Long Lost Disneyland Landmark Rediscovered
Dateline: November 22, 2023
Status: Current
Source: lamag.com
The future came and went a long time ago at Disneyland. When Walt Disney was building his dream park in Anaheim, time and money were scarce and Tomorrowland was a prime place to cut corners. Autopia and Rocket to the Moon were the biggest attractions, with much of the remaining real estate occupied by corporate educational exhibits like Monsanto 's Hall of Chemistry
From Stagecoaches To Monorails Rare Disneyland Artifacts Bring 18 Million Dollars At Heritage
Dateline: April 4, 2023
Status: Current
Source: AntiquesAndTheArts.com
On Saturday, March 25, a lucky bidder rode off into the sunset with a one-of-a-kind original stagecoach offered by Heritage during its two-day Disney Theme Parks auction. The Art of Disneyland: From Stagecoaches to Monorails… and More! spanned the Parks ' fascinating evolution and brought in $1.8 million, with 100 percent of lots sold and some significant results
New Toontown Channels The Parks Lost Land
Dateline: March 19, 2023
Status: Current
Source: SFGate
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
23 Rides That Have Shut Down And The Surprising Reasons Why
Dateline: July 1, 2022
Status: Current
Source: insider.com
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).
10 Most Expensive Items In Auction Featuring 1500 Theme Park Collectibles
Dateline: May 18, 2022
Status: Current
Source: Orange County Register
An upcoming auction featuring hundreds of Disneyland items expected to fetch as much as $600,000 apiece will give Disneyana enthusiasts a chance to add a bit of the Anaheim theme park 's history to their personal memorabilia collections.
Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills will hold the Disneyland Signature Auction: The Rummell Collection on Saturday, May
Tomorrowlands Yesterday Disneyland Autopia Mark VII First Drive
Dateline: April 29, 2022
Status: Current
Source: MotorTrend.com
When Disneyland first opened its doors in 1955, its namesake provided a simple mission: "Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future." Perhaps no original attraction better encapsulated that ideal than Tomorrowland's Autopia, which offered adult parkgoers a childlike feeling of discovery while providing
11 Attractions From Opening Day
Dateline: July 11, 2021
Status: Current
Source: mentalfloss.com
When Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955, it wasn 't an immediate success. The park experienced numerous setbacks, including counterfeit tickets, concession shortages, and malfunctioning rides. But it also featured many rides and attractions that are considered classic parts of the Wonderful World of Disney today. Here are 11 attractions guests got
Disney Legend Bob Gurr The Man Behind The Motion
Dateline: June 21, 2020
Status: Current
Source: wglt.org
Disneyland, “The happiest place on Earth,” is known for its attractions, which transport people of all ages into a world of imagination. Park guests can voyage under the sea or even slide down a snow-covered mountain. One man to thank for this is Bob Gurr.
Gurr often quips, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.” He is responsible for
Tomorrowland And Walts Bathroom Of The Future
Dateline: June 18, 2020
Status: Current
Source: attractionsmagazine.com
The year is 1954, and construction for Disneyland park is in full swing. The many creative faces of WED Enterprises were hard at work so that it would reach its ambitious opening date in 1955. Scaffolders were placing finishing touches on the rugged cliffs of Adventureland, engineers were developing the precise movements of Abraham Lincoln, and Walt Disney himself was
When Walt Disney Visited The Boardwalk
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Dateline: November 10, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: santacruzsentinel.com
When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland boasted the Autopia ride, a self-driven turnpike for kids of all ages. The cars were outfitted with bumpers, but they were plagued by collisions and occasionally jumped the curb that centered them on the roadway. When the Boardwalk 's Autorama ride opened in 1961, in addition to front and rear bumpers, our cars also had a
It Is Not Your Grandparents Disneyland Anymore
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Dateline: July 7, 2019
Status: Archive
Source: creators.com
When I first started going to Disneyland shortly after the park opened in 1955, the most advanced high-tech item you could buy was an authentic Davy Crockett coonskin cap. You wore it proudly and recorded your visit (in black and white) with your trusty Brownie Sure Shot camera.
