List of past Disneyland attractions
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Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California conceived by Walt Disney. Here is a list of attractions that appeared at Disneyland in the past but no longer exist. Please note that these are only attractions from Disneyland itself, not from Disney's California Adventure, and that parades and character meets are not listed in this article. (The term "attractions" is used by Disney an a catch-all term for rides, shows, and exhibits.)
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Main Street U.S.A.
- 1955-1962, Main Street Shooting Gallery
- 1961-1963, Babes in Toyland Exhibit
- 1970-1973, Legacy of Walt Disney
- 1973-1989, Disneyland Presents a Preview of Coming Attractions
Tomorrowland
- 1955-1997, Circarama, U.S.A., renamed Circle-Vision 360° in 1967
- Scenes from around the United States (and, later, China) in 360-degree splendor. Guests stood in a large circular room and watched a film projected on nine large, contiguous screens that surrounded them. In 1998, the theater became the ride-queue for the short-lived Rocket Rods attraction. After the closure of Rocket Rods, the theater sat empty until construction for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters construction began in 2004, when the theater was completely removed. Shows were:
- 1955-1959, "A Tour of the West"
- 1960-1984, "America the Beautiful"
- 1984-1989, "All Because Man Wanted to Fly" (lobby pre-show)
- 1984-1997, "American Journeys"
- 1984-1997, "Wonders of China"
- 1997, "America the Beautiful"
- 1955-1966, Clock of the World
- 1955-1966, Monsanto Hall of Chemistry
- 1955-1960, Space Station X-1, renamed Satellite View of America in 1958
- 1955-1966, Rocket to the Moon
- Inside a building under a tall futuristic-looking rocket ship, the audience sat in seats around central viewing screens (top and bottom of the center of the room) so that they could see where they were going as they headed away from Earth and towards other worlds. As the real journey to the moon became more likely, the ride was refurbished as:
- 1967-1975, Flight to the Moon
- 1975-1992, Mission to Mars
- 1955-1956, Tomorrowland Boats, renamed Phantom Boats in 1956
- The boat engines were unreliable, and this became the first permanent attraction to be removed from Disneyland.
- 1955-1960, The World Beneath Us
- 1955-1966, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit
- 1955-1966, Flight Circle
- 1955-1966, Hobbyland
- 1955-1960, Aluminum Hall of Fame
- 1955-1963, Dutch Boy Color Gallery
- 1956-1964, Jet ride, has undergone the following incarnations
- 1956-1964, Astro-Jets :
- 1964-1966, Tomorrowland Jets :
- 1967-1997, Rocket Jets :
- 1998-present, Astro Orbitor (see List of current Disneyland attractions)
- 1956-1960, Crane Company Bathroom of Tomorrow
- 1956-1994, Skyway to Fantasyland
- See Skyway to Tomorrowland in Fantasyland, below.
- 1957-1958, Viewliner
- 1957-1967, Monsanto House of the Future
- A walk-through tour of a plastic house with plastic furnishings and interior and fascinating modern appliances such as dishwashers. The house was designed in roughly the shape of an X (looking down on it) with high-tech rounded exterior contours, all made from white plastic with large windows. It was outdated almost as soon as it was built. It was anchored to a solid concrete foundation that proved to be so indestructible that, when it was dismantled, the work crew gave up and left some of the support pilings in place and they can still be seen in Neptune's Grotto between the Tomorrowland entrance and Fantasyland.
- 1959-1998, Submarine Voyage
- Riders entered the half-submerged miniature submarines by descending through conning tower hatches at either end of the submarine, sat on tiny fold-down seats, and leaned forward to peer out through port holes on either side of the submarine. The submarines simulated moved around a track in the mermaid lagoon and simulated diving by having bubbles rise around it with the purported captain intoning commands over the loudspeaker. On the trip, riders saw real-looking and imaginary sea life fastened to rocks or floating in the water, including mermaids and a sea serpent, and passed under icebergs at the "North Pole". The submarines were originally military gray but were repainted high-visibility yellow in the 1980s. As of September, 2004, there has been some notable activity in the Submarine Lagoon. Disney executives have been examining the area, a submarine has emerged from the "caves" after little more than six years, and divers have been seen examining the depths of the lagoon. A Finding Nemo attraction is expected to open sometime in 2005-2007.
- 1960-1966, The Art of Animation
- 1961-1966, Flying Saucers
- 1965-1966, Fashion and Fabrics Through the Ages
- 1967-1973, General Electric Carousel of Progress
- 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. The transition from stage to stage was accompanied by all the characters singing the upbeat theme song, whose chorus was "There's a great, big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day; there's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, and tomorrow's just a dream away."
