A Scaled down model of a passenger train of another era puffs out of the depot to take you on a scenic tour
Walt Disneys Favorite Train Returns After 5 Year Restoration
Dateline: March 6, 2023
Status: Current
Source: Orange County Register
A steam engine that Walt Disney rode on opening day of Disneyland in 1955 has returned to the rails after a five-year restoration to once again make the grand circle tour of the Anaheim theme park.
The E.P. Ripley returned to the Disneyland Railroad on Monday, March 6 after an extensive restoration that replicated the five-eighth scale locomotive 's
Secrets Areas The Public Can Not Go
Dateline: October 2, 2022
Status: Current
Source: ktla.com
The Disneyland Resort is filled with magic - including some that is hidden from guests.
Parkgoers can walk through almost any part of the theme park during their visit, from Sleeping Beauty 's Castle to “The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness,” but some areas have a “restricted to the public” spell cast over them.
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Being A Tour Guide In The 60s Led To Many Surprises
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Dateline: September 17, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: Orange Coast Magazine
In 1964, I was a freshman at USC and worked as a Disneyland tour guide on breaks. Park visitors could spend $5 then for a half-day guided tour rather than $3.95 for a book of ride tickets. Those attending a tour would cluster around a girl in a red plaid skirt and blue velvet cap who held her riding crop high so you never lost sight of her and who could walk backward
Can You Name All 15 Eticket Rides Still At Disneyland It Is Not As Easy As You Think
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Dateline: August 5, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
As Disneyland celebrates the 60th anniversary of the E-ticket, it seems like a good time to look back at the rides that earned that distinction at the Anaheim theme park.
But what are the E-ticket rides of Disneyland? Naming them all is not as simple as you might think.
There were 23 E-ticket attractions during the ticket book era that stretched
Walt Disney First Love Lives On At This Historic California Ranch
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Dateline: May 24, 2018
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
The steam-powered train rounds the bend, passing a rolling meadow dusted with wildflowers and dotted by oak and sycamore trees.
The vintage locomotive is pulling two passenger cars around a two-mile loop at Santa Margarita Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, a roughly 15,000-acre property settled by Franciscan missionaries in 1774.
But these carriages once had a
Every Town USA
Dateline: August 14, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
The final stop on my lovely tour of Disneyland, at least until "Star Wars Land" is completed, is the entrance to the entire park.
Said to be inspired by Walt's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, "Main Street, U.S.A" is designed to look like the idealized center of a town at around 1910. One of the designers, Harper Goff, showed Walt some pictures of his childhood home
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 13
Dateline: July 14, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
Disneyland, the idea, came from the mind of Walt Disney, but Disneyland, the theme park, was a collaborative effort. It took a great many men and women to create it. Since all men are created equal, everyone who contributed should be credited. I've known about C.V. Wood for many years, and although he was not an Imagineer, he was a land developer who made significant
This Is How Disneyland Changed From 1956 To 1959
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Dateline: July 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
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
This Is How Disneyland Looked In The 1970s
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Dateline: July 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
The seventies at Disneyland started with an invasion, then went into space, and ended with a wild ride in the frontier.
Unfortunately for Disneyland, the riots that had been happening in cities across America during the latter half of the sixties and some of the protesters turned their attention to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. On Aug. 6, 1970, the Yippies (an
This Is How Disneyland Looked In 1955
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Dateline: July 11, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, there were sections of it that were not done. A reporter noticed all the construction still ongoing and asked Walt Disney if Disneyland would ever be finished. Disney replied in what has become an oft quoted quote: "Disneyland will never be completed, as long as there is imagination left in the world."
Disney was true to his
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 3
Dateline: January 19, 2015
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
How to build an Amusement Park in 3 Easy Lessons
When we last left our Imagineers, a final location had been chosen, funding had been arranged, and crews were assembled that would begin by retaining trees and vegetation that could be utilized in the design, and the vegetation that would have to be removed as a non-stop adventure was about to commence that would
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 1
Dateline: August 10, 2014
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
There's no I in Team, but there are three in Imagineering.
Introduction
Well, it's not quite as long as the title from that 60's Mixed-Up Zombie movie, but it's close, and in my mind a lot more entertaining, and there's no corn or cheese here.
