Disneyland Hotel Room- 1970

Bonus photo. Same young man, 8 years later with his sister.

Look at that room! Rob Heiser sent these photo of his first trip to Disneyland. He and his grandparents drove down from the Bay Area and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. Look closely behind Rob's grandfather at what's hanging on the door. It has the old, old Disneyland logo and mentions the "Maid". 

During this time, Disneyland Hotel was still owned and operated by Jack Wrather, a friend of Walt Disney. It was later purchased by The Walt Disney Company under the direction of Michael Eisner.

Thank you, Rob and family for this great look into a 1970 Disneyland Hotel room.

Disneyland- December, 1956... The week after Christmas

From the looks of things, the week after Christmas wasn't always super over-crowded like it is today.

A few observations:

Photo 1- Look closely at the highest part of the Railroad Station. Are those Christmas ornaments? Also, check out the chain-link fence and the barbed wire.

Photo 2- Cartoony plywood flats mounted right over Main Street windows. I don't think I've ever seen this one before. And I'm loving the color palette of the the Penny Arcade. That facade has looked great all these years.

Photo 3- The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship and Restaurant! No Christmas decor here, that I can see. And no Skull Rock. That was added in 1960. Also, no sails. Check out the Skyway bucket in the corner.

Photo 4- Some pretty large trees for this era. And those attraction posters!

Photo 5- THE VIEWLINER. And the VIEWLINER SIGN. Are those safety warnings?? Way back in 1956? Or attraction information?

Photo 6- THE MOONLINER. And we can see a bit of the Flight Circle, where flying model airplanes were demonstrated. At this time the Flight Circle was sponsored by Wen-Mac, as seen on the flag. Did you know the Flight Circle stuck around way up until 1965?

A huge thanks to Jon Clark for sending us these terrific old photos.

Treasure Island- 1975

Let's look at Walt Disney World's abandoned Treasure Island (renamed Discovery Island in 1978). The first image shows us a beautiful view of the birds from what would be later called the "Jose Carioca Flyers" show at the CooCoo Cabana. Next we see Flamingo Lagoon. The third photo is a great view of what was then called Cap'n Flint's Perch. 

A big thanks to Jeffrey for sending these and many other great photos.

Disneyland- July, 1986

Some more beautiful Disneyland photos sent to us by Link Dupont, a reader of the blog. These are meaningful to me because my earliest memories of Disneyland are from the early and mid 80s.

A few things I noticed in these photos: The Bank of America sign in photo 1. Today you can still see the old bank vault but the bank is no longer. I remember working at Disneyland in the late 90s and learning about all the many services the bank offered to guests. They would exchange foreign currency, cash checks, etc. People were using cash much more then than they are now. Of all the now-extinct things Main Street, U.S.A., I think a bank has more reason to be extinct than the rest. 

In photo 2 we see Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip riding actual horses! There should be more of that.

Pinocchio and Geppetto resting on a bench is fun in photo 3. This was back when characters had far fewer rules.

Submarine Voyage is still going strong in photo 4. This sub was called "Seeker".

In photo 5 we get a beautiful look at a clean, complete Indian Village.

Thanks, Link, for the photos!

Hop Aboard Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland

Check out the view from the front passenger car! And look at the town of Rainbow Ridge nestled up against those huge trees. What are those yellow lines on the pavement in photo 2? Is that stroller parking?

Learn more about Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland here. 

Excellent photos submitted by Ray Osburn.

The Crow Family, Disneyland- c. 1971

We go back to 1971ish and join the Crow family from San Diego. Why do a couple of you girls look grumpy? Disneyland is in a near-perfect state. Go over to Tomorrowland and enjoy a near-perfect land. Go ride Mine train Thru Nature's Wonderland. Go get me photos of Frito Kid!

Great, colorful photos submitted by Anna-Marie aka Ponine.

River Country Fun [Part 4]

We conclude the Smith family's visit to Walt Disney World's River Country, "The Greatest Water Adventure of All". In the third phots we see a rare look at the entrance/exit walkway leading to/from the water park.

Might I add... as much as we might all miss River County, Walt Disney World has two excellent water parks still in operation today. Both are beautiful and terribly fun.

Thanks Smith Family!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

River Country Fun [Part 3]

A relaxing day at the ol' watering hole.

Also see Part 1 and Part 2. How does River Country look today? Look at these photos of a rotting River Country if you dare.

River Country Fun [Part 2]

More River Country fun! Look at that old water wagon.

Also enjoy Part 1.

River Country Fun [Part 1]

"Disney's River Country" continues to be the most popular search term that leads people to this site. Remember these photos of the now-abandoned River Country?

I'm thrilled to share a several excellent photos sent by Raschell Smith Peschke and the Smith family who you may remember sent these gems.