Disneyland Entrance, January 1960

Standing outside the entrance gate, we have guests on the left yucking it up and guests on the right standing near the Ken-L-Ration Ken-L-Land. It’s January 1960, and based on the sign atop the structure, your pet will be licking his/her chops to be dumped off here. Don’t believe it for a second.



In shot #2 from the same batch, our photographer has passed through the turnstiles and is busy snapping away at the Mickey Floral, the Disneyland Railroad, the attraction posters, and…

TPE: Magnolia Park

The last place on my tour of Vintage Disneyland in Adventureland is Magnolia Park. I am skipping the Tahitian Terrace because I recently did a post on that fine restaurant which you can read here.

Modern-day Park Guests think of the fountain area near The Haunted Mansion as being Magnolia Park (which would be correct), but back in Disneyland's early days, Magnolia Park was the piece of real estate between The Jungle Cruise and The Chicken Plantation Restaurant. The first two photos show aerial views of the bandstand and The Chicken Plantation to give you an idea of where it was located.



At the centerpiece was the infamous bandstand, which started its life in Town Square. Shortly before the park was opened, it was realized that this large structure would block the view of the Castle and disrupt the cinematic “long shot” desired looking down Main Street. Its next residence was near the castle, where it resided until Walt decided that the Disneyland Band needed a more permanent stage. John Hench sketched up a few ideas for the Carnation Plaza Gardens and the bandstand was moved (again), approximately July 1956 to Magnolia Park.

In this photo of the footbridge to the Chicken Plantation, you can see the back of the Bandstand's Dome:





And why would I want to visit a bandstand in Magnolia Park? Here are the reasons. First reason is The Christmas Bowl:







No trip to Magnolia Park would be complete with seeing the Ken-L-Ration Dog Show, hosted by Sergeant Preston:









Or a live band concert led by Vesey Walker. Where are the guests?



Here's an early shot of the park under construction:





When the Jungle Cruise expanded in 1962, the addition of the Elephant Bathing Pool meant that the Bandstand had reached the end of the line at Disneyland. According to the Nickel Tour, the Bandstand was donated to the City of Anaheim, who kept it for a few years. Next (and final?) owner was Rogers Gardens. According to my contact at Rogers Gardens, The City of Anaheim called the owner of Roger’s Gardens around 1975 and said that they were going to throw the gazebo away and if Rogers wanted it, they had to come get it by the next day. A very large truck was rented and the Bandstand was relocated. It is now a favorite resting spot in the gardens, and Rogers is making a new sign that advertises the fact that it truly is the original Disneyland Band Gazebo. Rogers themselves started out in Costa mesa, moving to its present location of Corona Del Mar in January 1970.

And that, my blog-reading friends, concludes our Time-Machine-Travel to Adventureland. See you in Frontierland!

See more vintage Disneyland Magnolia Park photos on my Magnolia Park web page.

Disneyland 48 years ago, August 1962: Pt. 1

Hang onto your Mouse ears readers as we zoom back in time to August 1962. Hop onto the Blue Monorail and check out all those fancy vintage cars in the parking lot. That should keep some of you classic auto nuts busy for a bit.

If you brought your pet with you the the Ken-L-Ration Ken-L-Land is the place for you! Just drop ol’ Rover off here while you spend the day at Disneyland (don’t forget to come back to take him for a walk though!).



The marquee near the ticket booths heralds the upcoming additions that are under construction. Most likely this is referring to the Indian Elephant Pool at the Jungle Cruise.





The combine car sure looks purty here! It’s a shame that RETLAW 1 was ever allowed to leave the premises of the park.





For today’s visit, perky little Pam will be our tour guide. Please be sure to mind your manners around her, otherwise she’ll give you a good “thwap” with her riding crop!



I’ll leave all of you at Central Plaza today, with a glimpse of Tomorrowland and The House of the Future as a teaser for tomorrow’s post.



View more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Finishing up the 1950’s Medley

The last few of this 1950’s series begins with a shot of the Adventureland entrance; looks like this lady is trying to scoop our photographer with HER shot–the nerve! View #2 was taken just inside the Frontierland gates, which often seems to be the least crowded of all the Disneyland entrances in the morning.



Here’s a crowded view of how this area looks today:



As a follow-up to my previous Sgt. Preston/Ken-L-Ration posts, David from Sherman Oaks did a little digging on ebay and came up with these fantastic shots showing the T-Shirt & Button from the 1957 contest:







HUGE shout-out to David for sending these fantastic photos from his collection! DVD/Blu-ray update: “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is coming out next week on December 2nd. This installment is a little darker than its predecessor, which is probably why I like it better!



See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

Ken-L-Ration Kids’ Amateur Dog Show, Pt. 3

This little series ends in Adventureland, where the bandstand was moved for its final gasp to Magnolia Park. How fitting that a Dalmatian takes home the big prize!



See more vintage Magnolia Park photos at my regular website.

Ken-L-Ration Kids’ Amateur Dog Show, Pt. 2

More from the same March 31, 1957 Dog Show, these photos have Sergeant Preston, and appear to have been taken outside Holidayland. However, Holidayland didn’t open until June according to what I’ve read, so it still had a few months to go when these photos were taken. Dick Simmons played Canadian Mountie Sgt. Preston from 1955–1958 on CBS. I wonder how Disney sponsor ABC felt about him being at the park?!?



The poor pooches don’t seem too happy about having to wear Mouse Ears!



See more Disneyland Holidayland photos on my Holidayland photo web page.

Ken-L-Ration Kids’ Amateur Dog Show

Dated March 31, 1957, these two vintage images are from the Ken-L-Ration Kids’ Amateur Dog Show. Photo #1 shows the kids with their pets, standing in the location of what is still the current Dog Kennel Area, albeit sponsored by Purina instead of Ken-L-Ration/Biskit.



Vintage Shot #2 shows the registration area:



I’m not sure if a homespun contest like this would fly today or generate much interest. Seems like guests today expect a lot more “wow” from Disneyland. Ah, back when life was simpler. See more vintage and current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

Disneyland Dog Show, March 1957

I previously posted two of these images from the 1957 Annual Kids Amateur Dog show, sponsored by Ken-L-Ration, and have since acquired 2 more, so thought I’d post the whole group together in one post. Sergeant Preston is viewable on the left in most of these, as is Vesey Walker. That poor dog all dressed up in a tutu!







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

Return to the Dog Show at the Bandstand

Here’s another shot from the Dog Show that I featured over a month ago and that was also on the Gorilla Blog and Matterhorn Blog. Looks like Sergeant Preston in this one which shows the old Bandstand in Magnolia Park.

See more vintage Disneyland Magnolia Park photos at my main website.

Dog Show at the Bandstand

Seems to be some kind of Ken-L-Ration Dog Show at the Bandstand in this undated slide which also features the Disneyland Marching Band. I could be wrong, but judging by the looks of the area around this stand, I believe this slide is from the Magnolia Park area.

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