience for fans across the world. But as much success as Disney has had - magical or otherwise - not all of their ideas have been great enough to make it to fruition.
At one time or another the following five rides were thought to be great ideas before getting shut down. Whether it was for licensing, ...
That Time Disneyland Employed Live Mermaids In 1959 The Park Seemed A Bit More Magical
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After photos of Disneyland's performing mermaids surfaced on the Internet a few years ago, one former sea nymph recalled a peculiar question a park monorail conductor once fielded from an elderly visitor.
"Are they real?" she asked of the mermaids. The conductor responded in the affirmative, to which the visitor mused, "I wonder where they found them. Probably the Sargasso Sea."
Whether the ...
Hollywood Home Movies Disneyland Is An E-Ticket To The Park Past
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Baby boomers with stardust memories of Disneyland often lament how the park has changed. Gone are the E-tickets, the Rocket to the Moon, the Skyway, the Submarine Voyage, the PeopleMover and the mule rides.
For a misty-eyed ride into that past, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is presenting "Hollywood Home Movies: Disneyland," a sold-out show Saturday night, Oct. 24, at the Linwood Dunn ...
The Mountain Comes To Disneyland
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Six spectacular new attractions, built at a cost of 5.5 million dollars, are nearing completion at Disneyland, the greatest enlargement of the Anaheim Fairyland of entertainment since its opening in 1955.
Beginning in June, Disneyland visitors from all over the world will race in speedy bobsleds from the top of snow-capped Matterhorn Mountain; dive in submarines to the mysterious depths of the Seven ...
Disneyland Guides
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Speak to anyone who has toured the commercial playgrounds of the world. He will tell you that one of the cleanest, most imaginative, most efficient, most unforgettable fun centers is Disneyland.
The major reason for this is Mickey Mouse's world famous father, Walt Disney.
Disney is a man bedeviled by a perfectionist complex. According to him, "Everything can be improved." From time to time he ...
Here Come Dem Jazz Fireballs
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Half a hundred -of the world's great Dixieland jazzmen will come "floatin' down the river" at Disneyland next Saturday night, trumpets blowing and banjos strumming when the second annual "Dixieland at Disneyland" show rocks.thc Magic Kingdom with New Orleans music and fun.
Louis Armstrong, the Yankee Doodle Grandee of jazz (born July 4, 1900, in New Orleans), heads the star-studded list of Dixieland ...
African Veldt
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Way down in Jungleland, below the Amazin' Disney line, there's news among the gnus. "The Trapped Safari" is the new headline feature and a bit of bright fun in Disneyland's far-famed Adventureland and the Jungle River Cruise. Jackals, hyenas and buzzards lay siege to a comical hunter and his retinue treed by the wild beasts. Disneyland adventurers drift safely past as lions devour an unsuspecting prey ...
Brazilian Navy Leader Inspects Disneys Fleet
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Brazil's minister of the navy included an inspection of Disneyland's submarine fleet in a weekend tour of Long Beach and San Diego navel installations.
The retired admiral of the fleet, Paulo Bosisio, his wife, staff officers and an attache from Washington, were the guests of Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze.
His party arrived at Los Alamitos Naval Air Station where in was greeted by Brazilian ...
Disneyland To Feature New Project
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Disneyland's newest development a $1.8 million attraction called "Nature's Wonderland," will be completed and unveiled early in June it was revealed by Walt Disney and his staff.
Covering seven acres in Frontierland, Nature's Wonderland will feature a cast of more than 200 animated animals, birds and reptiles who will "perform" for visitors as a result of the most ambitious animation program ever ...
Disneyland Announces New Attractions For Fall
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Disneyland's fall schedule moves into October with three new adventures open, a fourth nearing completion special private nighttime parties for major groups and site preparations for a new Tomorrowland
During the fall, the relaxed time to see Disneyland following the summer rush, the "Magic Kingdom "is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 ...
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 2
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It wasn't until I was almost finished with the human stupidity portion of this "Dangerous Disney" article that I realized that this should be a two-parter, so that (in addition to keeping it from being too long) some might hopefully regain some faith in humanity. Here is that second part. Again, some of these I've only read about on one site.
I start with the PeopleMover, again. In 1968 a rainstorm ...
Unfinished Magic
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I guess it's a fact of life that not every idea for an attraction or Land can actually be built. Occasionally, the failed idea was a revamp or replacement of an older attraction that was shut down for various reasons. Other times, the idea was scrapped because of the success of another, similar, ride. There are a multitude of other reasons things can be scrapped.
After Submarine Voyage closed, it was ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 7
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The Land that Never Was
One of the themes that Disney toyed with was the birth of the nation, continuing on through the Colonial Era, following inventors and political figures that shaped our country. Officially, it wouldn't be referred to as a land per se, the same as Main Street USA, New Orleans Square and Toontown. Actually the proposed idea was a combination of two areas, the first being Liberty ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed From 1956 To 1959
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The day after Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, many newspapers had a field day with the myriad of problems the park had, such as gas leaks, failing plumbing and a lack of drinking fountains. Some called it Walt's Folly and more.
But that didn't seem to matter to the public because when the park opened its gates the next day, there was a long line of people waiting to get in - and the lines never ...
Slow Speed Thrills Disneyland Employee Has Driven The Main Street Fire Engine For 32 Years
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Steve Finley is not a firefighter, but every day he gets to drive a fire engine for work, as he has since 1984.
How does he do it? As an attractions host at Disneyland where five days a week he drives the Fire Engine up and down Main Street U.S.A.
"It's no worse than the freeways. I probably drive faster here then on the freeways," he said.
That speed is five miles an hour, and instead of ...
Todays Future
During the rush of getting the Park constructed, "Tomorrowland" was the last land finished. Budget cuts didn't allow all of its attractions to be opened that first day. One of those cuts was to use the "Nautilus" sets from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a walk-through. When it closed in 1966, the organ belonging to Captain Nemo was moved to the ballroom of the "Haunted Mansion." For the first four ...
