Friday, May 17, 2013

Floating Over Snow Hill, 1958



Holiday Hill...Lookout Mountain...Lover’s Lane...Snow Hill. All names refer to the same area at Disneyland. Before the Matterhorn rose from the former orange grove covered land in Anaheim, the mound of dirt (which needed a place to go when the Castle moat was excavated) with the many names was directly below the path of the Skyway. Most interesting thing about this shot is that you can see the Omnibus, which once had a route that extended into Fantasyland.



The huge support towers of the Skyway were somewhat of an eyesore, and the creation of the Matterhorn helped to cover them up from the view of Park guests. It's hard to believe that in one year the Submarines and The Matterhorn would take over the very same space you are looking at now.

This second shot was also taken from the Skyway as it cruised into Tomorrowland. You can see the station and tracks of the Viewliner below.




See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.

4 comments:

K. Martinez said...

I'd be curious to know where all the dirt got rearranged and distributed for the "Disneyand '59" project. The landscape was altered so much with the removal of the dirt mound for the Matterhorn and excavation for the Submarine Voyage.

Do you know when the Omnibus discontinue its trips into Fantasyland? Did it happen once the Matterhorn was installed?

Anonymous said...

I find the background fascinating. It gives one an some idea as to how rural Anaheim was back in the day. KS

Anonymous said...

One of these days I will type proper sentences! KS

Daveland said...

K. - I'm not exactly sure on when that route through Fantasyland stopped; I seem to recall seeing/having a shot later than 1959, but can't find it now. Maybe the route stopped with "New" Tomorrowland in 1967.