Frontierland Depot

Just beyond Cottonwood Creek is the Frontierland Depot of the Disneyland Paris Railroad, Thunder Mesa's connection to the rest of the wide open west. Folks bound for California or parts unknown might book passage on the next train leaving town by stepping up to the Ticket Office at the front of the station house.

Inside, other services are provided, including message receipt and delivery via the Telegraph Office. In fact, it sounds like there's a message coming in right now. Too bad the telegraph operator's on break! Otherwise, he'd be able to tell us it's a portion of Walt Disney's dedication speech for Disneyland, delivered in Morse Code.

Peeking into the Station Master's office, you can get a view of how things operate around here. Most importantly, there's the train schedule to tell you when specific lines may be arriving or departing. The trains listed include three of the ones that really operate at Disneyland Paris (G. Washington, W.B. Cody and C.K. Holliday - Eureka was added later and isn't included in this original graphic). It also includes other train names meant to evoke the spirit of the west and the Gold Rush. My favorite, though, is the inside joke: Graybar Hotel Express. Graybar hotel is a common idiom for jail or prison. Notice that the destination is Leavenworth, and they're selling one-way tickets only.

Out the other side of the station house by the tracks is a sign welcoming people who are just arriving in Thunder Mesa. This is definitely a boom town. Just look at that population explosion!

Of course, for those headed out of town or just passing through, the Frontierland Depot is a place for trains to stop and take on water for the journey ahead or pick up cargo from the Thunder Mesa Shipping Co. The stop's never long, though, and those engines are soon chugging off into the wilderness, ready for the next adventure.

For more on the Disneyland Paris Railroad and its trains, be sure to click back to this article on the Main Street Station.

All Aboard the Euro Disneyland Railroad!

It's the turn of the 20th century again, and here in the busy eastern seaboard town of Main Street, U.S.A., the constant rolling of wheels and chugging of steam engines can only mean one thing: Progress! Here, iron horses carry intrepid explorers (and guests on holiday at Disneyland Paris) on a journey of adventure, fantasy and discovery.

The grand, Victorian station house at the foot of Main Street is an exciting point of arrival and departure for guests touring Disneyland Paris. The high, vaulted ceiling and fine detail work of the station recall a more refined era of rail travel. Posters, newspapers and other details throughout the station hint at some of the visual wonders which await passengers headed west, including "The Spectacular Grand Canyon! One of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World!"

The Imagineers recreated Walt Disney's Grand Canyon Diorama as the opening scene of the Disneyland Paris Railroad, as opposed to the finale as it is in Disneyland. The trip past tableaux of Arizona's natural wonder provides a fitting introduction to the park's Frontierland (and does a pretty good job of disguising the backside of the Phantom Manor show building).

The trains of the Disneyland Railroad in Paris may look authentic, but they're actually authentic mechanical reproductions of Disneyland's Engine #1, C.K. Holliday. The engines here include #1 William F. Cody (after the legendary Buffalo Bill), #2 C.K. Holliday (named for the founder of the Santa Fe Railroad), #3 G. Washington (for the first President of the United States) and #4 Eureka (an exclamation popularized during the Gold Rush). Each locomotive features unique details. On the G. Washington (below), for example, the headlamp is adorned with portraits of President Washington and Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside Washington during the American Revolution.

The set of cars pulled by each engine is equally unique, with stained glass, finely-detailed interiors and U-shaped seating for efficient loading and great views into the park. The bright yellow rail car pictured below is one of those pulled by the W.F. Cody. Note the name "Cheyenne" on the side. Each car in the set bears the name of one of the cities Cody's Wild West Show visited on tour: Silverton, Durango, Denver, Wichita, Cheyenne.

C.K. Holliday's cars are named for popular East Coast resorts: Coney Island, Atlantic City, Chesapeake, Long Island, Niagara Falls. G. Washington carries Mt. Vernon, Boston, Philadelphia, Yorktown and Valley Forge, all prominent locales in the life of George Washington. Finally, Eureka serves as a tribute to the Miner 49-ers who headed west to California to seek their fortune, with train cars named for California destinations: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey, Sacramento.

Eureka was added to the line in 1993 as part of an enhanced capacity program in the park. At the same time, a fourth depot was added to the railroad in Discoveryland (note the poster above only lists Main St., Frontierland and Fantasyland Stations; poster art ©Disney).

Today, the Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland Paris carries on Walt Disney's love of trains and provides a suitable story anchor as we embark on a tour of Main Street, U.S.A.