- 1967-1995, PeopleMover
- One of the most-missed rides. It was intended to demonstrate how people could be shuttled around a central urban area without rushing to board individual trains or drive individual cars. It consisted of many dozens of small open-air shelter/carts with seats for about 8 people, all running constantly on a track around and through the various attractions in Tomorrowland. People boarded the PeopleMover by stepping onto a moving walkway that brought them up to the speed of the carts. It then took riders all around Tomorrowland, providing a preview of all of the Tomorrowland attractions: it ran through the entry waiting areas for CircleVision and Adventure Through Inner Space, down the main promenade, over the Autopia, and so on. After the ride was closed, the track sat vacant for two-and-a-half years until the opening of the ill-fated Rocket Rods. A new version is also in the works, supposedly to be the next part of the "Tomorrowland Revitalization Plan" after the new Finding Nemo attraction.
- 1967-1985, Adventure Thru Inner Space
- A dark ride that pretended to shrink the rider gradually down to microscopic size within a snowflake to the point where one could see the throbbing nucleus of an atom and even beyond, with electrons zooming all around. The ride's entryway featured a floor-to-ceiling spiral network of strings down which evenly spaced droplets of oil slowly ran, appearing to be sparkling liquid beads in nearly suspended animation. From the line inside the entry, line-standers could watch other riders in their 3-person cars disappear into a shrinking machine and then see the shrunken riders (actually scale-model cars and riders) appear in perfect synch and then disappear into the ride. Within the ride at one point, a gigantic eye perused the riders through a huge microscope lens.
- 1974-1988, America Sings
- A sit-down show in the same building using the same stages as Carousel of Progress. Audioanimatronic animals sang American tunes from different eras. Many of the singing, dancing animals were recycled into the current Splash Mountain attraction. An exhibit in the central rotunda touted the beauty and value of the modern city with its skyscrapers and freeways and, probably any day now, airborne cars. Today, Innoventions occupies the same building.
- 1977-1984, Space Stage
- 1986-present, Magic Eye Theater, which still exists with current 3-D films, also featured the following
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- 1986, "Magic Journeys"
- 1986-1997, "Captain Eo": Michael Jackson dancing and singing in a 3-D story of a spaceship captain and his misfit crew against an evil queen.
- 1955-1999, Tomorrowland Autopia
- In 2000, a new, expanded Autopia opened at the same location, using much of the same infrastructure as the original.
- 1996, Toy Story Funhouse
Missing image
Rocket_Rods,_Disneyland,_California.jpg
Rocket_Rods,_Disneyland,_California.jpg
- 1998-2000, Rocket Rods
- An abortive attempt to make use of the massive supportive infrastructure and track left from the PeopleMover. Retro-styled rockets that seated up to 5 people followed the track, periodically accelerating rapidly until they rose onto their back ends, then decelerating until the front end dropped back to the track, repeatedly for the rest of the ride. It was intended as a thrill ride but wasn't particularly thrilling to many people. Additionally, it lacked one aspect of the PeopleMover attraction it replaced. Due to the constant acceleration, jerking, lifting, and deceleration of the attraction, riders weren't as able to appreciate the gorgeous views of Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn that had made PeopleMover a favorite picture-taking attraction for many. In addition, ongoing technical problems were never resolved, so the odds were fairly high that the ride would close after a potential rider had stood in line for an hour. The line for the Rocket Rods was routed through the old Circle-Vision theater, where early Disney films about transportation, combined with more recent footage, were shown. The old PeopleMover tracks and supporting structure down the main promenade, as well as the theatre, are once again unused.
- 1998-2003, The American Space Experience
- An exhibit highlighting space exploration in conjuction with NASA's 40th Anniversary. It occupied the former shop location outside of the Circle-Vision 360 theater. It has been replaced to be the FASTPASS Distribution Center for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters attraction.
Fantasyland
- 1955, Canal Boats of the World
- 1955-1964 Mickey Mouse Club Theater
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- 1964-1981, Renamed Fantasyland Theater
- 1955-1956, Mickey Mouse Club Circus
- 1956, Keller's Jungle Killers
- 1956-1994, Skyway to Tomorrowland
- This ride, a typical aerial lift ride seen in many parks, traveled from a chalet on the west side of Fantasyland, through the Matterhorn, to a station in Tomorrowland. Cabins for up to about 6 people hung from cables and ran constantly back and forth between the two lands. One difference between this skyway and those in many other parks: even from above, Disneyland's backstage areas were hidden from view. When the Skyway closed in 1994, all signs of it, including its huge supporting towers, vanished seemingly overnight. The chalet, which still exists on a hillside in Fantasyland, was hidden instantly by tall pine trees. One of the two holes on the Tomorrowland side of the Matterhorn was partly sealed up a few years later.