Today you'll need a lot more interactive smartphone savvy if you and your
Here Are All the Things That Went Wrong On Disneyland Disastrous Opening Day In 1955
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Dateline: May 29, 2018
Status: Archive
Source: cheatsheet.com
Disneyland may be regarded as a place of magic, whimsy, and family-friendly fun today, but such was not the case on the park's opening day in 1955. Read on to find out why Disneyland workers used to refer to the opening ceremony as "Black Sunday."
1. Much of America tuned into the live broadcast
ABC covered the opening ceremony of Disneyland with a live 90
New Monorail Fleet For Disney World Original Designer Backs Up Rumor
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Dateline: May 8, 2018
Status: Archive
Source: palmbeachpost.com
Walt Disney World should soon be getting replacements for its aging fleet of monorails, according to the retired imagineer who designed the original iconic trains for Disneyland as well as the Orlando resort.
Bob Gurr, an 86-year-old Disney legend who was hired by Walt Disney in the 1950s, appeared to confirm recent rumors during a question-and-answer session at the
Space Mountain 87 Year Old Designer Rides Roller Coaster One Last Time
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Dateline: February 8, 2018
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
For so long, his life was about speed, or, more precisely, the rate at which he could thrill people by moving them quickly forward.
Now, his life is all about slowing down.
Bill Watkins, the guy who designed the ride at Space Mountain at Disneyland and was the first to take that ride, is 87. His routine these days consists of going to the grocery store, riding
My Dad Helped Design Disneyland Here Is What the Park Was Like Before It Opened
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Dateline: September 21, 2017
Status: Archive
Source: Reminisce Extra
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
How Did Walt Disney Vision Of A Futuristic Metropolis Become A Quaint Symbol Of A Bygone Era
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Dateline: September 5, 2017
Status: Archive
Source: slate.com
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,"
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 13
Dateline: July 14, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 10
Dateline: January 9, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
"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
Todays Future
Dateline: January 9, 2017
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Slow Speed Thrills Disneyland Employee Has Driven The Main Street Fire Engine For 32 Years
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Dateline: December 21, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
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
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 9
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Dateline: October 15, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 8
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Dateline: August 16, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
This Is How Disneyland Changed In The 2000s
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Dateline: July 17, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
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
This Is How Disneyland Changed From 1956 To 1959
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Dateline: July 14, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
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
Disney Magic A Strong Magnet At Mouse Meet In Lynnwood
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Dateline: July 11, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: HearldNet
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
This Is How Disneyland Looked In 1955
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Dateline: July 11, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
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
Disneyland And Imagineering Part 7
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Dateline: June 7, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Dangerous Disneyland Mental Fatigue Part 1
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Dateline: January 6, 2016
Status: Archive
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Disneyland 60 Things You Might Not Know About The Magic Kingdom
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Dateline: July 17, 2015
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
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
How Futurist Bob Gurr Shaped Disneyland Past
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Dateline: May 18, 2015
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Magazine
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
Disneyland In 1955 Rides Now Long Gone Weird Glitches On Opening Day
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Dateline: July 18, 2014
Status: Archive
Source: Mercury News
Disneyland was dedicated during a special preview opening day on July 17, 1955. The public opening was July 18. The dedication aired on ABC at 4:30 p.m. July 17. Some details of the opening:
Park attendance: 6,000 guests were invited for the special preview opening, but an additional 22,000 showed up with counterfeit tickets, making for a total of 28,000 guests that
Disneyland Celebrates Its 59th Anniversary
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Dateline: July 17, 2014
Status: Archive
Source: CBS
Take a stroll on Main Street USA inside Disneyland in Anaheim and you will find a plaque in middle of the main square with Walt Disney's famous July 17th 1955 opening day speech.
"To all who come to this happy place, Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past. And here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.
