Bras and Buena Vista Trolley

Happy Friday! This image of Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A. is most likely July/August 1955. The Ruggles Glass Shop AND Hollywood Maxwell’s Intimate Apparel (aka “The Wizard of Bras”) along with the patriotic bunting help clarify the time period. The poor White Wing at right has a full shovel, and he obviously needs to make another trip to pick up the remaining piles of horse poo from the horse-drawn streetcar. Zooming in to the front of those two shops also reveals a young man with his shirt completely unbuttoned. This is a bit of slobbery you would not typically see at Disneyland circa 1955!



At the Main Street Cinema, Gloria Swanson is on the marquee.



Shifting gears, I was saddened beyond belief to see the recent KTLA news article on the DCA Red Car Trolley on Buena Vista Street:

The Red Car Trolley attraction at Disney California Adventure will be discontinued in early 2025 due to an expansion of the Avengers Campus. Due to the anticipated construction, some backstage locations in the area will be impacted, including the backstage Red Car Trolley barn. “We will discontinue operation of the attraction in early 2025 and will share a specific date later this winter.” Disneyland officials told KTLA.



The Red Car was one of the most exciting additions to the Buena Vista Street project that opened in the summer of 2012. It added a sense of motion and purpose to DCA that was previously missing. Guests could take the journey on the Red Car from the DCA entrance all the way to the Tower of Terror attraction.



From the Disneyland website when they originally debuted:

Roll down Buena Vista Street and Hollywood Land from inside a vintage street car on the Red Car Trolley. Watch as the fabulous sights and sounds of Disney California Adventure Park pass by as you sit back and relax in stylish comfort. It's a whole new way to experience the park!



Stops: The Red Car Trolley offers 4 convenient stops. You can board or disembark at any of the following locations: • Buena Vista Street near the Main Entrance • Carthay Circle across from Carthay Circle Theatre • Hollywood Boulevard near the Disney Animation building • Sunset Boulevard next to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror The Cars: Inspired by the Pacific Electric Railway trolleys from the 1920's, the 2 cars are slightly different, including paint schemes that reflect different eras. Similar to the original "Hollywood Car" trolleys, the new cars are entirely powered by electricity and are emissions-free vehicles. However, unlike the original trolleys, the Red Car Trolley vehicles run via batteries. The overhead wires are just for show!



Be sure to check out the amazing details both outside and inside — there are even retro-styled advertisements for the businesses on Buena Vista Street. History: A vast network of electrical trolleys operated in Southern California from 1887 until 1961. By 1925, the Pacific Electric Railway was built by tycoon Henry Huntington into one of the largest electrical railways anywhere in the world with over 1,000 miles of active track. This incredible transportation network gave way to the automobile, but electrical trolleys are back and rolling down the street once again at Disney California Adventure Park!

Disney has yet to reveal their fate; I guess they could pop up someplace else, but nothing has been stated yet.



Am I surprised about this? Not really. Once the Tower of Terror became Guardians of the Galaxy and was removed from the 1920s/30s Buena Vista theme, I realized that any hope of Hollywoodland being revitalized and expanded was gone.



Just one less reason for me to return to DCA, as the Avengers are of zero interest to me. The Disney Corporation moves closer to a demographic that I no longer relate to.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Bryan for sharing this excellent video with me. Former Disney Imagineer makes an extremely compelling case of why The Red Car Trolley needs to be saved. Unfortunately, it does come down to money, care, and creativity, so I have little faith that the Disney Corporation will take action on his plea.



See more Disney California Adventure photos at my main website.

Tower of Terror: Gala or Bash?

Picture this: September 22, 2007, at The Hollywood Tower Hotel (aka HTH, aka Disney California Adventure’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction).



Decorated for Halloween, there is a spooky assortment of cobwebs and bats adorning this haunted landmark in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot section of DCA.



Inside, the lobby decor also reflects Halloween. A vintage masks hangs from a chair:



Miniature pumpkins are strewn across the garland that hangs from the ceiling:



A banner over the check-in desk does a semi-decent job of evoking 1939:



An empty jar of “Fresh Treats” sits on the lobby counter:



A poster announces the impending Halloween Gala at the Tip-Top C.L.U.B. with Anthony Fremont and his Orchestra (a nod to the November 3, 1961 episode of “The Twilight Zone”):



The same poster as it looked a year before, October 2006:



Now take a look at this miniature version that was displayed in the shop window, circa September 2008. Notice anything different?



First, the party is now being referred to as a “Bash” instead of a “Gala.” The Disney employee that printed out the large poster forgot to load the appropriate font for “and his orchestra.” A non-Art Deco font was substituted as a result. Here’s my cleaned-up version using “Gala” (definitely more appropriate for 1939): 



The poster has more of a 1990s look than one from 1939. The overuse of blends and more than 10 fonts gives this piece a somewhat computerized look. I wonder where this piece ended up once the Anaheim version was removed?

See more photos at my main website.

