April at Disneyland: Disneyland RR Dioramas

It was time to head over to Disney California Adventure, and what better way to finish a day at Disneyland than to take The Grand Circle Tour on the Disneyland Railroad? Today's post is centered on the grand finale, beginning with the Grand Canyon Diorama.



The beautiful panorama painting, the lighting, the taxidermy…it all comes together for a real "wow" experience that I always enjoy. Add in the music by Ferde Grofé and you have a winner every time.



Love the rainbow.



And then, we head back in time to the Primeval World!



Those crazy animatronics that came from the New York World's Fair may be a bit corny, but I enjoy them, too!







What a finish…dinosaurs, lava, and dramatic lighting!



As a final treat for today, here's an image from the UCLA Digital Archive, showing the Triceratops being put together, July 14, 1966.



See more vintage & current Daveland Disneyland Railroad Diorama photos on my main website.

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.

Aging Well

In February 1976, this little publicity blurb for the Primeval World dioramas was released:

LIFE-SIZE MONSTERS OF THE PAST seemingly come to life in the Primeval World section of California's Disneyland. Here, a mother Triceratops watches over her hatching young, moving through an innovative system of three-dimensional animation called audio-animatronics. Passengers on the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad travel backward in time to a tropical rain forest whose monstrous inhabitants are based on archaeological research.

For all of the "purists" out there, you might find some relief in comparing these two photos, as you'll discover how very little has changed from when the vintage shot was taken and the present-day photo that I snapped recently.



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