Growing up a railroad kid, spending time with my father when he would go to work in the freight house or, even
Disneyland In 1955 Rides Now Long Gone Weird Glitches On Opening Day
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Dateline: July 18, 2014
Status: Archive
Source: Mercury News
Disneyland was dedicated during a special preview opening day on July 17, 1955. The public opening was July 18. The dedication aired on ABC at 4:30 p.m. July 17. Some details of the opening:
Park attendance: 6,000 guests were invited for the special preview opening, but an additional 22,000 showed up with counterfeit tickets, making for a total of 28,000 guests that
Disneyland Memorabilia Is A Fascinating Look Back
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Dateline: August 9, 2012
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
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
Women At Disneyland's 1st Day Return
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Dateline: July 17, 2012
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Mary Lechlitner and her daughter were among the first to ever ride the Disneyland train on the park's opening day on July 17, 1955.
On Tuesday, the mother and daughter returned to sit in the train station to watch a ceremony commemorating the park's 57th birthday.
Lechlitner, 96, said she's been at every Disneyland birthday celebration. Her daughter, Kathy
California vs. Paris: The Railroads
Dateline: November 1, 2011
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
This month, I shall be comparing the Railroads which circle the two Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris).
Both versions were opening day attractions, although in Anaheim it was called the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad until 1974; in Paris, the attraction was known as Eurodisneyland Railroad up to 1994. The name change for the former was due to
All Aboard Disney's Fort Wilderness Railroad
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Dateline: October 7, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
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
Walt's First Passion
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Dateline: July 15, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: KESQ
Since its opening in 1955, Disneyland has seen plenty of attractions come and go, but one has stood the test of time. The Disneyland Railroad was Walt's original idea and continues to be a favorite amongst guests.
Long before Walt had the idea to create his magic kingdom, he developed a love for trains. "It started when he took his first job as a news bush, one of
A Brief History Of Disneyland, An American Classic
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Dateline: July 5, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: breitbart.com
"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.
Original Disneyland Employee Dies
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Dateline: November 23, 2010
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Rima Bruce, one of the original Disneyland employees on the park's opening day, died last month of a stroke. She was 85.
With the passing of Bruce, just 19 employees from Disneyland's opening day are still alive, said Bob Penfield, also an original Disneyland employee. Those employees are members of Club 55 named after 1955, the year the park opened.
Bruce
Model-Railroad Exhibition To Make Stop In Area
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Dateline: January 16, 2007
Status: Archive
Source: Tacoma Daily
Thanks to his dad, Michael Broggie has the inside track to the real story behind Walt Disney's fascination with trains and model railroading.
Michael's father, the late Roger E. Broggie, worked for the entertainment pioneer as head of the Disney Studios machine shop, where he oversaw the development of the railroad and monorail systems at Disneyland.
As a child in
Skeptical Carson Woman Took Chance On Disney
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Dateline: July 25, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal
A half century ago, 84-year-old Janice Ayres of Carson City took a chance on a job with Disney Enterprises as the first marketing director for an amusement park being developed in Southern California.
As Disneyland celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Ayres said she didn't understand then how the Anaheim project would be a booming success. Ayres, who worked for
See You In Disneyland
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Dateline: September 1, 2001
Status: Archive
Source: Design Quarterly
As he was led manacled away after his conviction, serial killer Richard Ramirez, Los Angeles's infamous "Night Stalker," turned to the courtroom audience and snarled "See you in Disneyland." America recognized the turn of phrase from the familiar TV as that invariably follows the World Series or Super Bowl. After a montage of key plays - with "When You Wish upon a Star"
Steam Freaks
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Dateline: November 8, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
When Roger Broggie set me to work on the Autopia Mk I, he gave me a drafting board in a room with some interesting "olde tyme" characters from America's railroad past......steam freaks, I called them. We seemed worlds apart; they were mostly in their 50's to 70's while I was a green kid of 22. Steam railroads were their passion, sports cars and airplanes were my big
More Cars To Design, WED Life At The Studio, Beyond The 'Carneys'
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Dateline: June 14, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
My regular week-day job as a designer at Channing Wallace Gilson Industrial Design in Hollywood, just a mile from where Walt and Roy first set up camp in the 1920's no longer seemed like fun. Not when I could draw car sketches at night, then spend all day Saturdays at the Studio in Burbank caught up in the excitement of "Designing Disneyland".
Walt wanted an antique
Reflections From The Road: The Search For Main Street USA
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Dateline: March 21, 1997
Status: Archive
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
In July of 1995, I arrived in downtown Fort Collins, Colo., in search of clues to answer the questions that I always ask as a historical geographer: How and why did the townsfolk design and locate buildings, streets, and open spaces as they did? How did the resulting landscape fit into the broader pattern of the region and nation?
