Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Disneyland Comin' at Ya! Summer 1955, Pt. 1



I was very excited to acquire this group of 3D (presented here in Genuine FauxD©) slides showing Disneyland during its first year. The red white and blue bunting tells me these were taken during the first few months of operation. Look at the landscaping around the Mickey floral - positively barren! The first image shows the left and ride sides layered; the image below is a digital composite of the two, which provides slightly more information on both sides, including the slightly disheveled lady on the right.



The main subjects of our year one series can be seen standing in Town Square, waving to the photographer standing on the steps of the Main Street Train Station:



The panoramic view:



Zooming in, you can see that there’s still a crane near the Sleeping Beauty Castle turrets:



How about that non-themed trashcan that just says, “TRASH.” At this stage, the uniforms of the Disneyland Band were navy.



Our guests are standing in front of the Plaza Apartments just on the edge of Main Street/Central Plaza, with the Red Wagon Inn in the background. A Keystone Kop poses with them for good measure.



The panoramic view removes one of the obstructions from what I “assume” is a Main Street vehicle.



Last one for today shows our guests with their backs to Main Street:



A surrey and the Horse-Drawn Streetcar co-exist!



You can just barely see the Disneyland brochure in this gal’s hands in this detailed view:



Most likely this is what we see in the photo:

See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

2 comments:

  1. People really did dress better back then. ...maybe not the lady in brown, she feels out of place. Another oddity of that shot is drooping bunting on the train station. A one-time thing, I'm sure. I never knew they had a wheelchair/stroller entry back then, let alone "Pass Entrance". If I've ever seen "Plaza Apts" before then I've totally overlooked it until now. What a great way to create fiction for the "second floor". Your ability to eagle-eye what's in people's hands by seeing 5% of it exposed should have earned you a spot in some intelligence community by now. Uncanny.

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  2. The great thing about images from the first year is seeing the number of changes that would follow - many in rapid succession. Disneyland in those early years was a wonder to be hold as it metamorphosed into Walt's dream.

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