Driving With The Dinosaurs

If this scene looks familiar, it should. Those of you who have taken the Grand Circle Tour on the Disneyland Railroad have most likely enjoyed seeing this tableau featuring the triceratops and their babies hatching out of the eggs. But the car...what the heck is that doing in this image? Photoshop magic? Nope; not on this one. Instead, you are seeing this attraction in its original state from The 1964-1965 Worlds Fair in New York.

Called The Ford Magic Skyway, this attraction was sponsored (naturally!) by The Ford Motor Company. Guests were seated in a brand-spanking new Ford from which they were able to view the dioramas. The Ford sponsorship didn't transfer to Disneyland, but the concept of guests riding in slow moving cars did, and thus, The PeopleMover came to be.

This particular scene doesn't look a whole lot different today, proving that oldies can still be goodies!



See more vintage & current Disneyland Primeval World Diorama photos on my Primeval World web page.

Primeval World

One of the highlights for me when I visit the park is to ride the Disneyland Railroad from the Tomorrowland Depot back to the Main Street Train Station. The extra "treat" is getting to see the Grand Canyon and Primeval World Dioramas. Wacky, campy, silly, and fun...probably very outdated today, but I love 'em, and I hope the folks at Disney will keep this part of the show there for a long time. Walt wanted a big finish to the train ride, and this was his solution. It is a perfect marriage of sight and sound with the combination of the stunning painting, taxidermy, audio animatronics, and Ferdé Grofe’s music from his “Grand Canyon Suite.” The Primeval World figures debuted in 1966 (photo #1 is from July 7) and were originally used at the 1964 New York World’s Fair Ford Magic Skyway Pavilion. I will round out the post with 3 commercial Panavue slides:







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