Since I am especially interested in
It's A Cool World After All
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Dateline: January 1, 1997
Status: Archive
Source: Austin Newsletter
A major upgrade to chilled-water systems at Disneyland is improving cooling capacity, increasing flexibility and reducing energy costs at the world-famous Southern California theme park. The project included updating equipment in the 85-acre park's two 30-year old chiller plants and drawing together the two formerly separate plants to allow load sharing.
Because the
After 40 Years, Disneyland Begins Unisex Assignments For Ride Operators
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Dateline: July 13, 1995
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
For 40 years, the theme park chose ride operators based on gender-with frilly-frocked females working Storybook Land and macho men in pith helmets wisecracking through the Jungle Cruise.
But last month, the first woman took up oars to help guests paddle canoes around Tom Sawyer Island, and the first man in 38 years piloted a Storybook Land Canal Boat through the
For Disneyland's New Indiana Jones Adventure, Waiting Is Half The Fun
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Dateline: March 13, 1995
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Imagine you run a theater and you're faced with 21,000 people in line every day expecting nothing but the best. There are 2,400 eager customers queued at any given time waiting to get in. Your venue seats 180 people for each performance.
Those impossible numbers would make most producers with any sense throw in the towel.
But not Disneyland. The Magic Kingdom has
Girl Wounded At Disneyland Improves
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Dateline: February 13, 1990
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
Anaheim police said Monday they may never know who fired the shot Sunday that hit an 8-year-old Downey girl visiting Disneyland. But they said they believe the shot was fired in the air by someone outside the park.
Meanwhile, Nayeli Diana Placentia's condition was upgraded from guarded to fair. She is expected to be hospitalized several more days.
"She's alert and
Girl Is Seriously Wounded By Stray Bullet At Disneyland
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Dateline: February 12, 1990
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
An 8-year-old girl was hit in the back by an apparent stray bullet Sunday as she rode as open-car tram through the Fantasyland section of Disneyland.
Anaheim Police Lt. John Cross said the shot apparently was fired from outside the park about 6 p.m. but there were no reports of shootings in the area.
Nayeli Diana Placentia of Downey was in guarded condition in the
Uncle Herb's Magic Kingdom
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Dateline: November 1, 1989
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Magazine
In the early '50s an artist drew up plans for an amusement park, but not just any amusement park. This was to be a land of its own, a center of magic and imagination, a place where everyone could be a child, one that was wholesome and good, set apart from the world and all its problems. And he saw it as nostalgic and innovative, offering great diversity so that visitors
Disneyland: A Parents' Survival Guide
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Dateline: June 1, 1989
Status: Archive
Source: California
Disneyland, a monument to childhood, is also a test of how well you've grown up. Your first visit is guaranteed to be interesting, just as the first time you drive a car, have sex or spend a night by yourself is filled with wonder. But by the tenth or hundredth time you do it, amazement will elude you unless you apply an adult imagination to the experience.
The adults
Disneys' Five Ways To Make Dreams Come True
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Dateline: November 1, 1988
Status: Archive
Source: Readers Digest
Sixty years ago, in a state of shock, a struggling young animator boarded a westbound train in New York. Walt Disney had traveled east to negotiate a better distribution deal for his cartoons starring Oswald the Rabbit-only to be told that his distributor owned the rights to the rabbit and had signed up Disney's key artists. Defiantly, Walt told his wife, Lilly, that he'd
Disney Coast To Coast
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Dateline: February 1, 1987
Status: Archive
Source: American Heritage
When I was ten years old, my parents entrusted me to TWA for a rumbling eternity in a prop-driven plane that pulled me across the continent to California. I was going to visit my aunt and uncle, but they were merely the agents of my real goal: Disneyland. The park had opened two years before, in 1955, and its effect on me was every bit as magical as the publicists had
California Dreaming
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Dateline: May 1, 1981
Status: Archive
Source: Travel-Holiday
[*This article has been edited non-Disneyland Info removed--RLM*]
Disneyland
It's not surprising that the 1955 breakthrough occurred in Los Angeles. It grew out of the resident movie industry's capabilities and the special kind of ingenuity that for years had gone into inventing convincing effects for the camera. The park's chief innovator, Walt Disney, was a
Why Ex-President Truman Would Not Ride Dumbo
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Dateline: March 10, 1980
Status: Archive
Source: People Weekly
The Idea, Walt Disney once said, was conceived on a park bench and nurtured by peanuts. "Saturday was always 'Daddy's Day' and I would take my two daughters to the merry-go-round and sit on a bench while they rode," he recalled "And sitting alone, eating peanuts, I felt there should be something built, some kind of a family park where parents and children could have fun
At Your Own Pace Through Fantasyland
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Dateline: June 1, 1973
Status: Archive
Source: Retirement Living
Would you believe it? An amusement park has hung up the nation's record as "the best-planned city in America" in meeting the needs of people.
