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Park
layout
King
Arthur Carrousel
Walt
Disney felt that no park was complete without
a carousel. Therefore, an 1875 Dentzel park model
carousel which had operated since 1922 at Sunnyside
Park in Toronto, Ontario was taken from Sunnyside
and moved to Disneyland just before the park opened
in 1955.
The
carousel has been significantly altered since
then. The original chariots were removed and used
as cars on the "Casey Jr. Circus Train"
attraction. A Wurlitzer #157 band organ is on
the carousel, but does not operate. Motifs from
The Sword In The Stone were used in 1955 to replace
elements of the carousel. Original inner rounding
boards were replaced with mirrors, and the jester
and princess head shields on the outer rounding
boards have been extensively altered also.
The
carousel has seventy-two horses, carved in Germany
in the late 19th century. Some of the horses were
taken from a Stein and Goldstein carousel and
another carousel in 1955 to add a fourth row,
completely made of jumpers and operated by a custom-built
crankshaft. Standers on the original three rows
were converted to jumpers in 1955. Because of
the overwhelming popularity of the carousel's
single white horse, all horses have been painted
white since 1976.
King
Arthur Carrousel (sic) reopened in February 2003
after extensive renovations. These renovations
included a new computerized operating system that
stops the carousel in the same spot every time,
and the replacement of about half of the mirrors
with scenes from Sleeping Beauty.
King
Arthur Carrousel is a major attraction in Fantasyland,
and was featured during the finale number, When
You Wish Upon A Star, in a Sing Along Songs videocassette
featuring Disneyland Park.
Tomorrowland
In
Walt Disney's words, "Tomorrow can be a wonderful
age. Our scientists today are opening the doors
of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit
our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland
attractions have been designed to give you an
opportunity to participate in adventures that
are a living blueprint of our future."
Tomorrowland's
showpiece was his TWA Rocket to the Moon, derived
from his historic "Man in Space" set
of three television shows in the 1950s. It in
turn was derived from the first spectacular ride
from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, the trip
to the moon ride which eventually became the anchor
ride and namesake for Coney Island's Luna Park.
In the 1970s, the interior of the ride was updated,
and its destination was changed to Mars.
Another
initial exhibit was Monsanto's "House of
Tomorrow," a plastic house with four wings
cantilevered from a central plinth. This too had
its precursors at World's Fairs, though in those
cases they were simply homes with modern conveniences
and aimed at housewives.
Walt
Disney was never completely satisfied with Tomorrowland.
The area underwent a major transformation in 1967
to become "New Tomorrowland," and then
again in 1998 when its focus was changed to present
a "retro-future" theme reminiscent of
the illustrations of Jules Verne. Tomorrowland
changed yet again in 2005, with a new blue, silver,
white, and gold paint scheme, similar to its 1967-1997
paint scheme, but with a small mixture with its
1998 scheme. Space Mountain returned to its classic
white look during this repaint of Tomorrowland.
Current
attractions include the popular Space Mountain,
which opened in 1977; and Star Tours, a futuristic
Star Wars ride created as a collaboration between
George Lucas and Disney Imagineers.
Just
opened in 2005 is Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters,
which first appeared at the Magic Kingdom at Walt
Disney World in Florida. The Submarine Voyage,
which closed in 1998, will reopen in 2006 or 2007
with a Finding Nemo theme.
New
Orleans Square
New
Orleans Square was among the last additions
to Disneyland overseen by Walt Disney himself.
Opened in 1966, it is meant to capture the flavor
and architectural detail of New Orleans's Bourbon
Street.
New
Orleans Square is also home to a private club
and restaurant, Club 33, located above the "Blue
Bayou Restaurant" around the corner from
the entrance to the Pirates Of The Caribbean.
Not open to the general public and rarely mentioned
in any of the park's promotional material, Club
33's membership costs around $7,500-$10,000 per
year with a waiting list several years long. The
entrance to the club is a plain blue door, marked
only with an address plaque bearing the number
"33", immediately to the right of the
Blue Bayou. It is the only place in Disneyland
where alcoholic beverages are served.
Morse
Code can be heard at the train station in New
Orleans Square. The transmission is the first
two sentences from Walt Disney's opening day speech
on July 17, 1955. "To all who come to this
happy place, welcome. Here age relives fond memories
of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge
and promise of the future"
Critter
Country
Critter
Country opened in 1972 as "Bear Country,"
and was renamed in 1988. Its main draw is Splash
Mountain a log flume attraction themed after the
animated segments of Disney's 1946 movie Song
of the South. In 2003, a dark ride called The
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh replaced the
long-running Country Bear Jamboree, a show featuring
singing Audio-Animatronic bears.
Mickey's Toontown
Opened
in 1993 and patterned after "Toontown"
in the Disney/Touchstone Pictures 1988 release
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey's Toontown looks
like a 1930s Max Fleischer cartoon short come
to life. The land is built like the town where
Dis
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