Arriving at Disneyland Paris

No matter how guests arrive at Disneyland Paris (be it by car, bus, train or on foot from the resort hotels), everyone has the same arrival experience, designed to slowly remove you from the ordinary world and immerse you in the fantasy environment of the park.

Passing beneath the "Welcome" arch, you enter Fantasia Gardens, a spectacular area filled with flowers, trees, streams, fountains and gazebos. The garden culminates with the traditional floral Mickey Mouse at the threshold of the magnificent Disneyland Hotel.

The first hotel to be built at the entrance of a Disney Park, the Disneyland Hotel takes its Victorian design inspiration from nearby Main Street, as well as the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. The pink hues were specifically selected by Imagineer John Hench to evoke feelings of warmth and comfort, even in the sometimes chilly and overcast Parisian weather (Personal note: We were actually blessed with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s during our visit!).

The Disneyland Hotel is certainly grand and ornate, but it also sports a number of fun, Disney touches. A large Mickey Mouse clock graces the front of the building (note the Roman numeral "4" is written IIII as it was in the Victorian era), and perched atop the highest peak is a golden Tinker Bell, sprinkling her pixie dust on all who pass below.

Passages beneath the Disneyland Hotel lead to ticket booths and out to an entry plaza on the other side. The additional space here not only serves to further separate the guest from the outside world, but also helps distance the hotel from the park a bit, so as not to overwhelm the architecture of Main Street, U.S.A.

The view from the entrance plaza is of Main Street Station, depot for the Disneyland Railroad, and the portals into the park itself.

Above the portals (and on lampposts along Main Street) are graphic statements representing the current promotional campaign at Disneyland Resort Paris, the Magical Moments Festival. Highlights of the festival include the addition of new entertainment offerings in both parks, along with enhanced photo opportunities and character greetings.

Look past the Magical Moments Festival decor, and you'll notice a few other details on the Main Street Station. Beautiful stained glass windows in the station depict iconic scenes from the park: Captain Hook's galleon in Adventureland, Sleeping Beauty Castle in Fantasyland, Mark Twain passing Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland and the Orbitron in Discoveryland.

Take a closer look, too, at the symbol worked into the iron railing. You can make out the letters "EDRR." It stands for Euro Disneyland Railroad, the original name of the attraction, and it's one of several places around the resort where the Euro Disneyland moniker can still be seen.

Just before we step into the park, though, let's pause at the edge of the portal to take note of a familiar plaque, much like those found in other Disneyland-style parks around the world:

In both French and English:

Here you leave today

and enter worlds of history,

discovery and ageless fantasy.

Another View of '72

I have more great vintage Magic Kingdom photos for you today, these shared by DisneyShawn blog reader Pat Chastain of Indianapolis, Indiana. Pat's first picture (above) provides further confirmation of the fact that the Mad Tea Party in Florida was built without a roof, just like its counterpart in Disneyland. This particular shot was taken from the Grand Prix Raceway side of the attraction, looking toward 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in the background.

Next, Pat provides a couple more views of Tomorrowland. Above, you can get a better look at the waterfall monolith structure at the entrance to Tomorrowland. This image also provides another clear indication that the path for the WEDway PeopleMover was established from the beginning, even though that attraction wouldn't make its debut until 1975.

The image below offers an entirely different view of things, this time from the old Top of the World Lounge on the 15th floor of Disney's Contemporary Resort (where California Grill is today). Look past the groovy orange chairs and track lighting, and you'll catch a glimpse of Tomorrowland in which the Skyway station is the dominant structure. After all, prior to the mid-70s expansion of the land, there was no Space Mountain, Carousel of Progress, PeopleMover or Star Jets.

Pat's final shot from that March 1972 trip at first appears to present a bit of a mystery. It's obviously some kind of construction effort, as seen from the Walt Disney World Railroad. My first thought was that this would have been for Pirates of the Caribbean, which was added to the Magic Kingdom in December 1973. The site, though, is clearly much closer to the Rivers of America (you can spot Liberty Tree Tavern and the smokestacks of the Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat in the distance). Perhaps this was the site intended for the planned Thunder Mesa expansion, but instead used as a "lay down" area for the work on Pirates when those plans changed? Solid theory, except for the fact that real construction on Pirates of the Caribbean didn't get underway until the Fall of '72.

Then it dawned on me...