It has demolished the "architectural barriers" we know to our cost in every city and town: streets that stretch non-stop with no spot to sit and rest... flights of stairs too steep for the handicapped or very aged ...bus steps
Where Dinosaurs Roam Disneyland's Primeval World
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Dateline: June 1, 1973
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
Guests traveling on the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad are not only treated to a circular tour of "the happiest place on earth," they are also taken on an incredible journey back through time to a world that existed some 300 million years ago.
Here, in Disneyland's Primeval World, prehistoric plants, insects, and giant reptiles live again through the startling
Roundhouse Boasts Four Pioneers Of Early Railroad History
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Dateline: October 1, 1968
Status: Archive
Source: Disney News
Boarding one of the four colorful trains in Disneyland is not just stepping aboard a train-it's actually stepping into a pioneer of early railroad history. It's experiencing a steam train ride of the past, at a time when the West was just really beginning to grow. The Santa Fe and Disneyland trains are the dreams and reflections of Walt Disneys love for trains -- an
Transportation Is Large Part Of Show
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Dateline: December 1, 1967
Status: Archive
Source: Disney News
One would never think that Disneyland, the most fabulous entertainment center in the world, would feature an interwoven complex of nearly every kind of transportation conceived. Transportation systems of the past, vehicles of the present and transporters of the future are a big part of the Disneyland show.
The first vehicles a Disneyland visitor encounters
World Of Disneyland Is A World Of Transportation
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Dateline: September 1, 1967
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
One would never think that Disneyland, the most fabulous entertainment center in the world, would feature an interwoven complex of nearly every kind of transportation conceived. There are transportation systems of the past, vehicles of the present day and transporters of the future.
The first vehicles Disneyland visitors come in contact with are the Main
Babes In Disneyland
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Dateline: June 10, 1967
Status: Archive
Source: Saturday Review
"If you take me to Disneyland I will be your best friend," said the little girl who lives in my house. And the Crown Prince, who is going on five and lives there, too, allowed that he might put away his hammer, with which he alters the furniture, refrain from loud shrieks except an occasional one of joy, and generally act like the tall people if only he could go, too.
Growth Of Disneyland Expected To Continue
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Dateline: January 30, 1966
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
"Disneyland will continue to grow, to add new things as long as there is imagination left in the world."
So said Walt Disney when the world famous amusement park opened in 1955.
Disneyland has been growing ever since.
Since the facility opened in Anaheim 11 years ago, it has doubled its number of attractions and drawn more than 50 million visitors.
Onward And Upward With The Arts
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Dateline: September 7, 1963
Status: Archive
Source: New Yorker
One day last year in Los Angeles, as I was about to step aboard a helicopter that would take me to Disneyland with my teen-aged son and daughter, these two, smiling wanly, nodded toward a tourist poster that gave equal billing to our destination and to Forest Lawn cemetery. Their gesture reminded me that in earlier years they had wasted hundreds of child-hours vainly
Magic Worlds Of Walt Disney
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Dateline: August 1, 1963
Status: Archive
Source: National Geographic
Disneyland really started more than 20 years ago, when Walt got the idea for an amusement park that grownups as well as children would enjoy.
"I had all my drawing things laid out at home, and I'd work on plans for the park, as a hobby, at night."
At the time, amusement parks were dying all over the country, "I talked Disneyland but no one could see it," Walt
Dazzled In Disneyland
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Dateline: July 1, 1963
Status: Archive
Source: Holiday
In the third decade of this century America produced a young man of genius. He drew pictures with pen and ink and wash. Like other geniuses, such as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Bernini, he had a mechanical turn of mind; and, by means of all sorts of devices, he made his drawings into motion pictures which were works of art. He drew animals to perfection. With care and his
Walt Disneys Botanical Wonderland
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Dateline: September 1, 1961
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
Rustling her skirts with a chilly air, winter was back for another sojourn, and California's Sunday yard mechanics and professional horticulturists alike tuned their garden forks to cater to another changing season.
But in Disneyland, recognized as something of a "botanical wonderland," the bristling lady of winter was greeted much as any other time of
New Pact Ups Disney To 3500 Weekly
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Dateline: April 18, 1961
Status: Archive
Source: Variety
Walt Disney's new seven-year pact as exec producer and general supervisor of Disneyland will be voted upon by Disney stockholders May 16 meeting in Burbank.