How Counterfeiters Nearly Ruined Opening Day At Disneyland
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Dateline: May 11, 2014
Status: Archive
Source: msn.com
When ABC television host Art Linkletter greeted viewers from Disneyland on July 17, 1955, he marveled that 15,000 happy visitors were in attendance. Beaming and resplendent in his suit, Linkletter was unaware of the seven-mile gridlock backing up the Santa Ana Freeway, that children who had been trapped in cars for hours were relieving their overtaxed bladders in the
Charlie Ridgway's Long And Winding Road To Becoming A Disney Legend
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Dateline: January 22, 2014
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
The Walt Disney Company and newspapers would seem to have little in common ... except for the fact that so many key people who have either worked for or are currently in Disney's employ got their starts in the print media.
It started, of course, with Walt Disney himself, who famously delivered newspapers in Missouri after his father Elias bought a route. Walt
Disneyland Once Known As Walt Disney's Folly Turns 58 Years Old
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Dateline: July 17, 2013
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
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
These Moments Remind Us Why Disney Is Special
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Dateline: January 12, 2013
Status: Archive
Source: Fresno Bee
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.
Disneyland Memorabilia Is A Fascinating Look Back
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Dateline: August 9, 2012
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
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
A Grandmother's Magical Return To Disneyland
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Dateline: July 7, 2012
Status: Archive
Source: canada.com
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
Storm In A Teacup
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Dateline: July 30, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
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
A Brief History Of Disneyland, An American Classic
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Dateline: July 5, 2011
Status: Archive
Source: breitbart.com
"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.
Disneyland Memories
Dateline: July 1, 2011
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
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
Marvelous Mechanized Magic Kingdom
Dateline: October 1, 2010
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
About five or six months ago I received an e-mail from the 1313 Club & Ape Pen Publishing Informing me of an event to take place at the Disneyland Hotel. The event, "The Marvelous Mechanized Magic Kingdom" was to feature the talents and stories of current and former employees and imagineers as they worked for Walt over the years. The 1313 Club and Ape Pen are both are
Taking The Fast Lane To Success
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Dateline: August 6, 2010
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
In 1954, Bob Gurr was in the fast lane -- albeit a scaled-down version -- to success.
The man who would go on to become a Disney Legend five decades later was hired by Walt Disney months before the opening of Disneyland to take part in the creation of the Autopia car attraction in the Tomorrowland section of the park.
Gurr had worked previously for the Ford
Learning The Art Of Multi-Tasking
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Dateline: August 4, 2010
Status: Archive
Source: silive.com
In just about any sporting event, there often comes a key moment in the game when the outcome hangs in the balance.
A baseball player strokes a key hit in the late innings, a football player dives head-long for a crucial catch, a basketball player makes a seemingly impossible shot with the clock winding down.
They call these moments game-changers.
At the
Disneyland Memories
Dateline: April 7, 2010
Status: Current
Source: MickeyMousePark.com
Sitting here in the hub of Main Street, coffee in hand, and hands sticky from the cinnamon roll I just devoured, I would like to start my first article with the past, my past, and my early Disneyland experiences that have implanted themselves in my heart and brain over the years.
"Here age relives fond memories of the past"
-Walt Disney
Today, as a man at
He Designed Disneyland's Biggest Attraction
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Dateline: June 26, 2009
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
Bobby Gurr spent most of his time in the early 1950s cruising for an angle.
A skinny Horatio Alger with a flat-top, khakis and black horn-rimmed glasses - he floated around Detroit and Los Angeles banking on smarts, guts and luck to get him ahead. He patterned his look after Jack Webb, the tough cop in the TV show "Dragnet," wearing his white dress shirts with the
Silicon Valley Innovator Left Legacy Of Fun And Thrills
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Dateline: December 9, 2008
Status: Archive
Source: Mercury News
Karl Bacon was a quiet guy who never wanted much of a fuss. So when he died last month at 98, he almost slipped away from us without being noticed.
And that just wouldn't have been right.
Bacon was a Silicon Valley inventor who did as much for the business of laughs, squeals and butterflies in the stomach as Bill Hewlett and David Packard did for the test
New Book Covers Disneyland From A To Z
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Dateline: July 24, 2008
Status: Archive
Source: Orange County Register
The Disneyland Encyclopedia' features entries on popular attractions, trivia and insider secrets.
