SIXTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

Greetings, junior gorillas, and welcome to GDB's SIXTEENTH ANNIVERSARY! Old enough to get a learner's permit. What can I say, it's been a long journey to get here, but a rewarding one, thanks to YOU, the faithful readers. Without your participation, I wouldn't be typing this today. If Google's stats are to be believed (and why wouldn't they be?) you would probably be surprised at how few people visit this blog each day... but that's OK! I'm perfectly happy with the way things are. I could take obvious steps to try to lasso more eyeballs, but "More people equals more problems". Pepperidge's Law.

I was unsure about what to share with you on this occasion, but I remembered that I had a high-res scan from a somewhat-faded color transparency that has to be from 1955, and might even be from just before the park debuted to the public. As much as I might wish that this shot is unique, I'd say it's likely that the transparency is a duplicate. Just a hunch. Perhaps you've seen it elsewhere, but maybe not in as much detail.

Here's the entire image, with the parking lot, and a good sense of the surrounding area, including farmland and orchards. It's funny how the trapezoidal shape of that early park evokes some warm fuzzies in me. TANTALIZING TRAPEZOIDS.

Let's zoom in! There are quite a few cars in the parking lot, but I'd imagine that there were hundreds people frantically scrambling to get the park ready for its debut on July 17th. Because Bill Evans (along with Ruth Shellhorn and Joseph Linesch) planted the Adventureland jungle early, it is already in a nice state of development at this point.

The familiar shape of the Rivers of America can be seen, and the Mark Twain already sits at the dock waiting for passengers, possibly in mere days or hours. The site of the Rainbow Desert is just featureless dirt at this point (that ride wouldn't open until 1956). We can also see the Pony Farm (near the top, to the left), and the Plantation House (just below the Mark Twain). We can also see the Bandstand to the right, as well as an area with Indian teepees (to the right of the Mark Twain) which didn't last long.

There's Adventureland, with the Tahitian Lanai appearing to be complete. One jungle launch is afloat on the Rivers of the World. Is that the Carnation truck right below City Hall (in what is a backstage area)? Notice the abundance of vehicles parked in the Plaza, as well as on that road around what would eventually be Holiday Hill. If you look closely, you can see a tiny Casey Jr. Circus Train right near the Pirate Ship. Look at all that nothin' in the northeast corner of the park!

The ticket booths are ready for business, I hope you have a dollar for admission. We see a lot of Tomorrowland's backstage area here, including the Dominguez home, used as the administration building. There seems to be a crane near the Moonliner, and the Passenger Train (pulled by the E.P. Ripley, I presume) is at rest in front of Main Street Station.  

Well, what else is nice enough to share on this momentous occasion? I suppose this next image is pretty sweet, a photo taken from the Disneyland Hotel circa August, 1963. There are the obvious details, such as the parking lot, and the Matterhorn, and even the McDonell Douglas Moonliner. But what else can we spot?

I always like seeing the sign for the miniature golf course that was once a part of the Disneyland Hotel complex. Not too long before, Holidayland would have been visible, but it was rudely removed and construction for the Haunted Mansion was underway. You can see the actual house looks complete, but the orange steel supports for the Disneyland Railroad pass above a tunnel that (I believe) is where guests walk as they view the portrait gallery.

Looking a bit to the right, there is another tunnel (some sort of maintenance access, I presume - or is it "Walt's Secret Entrance"??). The red foliage of the Swiss Family Treehouse is clearly visible, and to the right of that we can see more orange steel, early construction for a "Pirates" walk-thru attraction. A "thieves market" if you will. With low, low prices and top-quality meat and produce! 

Wulp, that about does it for today. Sure, it was really only two photos, if you are keeping score. But they were good ones, don't you think? Thank you to everyone who checks in on a regular basis, and a big family-sized THANK YOU to those of you who take the time to comment, it makes this whole thing a lot more fun for me - and everyone else too. Everyone is so funny, smart, and NICE, it is proof that miracles still happen.