According to proxies sent stockholders yesterday, new deal has already been approved by Bank of America, National Trust Savings Assn., and Prudential Insurance Co. of America, from whom Disney company has made
Whats All This Jazz At Disneyland
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Dateline: September 18, 1960
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
The "saints" are all ready to come marching in-at Disneyland, and when they arrive Saturday, Oct. 1, the most unique combination of Walt Disney pageantry and Dixieland jazz ever presented west of New Orleans will take over the Magic Kingdom.
Called "Dixieland and at Disneyland," the spectacular will mark the first time in the Southland that a show has ever been
Disneyland Guided Tour
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Dateline: October 1, 1959
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
Disneyland Guided Tour - a personally conducted visit to all the realms within the Magic Kingdom - starts its second season, beginning September 14.
When it was introduced last Fall, the Tour enthusiastically received by thousands of Disneyland visitors. Their comments ranged from "wonderful" to "thoroughly enjoyable" And almost unanimously, those interviewed in
River Boat Ride Tops At Disneyland
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Dateline: September 16, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
The jungle boat trip through the "Rivers of the World" in adventureland has been the most popular attraction this year at Disneyland, originator Walt Disney disclosed today.
As attendance at the $23,600,000 playground passed the 13,000,000 mark in its third year of operation, visitors gave their second largest patronage to the frontierland ships "Mark Twain" and
Intrepid Kids Of Disneyland
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Dateline: June 28, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Saturday Evening Post
It was a normal Sunday afternoon at Disneyland. The Gay Nineties show had just broken at the Golden Horseshoe, a make-believe salon located in the Frontierland area. The tourist-packed Mark Twain, a scaled-down reproduction of a nineteenth-century Mississippi river boat, was sailing around Tom Sawyer's Island. Stagecoach passengers were jolting through the Painted Desert,
Disneyland And Las Vegas
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Dateline: June 7, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Nation
This is written in Mexico, my home in recent years. I've just returned from a visit to the United States, and am now once more enjoying the taste of unfrozen orange juice and fresh fish, conversations lasting four or five hours in which all sorts of cabbages and kings are discussed, meetings with friends where no one asks if I watched TV last night to see Mickey Rooney
Disney Dedicated His 308 Foot Wide Grand Canyon Diorama
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Dateline: April 10, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
Disney, dedicated his 308 feet-wide Grand Canyon Diorama largest in the world, at Disneyland, on a very rainy for California day, to the damp delight of 80 odd rain soaked newsmen.
Speech by the Santa Fe Railroad's Fred Curley for whom Walt named the engine of his new excursion train through Disneyland, was rained out (or down?) to a mere "Thank you very much, Walt."
He Spent 21 Million Dollars Just For Fun
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Dateline: October 27, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
Last week the 9,474,254th visitor walked through the gates of Disneyland since they were opened July 18, 1955.
And just for fun-that these visitors might have the time of their lives - $21 millions have been spent on the fabulous playground at Anaheim by its creator, Walt Disney.
That's not all. Says Disney:
"Disneyland never will be completed. . . . It
If You Plan To Visit Disneyland
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Dateline: August 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Sunset
The wonderful world of make-believe called Disneyland is now two years old, and it continues to delight Westerners by the thousands-small children, teen-agers, adults alike. What's more, it doesn't lose it's luster in a day's visit, nor in two or three. Possibly it never will for a good many visitors.
We won't try to describe in detail this imaginative combination of
New Attractions Mean More Fun For Disneyland Visitors
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Dateline: June 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland Holiday
Disneyland has taken another giant step forward in the realm of creative and fascinating new adventures ready for this Summer season.
Foremost amongst the "new" which are now ready for the enjoyment of guests at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom is. the unveiling of the inside of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Fantasyland.
Previously a landmark to
Variety Keynotes A Day At The Magic Kingdom
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Dateline: June 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland Holiday
Hop aboard the horse-drawn trolley (or if you prefer a surrey, a double-decked bus, a "horseless carriage" or fire wagon) and let's begin a tour through Disneyland with a jaunt down 1900 Main Street.
To our right as we leave Town Square is the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad Station, where passenger and freight trains depart for a trip around Disneyland.
Small Boy's Dream Come True
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Dateline: January 5, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Saturday Evening Post
During World War II, Dad's artists designed thousands of insignia for planes, tanks and shoulder patches; over 4000 designs in all. I collected them in scrapbooks, so I ought to know. Uncle Roy figured that each of those insignia cost the studio about twenty-five dollars, and the studio did the work for nothing. That is a pretty big giveaway-$100,000. "How could you turn
Steamboat 'round The Bend
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Dateline: November 8, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Scholastic
A summer vacation with pay. . . traveling down the rivers of America into the past . . . the exotic and the whimsical . . . this was my summer travel adventure.