Like most of us, Chris Strodder vividly remembers his first trip to Disneyland, a journey to the Magical Kingdom from Northern California in the 1960s.
"The overall impression was a whirlwind of sensations, of sights and sound and smells," he says of that visit as a
Thanks For The Magic Memories
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Dateline: April 30, 2006
Status: Archive
Source: Contra Costa Times
Some people preserve family memories in scrapbooks and dresser drawers, filling them with vintage photographs of mom and dad, mementos of wartime service, souvenirs of that first trip to Disneyland.
Diane Disney Miller has all that, too -- and she's planning a museum to share it with us.
It will be a lot more than a scrapbook, but it won't look like a monument,
50 Things You Didn't Know About Disneyland
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Dateline: November 23, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
In honor of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, we present 50 cool, obscure and simply odd things you probably didn't know about the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth. Many were culled from Mouse Tales by David Koenig (Bonaventure, $19.95). Some were provided by Disney archivist Dave Smith, and others came from 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland by former park
A Park With A Powerful Spell
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Dateline: July 17, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
Disneyland opened on this day in 1955. For five decades, the Anaheim attraction has worked its magic on our culture and transformed the entertainment industry.
To build his dream theme park in Anaheim a half-century ago, Walt Disney borrowed against his life insurance policy and cashed in property, including a vacation home in Palm Springs, to pay the $17-million
Disneyland Turns 50 Magic Kingdom's Opening In 1955 Was Treat For All
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Dateline: June 19, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: TheReporter.Com
The summer of 1955 was magical for two children living in Southern California. Like thousands of others, they visited Disneyland.
But, unlike their peers, the visit by cousins Bill Krauch and Sybil Stanton was part of a revealing peak at the Magic Kingdom weeks before the park opened to the public. Walt Disney personally served as their host and tour guide.
Dear Walt, Thanks For The Memories
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Dateline: May 10, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Seattle Times
From smooching in the tunnels to wide-eyed kids and sobbing adults, our readers have been through it all in Disneyland's 50 years.
We've chosen excerpts from our favorite stories and photos among scores of tales told by readers who've paid countless visits to "The Happiest Place on Earth."
Disney's celebration begins this week and runs for 18 months - some
Disneyland At 50: Readers Share Past Disneyland Delights
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Dateline: May 5, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Arizona Republic
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
Disneyland Then And Now
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Dateline: May 1, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Sacramento Bee
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
Discovering Disneyland
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Dateline: May 1, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
You have to look quickly, and you have to know exactly where to look. But if you do, you'll catch a pretty cool inside joke at Disneyland.
On the Star Tours ride, just before your runaway Starspeeder exits the space station, keep your eye on the lower right side of the screen: You flash past what looks like a giant electron microscope. Old-timers will recognize it
Magical Memories
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Dateline: April 30, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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
Disneyland At 50: Walt's Wild Ride
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Dateline: April 17, 2005
Status: Archive
Source: Mercury News
"Hotter than hell" is how Art Linkletter, the emcee and Walt Disney's longtime friend, remembers it. "The asphalt had just been rolled and people's shoes got stuck in it. But we carried on. We didn't worry about stuff like that."
Fifty years is a long time, but those who were there when Disneyland opened its gates on July 17, 1955, still remember the tiniest details
Disneyland Turning 50
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Dateline: September 26, 2004
Status: Archive
Source: Knight-Ridder
Here's the deal with Disneyland. The two women ahead of me in line were Elizabeth and Lexi, twins fromWinnetka, Ill. Elizabeth is a communications and political science major at the University of Southern California. Lexi is a philosophy major atYale.
They knew the words to ''We Can Fly,'' a song from Walt Disney's ''PeterPan.'' It's the song the chorus sings when
Trash Or Treasure
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Dateline: May 22, 2004
Status: Archive
Source: U-Redlands
Dear Dr. J: My family recently took a trip to Disneyland and noticed the park is about to commemorate "50 years of Magic." We really went down memory lane when we set sail on the Jungle Cruise and dropped in on the birds in the Tiki Room. When we got home we found some old postcards and tickets. I imagine they are collector's items now. What do you think? -- Arlene Smith,
Disney's Dream Theme
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Dateline: May 1, 2002
Status: Archive
Source: Puget Sound Journey AAA Washington
It was sometime in the 1940s, and a young father sat on an amusement park bench, licking a Popsicle and feeling slightly disgruntled. While his two daughters rode the merry-go-round, he waited restlessly, wondering why there was no amusement park that was equally "amusing" for children and adults.
