Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Disneyland Hotel, 1988



Today I present a number of publicity photos for the Disneyland Hotel, circa 1988. I believe that the pool in the photo is in the spot that is now occupied by Downtown Disney. The section in shot #2 has undergone vast changes since this photo was taken; the boating area has now become a swimming pool, complete with Skull Rock pseudo-recreation.



This overhead view gives you a sense of direction; note the water feature in the upper-right-hand corner of the hotel complex.



I had never noticed this area before until Chris Jepsen pointed it out to me, and informed me that it was a salvage from the 1964/65 World’s Fair. Although the spectacular water show (known as Dancing Waters) no longer runs, the structure still stands, albeit somewhat overgrown.





For those of you who’d appreciate a good laugh over the small world debate which has gotten very heated between the two factions, here is comedian Tim Babb’s take on the attraction.



See more Disneyland Hotel photos at my website.

5 comments:

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...
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Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

I wonder why the fountain are not running anymore? $$$ I bet

Tim Babb’s video was great, the clowns scare me too!

To the Anonymous twins from the IASW post, "you's both need to Stifle"

TokyoMagic! said...

Ooooooooh Aaaaaaaarchie! Sorry, I saw the word stifle....

Are those squares in the current photo of the Dancing Waters area the actual light panels??? I remember the panels were square and just about that size, but I can't believe they would have just left them there and painted over them. Maybe they are what the panels were mounted on. Anyway, I did enjoy the Dancing Waters show. If they brought it back today, I wonder if it would draw much of a crowd. I guess there is no need to bring it back though when "World of Color" will open soon at DCA.

Great IASW video and commentary...thanks for posting that, Dave.

TokyoMagic! said...

P.S. Hey, I didn't know that the Dancing Waters was from the '64 World's Fair! I just looked it up in an old guide book and it looks like it sat in the Lake Amusement Area and was actually located inside a structure that was inflatable! The description says, "An operator at an organlike console controls the lights and direction and height of the water jets. Patrons sit under a plastic bubble supported by air pressure." Admission was 75 cents for adults and 50 cents for children.

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

Too bad about Dancing Waters...we enjoyed that on our first trip to DL back in '97 (stayed at the Pan Pacific as it was known then and walked over to the 'big' hotel for a peek).