Main Street Fire House Articles
10 Scary Legendary Ghost Tales Of Disneyland Haunts
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I recently interviewed a cast member who works inside the Haunted Mansion. She talked about the belief, among Disney employees, that the place is inhabited by more than the Disney-created 999 haunts. She said female employees talk about ghosts that untie the ribbons in the cast members' hair. She said props move from one side of a room to the other. She said there are behind-the-scenes rooms in the ...
12 Unique And Magical Memories To Be Made At Disneyland
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When visiting Disney, many families head straight for the E-ticket rides, from Space Mountain to the Matterhorn to Dumbo. But in doing so they not only spend a whole lot of time in long lines, but they miss out on so many magical moments and memories that can be made at the "happiest place on earth.' Though these attractions are less popular, they are just as special and endure in family memories far ...
1st Disney Park Goes Golden
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After half a century, those mad teacups are still spinning, the baby elephants are still flying, the hippos' ears are still wiggling and the cash registers are still jingling. Disneyland, a place both timeless and frozen in time, hits a milestone this summer when it turns 50 in Anaheim, Calif. But not everybody sees the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth as exactly that. A feisty band of ...
20 Fascinating Facts About Walt Disney Even Hardcore Fans May Not Know
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Walt Disney is one of the most well-known names on the planet. But while you're probably very familiar with the movies, theme parks, and characters, how well do you know the man who started it all? Walt Disney led a fascinating life, and there's a lot that isn't widely known about him that even the most dedicated of Disney fans might be surprised to learn. For instance, did you know he lost his ...
24 Surprising Things About Disneyland We Did Not Know But Should
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Disneyland is said to be the "Happiest Place on Earth." For one day (or several depending on your trip schedule) people of all ages from toddlers to seniors can have fun, let loose and become a kid again. It's a place filled with magic, music, your favourite characters and rides to fit whatever you're in the mood for. It opened its doors on July 17, 1955, and was the masterpiece of Walt Disney's ...
25 Things Walt Disney Never Wanted Visitors To Know
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Walt Disney himself lived a legendary and highly mysterious life. A man of many secrets, he worked hard to incorporate hidden features through all of his work. Up to this day, there are dozens of special Easter eggs hidden throughout the park. The Imagineer's that designed Disneyland in California have thought through every detail to make the parks as magical as possible. Some of these secrets are ...
45 Surprising Secrets About Disneyland
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It's been 45 years since Disney Parks first took intrepid thrill seekers into the darkest corners of outer space. We're talking, of course, about Space Mountain. And while it's true that the iconic indoor roller coaster opened first at Walt Disney World in Florida on January 15, 1975, did you know that it was first dreamed up, at the request of Walt Disney himself, by ...
5 Spooky Ghost Stories
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It 's the spooky season, so it 's a great time to look at the spooky history of the happiest place on Earth. Even at Halloween, Disneyland isn't exactly the scariest theme park. Still, for a place that 's been around for more than 65 years, it has many interesting stories to tell, and that includes ghost stories. Over the decades, a number of mysterious events have taken place within the ...
7 Disneyland Secrets That Will Transform Your Trip
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Whether you're young, or just young-at-heart, the magic of Disneyland appeals to the child in all of us. But each of us gets something different from the experience -- some have an adventurous side that longs for the thrill of the scariest ride, some have a girly side that wants nothing more than to meet the dazzling princesses of the park, some have an indulgent side that loves the wide array of food and ...
All Aboard For Disneyland
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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 ...
At Disneyland Even Grown-Ups Have Fun
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It happens every time we set our eyes on the iconic visage of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle: Swelling up inside us is a fierce urge to plunge through the crowd and make a mad dash toward Space Mountain. At least that's the way it goes when we have children in tow. A parent's gut says pick up the pace and get to as many rides as possible. All the better to keep the little tykes happy and ...
At Disneyland Even The Plants Have A Purpose
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Did you know that the trees and flowers planted throughout Disneyland were as well thought out as the design of the attractions and lands themselves? I didn't. In scurrying from one attraction to the other, I must admit that I never paid much attention to the foliage until I took Disneyland's two-hour "Cultivating the Magic" tour during which the guide talked of how the hundreds of varieties of ...
Beignets Pirates And Ghosts Oh My
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When New Orleans Square opened in July of 1966, the mayor of New Orleans, Victor Schiro, participated in the dedication. Schiro announced that Disney was an honorary citizen of the real city and joked that adding the Square cost as much as the original Louisiana Purchase. The dedication was Walt's last public appearance before his death that December. There are two actual rides in the New Orleans ...
Black Sunday Remembering Disneylands Disastrous Opening Day On Its 65th Anniversary
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Disneyland's opening day started off very inauspiciously for Walt Disney. Exhausted by last-minute preparations, he'd gone up to his private apartment above the firehouse on Main Street to get a little sleep before festivities began on the morning of July 17, 1955. When he awoke, he realized he'd somehow locked himself inside the room. So Walt Disney began yelling for help. ...
California_vs. Paris: Main Street USA
This month, I shall be comparing the Main Street, U.S.A.'s which can be found in the Disneylands closest to my heart (California and Paris). Both are based loosely on Walt's home town of Marceline Missouri. Anaheim's is set in 1910, as part of the original idea that various Lands were set in years when Halley's Comet could be visible from Earth. According to themed studs in the pavement, Main Street ...