Had this been anyone else, the thought might have disappeared
It Fakes a Village
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Dateline: September 1, 2001
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Magazine
If Disneyland was once our great escape, California Adventure is an unsettling reminder of home We all live in Disneyland and we know it. The question is, What does it mean? On one hand, Southern California is a palm-studded paradise where any dream can come true. On the other, our cities are vast deserts of parking lots and strip malls, cluttered with power lines and
Steam Freaks
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Dateline: November 8, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
When Roger Broggie set me to work on the Autopia Mk I, he gave me a drafting board in a room with some interesting "olde tyme" characters from America's railroad past......steam freaks, I called them. We seemed worlds apart; they were mostly in their 50's to 70's while I was a green kid of 22. Steam railroads were their passion, sports cars and airplanes were my big
Autopia Busted! Disneyland Learns Real Engineering
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Dateline: October 11, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
At the end of Disneyland's opening week we had just two cars running out of the (37) Autopia ride vehicles built. Walt's custom car was safe on its rotating display turntable parked in Tomorrowland, while the two police cars were still running good enough for ride operators to give the tiny kids a ride. I was still repairing the cars with my own tools, working out of
Opening Day
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Dateline: September 13, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
July 17, 1955 Autopia Day of Infamy! About half the Autopia cars were taken from the ride and moved to an offstage area next to the Main Street Town Square for the Opening Day Parade. The first sign of trouble appeared as I started the cars using a kick starter on the engine while holding the rear engine hood open. The day was getting hotter and hotter, and the cars began
Autopia Testing
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Dateline: August 9, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
By April 1955, the first Autopia car body was finished and mounted on the hand-built production test chassis. The Disney Studio Machine Shop now had a complete car ready for test driving, but without any bumpers. Kaiser Aluminum was to be a sponsor of Disneyland, and their salesperson, Mel Tilley, suggested we use their aluminum for the Autopia wrap-around bumpers. WRONG!
Autopia Manufacture
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Dateline: July 12, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
Some thought Walt was nuts to get into the automobile manufacturing busines. Why not just buy one of the typical carnival type midget autos that were commercialy available. Why go to the trouble of developing Disneyland's own little Autopia car? Well, to buy just any car certainly was not Walt. His park was going to be "his" and so the cars going to be "his".
An
Chevron and Disneyland Unveil Redesigned Autopia
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Dateline: June 28, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: PR NewsWire
Disneyland and Chevron today unveiled a remodeled Autopia featuring restyled cars and roadways with interactive surprises, visual puns, unexpected road hazards and humorous billboards.
The new attraction, which officially opens to the public tomorrow, combines the Fantasyland Autopia and Tomorrowland Autopia roadways into a single attraction with access through a new
More Cars To Design, WED Life At The Studio, Beyond The 'Carneys'
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Dateline: June 14, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
My regular week-day job as a designer at Channing Wallace Gilson Industrial Design in Hollywood, just a mile from where Walt and Roy first set up camp in the 1920's no longer seemed like fun. Not when I could draw car sketches at night, then spend all day Saturdays at the Studio in Burbank caught up in the excitement of "Designing Disneyland".