Dozens of school teachers and college students shared this unusual tour, yet none of us traveled more than 50 miles. All of us met thousands of people from nearly every corner of the earth. We were part of
5 Millionth Visitor At Disneyland
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Dateline: October 4, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
Four-year-old Debra Rutherford knew Disneyland was going to be wonderful. When she arrived Wednesday it exceeded her wildest dreams.
It was her insistence -- and that of her 3-year-old sister Patricia-that convinced their parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Rutherford, to travel from their home in Quincy, Wash.
They reached Los Angeles Wednesday morning and drove
Magic Kingdom One Year After
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Dateline: September 1, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Above is pictured Disneyland as it looks today, some 14 months after the Grand Opening, of July 18, 1955. In that brief span of time the Anaheim Magic Kingdom has come to rank as the number one visitor attraction in the United States. It is expected that the Park will great its five millionth-visitor sometime during the current month.
The now familiar "heart" shape
Jungle Trips Draw Crowds
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Dateline: August 24, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Long Beach Independent
Disneyland officials report that 2,084,189 persons enjoyed Adventureland's jungle river cruise during the first year of operation. Runners-up were the Mark Twain with 1,318,926 passengers; the Santa Fe and Disneyland Passenger Train with 1,143,959; and Snow White Ride with 1,021,976 adventurers.
It was pointed out, however, that the popularity of individual
Indonesian President Sukarno Visits Disneyland
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Dateline: June 1, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
President Sukarno of Indonesia dropped the cares of state Thursday to laugh and relax at Disneyland.
Like any other father, Indonesian's chief kept one eye on the sights and the other on his 12-your-old son, Guntur.
For President Sukarno the visit to Disney's playground was in contrast to the carefully planned high level talks and diplomatic discussions that
Tom Sawyer Comes To Disneyland
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Dateline: May 13, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
Disneyland is now past the half-way point in a spring construction program that will add 1 1/2 million dollars in new rides and amusements to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom in Anaheim.
Major areas of activity are Frontierland and the Tom Sawyer Island in the Rivers of America. More than $250,000 is being spent to make the island a "playland out of a youngster's
Disneyland Train Marks Anniversary
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Dateline: February 26, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Valley News
Marking first anniversary of operation is one of the world most novel railroads, the 5/8-scale Santa Fe and Disneyland which is a feature of Walt Disney's magic kingdom near Anaheim.
The tiny railroad began operations in mid-July, 1955, with two trains. Since then an estimated 1,500,000 adults and children have viewed Disneyland in striking perspective from the
Land That Does Away With Time
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Dateline: February 1, 1956
Status: Archive
Source: Better Homes & Gardens
Parents entering Disneyland with their children are due for the same surprise they got from other Walt Disney creations. What is planned as a dutiful pilgrimage for the sake of the children turns out to be an eye-opening day of adult entertainment and education. Children who never saw a horse-drawn car of fire wagon are delighted. But adults are literally transported by
Kids' Dream World Comes True
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Dateline: August 1, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Popular Science
Disneyland--a steel-and-concrete Never-Never Land for youngsters--has come to life at Anaheim, Calif. It's Walt Disney's fantastic kingdom dropped out of a cloud onto 160 acres. There your child can drive the car of the future, ride in a Mississippi stern-wheeler or romp through a medieval castle. If he wants a glimpse of Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland or Main
Disneyland Gates Open Celebrity Throng At Premier
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
Disneyland, a $17,000,000 fairyland dedicated to the pleasure of children, opened Sunday in a special preview of 35,000 invited guests whose enthusiasm indicated that Walt Disney's dream had lived up to expectations.
The spectacular park will be opened officially to the public at 10 a. m. today and upward of 50,000 persons are expected for the event.
Sunday the
Celebrities Officials Join Walt Disney To Dedicate New Era In Entertainment
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
More than 50,000 visitors were attracted to Disneyland on Monday, July 18, when the Park officially opened its gates to the general public. Reactions were mixed but highly enthusiastic, ranging from exclamations of "fantastic" to "unbelievable" and "too terrific for words to describe. Governor Goodwin J.. Knight of the State of California assisted Walt Disney and some
Main Street Is Historic Replica
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Nowhere else in the world but Disneyland can you turn back the clock to the turn of the century and project yourself onto a Main Street U.S.A. as a typical American small town actually existed in the period 1900-1910.