When the Magic Kingdom opened, the Walt Disney World Railroad featured only one station. Guests boarded the train at Main Street, U.S.A., for a "grand circle tour" of the park. The station in Frontierland wasn't completed until May of 1972. It appears, from Pat Chastain's photograph, that work on the new station stop was well underway in March of that year.

For the full story on the original Frontierland Railroad Station (replaced in 1992 with the construction of Splash Mountain), check out this article from Widen Your World.

Calling All Engine-Ears

In an earlier post ("All Aboard"), we took a look at the stretch of shops surrounding Sunshine Plaza at the Disney California Adventure main entrance and how they connect to the railroad heritage of both Walt Disney and California. Now, let's peek inside these shops at some of the details to be found there. First up: Engine-Ears Toys.

Step aboard the Silver Crescent, and you'll suddenly find yourself surrounded by a candy-colored, childlike world of railroad-inspired whimsy. Facades around the edge of the room are designed in the style of California train stations, from country to mission. Fixtures are shaped like everything from a locomotive and train cars to bushes and track side signals. Look down, and you'll notice even the floor features details which imply railroad tracks, grass and stone paving.

The Imagineers also had fun with the graphics inside Engine-Ears Toys, deploying some of their usual wordplay on a route map and departure board.

Tour of a Lifetime

Once again today, I take you back to 1996, when I had the good fortune of qualifying for a spot in the Disney Store National Trivia Showdown hosted at Disneyland. The actual competition took place in the Festival of Fools amphitheater and took on the flavor of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's big animated release that year.

It was then that I met Dave Smith for the first time. For those who aren't familiar with Dave, he started the Walt Disney Archives in 1970 and served as Archives Director for forty years, retiring recently as a Disney Legend. For the trivia finalists that year, Dave hosted a special behind-the-scenes tour of Disneyland and the Archives. Previously, I shared with you moments from our visits to Club 33 and Walt Disney's firehouse apartment, but we got to see so much more.

Among the treats that day was a ride on the Lilly Belle. Originally the Grand Canyon observation car, considered Walt's private car on the Disneyland Railroad, it was later renamed Lilly Belle in honor of Walt's wife, Lillian. It's considered the Presidential Coach and is still occasionally used to host VIPs today.

After the train ride, we stepped backstage for a peek at some of the massive support facility that keeps Disneyland magical day in and day out. I recall visits to the machine shop and sign painter, as well as the Circle D Corral, the real working ranch out beyond Frontierland. This is where all the draft horses and other animals that work in the park are cared for. Look closely in the background of this picture, and you may even spot the back side of the Toontown hills, giving you a bit more of an idea where the ranch is located.

We also stopped by the Parade Barn. Since this was October 1996, the original Main Street Electrical Parade was making its final runs through the park before "glowing" away. We had seen the parade the night before, so it was amazing to be able to get this close to a bit of Disneyland history that was still so bright in our memories.

The next stop on our backstage tour of Disneyland was the relatively new Team Disney Anaheim building. Designed by architect Frank Gehry (who also did the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles), Team Disney opened in 1995 as a home to Disneyland's administration, marketing and other departments supporting the park.

Later, our tour moved to Burbank for a look around the Disney Studios lot and a visit to the Walt Disney Archives. Here, Dave showed off some of the Archives most special treasures, including the first ticket sold to Disneyland and a rare drawing of Mickey by Walt himself. We even got to hold a real Oscar (the one for the 1958 True-Life Adventure feature White Wilderness).

Particularly fascinating to me was the original mechanical bird Walt Disney purchased in New Orleans (a duplicate of which is in the Disneyland Dream Suite). It was this piece that inspired the creation of Audio-Animatronics.

Dave also pulled out a box containing a one-of-a-kind item which had only recently been uncovered and turned over to the Archives: the original book from the opening titles of Sleeping Beauty. This piece was on display at the D23 Expo in 2009, but back in 1996 no one had laid eyes on it in more than thirty years. The book was incredible, not just for the intricately jeweled cover, but for the fact that every page as seen on screen was an original painting by Eyvind Earle, the film's background artist.

Overall, it was an amazing day, filled with unusual sights and wonderful experiences I will never forget. On the way out of Disneyland that evening, we even got a sneak preview of the spectacular replacement for the Main Street Electrical Parade, in the form of this sign over the railroad tunnel. It sparkled with fiber optic energy, inviting us back for even more Disneyland fun.

I never did get back to see Light Magic. I only heard the music, but something tells me that was probably for the best.