- 1956-1958, Junior Autopia
- 1957-1966, Midget Autopia
- 1959-2000, Fantasyland Autopia (renamed Rescue Rangers Raceway 1991 only), merged with Tomorrowland Autopia to become Autopia in 2000
- 1957-1993, Motor Boat Cruise
Frontierland
- 1955-1986, Golden Horseshoe Revue
- An old-west show featuring singing, dancing, joke-telling, banjo playing, and general fun and rowdiness, starring Slue-foot Sue and a gang of cowpunches. An extremely popular show, it ran in the Golden Horseshoe Salooon nearly unchanged for about three decades. It was replaced by:
- 1986-1994, Golden Horseshoe Variety Show: A similar show.
- 1999-2000, All-New Woody's Roundup: A live-action show featuring characters from Toy Story. This shared the Golden Horseshoe Saloon with:
- 199?-present, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies (who also performed outdoors in a casual setting at the Big Thunder Ranch during showtimes taken by Woody's Roundup).
- 1955-1956, Mule Pack
- Real mules in a line upon which you could ride to view the simulated frontierlands and deserts. After renovations and upgrades, the ride was renamed:
- 1956-1959, Rainbow Ridge Mule Pack
- 1960-1973, Pack Mules Through Nature's Wonderland; in 1973, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Big Thunder Ranch replaced Nature's Wonderland.
- 1955-1956, Stage Coach
- A real stagecoach drawn by real horses. After new scenic landscaping, it became:
- 1956-1960, Rainbow Mountain Stage Coaches
- 1955-1960, Conestoga Wagons
- A real Conestoga wagon drawn by real animals.
- 1956-1959, Rainbow Caverns Mine Train
- A scale-model train ride through the new Living Desert. After the scenery was again redone in 1960, it was also upgraded and became:
- 1960-1977, Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. The Thunder Mountain attraction replaced this sedate train ride with a roller-coaster version. The only attraction that remained from the scenic vistas was the mighty waterfall tumbling from Cascade Peak into the Rivers of America, visible only from various boat rides around the Rivers. Although the waterfalls appeared to be in fine working order in 1995, in 1998 they vanished as though they had never existed.
- 1956-1963, Mineral Hall
- Next to the mine train ride, it displayed rocks which glowed in various colors under black light.
- 1956-1971, Indian War Canoes
- 1955-1971, Indian Village
- 1986-1996, Big Thunder Ranch
- A western-themed casual area for seeing shows, viewing Disneyland's horses on their breaks and days off, and dining at Big Thunder Barbecue which served ribs, chicken, potatoes, beans, and such. The Barbecue remained open for a few more years after the Ranch area became the Festival of Fools stage for The Hunchback of Notre Dame show.
- 1955-1994 and 1996-1997, Mike Fink Keel Boats
Adventureland
- 1962-1999, Swiss Family Treehouse
- Now Tarzan's Treehouse.
New Orleans Square
Bear Country
(Bear Country opened in 1972; it was renamed Critter Country in 1988)
- 1972-1986, Country Bear Jamboree
- An audioanimatronic show featuring traditional American folk songs sung by a variety of bears and their friends, including Henry the host and Big Al, Shaker, Bunny, Bubbles, Beulah, Oscar, Liver-Lips McGrowl, Wendell, Trixie, Teddi Barra, Zeke, Zeb, Ted, Fred and Tennessee. The content of the show was replaced by:
- 1986-2001, Country Bear Vacation Hoedown at the renamed Country Bear Playhouse. Used the same animated figures, redecorated.
- 1972-198?, The Mile-Long Bar
- A snack bar fashioned like an old-west wooden bar with brass footrail and featuring wall-sized mirrors at either end so that it appeared that the bar went on forever.
- 1972-2003, Teddi Barra's Swinging Arcade
Mickey's Toontown
- 1993-2000, Jolly Trolley
- A bright trolley with a giant winding key on top. It traversed the length of Mickey's Toontown but the small size of the area prevented operation on all but the most sparsely attended days. One of the trolleys was auctioned on eBay.
See also
External links
- Yesterland (http://www.yesterland.com/yester.html): With photos of bygone attractions.
- General Electric Carousel of Progress at the NY World's fair and beyond, several pages of information (http://nywf64.com/genele01.shtml)