Walking under a trestle over which the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad tracks run, the visitor to Disneyland, in the center of Town Square,
Visitors To See Historic West
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Glimpses of the old and historic Western movement of American history are provided to visitors of Disneyland in Frontierland.
The period of Frontierland is approximately from 1810 to 1860, but flags flying over Frontierland encompass the period from the establishment of our union of states under the Constitution through the post-Civil War era.
Areas Of Disneyland Provide Visitors Wide Entertainment Choice
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Adventure, fantasy, the future, the past, the modern the old and the outdated-all are present in quality and quantity at the Disneyland world of entertainment, enchantment and variety.
Starting with their entrance into the Park leading onto Main Street; U.S.A., visitors can project themselves into any one of four worlds which await them during their 1
Restaurant Facilities Offer Variety Wide Menu Range
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Restaurants and refreshment stands capable of serving nearly 8000 people per hour offer high quality food at moderate prices in all the realms of Disneyland.
A wide and varied choice of restaurant facilities is provided on the Park's 60 acres, including different dining places in every area, each in keeping with the theme of the particular part of
Santa Fe Disney Line Is Railroaders Delight
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Model train enthusiasts dream about a complete terminal and railroad track of their own, but Walt Disney, who enjoys model railroading as a hobby, has carried his dream into reality with the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad which travels around the perimeter of the Park.
Built to five-eighths normal size for the enjoyment of children and adults alike,
Trip To Disneyland Will Be Literally Out Of This World
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Dateline: July 17, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Valley News
For vacationers, week end travelers or plain Sunday drivers a tour through Disneyland Park in Anaheim which opens tomorrow will be a trip that is almost literally out of this world playground officials said today.
Because, behind the high embankment that shuts in the heart-shaped park and shuts long present day cares, there are "new worlds" of enchantment serving up
Mouse That Turned To Gold
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Dateline: July 9, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Business Week
In real life, fame rarely leads to fortune--particularly if you are a mouse. But in Hollywood, almost anything can have a fairy tale ending. After more than a quarter-century of paw-to-mouth existence, Mickey Mouse finally is piloting his creator, Walt Disney, to the pot of cheese at the foot of the rainbow.
In some ways, the $17-million Disneyland amusement park that
All Aboard For Disneyland
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Dateline: July 1, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Westways
Byways, streets and rail lines of yesteryear, rivers of today, super freeways and sky-trails of the future, paths and celestial seas in the ageless realm of make-believe are ready for travel-and all can be traversed in a single day at Disneyland.
Tours into four centuries in horse-drawn streetcars, stagecoaches. Mississippi stern-wheelers, old-time trains,
Disneyland A New Wonder Of The Amusement World Nears Completion
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Dateline: May 29, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Sunday News Journal
A wonderland of delights such as the World may never have seen before is rising out of the orange groves in this sunny suburb of Los Angeles.
It is Disneyland, a 17 million dollar paradise for children. When the gates are opened on July 19, customers will see an amusement built on the scale of a World's Fair. The fantastic world of Disney films will be transformed
Fairyland Of Yesterday And Tomorrow
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Dateline: December 1, 1954
Status: Archive
Source: Popular Mechanics
Forty passengers at a time will get a realistic impression of space travel in a huge moon rocket being built near Los Angeles as part of Walt Disney's $9,000,000 Disneyland recreation park.
Strapped to their seats, the passengers will thrill at the vibration and roar of the simulated take-off, listen to the staccato commands of the rocket captain over the intercom,
Here's Your First View Of Disneyland
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Dateline: November 2, 1954
Status: Archive
Source: Look
Walt Disney's imagination is running wild again. At Anaheim, Calif., 25 miles from Los Angeles, bulldozers are piling up miniature mountains for a new product of Walt Disney's fertile imagination - a fabulous playground called Disneyland. At present, Disneyland exists mainly in drawings, models and the color map on these pages. But already its four major areas (see map)
When Walt built Disneyland, he wanted complete control over the steam trains, so that he could take them out when ever he wanted. Thus, he placed the steam trains, and then later the monorails under the ownership of Retlaw and leased them back to the park. In 1982, the family decided to sell the assets of Retlaw to the Disney Company, and a holding company, Walt Disney Incorporated was formed. Eventually, the steam trains and monorails became "officially" Disneyland's property.
Locomotives: Four steam locomotives are used on the S.F. & D. They all are petroleum fuel burners.
Steam Train #1:
Engine: CK Holiday
Named For: Cyrus Kurtz Holliday (1826-1900). Founder of the Atchison and Topeka Railroad (Santa Fe's predecessor) in 1859.
