Cars Land

 
Cars Land

  Time-lapse of building Cars Land including testing of Luigis Flying Tires and Radiator Springs Racers. Video was taken in 2011-2012 and is 50 seconds long.

Cars Land

*Video Clips are available to our Silver, Diamond and Gold Members.*

This month, I shall be comparing the Adventurelands found in the two Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris).

Standing in front of the castle, with your back to Main Street, U.S.A./World Bazaar, the first land you encounter clockwise in four of the five Magic Kingdoms is Adventureland. Internet rumors abound that in Shanghai, Adventureland will take up the Tomorrowland/Discoveryland position to the East of the Hub. However, for now, Disneyland Paris has the only “park one” where Adventureland is to be found elsewhere; it is located between Frontierland and Fantasyland.

Walt’s original idea for this section of Anaheim was to be called “True-Life Adventureland”, featuring live animals, based on the Disney documentary series shown in American movie theaters from the late 1940s until 1960. Although this never materialized, the Adventureland which opened with the rest of the park was immediately popular (albeit the smallest land at the time) and its success was put down to the inclusion of the smallest details, such as the live recordings of animal sounds used as ambience, which differed depending on the time of day.

Currently, Anaheim’s Adventureland is set mainly in Africa but with some design features reminiscent of French Polynesia and the Middle East. Throughout its history, it has been more prominently set in other locations but one always gets the feeling that the attractions influenced the look, rather than the other way round. 

Click Here To Read Complete Article

Hugh is a former Cast Member, who now lives in London where he works as a director. He is in the process of writing a "Mouse Tales" style book about Disneyland Resort Paris, for Bonaventure Press.

 Hugh can be contacted at :

Fellow Disneyland Historians and Fans,

I have a mystery that hopefully someone reading will be able to solve or provide further insights or clues to aid in this endeavor.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln has been a wonderful mainstay at Disneyland blending the old Disneyland with the current day Disneyland. The show reveals the passion of Walt Disney for his boyhood admiration for Abraham Lincoln and shows the pioneer stages of WED’s animatronics through the 1964 World’s Fair. But that pioneer start of audio animatronics paved the way for the modern and amazing advancements we see today such as in the A-100 animatronic figures.

Here is the mystery of which I speak: I would like to know if anyone has information, photos, or behind the scenes stories about the attraction as a whole but especially the 1975 Abraham Lincoln model that was built for the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln 1975-1984 show. As you recall, the attraction was shut down between the years of 1973-75. There seems to be no existing photos or information available of the particular Abraham Lincoln figure that was built and used during 1975 to 1984 for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. For that matter, does anyone have photos or articles or knowledge about the World’s Fair two Lincoln figures that were used for the World’s Fair show during 1964-1965?

Click Here To Read Complete Article

 Bill can be contacted at :

We have located a great article about comparing robots of Disneyland and Las Vegas that appeared in Holiday Magazine in October of 1965 written by no less than Ray Bradbury!  We have reproduced the article here and on the site:

Machine Tooled Happyland
By Ray Bradbury
Holiday Magazine
October 1965

The wondrous devices of Disneyland take on startling importance in the mind of a science fiction seer

It is a long way from that first slot machine to the “miracles of rare device” created by Walt Disney for his kingdom, Disneyland. When Walt Whitman wrote, “I sing the Body Electric,” he little knew he was guessing the motto of our robot-dominated society. I believe Disney’s influence will be felt centuries from today. I say that Disney and Disneyland can be prime movers of our age.

But before I offer proof, let me sketch my background. At twelve, I owned one of the first Mickey Mouse buttons in Tucson, Arizona. At nineteen, sell­ing newspapers on a street corner, I lived in terror I might be struck by a car and killed before the premiere of Disney’s film extravaganza, Fantasia. In the last thirty years I have seen Fantasia fifteen times, Snow White twelve times, Pinocchio eight times. In sum, I was, and still am, a Disney nut.

You can imagine, then, how I regarded an article in the Nation some years ago that equated Disneyland with Las Vegas. Both communities, claimed the article, were vulgar, both represented American culture at its most corrupt, vile and terrible.

I rumbled for half an hour, then exploded. I sent a letter winging to the prim Nation editors.

“Sirs,” it said, “like many intellectuals before me I delayed going to Disneyland, having heard it was just too dreadfully middle-class. One wouldn’t dream of being caught dead there.

“But finally a good friend jollied me into my first grand tour of the Magic Kingdom. I went…with one of the great children of our time: Charles Laughton.”

It is a good memory, the memory of the day Captain Bligh dragged me writhing through the gates of Disney­land. He plowed a furrow in the mobs; he surged ahead, one great all-envelop­ing presence from whom all fell aside. I followed in the wake of Moses as he bade the waters part, and part they did. The crowds dropped their jaws and, buffeted by the passage of his immense body through the shocked air, spun about and stared after us.

We made straight for the nearest boat—wouldn’t Captain Bligh?—the Jungle Ride....

Read the complete article HERE * 

*Archive Articles are available to our Deluxe, Premium, Silver, Bronze, Diamond and Gold Members.* 

We are on our third pass (of five passes) we are improving the quality of the attraction videos, improving pacing, making some cuts, and adding Deaths and Injuries on this pass. Pass four will be adding voice-over and adding The Future section. Pass 5 will be adding extras, converting to High Def. and producing the DVD's.

Click Here for up to the minute information available on our DVD Blog Page

NOTE: Dates are last date that chapter/section was updated.

The table of contents of the DVD's will be:

One very unique feature that will be available on our DVD is a quick way to access additional information on DLDHistory.com about an attraction. The final DVD will be a high definition video. We are predicting that the DVD should be complete summer 2012.

DVD Previews Can Be Seen HERE

*DVD Previews are available to our Diamond and GOLD Members.*

We have added 1 new backstage photos  and 2 onstage photos including a rare artist concept of Mad Tea Party. 

March Update

April Update

*Backstage Photos are available to our Deluxe, Premium, Silver, Bronze and Gold Members.* 

*Onstage Photos are available to all of our Members.*

We have added 2 new videos. A sneak peek at the new Matterhorn Bobsleds and Cars Land Progress Report

*Attraction Video Clips are available to our Silver, Diamond and Gold Members.* 

Toy Story Mania

Toy Story Mania is one the top attractions at Disney's California Adventure. Watch this video and find some inside secrets to how the ride was designed and how to increase your score! This video is 4 minutes long.  Toy Story Midway Mania Video

 Enjoy!


Click on the image below to take you directly to video clip.

Midway Mania