Disastrous Debut The Inside Story Of The 1955 Opening Day Fiasco
Disneyland 's opening day on July 17, 1955, was intended to be a major media event, televised nationally with Hollywood stars and dignitaries in attendance. However, problems, mishaps, and disasters turned it into a day forever known as “Black Sunday.” Background and Lead Up The concept for Disneyland began when Walt Disney was spending time with his daughters at parks and ...
Discover Disneyland Hidden Park Secrets
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It's hard to deny that magical feeling when leaving the real world behind and entering the gates of Disneyland. No matter how many trips have been made to this wonderful amusement park, part of the magic of the "Happiest Place on Earth" is that millions of people have been visiting for more than half a century, and there are still secrets to be revealed. Many people know the Disneyland Firehouse ...
Disney Antique Collectors Find U.S. And Canadian Items
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A bronze plaque accompanying an anchor on exhibit in Frontierland contains the following Inscription: "LaFitte's Anchor. Said to be from a pirate ship commanded by Jean LaFitte in the Battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8. 1815. "It is also said that LaFitte's pirateering ships left a wake of blood from the mainland to Barataria Bay but don't believe everything you read." ...
Disney Magic, West Coast Style
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We were halfway through the six-hour flight from Newark to the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA when I began to question our decision to haul our two kids, ages 8 and 16 months, clear across country to visit Disneyland. True, it's a shorter flight to Orlando, but my son shared our "been there, done that" sentiment about Walt Disney World. We were anxious to check off the Disneyland Resort from our ...
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 A Magical Kingdom, Even For Grown-Ups
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It happens every time we set our eyes on the iconic visage of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle: Swelling up inside us is a fierce urge to plunge through the crowd and make a mad dash toward Space Mountain. At least that's the way it goes when we have children in tow. A parent's gut says pick up the pace and get to as many rides as possible. All the better to keep the little tykes happy and ...
Disneyland A New Wonder Of The Amusement World Nears Completion
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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 into three dimensional reality. ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 12
Although Disney had a dislike for the typical carnivals of the time, it wasn't so much the content, but the environment and the lack of attention to detail. Long before the park was built, after one of his frequent visits to Griffith Park with his daughters, he stated, "Things could be done better than this. A park should be designed for total family enjoyment. Besides a merry-go-round, there could be ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 3
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 continue long after the park opened. (I ...
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 6
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Did you know that although Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is largely considered the first color animated feature length film by most, when in fact it isn't ? It's true. Because of Walt Disney's reputation and his ambitious efforts in both film, television and finally amusement parks, it is conceivable to see this recorded improperly. In the early 1900s, records that were kept were in their ...
Disneyland Celebrates 50 Years
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Disneyland, an oasis of niceness in a cynical world wracked by terrorism, war and scandal, celebrates its 50th anniversary on May 5. And what a birthday party it promises to be: 18 months of "the Happiest Homecoming on Earth", starring every Disney character you know, from Mickey Mouse to Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews, who won the best-actress Oscar for her role in Disney's classic 1964 Mary ...
Disneyland Finishing Suite Conceived By Walt Disney Decades Ago
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Designers and construction crews at Disneyland are completing a project that Walt Disney himself started more than 40 years ago -- a private living suite tucked into the theme park. The Walt Disney Co. announced the project Monday, saying theme park guests will be able to win an overnight stay in the suite beginning next year. Disney dreamed up the spacious suite in the 1960s and designed it ...
Disneyland First Day Was Such A Disaster It Is Still Called Black Sunday 70 Years Later
Disneyland, Anaheim CA
July 17, 1955 is still known as ''Black Sunday'' at Disney. By day's end, he and his team faced melting asphalt, food shortages, gas leaks, and 28,000 guests instead of the expected 15,000.
Here's what happened on opening day, when the Happiest Place on Earth felt anything but.
Walt Disney's Morning Mishap
Walt ...
Disneyland Flag Retreat Semper Gunny
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Every morning and every evening since it opened in 1955, Disneyland has raised and lowered the Stars and Stripes at the flagpole on Main Street USA, per American flag etiquette. But that wasn't enough for the Happiest Place On Earth; in 2005, the park began hosting the Flag Retreat, a daily ceremony that makes George M. Cohan seem as un-American as Abbie Hoffman. There's a barbershop quartet, shout-outs to ...
Disneyland For Haters
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Think you're too cynical, sophisticated, debauched or underfunded to visit the Happiest Place on Earth? This one's for you. I am of Disneyland. My love for Walt Disney's 54-year-old theme park can move (space!) mountains. In fact, my love for Disneyland is so perfect and so complete that I don't really mind if you hate it. Somehow I've managed to acquire a number of friends who steadfastly ...
Disneyland Locations For Character Autographs
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Disneyland Resort is a wonderful place to spend your vacation. A safe place where you and your family can play on all the attractions, spend quality time together, and even stop by to meet a few characters. Disneyland has a wonderful set up when it comes to meeting the Characters. Not only can you meet them around the park, there are designated areas that the character are waiting for the kids to ...