Walt wanted an antique
Autopia's New Wheels
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Dateline: June 1, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: Disney Magazine
If the new Autopia at Disneyland needs a slogan, it could be "Cars are people, too." At Tomorrowland beginning June 29, guests will have the choice of three personality-filled vehicles to "drive": Suzie, a cute, curvy compact; Dusty, a rugged and roomy SUV; and Sparky, a Ferrari-like sports car. "Today, being on the open road is a common experience, but the thrill of
Sunday Dinners With The Iwerks Family, A Call To The Studio, Autopia Chassis
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Dateline: March 10, 2000
Status: Archive
Source: LaughingPlace.com
It all started with cars. Some folks on my paper route in 1944 always had neat cars. A few years later, one of the kids that lived there was in our same car club, the "Road Burners". Name was Dave Iwerks. We went hunting and fishing together. His dad had a short first name, Ub. After I returned in 1953 from a year designing cars in Detroit, I was a regular visitor at the
Disneyland And Chevron Enter Multi-Year Agreement To Upgrade Autopia
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Dateline: October 29, 1998
Status: Archive
Source: PR NewsWire
The Disneyland Resort announced today a joint 13-year marketing, promotion and sponsorship agreement with Chevron that will update and improve Disneyland's Autopia attraction. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The remodeled Autopia, tentatively scheduled to open in mid 2000, will feature new visual show elements, restyled cars, the introduction of an
Litigious World After All
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Dateline: April 16, 1995
Status: Archive
Source: Los Angeles Times
A fun-filled day at Disneyland came to an abrupt end two years ago when Edward Bates tried to help his elderly mother step from an It's a Small World boat.
A novice ride operator is alleged to have accidentally hit a switch that caused the boat to lurch, throwing Bates off his feet and wedging him between the boat and walkway. The 50-year-old truck driver from Walnut
No Mickey Mousing Around
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Dateline: March 11, 1985
Status: Archive
Source: Time
In a small courtroom in Orange County, Calif., last week, Attorney Allen Millstone pointed sadly to his wheelchair-bound client. In 1983 James Higgins had been a vigorous young man of 18 when he went to Disneyland and took a ride on Space Mountain. As the roller coaster rounded a bend, the youth was suddenly thrown from the rocket car. Through Disney's negligence, argued
Fun Factories
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Dateline: April 25, 1981
Status: Archive
Source: New Republic
The sunbelt in general, and Disneyland in particular, seemed a logical place for a demobilized veteran of the Carter battalion to reprogram his brain before jumping back into age of Reagan. So off I went. Disneyland first opened in 1955, the year some of the new Republican members of Congress were born. Its designers consciously saw it as an ideogram of America. They even
Why Ex-President Truman Would Not Ride Dumbo
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Dateline: March 10, 1980
Status: Archive
Source: People Weekly
The Idea, Walt Disney once said, was conceived on a park bench and nurtured by peanuts. "Saturday was always 'Daddy's Day' and I would take my two daughters to the merry-go-round and sit on a bench while they rode," he recalled "And sitting alone, eating peanuts, I felt there should be something built, some kind of a family park where parents and children could have fun
California's Disneyland
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Dateline: February 1, 1980
Status: Archive
Source: Better Homes & Gardens
Disneyland, the country's first truly big-time theme park, is located 27 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Anaheim. When the park opened in 1955, Walt Disney promised it would get bigger and better. Well, Disneyland is celebrating its 25th birthday this year, with a spectacle of special happenings. In fact, you may want to check into what's on tap when and schedule your
New Tomorrowland Where The Dreams Of The Future Are Reality Today
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Dateline: June 1, 1967
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
Realizing that time had naught It wish Disneyland's Tomorrowland, Walt may and his use at WED Enterprises began research in 1964 for an entirely new Tomorrowland - a $22 million project costing $5 million more than the total initial Disneyland investment.
This complete rebuilding of Disneyland's world of Tomorrow follows Walt Disney, philosophy first
Disneyland Announces New Attractions For Fall
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Dateline: October 3, 1966
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
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
Foamrubbersville
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Dateline: June 19, 1965
Status: Archive
Source: Saturday Review
Foamrubbersville: Los Angeles obviously believes in its own existence but it is hard for the visitor to share the native faith. The faith it self is as nebulous as it is intense-as all enduring faith should be-but one really needs to be born to it, for conversion comes hard. Like its central shrine, which is, of course, Hollywood, Los Angeles does finally flicker as if
A Fantasy That Paid Off
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Dateline: June 27, 1964
Status: Archive
Source: New York Times Magazine
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
Something For Everyone
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Dateline: October 1, 1959
Status: Archive
Source: Vacationland
If they took time from their own enjoyment, any guest at Disneyland any day of the year would notice something remarkably similar about all other visitors:
Everyone has fun at Disneyland!
