Disneyland Past

Originally Posted By PirateGirl121

Has anyone ever noticed the traces of Disney's past in the parks? like the moose heads in pooh or the base to the house of the future in tommorrowland?

I just think its interesting and if anyone has more to please tell me

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

There's a ton of stuff in all the parks, but DL seems to be especially good about keeping past parts of things around. I know I'm missing a ton of them but here are some off the top of my head:

The rocket-shaped shelves in the store at the Buzz exit are actual vehicles from the Rocket Jets.

The various rocks around Big Thunder Ranch are all from the old Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland and were part of the Painted Desert scene. The tunnel leading up to the pond is from the Bear Country scene.

The sound of Brer Bear snoring before the first drop on Splash Mountain is the same recording that was "Rufus" on top of the hill leading to Bear Country (the land, not part of Mine Train) where Splash now sits.

The wall next to where the pardes come out on Main Street was a temporary construction wall they put up just before the park opening in 1955 and it's remained since then.

There's an Eyore sign from the old parking lot in the Indy queue, because the building was placed in that part of the parking lot.

There's a brief glimpse of the Mighty Microscope from Adventure Through Inner Space near the beginning of Star Tours, since it used to be in that building.

The House of the Future's foundation is still in place more than 30 years after it left the park. It's barely hidden with some vines and small bushes in Triton Gardens.

 

Originally Posted By imadisneygal

Actually, Max, Buff and Melvin are all inside Winnie the Pooh. The microscope from Adventure Through Inner Space is in Star Tours (in the movie part just after you actually launch). A sign from the Eeyore section of the old Parking Lot is inside The Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Of course Splash Mountain is inhabited by many, many audioanimatronic characters who used to reside in America Sings. I have to go get my boarding pass for my Southwest flight tomorrow but I'll be back with more!

 

Originally Posted By imadisneygal

Oops! FerretAfros beat me to it! The whole thing is fascinating to me. I just love the history that is still in the Parks.

 

Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove

This is great fun! Keep it up, everyone! It'll be fun to do a treasure hunt next time I go.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

The village near the queue for Big Thunder was originally the loading area for the Mine Train and Pack Mules that took up the same general area. The town is called Rainbow Ridge because it was part of the facade that hid the Rainbow Caverns building from the rest of the park.

The rafts to the Pirates Lair are the exact same ones that were once used to ferry guests back and forth to Tom Sawyer Island, but with new names! : )

There is an abandoned keel boat sitting in the river that used to be part of the Mike Fink Keel Boats attraction, and guests actually rode in them.

There's a small sign telling you to "Mind Thy Head" in Tarzan's Treehouse, which is left over from when the Swiss Family lived there. Supposedly there's also a branch that still has the original leaves (shaped more like an elm-plain oval-than the palm-like ones), but I've never been able to find it.

Supposedly the shadows of the sword fighting pirates on the left just after the big battle scene in POTC (just before the well) use a projector that was originally used on one of the Light Magic floats.

There is a pair of chairs in the Tiki Room. They're left over from the early design stages, when the attraction was going to be a restaurant. They were created as a test of what they would look like, but the idea behind the attraction changed before it opened. They are some of the best seats, because they actually have backs on them!

The satellite "art" in the center of Tomorrowland is actually the old ride mechanism from the Rocket Jets, just rethemed. It was also the same mechanism used for the Astro Jets before it was placed on top of the platform and rethemed, and supposedly it was made from part of an army tank.

The truck at the entrance to Indiana Jones was the same one used in the chase scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark (I know, not DL history), and they brought it to the site before the concrete was dry. You can still see the tread marks from when they backed it into place (and had to try a second time!)

There's a palm tree right next to the Jungle Cruise boathouse that looks like it goes through where the roof should go (the end of a beam sticks out past it). It's left over from the days of the orange groves, and when the land was sold to Disney, they had to agree that they would never cut down that and another palm tree, both of which were quite conveniently already located in the JC area.

The original train route was much smaller than the one we have now. You can still see the hill that ran behind Fantasyland, as it also serves as the back side of Storybookland and part of the Skyway station's hill.

I think that's about all I can think up right now...

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

>>There's a small sign telling you to "Mind Thy Head" in Tarzan's Treehouse, which is left over from when the Swiss Family lived there. Supposedly there's also a branch that still has the original leaves (shaped more like an elm-plain oval-than the palm-like ones), but I've never been able to find it.<<
Look up and under the room as you walk down the stairs to exit into the camp area. The branch is under the lowest room.