Builder: Built by Disney machinists headed by Roger Broggie for $100,000 ($1.2 million in 2021 dollars)
Inservice At Disneyland: July 15, 1955
C. K. Holiday (4-4-0) was patterned after locomotives used in the mid-1800's. Designed specifically for Disneyland by WED Enterprises, this locomotive has a large diamond stack on the boiler which is similar to those used widely on wood-burning engines between 1860-1890.
Steam Train #2:
Engine: EP Ripley
Named For: Edward Payso Ripley (1845-1920). First President of the reorganized Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1895.
Builder: Built by Disney machinists headed by Roger Broggie for $100,000 ($1.2 million in 2021 dollars)
Inservice At Disneyland: July 15, 1955
E. P. Ripley (4-4-0) was built simultaneously with the C. K. Holiday for service beginning on Disneyland's opening day in 1955. This locomotive is characteristic of those used during the mid-1800's. The capstack on the boiler is the type that was used on coal-burning engines of that period.
Steam Train #3:
Engine: Fred Gurley
Named For: Fred Gurley . Chairman of the board Santa Fe Railroad.
Builder: Built by the Bladwin Locomotive Works in August 1894.
Inservice At Disneyland: March 28 1958
Fred Gurley was purchased by Walt Disney for $1,200 ($12,000 in 2021 dollars) from the Godchaux Sugar Company in Louisiana. In 1957, the locomotive, originally used to haul sugar cane from plantations to shipping docks in New Orleans, was brought to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Studio designers restored, refurbished the train. This locomotive, characterized by a capstack, was first used at Louisiana sugar plantations before being rebuilt by WED Enterprises for Disneyland service.
Steam Train #4:
Engine: Ernest S. March
Named For: Ernest S. Marsh (1903-1975). President of the Santa Fe Railway from 1957-1966, strong advocate of the Santa Fe and Disneyland relationship.
Builder:Built 1925 for Raritan River Sand Company
Inservice At Disneyland: July 25 1959
Ernest S. March Purchased by Walt Disney for $2,000 ($19,000 in 2021 dollars). Ernest S. March (2-4-0) (1959) sports a diamond stack cinder trap. This locomotive was built in 1925 and used in New Jersey lumber mills; re-built completely by WED Enterprises for Disneyland service.
Trains:
1. Passenger Train is a replica of Santa Fe passenger trains of the 1890 era which were lavishly decorated and furnished for dignitaries and politicians touring the country.
2. Holiday Red Train (re-designed 1958) is a replica of trains which carried the riches of the West to eastern markets. Styled after "River Trains" with open cars, all seats face one side of the train. Each car is decorated with red-and-white-striped canopies.
3. Excursion Special Train (1958) is an open-air touring train typical of those used in the East for excursion trips before the turn of the century. They were known as "Narragansett cars."
4. & 5. Holiday Green & Holiday Blue Trains. (1966) are patterned after the "River Trains"-styled Holiday Red. These trains are identical except for different colored striped canopies and car numbers. The Main Street station is a typical 1900-era brick structure with gabled roof, cupolas and the Town Clock. Inside, the "Lilly Belle" -- the scale model locomotive which once circled Walt Disney's home -- is on display. The Frontierland station is a frame building housing a clattering telegraph office and baggage handling facilities. In new Tomorrowland, guests board trains of the Santa Fe Disneyland Railroad for a journey through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World.
Nomenclature May 25 1955:
Freight Cars and Equipment Equipment Numbering System:
201 series Box cars
301 series Stock cars
01 series Gondolas 501
series Caboose 51
series Old time 2-man hand car
61 series Old time 1-man "Irish Mail"
71 series Motor scooter
81 series Push car
Wells Fargo Express & Baggage: Coach #101
Navajo Chief I: Coach #102
Colorado Rockies: Coach #103
Land of Pueblos: Coach #104
Painted Desert: Coach #105
Grand Canyon Observation: Coach #106
Original Stations: Main Street and Frontierland. Fantasyland station added in 1956 and Tomorrowland station added in 1958.
Required a "C" ticket in 1955
In 1956 the phone extension for Main Street Station was 398
Required a "D" ticket in 1956-1957
Required a "E" ticket in 1959
Required a "E" ticket in 1964-1965
From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Includes five trains, all of 1890 vintage or older. They depart regularly from the Main Street station at Disneyland Main Entrance for a trip completely around the "Magic Kingdom" with stops at Frontierland and new Tomorrowland. Each land is viewed on the 1 1/4-mile journey, climaxed by a trip through the Grand Canyon and Pitimevat Woad. Track gauge is 36 inches. Cars are 5/8 scale.
Required a "D" ticket in 1970's