And that means every visitor of every age - from the tiniest tots and their teen-aged brothers and sisters to their parents, aunts and uncles and their grandparents!
As
River Boat Ride Tops At Disneyland
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Dateline: September 16, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
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
Intrepid Kids Of Disneyland
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Dateline: June 28, 1958
Status: Archive
Source: Saturday Evening Post
It was a normal Sunday afternoon at Disneyland. The Gay Nineties show had just broken at the Golden Horseshoe, a make-believe salon located in the Frontierland area. The tourist-packed Mark Twain, a scaled-down reproduction of a nineteenth-century Mississippi river boat, was sailing around Tom Sawyer's Island. Stagecoach passengers were jolting through the Painted Desert,
Walt Disney's Mechanical Wonderland
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Dateline: November 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Popular Mechanics
Take one creative genius with idea, engineers with mechanical know-how, a 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, Calif., and mix thoroughly with $19,000,000. The result? Disneyland, U.S.A.
Walt Disney, the genius behind this playground, has a mind that is constantly busy with new ideas, In fact, he used to bemoan the fact that there was little to do on weekends.
But that
Father Sues Disneyland For Sons Injury
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Dateline: August 17, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
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
Variety Keynotes A Day At The Magic Kingdom
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Dateline: June 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland Holiday
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.
What Is Disneyland
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Dateline: June 1, 1957
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland Holiday
An entirely new concept in family entertainment awaits visitors at Disneyland.
From the moment you enter its nostalgic Main Street of early America, you are transported out of the world of today into a realm where time seems to stand still, where memories of the past and dreams of the future combine to ensure a day in your life that will never be forgotten.
Lost Earthlings Far More Trouble Than Any Space Travel K-7 Finds
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Dateline: December 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Pasadena Independent
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
Kids' Dream World Comes True
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Dateline: August 1, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Popular Science
Disneyland--a steel-and-concrete Never-Never Land for youngsters--has come to life at Anaheim, Calif. It's Walt Disney's fantastic kingdom dropped out of a cloud onto 160 acres. There your child can drive the car of the future, ride in a Mississippi stern-wheeler or romp through a medieval castle. If he wants a glimpse of Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland or Main
Disneyland Gates Open Celebrity Throng At Premier
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
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
Celebrities Officials Join Walt Disney To Dedicate New Era In Entertainment
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
More than 50,000 visitors were attracted to Disneyland on Monday, July 18, when the Park officially opened its gates to the general public. Reactions were mixed but highly enthusiastic, ranging from exclamations of "fantastic" to "unbelievable" and "too terrific for words to describe. Governor Goodwin J.. Knight of the State of California assisted Walt Disney and some
Tomorrowland Exhibits Show World Of Future
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
Man's activities in 1986, the world of the future, are being presented in various exhibits In Tomorrowland by some of the major corporations in the United States.
The earth's history, dating back three billion years, is portrayed through an animated display by Richfield, while the "Story of Oil," in Cinemascope, is also present. The Autopia, gasoline
Areas Of Disneyland Provide Visitors Wide Entertainment Choice
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Dateline: July 18, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Disneyland News
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
Disneyland Opened To Public
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Dateline: July 17, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Valley News
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
Walt Disney Takes Two Children Through Disneyland
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Dateline: July 10, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
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
Disneyland Gets Its Last Touches
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Dateline: July 9, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: New York Times
The final fantastic touches are being put on Disneyland. The $16,500,000 amusement park created by Walt Disney, the film producer, is scheduled to open July 18.
It covers sixty acres and is calculated to draw about 5,000,000 visitors a year.
Disneyland is situated in this citrus-ranching suburb twenty-two miles from Los Angeles. For it the appellation
All Aboard For Disneyland
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Dateline: July 1, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Westways
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,
Disneyland Digs In At Anaheim
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Dateline: February 13, 1955
Status: Archive
Source: Independent Press Telegram
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
