Snow White's Adventures Demolition

More? Of course there are more! Here's one of Snow White's Adventures, from right around the very day I was born:

Peter Pan Flight Demolition

As a companion to the post showing the exterior of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1955-1982) shortly after its closure, here is an equivalent photo for Peter Pan Flight:


To the far right of the picture, you can see some of the medieval shields amidst the other debris. The ride vehicle track is still present, as is a very small portion of the Claude Coats/Ken Anderson mural, but otherwise the entire attraction was gone within a few weeks of closing.

More Old Fantasyland Demolition

It's been a long time since I last posted a destruction shot of the old Fantasyland from the 1982-1983 timeframe. Here's Mr. Toad going to pieces:

December 1982

What Happened to the Carrousel?

I know why they bastardized the King Arthur Carrousel in March 1982... do you? (I'll give you a hint: there's a Sherman Brothers connection!)

UPDATE: See below the photographs...

Todd Pierce has correctly surmised that Disneyland outfitted the Carrousel this way for filming a Magic Journeys scene. The film features a Sherman Brothers theme. Bruce Gordon told me that the film shows the big tarp they used to hide all this construction!

Fantasyland Theatre (1965-1981) Destruction

It's been some time since the last installment of my destruction series. Today we'll travel back to January 1982 and get a look at a bulldozer pulling down the Fantasyland Theatre structure. While Disneyland retained the roof of Snow White's Adventures, the Fantasyland Theatre/Juice Bar/rest room structure was torn down completely to facilitate construction of the Fantasyland Basement, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, and the Village Inn (later renamed the Village Haus for reasons unknown to me--hopefully for better reasons than the renaming of the Golden Bear Lodge).

First up is the bulldozer poised down below with a line running to the top of the building...

A simple mechanical action and gravity does the rest:

The still photos don't really give you the destructive effect, though; to compensate, I've created an animated GIF, which gives a better sense of the demolition process. Click the image to enlarge.

Oh, and it's a big anniversary day today. In 1960 both the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland and The Art of Animation opened; in 1966 "it's a small world" opened. ( and Disney A-Z and The Nickel Tour say "it's a small world" opened on May 28. If it did open on the 28, it was not dedicated until May 30.)

New Fantasyland

We'll continue on the commemoration carousel today (probably saving the America Sings grand finale for Monday). Twenty-five years ago today, the New Fantasyland opened to Guests. I certainly wasn't there for this one! I'll just share a few random things related to the renovation. I re-created the above logo by scanning the cover of a May 1983 special edition Disneyland Line and retouching in Photoshop. If I had more knowledge, I would have re-created it in Illustrator, but I don't have the knowledge or Illustrator, and this fit my purposes.

One of the events that happened when the land was getting close to opening in Spring 1983 was the raising of the drawbridge. Some press materials say it was only lowered twice: on Opening Day and for the dedication of the New Fantasyland. Daveland has a nice photo from July 18 (which was an opening day in its own right) showing the drawbridge lowering:

It was also lowered multiple times for the New Fantasyland dedication, including for several Cast Member private parties in the new land. It's more appropriate to say that it has only been used on two occasions: at the openings of Disneyland and New Fantasyland. But as Bruce and David relate in The Nickel Tour, nobody was sure if they could even get the drawbridge up!:

When it came time to lower the bridge, Disneyland was uncertain whether or not the drawbridge could even be moved. The winch system might be frozen in place, and not usable after all those years. So, just in case the gears were frozen, Disneyland made sure a huge crane was standing by, heavy duty hoist at the ready. Everyone's concerns were unfounded, though, when (with the addition of almost a ton of counterweights) the little bridge that could said "I think I can, I think I can," and was raised and lowered--on its own--without a problem.

And here's some nice visual proof of this crane's presence in this process. It looks like a beautiful day at Disneyland!

And, because I like you guys, here's the front of Sleeping Beauty Castle with drawbridge raised. A close-up of the photo reveals a "Fantasyland Closed" sign. Really?

A few months back--realizing that the 25th anniversary of the New Fantasyland was coming up, I started work on a model of the area. But I wanted to make something more interesting than just what was eventually built. I decided to go with "New Fantasyland Under Construction." Take a look:

Well, OK. I can't make models. And I'm a little late to the fake tilt-shift lens effect party. But I thought this one turned out particularly well--and I had a convenient anniversary for which to share it! When I e-mailed a friend to tell her I had been hard at work on this, she replied, "You did not make that model!" While she knew this isn't something I could do, the photo fooled her--and inasmuch as she knows about rapid Disneyland fans, she said she wouldn't be surprised if somebody had made a hyper-detailed model of part of the Park under construction!

The New Fantasyland has obviously proved more successful than the 1998 New Tomorrowland. Aside from the loss of the Pirate Ship, is there anybody out there who doesn't like the New Fantasyland?

Destruction Saturday

Need I say more?