The Frontierland Depot

Out at the edge of Frontierland (in what is now New Orleans Square) is the depot for the Disneyland Railroad. The original Frontierland Station was actually this small building (above), built using the plans for a railroad station set used in the 1948 Disney film So Dear to My Heart. After production wrapped, the set found its way to animator Ward Kimball's backyard railroad, Grizzly Flats. When it came time to build Disneyland, Walt Disney asked for it back, but Ward respectfully declined. Instead, Walt had a copy built for the park. (Another interesting note: The Disneyland version was later used as a set for the "Two Brothers" sequence in The American Adventure for Epcot.)

In 1962, as construction started for what would become New Orleans Square, the original depot was moved across the tracks to where it is today, and guests instead met arriving trains on a simple covered platform (below). While waiting for the next engine to pull in, though, you can take the time to admire that first station, sitting across the way. Be sure to listen, too, to the Morse Code tapping away in the telegraph office. It's actually excerpts from Walt Disney's opening day dedication speech.

Also across the tracks from where guests await the trains are a couple of other facades, shrouding the show building for Pirates of the Caribbean and telling part of the story of this section of Disneyland. Look for The Creole Hotel, where visitors arriving by train might spend a night or two, and New Orleans Trading Company, handling imports and exports delivered by train or ship.

Among the most interesting details on these facades are the iron anchor plates. Often found on masonry structures built in the 18th and 19th centuries, the plates on the exterior walls connected to tie rods running through the building to provide added structural support. Since the anchor plates were usually visible, they were often decorative, cast in the shape of stars or in this case fanciful X's.

There's one other detail in this area that I love. The importing of goods by train makes obvious sense, but what about the shipping? Sure, the Rivers of America runs along one side of New Orleans Square, but if that's the Mississippi to Disneyland's New Orleans, the Gulf would be on the other side of the city.

Well, stand at the railroad station and look to your left. Peeking above the buildings are the masts of sailing ships in port, implying a larger world beyond that which we can actually visit in the park. It's a detail which was likely more visible when New Orleans Square was young and its trees were smaller, but it's just as much fun to discover today!

Morning at The Happiest Place on Earth

Starting today, we'll be taking a walk through the parks of the Disneyland Resort, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, stopping to look at some of the details and interesting sights along the way. We begin, of course, in the esplanade outside the gates to Disneyland. It's early, so the park isn't open just yet, but we can already admire some of the HalloweenTime decor, including giant pumpkins and gourds in the form of our favorite Disney characters.

Just through the gate is the famous Mickey floral and Disneyland Railroad station, sights that have greeted Guests here since 1955. The thing that makes Disneyland truly special is its history. This is the only one of the eleven Disney Parks around the world to bear Walt Disney's personal touch. That presence can still be felt 55 years later.

With a flourish, the gates open, and we're on our way into the Happiest Place on Earth. The turnstiles welcome each Guest with a tinkling of Pixie Dust. Just ahead, the Disneyland Band is playing familiar tunes. Look closely, and you'll see that even they have gotten into the spirit of the season with orange and black accents to their costumes. There's even a spiderweb motif on Bandleader Ray's cuffs.

From this point, we also get a closer look at the front of the Disneyland Railroad station. The sign across the building appears very much as it has for nearly six decades, with two exceptions. The square placard once identified the Santa Fe Railroad as sponsor of the Disneyland trains, and the population has increased significantly. Listed at an optimistic 5 million on opening day (a number reached before the end of the park's first year of operation), this part of the sign was last updated in 2004 when Bill Trow of Australia became the 500 millionth Guest to visit Disneyland.

The little yellow handcar sits on the siding in front of the Main Street Station, where the train from Frontierland would once pass its Main Street counterpart. The handcar was a gift to Walt Disney from the Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company of Michigan. As we stand here admiring the station, a whistle blows to signal the arrival of the E.P. Ripley, one of the two original engines of the Disneyland Railroad, built at the Walt Disney Studios for the opening of the park. Ripley, the engine's namesake, was an early President on the Santa Fe Railroad. For more on the history of the Disneyland Railroad, be sure to check out this article over at DisneyShawn.com.

"The E.P. Ripley now departing for a grand circle tour of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. Booooaaaarrrd!"

Our journey through Disneyland has begun. We step through the portal beneath the Railroad tracks and into another world. Be sure to check back every day this week, as we explore Main Street, U.S.A. and the rest of Disneyland.