"Strodder's love of Southern California's famous theme park shines in this essential reference book. . . . Complete in every way. . . fun to read. . . . Essential for a Disney collector." - Library Journal
Introduction. . . . 5
Through the Turnstiles. . . . . 11
MapsPark. . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Town Square. . . . 18
Main Street. . . . . . . 20
Plaza Hub. . . . 22
Adventureland . . . . 24
New Orleans Square. . . . . . . 26
Frontierland. . . . . . . . 28
Bear Country/Critter Country . . . . . 30
Fantasyland. . . . . 32
Mickey’s Toontown. . . . . . . 34
Tomorrowland. . . . . . . . . . . 36
Encyclopedia Entries A to Z . . . . . . 38-447
Sidebars Disneyland’s Opening Day Attractions. . . . . 39
Names of the Astro-Jets. . . . . . 54
Attraction Poster Subjects. . . . 58
35 Movies That Inspired Attractions, Buildings, and Exhibits . . . . . . 62–63
22 Sponsors of Multiple Locations. . . . . . 67
Attractions and Lands “Beyond the Berm” . . . . . . 72
Approximate Speeds of 12 Attractions. . . . 75
Names of the Original Canal Boats. . . . . . . . . . 88
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 1950s . . . 96
10 Serene Hideaways. . . . . . . . . . . 102
Football Fields as Units of Distance. . . . . . 109
Movies Based on Disneyland Attractions. . . . . . 117
28 Long-Lasting Park Performers. . . . . . 124
25 Landmark Disneyland Dates . . . . . . 142
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 1960s . . . 155
FastPass Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Approximate Ride Times of Disneyland Attractions. . . .182
10 Official and Unofficial Streets Inside Disneyland 190
The Haunted Mansion’s Main Outdoor Cemetery in 2007 . . 202
10 Hidden Mickeys. . . . . . 207
A Disneyland Dozen Imported from Walt Disney World . 217
Names of the Jungle Cruise Boats . . . . . . . 229
Six Disneyland Attractions That Moved to New Locations . . . 233
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 1970s . . 240
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 1980s . . . 251
The Main Street Cinema’s Programs . . . . . . 256
Names on the Main Street Windows. . . . . . . . . 262–263
Disneyland’s Watercraft . . . . . 267
The 15 Tallest Structures in Disneyland History. . . 273
Attractions and Exhibits Permanently Closed within One Year
of Debuting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Eight Books on Minnie’s Shelves . . . . . . 287
Oldest Attractions to Be Retired. . . . . . 294
A Dozen New Orleans Square Establishments with French Names . . . .302
Then and Now at 1313 Harbor Blvd.. . . . . . 311
A Chronological List of 38 Disneyland Parades. . . 316
Photo Collages . . . . . . 328
Disneyland’s Pin Trading Stations in 2007. . . . . . 330
Approximate Train Distances. . . . . . 349
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 1990s . . 362
12 Terrific Views. . . . . . . . 369
A Dozen Disney Movies Not Represented with Attractions or Exhibits at Disneyland . . . . 381
Estimated Costs of 20 Disneyland Projects. . . 387
13 Attractions, 13 Theme Songs . . . . . . . . 392
A Dozen Cool Queues. . . . . . 396
Names of the Storybook Land Canal Boats . . . 399
Names of the Submarine Voyage’s Subs. . . . 402
Ticketed Attractions, 1955–1982. . . . . . 411
Major Attractions and Exhibits Added in the 2000s . . . 415
Tombstones in the Tom Sawyer Island Cemetery . . . 424
10 Live Stage Shows at the Fantasyland Theater, 1989–2006. . .435
Appendix: Land by Land in Disneyland . . . . 449
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . 463
Two Recommended DVDs. . . . . . 466
Ten Recommended Web Sites . . . . . . 466
About the Author. . . . 467
About the Illustrator. . . . . . 467
Index . . . . . . . . . 468
*The DVD is not included with the digital version of this book.
The Disneyland EncyclopediaJungle Cruise
CHRONOLOGY: July 17, 1955–ongoing
HISTORY: Arguably the most important attraction during Disneyland’s first decade was the Jungle
Cruise. From 1955 until the 1962 arrival of the nearby Swiss Family Treehouse, it was the only major attraction in all of Adventureland. What’s more, with its land and water covering approximately three southwest acres of the park, the Jungle Cruise has always been one of Disneyland’s largest single attractions. And it has also been one of the most heavily promoted. Even before the park opened, the Disneyland TV series previewed the coming cruise—in one episode Walt Disney even drove a car through the unfilled river while touting the wonders to come.
Once the park opened, the early souvenir books devoted more space and photos to the Jungle Cruise than any other attraction. Calling the attraction the Explorer Boat Ride, the River Boat Ride, the Jungle River Boat Ride, the Jungle River Boat Safari, and finally (in 1959) the Jungle Cruise, the souvenir books of the ’50s liberally sprinkled colorful photos of the boats and colorful adjectives about the scenery found along the nine-minute E-ticket ride. The enthusiastic text described how “adventure lurks at every bend” of this “jungle wonder world” filled with “thrills and excitement” and flowers “ablaze with color.” The 1969 hardcover Walt Disney’s Disneyland souvenir book opened and closed with four full-page photos of hippos and
a boat and then devoted two and a half interior pages to a detailed description of what it suggested as “Disneyland’s finest achievement.” If Sleeping Beauty Castle was the park’s iconic building, the Jungle Cruise was its signature attraction.
As with the Painted Desert area of Frontierland, the Jungle Cruise incorporated themes and images from Disney’s True-Life Adventure films of the ’50s, in this case the 75-minute documentary The African Lion. The original attraction poster for the Jungle Cruise italicized this connection with the words “For true life adventure, ride the Jungle River,” though what the imaginative art showed—a colossal elephant towering over the jungle and guests who were standing in a boat—wasn’t exactly “true life.” Disney Legend Harper Goff laid out the four-foot-deep river and drew some of the first concept sketches of the scenery along its teeming banks, taking some of his ideas from another ’50s movie, the 1951 Oscar-winning classic The African Queen. Africa, though, isn’t the only setting for the Jungle Cruise. Scenes along the waterway actually suggest different international rivers, including the Amazon, the Mekong, the Congo, and the Nile. Landscaper Morgan “Bill” Evans made creative use of exotic plants as he planted the dense foliage that soon filled in like real jungles of the world.
Early plans called for real animals to populate the jungle and the river, but that idea was quickly scotched when designers realized that jungle wildlife usually sleeps out of view all day, and even those beasts not sleeping would probably be hiding from noisy, intrusive boats. Eventually, dozens of realistic mechanical animals and natives went...