“B” is for “Buena Vista Street”

When Disney California Adventure opened in 2001, the entrance area was known as the Sunshine Plaza. Gigantic letters spelled out the name of the state for the guests walking towards the turnstiles of Disneyland’s neighbor. Excitement ran high when the 55-acre theme park was added to the Disney portfolio in Anaheim. It didn’t take long for guests to figure out that this place was not created with the thought, care, and creativity that made Disneyland such an enduring favorite. The letters out front should have been C-H-E-A-P.



I drove two hours for this? I could have gone to the nearby mall.



Ooh…neon vomit. So charming!



The one appealing portion to me was the California Zephyr car which was repurposed as retail and (very basic) dining opportunities. Along with the retro styling of the info booth (patterned after the Union Stations of yore), there was a slight (VERY slight) feeling that you’d entered the past.



Once you saw the retail/food  offerings, any illusion you might have experienced was quickly shattered.

The city of Anaheim was not happy about the underperforming Park, which did not meet the tourism revenue projections that Disney had promised. In order to repair potential repercussions (and yes, some nasty ones were on the horizon for Disney), DCA went under a major overhaul less than ten years after its initial opening. This September 2011 photo shows a very happy site: the destruction of the Sunshine Plaza.



The new entrance, modeled after the long-gone Los Angeles Pan Pacific Auditorium gave an indication that Disney was going with a retro theme for their entry area, versus the Tacky Tourist one that had been initially adopted.



The reason this retro theme is so appealing is that it offers guests something they cannot experience: the past. DCA’s initial bomb can be chalked up to this: who would want to pay to see a cheaply done version of California when for the same amount of money, you could visit any one of the cities poorly represented all within driving distance? EPCOT succeeded because a plane trip across the ocean is not attainable for all; thus, being able to sample flavors and shopping from those countries within walking distance is appealing, even if they have been Disney-fied and boiled down to their lowest common denominators. 



I was immediately captivated walking down the newly opened Buena Vista Street (named after the road in Burbank to which Disney moved the Company in 1937) at DCA when it was unveiled in June 15, 2012. Yes, I was there!



The trolley at the entrance added an element of movement that was missing before. It shuttled guests from the entrance to the Hollywood Tower of Terror Hotel (remember that attraction?).



Appropriately themed 1930’s characters like Officer Blue were found here.

The architecture of Buena Vista Street was inspired by the Los Angeles/Hollywood area of the 1920’s/1930’s. You know, the buildings that get torn down to be replaced by mixed use high rises and parking lots.



The main retail store, Elias & Company looked like the Department Stores of yore:



Other retail stores mimicked the shops one would have found back in the day with appropriately themed retro window displays.





A cool vintage car at a gas station…oh wait, it’s actually a place to buy plush.



The center hub has this beautiful fountain; a great place for meeting the friends/family…



and a statue of Walt and Mickey, as they might have looked when they first arrived in California. A nice play on the Partners Statue at Disneyland’s Central Plaza.



The showstopper of the new area was the scaled recreation of the Carthay Circle Theatre (yup, demolished years ago for a parking lot) that once held the premiere of “Snow White” in 1937. For DCA, it was a restaurant and lounge.





The interior was lavish:



…and the food delish!



For the report card, was it an improvement? Definitely! And yet, a large portion of the remodel seemed just as hollow as its predecessor. Once you walked through the doors of these impressively detailed historic façades, the same bland food, beverage, and retail opportunities that you found elsewhere awaited your wallet here. Would it have been that much extra work to create an old fashioned ice cream soda shop with a counter, vs. the standard winding queue where you can get…wow, a Dreyers cone/sundae? Or a department store that perhaps offered a section with vintage clothing in addition to the cheap t-shirts and other crap that’s normally sold onsite?



C’mon, Disney…go the extra step or two and show off the creativity that used to be your hallmark!

See more DSC Buena Vista Street photos at my main website.

Red Car Trolley: Reality vs. Roger Rabbit

If you’ve been to Disney California Adventure, you’ve probably seen the Red Car Trolley which takes guests up and down Buena Vista Street. This shiny red mode of transportation was based on the Los Angeles Pacific Electric system, which was once the largest public transit system in the country, covering 1,100 miles in Southern California. Taken over by the freeway system, the last car was retired in 1961. Enter nostalgia. The movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988) centered its entire plot over the demise of the Red Car Trolley. The following photos were captured by trolley enthusiast Bill Volkmer during the filming of “Roger Rabbit” in December 1986. Taken before CGI became the norm, this film required a lot of post production. The car in this shot, PE 717, was created specially for the movie and ran on tires. It also was given a large lip so that Bob Hoskins could ride on the front of it.



This particular area of L.A. was re-dressed for the flick; contemporary skyscrapers are still visible from this angle though which was avoided by the camera crew when shooting for the film. The policeman attempts to keep nosy Angelenos away from the set.



I believe the location used here was Hope Street between 11th and 12th streets. The trolley in this shot, PE 1058, was motorized for the movie.



This image shows director Bob Zemeckis:



Loving the vintage autos that line the streets:



A closeup of the trolley used in the movie:



Here’s the REAL Pacific Electric Trolley as seen in this vintage shot.



I’d much rather ride these than a bus!

See more pop culture photos at my main website.