Friday is Fort Day, or at least at Daveland! Enjoy a rare inside view of Disneyland’s Fort Wilderness, which once was a place of exploration. Image one is from June 20, 1956, about one month after the Fort first opened. Look at that family; I’d say they were satisfied with their visit and rated the Fort 2 thumbs up for fun!
An early 1956 inside view of the Fort:
This one was shot from the Columbia as it navigated the waters of the Rivers of America:
Zooming in to the party about to enter the Fort:
An undated 1950s exterior shot; note the Mark Twain smoke-stack on the right side of the shot:
A little groundskeeping work being done in this 1957 image; it takes a lot of work to look this rustic!
A 1957 interior shot:
1957:
...and of course a detailed view of the dock and entrance area:
From March 1957; looks like some additional trees are awaiting to be planted.
April 1958:
Also 1958:
The Fort closed in 2003 and has not been reopened to the public since. A variation of the Fort (which looks like something from Home Depot) still exists, but is just a shadow of its former glory.
See more Disneyland Fort Wilderness photos at my main website.
I love that April 58 shot that shows the opposing bank as it would have headed into the Indian village. It's an angle I don't think I've ever seen before and really interesting to compare against how much it's changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that we're in 2020 looking at people in the 1950's in a replica of the 1880s. It's Inception but for time, not dreams.
Something definitely has been lost. Glad to have the memories of the Fort during its glory days. KS
ReplyDeleteDefinitely something WDW has over Disneyland these days. Brought my nephews and niece to Tom Sawyer Island in Florida this past summer and they had a great time running all around the island, through the Fort and out the escape tunnel! Their mom and dad did too!
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