Main Street USA - Little Known Facts

Main Street USA! Every visitor's first taste of Disney magic. It starts with this amazing view of the trains station. If that doesn't say welcome, I don't know what does!

Main Street USA was inspired by Walt's home town of Marcelline, Missouri. When he started planning Disneyland, Imagineer Harper Goff showed Walt some pictures of his home town of Fort Collins, Colorado around the turn of the 19th century, and Walt like it. So Main Street USA is part Marcelline, part Fort Collins, and a lot of Harper Goff's and Walt Disney's imaginations.


These cannons in the main hub were actually used by the French Army in the 1800's but were never used in battle.


In the Opera House, which houses Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, also showcases this amazing caenstone sculpture by French artist George Lloyd. He sculpted it in 1932 and gave it to Walt Disney in 1962. It was placed in the Opera House in 1965 with the opening of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Walt Disney had an apartment built above the Firehouse on Main Street. Whenever he was in the park, he turned on a light to let employees know he was present. A light now burns in the window all the time as a tribute to Walt.


The gas lamps on Main Street are antique gas burning lamps from the 1800's. Most of the lamps were purchased by imagineer Emile Kuri from Baltimore, Maryland and installed them in the park in 1955.

This cigar store indian harkens back to a time when trade stores were recognized by a symbol - barber shop poles, scissor for tailors and Native Americans were associated with tobacco products since they were given credit for introducing tobacco to Europeans. When Disneyland first opened, the stores that are now music stores actually sold tobacco, and since Main Street is supposed to represent an all-American town around the turn of the 20th century, the cigar store indian was set out front as a symbol. It's still there, even through the tobacco store is long gone.

The Plaza Inn is one of our favorite places to eat. The building has some interesting things about it -- It is one of the original restaurants from the opening of Disneyland in 1955, and was originally called the Red Wagon Inn. It was one of Walt's favorite restaurants in the park. It has some actual antique furnishings and decorations from the 1800's and the stained glass ceiling and woodwork from the old St. James home in Los Angeles. It is said that Lillian Disney had a big part in the decor of the Plaza Inn. She loved antiques!Probably one of the icons of Main Street is the Partners statue, sculpted by Blaine Gibson and was originally installed in WDW, but this copy was installed in main hub in Disneyland in 2001. It is a lovely addition to the central passage way of Disneyland and epitomizes the feeling of Walt when he said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."

This is Not the Center of Disneyland

That's right folks! Contrary to popular folklore, this gold dot under the back side of Sleeping Beauty's Castle does not represent the very center of Disneyland. There are a lot of stories regarding this and various debates, but it appears that this little gold dot is merely a spot for
surveyors. It does line up directly down the center line of Main Street and up to the Train Station, but unfortunately is not the very center of Disneyland.





This aerial photo shows Disneyland back in the 1950's with the central hub as the center as noted by the intersecting red lines. The blue line at the back is approximately where the golden spike is located, making it obvious that the spike is not the center, but rather on the central line allowing surveyors to estimate elevation and such.

photo from smd4

With the addition of Toon Town, the center has moved farther North, but the spike still isn't the center. And since it was there before Toon Town, it can't be surmised that it was placed there to represent the very center of Disneyland.

This becomes a heated topic for some, which I find rather entertaining! If you would like to read a few of these discussions, here are a few sites that discuss this little golden spot.

Mousepad Discussion

Visions Fantastic

Finding Mickey

Enjoy!

Matterhorn Turns 50

June 18, 1959 the Matterhorn Bobsled ride was opened in Disneyland Park.

Walt Disney returned from Switzerland where they were filming "Third Man on the Mountain," a 1959 Disney film based on James Ramsey Ullman's novel, Banner in the Sky, and set about getting a 1/100th scale model of Switzerland's famous Matterhorn mountain built in the middle of Disneyland.

When Disneyland opened in 1955, the Skyway ride from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland was held up in the middle by a large, tall structure. Walt thought the Matterhorn would be a wonderful way to conceal the unsightly "pole." So the W.E.B Imagineers and a construction company set about building the enormous mountain so that it would not only cover the pole, but also allow for a roller coaster to run throught the mountain.

When it was finished, The Matterhorn Bobsleds ride was the first ever tubular steel track roller coaster in the world.

The Matterhorn Mountain has changed many times over the years due to rennovations and improvements, but since 1959 it has remained an icon of the Disneyland skyline.

In the springtime.

In the summertime.

There are two of these impressions. This one at the front of the mountain as you approach it from the central plaza, and


And this one that is out in front of the queue. the sign below each one says:

Cast of footprint discovered by Matterhorn Expedition
South Slope
May 27, 1978

Sometimes climbers can be seen on the side of the slopes, including Minnie, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto. I have found this to be fairly rare.




Several of the rennovations have included filling in large holes in the mountain that were there for the Skyway.






The ride itself is supposed to mimic bobsled rides, and the steel tubular track really makes you feel as if you are in a bobsled sliding down an icy track.



In the 1994/1995 rennovations, the mountain got a new resident - the Abomidable Snowman!



Here are a few things you may not have noticed when you were on the ride:

See the tiny black hidden Mickey on this decorative plaque? This is in the right queue.




As you pass this icy vignette, you might have noticed the abandoned gear in the botton right corner from the Wells Expedition. This is a tribute to former Walt Disney Co. President, Frank Wells. He was apprently a mountain climber and died in a helicopter crash in 1994. During the 1995 rennovations when they took out the skyway, this tribute was added.

This one you won't notice, but there is a small basketball hoop and key within the mountain for the mountain climbers to use on their breaks. A few people other than cast members have also gotten to play here:


This is a picture of former LA Laker Vlade Divac and an LA DJ playing some on-on-one.

If you've never gotten a chance to ride The Matterhorn Bobsleds, here is a little virtual ride for you.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Disneyland turned 54 yesterday!! I sure wish I could have been there to commemorate the day, but maybe next years when it turns 55.

"To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past...and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”

Here are a few glimpses of that wonderful day 54 years ago.

You can see all the action here:

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad, Wolf?

In 1933, Walt Disney and Company released it's first short film in color. It was a much discussed move from the black and white shorts and the cost at first seemed prohibitive. Along with adding color to this short, Walt also wanted to set it to music. Frank Churchill was brought in to write a song to move the story along. It was a risky move and one that Disney hoped would pay off. It didn't take long, for the Three Little Pigs to take off and become a huge success.

In 1934, it won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject, and the title song, "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf" became a best selling single, and kind of became an anthem for the Depression-weary Americans. It was voted one of the top 50 Greatest Cartoons, was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress because it is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and to this day is considered the most successful animated short ever made.

Although a very popular short (even more so over the years), this film became one that Disney would reference as his inspiration not to ride along on its success, but to continue to press on with ground-breaking, risk-taking ideas that were bigger and better than the last. The saying, "You can't top pigs with pigs!" became one of Walt's favorite slogans.

It's no wonder that when Disneyland opened in 1955 and began offering photo opportunities, that the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf were among them. Here is a picture of them in the early days of the park.



Imagine our surprise last October when we came around the end of Hollywood Boulevard in DCA and found the Big Bad Wolf posing for photos. His costume is practically the same as it was back in the 1950's. I have a copy here in black and white so you can compare.



We were thrilled to get this picture with Mr. Wolf as it was kind of like getting a picture with an icon of Disney history. So if you are ever wandering around Disneyland, DCA or WDW, and you see Mr. Wolf or any of the Little Pigs, be sure to stop and take a picture with them. They were an important and influential part of making the Disney Corporation what it is today.



If you have never had the opportunity to watch the Three Little Pigs, here is a link: