Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue Restaurant in Frontierland Disneyland fans who have enjoyed the park numerous times might say they too "grew up in Disneyland." But my family's story is a bit different. Our Mom loved to quote us kids saying, "gee, do we have to go to Disneyland again? Such was the case in the early years of the Park when Dad owned a restaurant in Frontierland. A few stories below ...

As Disneyland engineers tinker on top-secret designs for the park's new Star Wars Land, a mothballed attraction at nearby Disney California Adventure provides a stark reminder that even the most creative ride ideas can land with a thud, costing park operators lots of money and frustrating visitors.. Luigi's Flying Tires was an ambitious effort that lofted visitors in tire-shaped bumper cars floating ...

An amphibious vehicle that rides on a cushion of air. No wings, wheels, or boat or such type bottom supporting it is under completion in Col. Melville W. Beardsley's garage at 40 Windward Drive, Fairwinds, Severna Park. "The Little Skimmer," as Beardsley calls it, rises about 15 inches off the ground (measuring from the framework to the ground) with a passenger and travels with equal success over pavement, ...

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 ...

Disneyland is the place. of course. From Walt Disney's parade of cartoons and motion pictures started 38 years ago, 33 of his most famous characters will come dancing out of fantasy and out of the silver screen to cavort with patrons as the seventh summer season gets under way at the famous park. Each year since Disneyland opened in 1955, new attractions and entertainment have been added as the park ...

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 ...

It was the '60s, a decade of change. And just like society, Disneyland would change too - in dramatic fashion. 1960 Just like previous years, Walt Disney was constantly tinkering with Disneyland as the decade started. The first year of the decade, he added more scenes to the Rainbow Ridge Mine Train, and changed its name to the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. The mules got a new name, ...

Over 60 years ago, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. In the decades since, Walt Disney's original theme park vision has undergone changes both big and small. Rides, attractions, and entire swaths of land have sometimes been overhauled or torn down to make way for modern amusements. But thanks to documentaries and numerous Disney bloggers, we can still look back at some of the most iconic rides ...

It's not easy being Disneyland. To keep people coming back and visiting year after year, the Anaheim amusement park has to constantly reinvent itself while not changing in ways that'll alienate diehard fans whose nostalgia runs deep. A few months ago, the park permanently closed the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to turn it into Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!, which opens May 27. While Disney ...

Since its opening in 1955, Disneyland has seen a number of rides and attractions come and go. And while some of the rides were replaced with newer and better thrills, some are sorely missed. Up ahead, we take a look at some of the most beloved Disneyland attractions that no longer exist. 1. Submarine Voyage In 1959, Disneyland introduced one of its first E ticket rides (aka, more advanced or ...

No figment of the imagination, flying saucers are destined for the Park, to become one of Walt Disney's latest attractions for the 1961 season. Scheduled to open this summer,the new adventure will have a space station in Tomorrowland,where guests can climb aboard their own Saucer, take to the air, guide their own ship, and return to land on the outer space station. Disneyland Vice- President ...

Disneyland was built on a dream. And it was Walt Disney's dream that has made millions of wishes come true during the past 50 years. Hundreds of millions of wishes, really. And also special moments - first dates and honeymoons, birthdays and anniversaries, and fun days spent with kids and later with grandkids. Several weeks ago, we asked readers to recall their favorite Disneyland memories. ...

In 1955, Tomorrowland was one of Disneyland's most popular attractions. House made of plastic, flying saucers and other items in the park showed Walt Disney's vision of what 1986 would be like. Over the years, that vision became less cutting edge and more, well, cheesy. But thanks to a two-year, $100 million face-lift, Tomorrowland is back in the future business. The Anaheim, CA, park now looks at ...

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 recalled. "So I went ahead and spent my ...

Part of the magic of the Magic Kingdom, of course, is that despite the slings and arrows peppering the outside world, it somehow remains as seemingly immutable as one of Aristotle's First Causes, or Walt's immortal mouse, whose 60th birthday the park-itself pushing a healthy 33-is celebrating this year from March 19 through September 8 with a new Mickey at the Movies Parade. However, as any Disneycologist ...

It was the summer before first grade, and John Quisling had learned a new word. He'd heard it on the radio and listened to his parents talk about it and wondered if it could be as magical as everyone said. Disneyland did not disappoint. The Santa Ana, Calif., boy and his family visited the innovative park just days after it opened 50 years ago this summer on July 17, 1955. Quisling, now 55 and ...

With his infectious enthusiasm and keen eye for detail, Charles Phoenix celebrates the 55th Anniversary of the Magic Kingdom's grand opening with his Retro Disneyland Slide Show. One performance only takes place at the Crown Plaza Hotel Anaheim Resort in Garden Grove on Saturday morning, July 17 at 10 a.m. Charles shows ands tells the back story of long-gone attractions including the Phantom Boats, ...

Opened in 1955, Disneyland in Anaheim, California has delighted visitors for decades with its eight themed "lands" of rides, shows and attractions. It just isn't possible to forget a first spin on Dumbo, rocketing through darkness on Space Mountain or singing along with those musical pirates before Johnny Depp stole their fame. The skallywag! But with the park constantly updating through the years, some of ...

Disney California Adventure is getting a much needed tire rotation, and will soon change out the Cars Land flat that is Luigi's Flying Tires. The attraction is shutting down when the gates close on Feb. 16, according a message posted Friday on the Disney Parks Blog. The bumper-car-like ride, where tires hovered (and never flew) on a cushion of air, was perhaps the weakest link of the new land ...

A Maryland manufacturer of air cushion vehicles hopes to build a ferry on which Passengers can glide between Manhattan and the New York world's fair grounds in 1964 and 1965. A patent for the new craft will be issued next week. The inventor is Melville W, Beardsley, vice-president of National Research Associates. Inc., of Laurel, Md. The company has built a score of vehicles that ride on air, and regards ...

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 from 1955 to 1982, according to ...

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 ...

I was not born when Disneyland first opened in 1955, or even during what was billed as its second opening in 1959. The fact is, I didn 't visit Disneyland until its 25th anniversary in 1980. By then, many early attractions were already gone: the Phantom Boats, Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, the Flying Saucers, Space Station X-1, Rocket to the Moon, and so many others. The one bygone attraction that stands out ...