Part 1 was a hit so we came back for round two of The Lost Attractions of Disneyland! Find out more about the attractions, parades, shows, restaurants and encounters that have come and gone from the Disneyland Resort over the years. Also, COVID closure updates, new merch, Sean auditions for the Haunted Mansion and much much more!
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- Topic 1 - This Week in Disneyland history
- 1928:
- Walt Disney's trademark application for "Mickey Mouse" is filed with the United States Patent Office.
- 1971:
- Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes debuts in Disneyland. Originally called Indian War Canoes, the attraction opened on July 4, 1956, as part of Frontierland's Indian Village expansion, with real American Indian guides aboard every canoe. Guests used a "D ticket" to ride the attraction. The Indian War Canoes closed with Indian Village in 1971 but reopened on May 19 as Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, inspired by the Davy Crockett miniseries, with the guides now wearing coonskin caps. It is one of only two attractions in Disneyland to be in three different lands without ever being moved. Frontierland, Bear Country, Critter Country
- 1997:
- Disneyland's Mike Fink Keelboats re-closes for only the second time in the attraction's history.
- 1998:
- The new Disneyland Tomorrowland is unveiled after being given an extreme facelift. Various dedications will take place over the next 2 days. Among the special guests are legendary astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Wally Schirra.
- 1999:
- Disneyland hosts the official homecoming of Army Staff Sergeant Andrew Ramirez, Staff Sergeant Christopher Stone, and Specialist Steven Gonzales. It is the first time the three U.S. soldiers, who had been captured by Serbian forces on March 31, stand on American soil since their release from captivity.
- 2000:
- The Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean Celebration is held inside the Main Street Opera House, to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of one of the most popular rides at the park. Special guests include Harriett Burns, the very first woman hired as an Imagineer.
- 2007:
- A gala premiere for the feature Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End takes place at Disneyland. Johnny Depp and his fellow actors attend the world premiere
- 2011:
- Guests get the public’s first glimpse of Disneyland's revamped Star Tours. (The attraction will open to the general public on June 3.)
- 2015:
- The premiere performances of "Paint the Night" parade and "Disneyland Forever" fireworks takes place at Disneyland park. Both additions to Disneyland's 60th birthday bash (which kicks off the following day), the parade and fireworks are broadcast live on the Disney Parks blog.
- Topic 2 - News
- Construction has resumed on Avenger’s Campus as well as the site for Mickey & Minnie’s runaway railway in ToonTown. All work is being done by limited essential crews that include Imagineers and additional contractors. Other construction regarding refurbs (like HM and Snow White) is still on hold.
- The Dapper Day events that were tentatively scheduled for the summer have been cancelled. There are talks of a possible small marketplace being held in August in place of the normal expo. As of now all November events are still taking place as planned.
- Disney Springs phased re-opening to begin May 20. Still no date for Disneyland opening yet.
- Topic 3 - Merch
- More free merch! Disney released a few additional desktop and mobile backgrounds through photopass. There is an amazing mobile wallpaper of fireworks at the castle available to download. These will expire on 6/27 so go get them downloaded now.
- Artist Series “Bambi and Forest Friends” Dooney & Bourke Collection released on shopDisney. The pattern features bambi, meeko, thumper, flower and Tod and Copper from Fox and the Hound. The collection includes a wristlet wallet, tote and satchel.
- A new Haunted Mansion board game called “Call of the Spirits” is being released by Funko later this year. They have not put any additional information regarding gameplay or an exact release date on their website as of yet, but I’d assume if they’re looking to release later this year that it’ll be in October to keep it spooky!
- Loungefly has some more merch coming soon. If you check out entertainmentearth.com, you can find all the new Disney Loungefly pieces that are available for pre-order. There is a Toy Story Pizza Planet/Little Green Men mini backpack, a 101 dalmations pouch and standard backpack, and inside emotions pouch and standard backpack and a bing bong backpack and a Princess dress patterned pouch and backpack. Everything is ranging from $10-75 with releases in May and June.
- An inflatable space crane ball pit is new on shopDisney. It comes with 100 plastic balls to fill up the base and the crane doubles as a hoop to shoot the balls through. Super cute and easy alternative to going to the park during this time. $49.99.