AND... You will find the sun and moon from an old pre-show of CircleVision in the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters attraction. After passing through the small, dark "lightspeed" tunnel into the room with Buzz and Zurg, look back up above the tunnel into the dark. They are up there.

 

Originally Posted By ExpDave

"There is a pair of chairs in the Tiki Room. They're left over from the early design stages, when the attraction was going to be a restaurant."

This may be a bit off topic for DL, but I'm living in FL now (I do prefer DL to the MK). Anyway the Tiki Room has always been my favorite Disney Attraction and they really messed up the one here in FL. I never thought that I could be offended by a Disney attraction, but the way this "Under new management" Tiki show makes fun of and insults the original I was very much offended and insulted. I will NEVER visit the MK Tiki room again as it is now.

But, FerretAfros reminded me of something I think could be really cool. This is also more of what I believe Walt originally had in mind for the Tiki Room. Just another of his ideas that was ahead of it's time.

Bring back essentially the original show and make it a restaurant. BUT - also make it part of the living characters initiative (or whatever that's called).
The restaurant would be reservations only where hopefully they could get a bit more information then just the names in the party, at least birthdays and such. And at least the main characters would interact with the audience through the dinner show.

It would not allow the same capacity, but I don't believe that the Tiki Room is drawing standing room only type crowds now anyway. It could enhance guest experience and honer Walt by bringing his original vision to fulfillment, rather than insulting Walt like the MK show does now!

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

That's actually what part of the design for the Game Room of Club 33 was originally planned for. They had stuffed animal heads on all the walls, and a couple of them were going to be AA's. There were microphones installed in the chandeliers (actually still there!), and a CM in a nearby room would control the conversation through the heads. They never completed the idea, but there are still microphones there, and the CM's room is now used as a storage closet.

 

Originally Posted By PirateGirl121

Thanks for what ive heard so far and has anyone heard that the ticket booths are still at the park in fanatsyland??

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

There are a couple places in Fantasyland where the old ticket booths can still be found. The lighthouse at Storybookland was originally one of the ticket boots, as was the giant mushroom with the book on top at Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure, but I would also assume that the bottom floor of the Matterhorn chalet (where the two lines run on either side of a pretty small room) was also one, but I haven't heard that anywhere, it's just a guess.

 

Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove

Ferret, you are a jewel. Thank you.

 

Originally Posted By Pollyana

I need to print this stuff. Wow, I am going on a history hunt in June. Thanks all for the info. I don't know that much about Dland, as I started going in the 70's. I love gathering new pieces of trivia...

 

Originally Posted By DlandDug

The original ticket booth for Casey jr. Circus Train is also in place. It is the tiny, whimsical depot on the boarding platform.

Yes, the ticket window for the Matterhorn still exists.

Fun hidden item: The ticket window for the Main Street Opera House is concealed behind the framed poster to the left of the entrance. I saw it a few years ago.

 

Originally Posted By ThinkTink1987

Can anyone provide photos of some of these things? I have searched for some of these before and couldn't find some. I would like to see them so i can enjoy them the next time i go. THANKS

 

Originally Posted By DBitz2

There's a couple of props from the movie Hot Lead and Cold Feet at Big Thunder Mountain. They are the steam engine contraptions from the race in the movie. One is in the queue, below the town. The other is at the rear of the attraction, across from the entrance to Big Thunder Ranch closest to Fantasyland.

The treasure chest from the first Pirates movie is in the treasure scene in Pirates, as are some of the other treasure props in the treasure scene.

I read somewhere, too, that the chair that Jack Sparrow is sitting in in his last scene is from the set of The Haunted Mansion movie.

The book "Disneyland Detective" by Kendra Trahan has a lot of this kind of Park trivia. As does Kevin Yee's Disneyland book, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

 

Originally Posted By Skippy

Here's the lighthouse that used to be a ticket booth:
<a href="http://www.ruama.com/gallery/2517027_zyR5S/1/132203780_u4Da5/Medium" target="_blank">http://www.ruama.com/gallery/2...5/Medium</a>

 

Originally Posted By ThinkTink1987

To think I have been on the Storybook Ride a million times and never noticed the light house as an old ticket booth. I am still young though, I was born after they stopped using tickets.

 

Originally Posted By Skippy

I did some searching around and found this website that has some pictures of it when it was apparently still a ticket booth.
<a href="http://www.matterhorn1959.com/blog1/storybookland.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.matterhorn1959.com/...land.jpg</a>

 

Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove

Man, Skippy, you rock!