Tomorrowland Autopia Articles
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 ...
Storm In A Teacup
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With a boy of his own, Stephen Lacey makes his first visit to the Disneyland of his childhood. When I was a boy, my idea of Disneyland was pretty sketchy; it was where Mickey and Donald lived. And there was a ride where you sat in a giant spinning teacup. I knew only one kid who had been, a boy in third class named Brian. He was terribly thin, with bruises all over his body. One day our ...
A Grandmother's Magical Return To Disneyland
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If you live in North America, indeed much of the world, you are unlikely to have avoided the spell that has been cast over modern culture since the day Walt Disney opened the gates to his Disneyland theme park in California in 1955. If you were a lucky child, your parents loaded up the station wagon and headed to Anaheim at least once during your childhood, cramming the family into a little offsite ...
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 ...
These Moments Remind Us Why Disney Is Special
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Disneyland is a big place. Sometimes it's the smallest thing that counts. It's early Sunday evening last weekend, and even as Space Mountain boasts a 45-minute wait, crowds are thin at one of my favorite places from childhood: Innoventions in Tomorrowland. I remember gaping as a kid at the way the building -- then called the Carousel of Progress -- slowly rotated. Inside was a show put on by ...
Disneyland Once Known As Walt Disney's Folly Turns 58 Years Old
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Fifty-eight years ago today, on a hot and sunny day in Anaheim, Calif., the noble experiment called Disneyland opened to the public. There were great expectations for the world's first-ever theme park ... as well as a flood of criticism from doubters and bad reviews from just about every major news outlet. The park was woefully overcrowded, thanks to thousands of counterfeit tickets; many attractions ...
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 ...
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 ...
Disneyland Digs In At Anaheim
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With opening date set for July 15, construction is going full speed ahead on Disneyland, multi-million dollar wonder of the entertainment world at Anaheim in Orange County. The total investment is expected to approximate $17 million.Grading and bulldozing are completed. Excavation of the various waterways in Disneyland is finished. Construction has started on several buildings, with the exterior of one ...
Walt Disney Takes Two Children Through Disneyland
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No figure in the world today is closer to the hearts of children than at 54-year-old boy named Walt Disney. Despite his ever-growing fame and current financial solidly (thanks particularly to his Disneyland series and the Davy Crockett boom it touched off), the king of the animated cartoon has never lost contact with the dreams youngsters dream. Latest proof is what he considers his outstanding (and ...
Disneyland Gates Open Celebrity Throng At Premier
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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 adults - members of the press from ...
Father Sues Disneyland For Sons Injury
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A petition filed in Superior Court yesterday sought $1250 from Disneyland Inc. as settlement for damages suffered by a teenage boy in a miniature auto. Garland Sumrall, of 2922 S. Mayflower Ave, stated in his petition to settle a disputed claim that his 10-year-old son. Garland Jr. suffered a broken leg, cuts, bruises and shock from an accident at the Orange Country amusement park April 14, 1956. ...
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 ...
Disneyland Opened To Public
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Walt Disney's $17,000,000 Disneyland was formally opened to the public yesterday at 10 a.m. The 60-acre wonderland at 1313 Harbor Blvd., Anaheim was previewed for the press civic officials and entertainment industry Sunday. Disneyland was formally dedicated by Disney "to the people of the world young and old with a dream in their hearts." Gov. Goodwin J Knight added: "All America can take ...
Lost Earthlings Far More Trouble Than Any Space Travel K-7 Finds
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How far is It to the moon? How long does it take to get there? These are just samples of the questions fired at Disneyland's "Space Man" by visiting small fry. The Space Man, known to friends as K-7, is really John Catone and he threatens to give Buck Rogers or Captain Video a run for the money these days. But even though he is a space man he frankly admits he spends most of his time ...
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 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 ...
Disney Magic A Strong Magnet At Mouse Meet In Lynnwood
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For eight years, the Pacific Northwest Mouse Meet has sprinkled a little Disney magic on Snohomish County. The annual event brings together Disney fans at the Lynnwood Convention Center for a day of presentations, photos, autographs, sweet treats, activities and displays. This year's event was Saturday. It sold out, with 450 tickets purchased by people in 11 states along with Canada and Japan. ...
This Is How Disneyland Looked In 1955
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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 word - Disneyland has never been ...
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 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 ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 8
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Picture this You're an artistic designer; You're scheduled to attend a design meeting for a project you drew the design that "greenlighted" the project you're currently working on; Deadlines are rapidly approaching; And in walks your boss He looks concerned -- something between worried and extremely serious; He opens the meeting and begins talking about a specific part of ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 9
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The birth of space exploration in the middle of the 1950s affected both sides of the globe, but before the Space Race there was the Cold War. There was a fair share of unilateral fear from several previous wars. As a result, it pitted the United States against Russia in a "race" for strategic military superiority. Although the Cold War came first, the Space Race wasn't far behind and for a long period ...
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 ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 10
"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. ...
River Boat Ride Tops At Disneyland
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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 "Columbia" Disney said. Next in ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 13
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 contributions in terms of sales and ...
How Did Walt Disney Vision Of A Futuristic Metropolis Become A Quaint Symbol Of A Bygone Era
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When Disneyland opened its doors in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955, the word astronaut was not yet a household term. But a bright white rocketship towered over Tomorrowland (and, in fact, the entire park), poised to blast off into soon-to-be explored galaxies. Behind it stood a geometric space station, red letters over the entrance labeling it "Rocket To The Moon," with two large spherical theatres ...
My Dad Helped Design Disneyland Here Is What the Park Was Like Before It Opened
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When Walt Disney's theme park opened 62 years ago, ?it was named Disneyland and christened "The Happiest Place on Earth." ?It was a thrill to behold all the rides and exhibits making Disney's movies, cartoons, ?and characters come to life. My sister, Diane, and I were treated to an even more special event. Our preview of the park occurred a year earlier than the official opening on July 17, 1955. (Bet ...