- Topic 4 - Hidden Mickey with the Kid
- Topic 5 - Food
- Topic 6 - Events/Entertainment
- This week on #DrawWithDisneyAnimation, artists who worked on The Princess and the Frog are showing you how to draw characters from the film! Learn how to draw Tiana from the character’s Lead Key Cleanup Animator Rachel Bibb.
- The D23 Podcast this week features Disney Legend Bob Gurr in which he talks about what it was like working with Walt Disney, filming the Imagineering Story and more. The episode is about 30 minutes long and can be found on the D23 website.
- Hamilton is being added to Disney+ on 7/3 starring the original broadway cast.
- MAIN - The lost attractions of Disneyland part 2
- Over 150 lost attractions, restaurants, shops, parades and fireworks shows
- General Electric Carousel of Progress (1967–1973):
- A sit-down show in which the building rotated the audience around a series of stages. The stages had audioanimatronic humans and household appliances showing how appliances and electronics advanced about every 20 years from the turn of the century to the "modern" era of the early 1960s. The audience stopped in front of each stage while the characters joked with each other, described life at the time in history, and demonstrated their kitchen. This ride originated at the 1964 New York World's Fair and was installed at Disneyland after the fair closed. In 1974, Carousel of Progress was moved to Florida's Walt Disney World, and the show building was used for America Sings and Innoventions.
- The PeopleMover
- a train ride that ran along an elevated track
- First built in 1961
- A great way to relax and enjoy a unique view of Tomorrowland
- Closed in 1995
- Rocket Rods
- People mover closed in 1995 as part of a Tomorrowland overhaul
- Repurposed track
- Dragster-style thrill attraction - more thrilling than PM
- Overhead view of TL
- Quick launch
- Slowed down at every turn - they lost GM sponsor/budget - didn’t build in banked turns on the flat PM track
- Speed up/slow down
- Not thrilling enough/Too thrilling
- Long wait times
- Mechanical issues
- Infrastructure wasn’t altered to accommodate the quick/slow - stress on track & vehicles
- After weeks went down for 3 months to try to fix
- Still constantly breaking down
- Track and structure was breaking down, making it unsafe - cracks, broken concrete - lawsuit
- Closed again in 2000 to reopen Spring 2001
- Didn’t reopen - announced permanent closure
- Sad skeleton in the middle of TL
- Videopolis (1985–1995):
- A nighttime dance club targeted at young adults. Videopolis featured television monitors playing modern music videos and also hosted live musical acts. It also featured its very own snack bar, "Yumz". Videopolis was converted into an amphitheatre in 1990 and was renamed Fantasyland Theatre in 1995.
- Mike Fink Keel Boats (1956–1994, 1996–1997):
- The Mike Fink Keel Boats were based on two episodes of the Davy Crockett miniseries which aired on the Disneyland TV show in 1955 -- "Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race" (Nov 16) and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14). The ride was named after Mike Fink, the "King of the River" who lost the keel boat race.
- The two 38-foot boats, the Gullywhumper and the Bertha Mae, were the actual props that had been used in making the TV shows a few months earlier.
- The boats were free-floating and traveled around Tom Sawyer Island Riders would sit on benches either inside the cabin or on the roof of the cabin.
- 1997, the Disneyland Gullywhumper boat began to rock side to side. It capsized, dumping a full boatload of passengers into the Rivers of America, leaving several with minor injuries.
- The boat was removed from the waters for inspection and neither the Gullywhumper nor the Bertha Mae returned for the next operating season.
- The Bertha Mae was put up on Disney's eBay Auction Site and was sold for $15,000 to Richard Kraft, and was later featured in a scene from Kraft's documentary Finding Kraftland. It was billed as an unseaworthy craft.
- In 2003, the Gullywhumper returned to the Rivers of America as a prop and is moored on Tom Sawyer Island, where it is visible from the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and the Explorer Canoes.
- Swiss Family Treehouse (1962–1999):
- Treehouse based on the film Swiss Family Robinson. Rethemed as Tarzan's Treehouse in 1999 and still open under that name.
- Jolly Trolley (1993–2003):
- The Jolly Trolley was a Trolley providing transportation from one end of Toontown to the other. Closed due to crowded walkways presenting major safety hazards, meaning the trolleys could only operate on days with sparse crowds. The Jolly Trolley's track is still present in the main walkway of Toontown, and one car stands stationary in the middle of Toontown.
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