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 ...

For years and years, tens of thousands of people walked by Owen and Dolly Pope 's house every day. No one had any idea that there was a private house on Disney property, or that Disneyland had two full-time residents who got to stay when the park shut down for the night. The Popes moved out in 1971, but their house still stands inside the grounds of the Disneyland Resort today. ...

The Conestoga wagon ride in Frontierland brought the rough old west back sharply to 16 persons Saturday. The coach tipped over when its wheels struck soft gravel sending all 16 to hospitals or first aid stations for treatment of cuts and bruises. No one was injured seriously. Bob Apt, driver of the four-horse wagon, managed to stop the horses after they dragged the huge wagon only a. few feet on its ...

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 will continue to grow, to add new ...

If it was in the West, it's here. The Mark Twain Riverboat docks at the aptly named Mark Twain Landing in Frontierland. The first train ride, apart from the Disneyland Railroad, was the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland, opening in 1960; the Mine Train closed in 1977, and Big Thunder Mountain opened two years later. The two rides could not be more different. The Mine Train was a slow, relaxing ride ...

"I know it's here somewhere" I'm not sure if that's exactly what was said upon first sight of where the Rivers of America used to be, but I'm sure it was something similar. Maybe with a little more salt. A lot of the excavation for the layout of the park revolved around removing existing trees and vegetation, digging out what would be the basin for the riverbed that would become the Rivers of America. ...

There's Got to be a Morning After When we last left off, Walt Disney had made it through Opening Day. It wasn't all that he had hoped it would be, but he made it. "Black Sunday" was supposed to be a relatively tame press preview. Instead it resembled more of an all out free-for-all -- the park being besieged by triple attendance that was more than expected. From a certain point of view, this was ...

1955 Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week in summer; closed Mondays the rest of the year. Size: 60 acres, plus 100 acres for parking. Zones: Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Main Street USA 18 attarctions Admission: $1 (including tax) for adults. 50 cents for children. Ride tickets, sold separately, priced from 10 to 35 cents. Employees: About 1,000 ...

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 the newest of Americana, Disneyland, ...

It's a wonderful, leisurely time of year to visit Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom! Anytime is a "good time" to visit Walt Disney unique Magic Kingdom - just ask the 12 million adults and 4 million children who've already been here! But with the Fall season, there is particular appeal and a still different enchantment about Disneyland, where guests find themselves "worlds away from today" - leaving ...

Whenever you travel in Southern California (and throughout the Southwest) the Old West is still very much alive. You'll find the Old West in the chain of missions built by the Spanish Franciscan Padres in the 18th century, stretching from the Mexican border to Northern California at Knott's Berry Farm, where you can pan for "gold" or wander down the Main Street of Ghost Town... and at Disneyland ...

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, cars-of-tomorrow. "flying" pirate galleons ...

Even if you didn 't know what was ahead of you, you knew what you were walking toward. The smell was unmistakable. Turn the corner from Disneyland 's New Orleans Square, pass the Mark Twain Riverboat, and there it was - four spoked wheels, wooden-slat walls and thick canvas stretched across the top, emblazoned with one iconic phrase: “Westward ho!” The quick-service cart in Frontierland was ...

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. Facing the square are a bank, in ...

America's most popular means of transportation today may be the automobile, but between 1780 and 1850 Americans were well satisfied with their own most used vehicle the Conestoga wagon. Two of the wide, long and deep wooden structures, surrounded by canvas covered hoop tops, have been preserved in Frontierland and are available for visitors to journey in over dusty roads of the Painted ...

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. The 13-star entrance flag ...

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 1/4-mile walk through Disneyland's ...

Rocket to the Moon closed and inspired several futuristic flight rides were equally unsuccessful. Rocket to the Moon was a Disneyland opening day attraction in 1955 that placed guests in a giant rocket ship, or moonliner, standing in Tomorrowland. The futuristic simulation ride was sponsored by the now defunct airline TWA (Trans World Airline). Guests sat in a circle with screens ...

You might think the Disneyland cats are a myth. After all, a theme park encouraging stray cats to live inside its gates to keep the vermin population down does seem a little wild - especially when you consider the theme park famously “all started with a mouse,” according to Walt Disney. But Disneyland 's “community cats,” as it calls them, are very real. So real, in fact, that they have a fan ...

Disneyland fans - at least the ones who pride themselves on their knowledge of the park and its history - each have a list of rides and attractions they wish they could have seen back in the day. For some, it 's Museum of the Weird, the never-was expansion of the Haunted Mansion led by Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey. For others, it 's the Conestoga Wagons (and the much-missed Conestoga Fries) that left the ...

In Disneyland 's newest ride, Mickey and Minnie are headed out to the country to go on a “perfect picnic” - that is, until Goofy gets involved and everything goes wrong. Mickey and Minnie 's Runaway Railway, a trackless dark ride that 's the first Disney attraction to star the world 's most famous mice, opened in January 2023. It 's the centerpiece of the massive renovation and reimagining of ...