Skyway 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 ...
Who Says This Is The Happiest Place On Earth?
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This column wasn't supposed to happen. The subject was supposed to be out of the way, and out of my life, last Sunday. That was before readers started calling: A few even stopped me on the street. "So how was ... " The "D" word. Disneyland. Inevitable. My wife and I took our son to Disneyland during spring break. Every kid has to go to Disneyland at least once; it's an inalienable ...
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 ...
World War II Veteran's Wife Was Disney's Secretary During 1950s
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When my colleague Denise Goolsby was interviewing a World War II veteran not long ago, she couldn't wait to tell me that his wife, Dorothy Wrigley, had been Walt Disney's secretary for five years during the 1950s. She was there for the development, building and opening of Disneyland - and so much more. Being able to sit down with her and talk about Walt and the development of Disneyland was like ...
Matterhorn Bobsleds Inspired By Swiss Alps Jewel Plus More Fun Rollercoaster Facts
Since 1959, the Matterhorn Bobsleds have stood tall at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
The ride was groundbreaking when it first debuted and it changed the trajectory of roller coasters forever.
Want to know what makes this trek through the Swiss mountains so unique?
Here are seven fun facts.
1. It made history when it opened on June 14, ...
Tom Sawyer Comes To Disneyland
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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 dream." On the island -- named for and ...
Big Disneyland Expansion Since Original Opening
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When Walt Disney completed the $2,000,000 expansion program at Disneyland this summer, it was estimated by park officials that the capacity had increased by 100,000 rides per day. Completion of Disneyland"s first expansion program came this past month with the opening of the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train Ride in Frontierland. The Rainbow Caverns ride was the last and most costly of the new ...
Russians Live It Up In Anaheim
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Eighteen Russian Olympic Games coaches, trainers and officials en route home from Melbourne had the time of their lives at Disneyland Wednesday afternoon. Visas were waived as was the Russian's inadmissibility to the United States as members of the Communist Party, the U.S .Immigration Service said, "but only for their 15-hour stopover between planes." Four Russians wound up in a car labels ...
Truman Visits Disneyland
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Harry and Bess Truman were just another couple of out-of-season tourist here Saturday. The former president winked cupped his hands and shouted to his wife over the brassy din of a band playing. "I'm Just Wild About Harry": "Boy, is this plate a rubberneck's paradise." Then he set off on a 2 1/2 -hour tour of the park at a pace so brisk that his official party and newsmen had to jog to keep ...
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 ...
58 Ways Star Wars Land Is Changing Disneyland
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The Walt Disney Company recently announced that an entirely new land based on the Star Wars universe would be coming to Disneyland, likely in 2019. The 14-acre mini universe will feature two major new rides and other attractions including a restaurant based on the Mos Eisley cantina in the films. I'm not a big Star Wars aficionado, but I hear that the designers working on it are, and genuine fans can ...
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 1
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Disneyland gets sued for injuries and deaths all of the time. Believe me, I get that accidents happen, but most of these tourists are simply victims of their own stupidity. Mild disclaimer: a few of these I've read about on only one site, so I'm not entirely sure they happened. Now, let's get down to business. Matterhorn, Space, and Thunder Mountains are not most dangerous in that respect, ...
Disneyland Skyway Station To Be Demolished To Make Way For Star Wars Land
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As Disneyland heads into the future with "Star Wars" land, the park is letting go of some of its past. Disneyland officials have filed a permit with the city to demolish the Skyway Chalet in Fantasyland, once one of two endpoints for open-air gondolas that floated via cables over the park beginning in 1956. Visitors hopped aboard the ride, affectionately called the Buckets by guests, and slowly ...
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 ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 1990s
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It was a "Fantasmic!" start for Disneyland in the 1990s, and the decade ended with a new Tomorrowland and the disappearance of the parking lot. 1990-92 Not much happened for the first two years in terms of changes or additions of new attractions until 1992. Mission to Mars had its last flight and was grounded. In New Orleans Square, something new was coming to the waterfront of the Rivers of ...
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 2000s
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The new century started out with few changes inside Disneyland, as the company was focused on big changes outside the park, but things would liven up as the century progressed. 2000 Parking at Disneyland changed with the opening of the Mickey & Friends parking structure on the land that was a strawberry farm for decades. The more than 10,000-space structure was the largest one when it started ...
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 ...
9 Extinct Disneyland Attractions You Probably Never Knew Existed
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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 ...
No Disneyland Branch
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Walt Disney says he will not open branch replicas of Disneyland despite offers from a dozen foreign nations and uncounted requests from this country. Some organizations have gone so far as to offer complete financing, but Walt has turned them all down. PERSONAL PROJECT "Disneyland is a personal project with me, he says. "I must stay close to it, otherwise the park would no longer be fun. ...
Sub Ride Mountain Due For Disneyland
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Walt Disney has announced a $5,500,000 new building program for his fanatastic Disneyland playground the largest expansion since the fun spot opened in 1955. Disney said the expansion would consist of six projects, including a full scale, monorail the first of its type in the United States; a submarine voyage beneath "The Polar Ice Cap;" reconstruction of the Materhorn, complete with bobsled and skyway ...
Everything We Saw At First-Ever Vintage Theme Night
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When Disneyland throws a party, you know we're gonna be there - and Disneyland After Dark: Throwback Nite was no exception. Disneyland's first event in a forthcoming series of themed nights this year was an ode to the rides, tunes, and thrills of yesteryear, complete with food, music, entertainment, and characters fit for vintage-obsessed Disney fans. There were few details announced before the Jan. ...
Beloved Disneyland Rides And Attractions That No Longer Exist
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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 ...
A Considerable Town
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Pam Wells has been to Disneyland, she estimates, 50 times in her 43 years. In fact, she's going again this weekend, for her 44th birthday. She can still remember being too excited to sleep the night before a Disneyland outing. And she can list all the places you used to be able to make out and/or smoke pot (Monsanto, the Sky Buckets) back in her teenage days. She talks of the days of E Tickets. She can ...
Magic Worlds Of Walt Disney
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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 ...
Greetings From Disneyland
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If Imagineers David Mumford and Bruce Gordon have gained fame among Disney fans, it may be because they haven't forgotten their roots. Gordon spent his childhood building Disneyland models in his garage and went on to become a show producer on the park's new Autopia. Mumford, meanwhile, filled his early years with Disney memorabilia and worked his way up to his current stint as art director for the Mermaid ...
A Fantasy That Paid Off
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The place is surrounded by a berm, a high barrow of earth, that insulates it from the external world. There is a single gateway where admission is charged. This, the land of Disney, is more secure than ancient Troy. No Trojan horse will get into Disneyland. Guards at the main gate closely scrutinize all who enter. Not even an unseemly teenager will get past them, much less a Trojan horse. Disneyland is ...
Disneyland Remains Forever Young
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The last time I went to Disneyland I got to drive the jeep in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ride. Unfortunately, my family disobeyed instructions and looked into the eye of the idol, so we were condemned to a terrifying adventure before finally returning safely to the loading dock. The sense of triumph I derived from what was a predictable outcome far exceeded its intrinsic worth and makes ...
Disneyland: A Parents' Survival Guide
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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 who have the least trouble ...
