Finding Walt: a DL TR: Update 2/23/12 - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What a great idea! Of those, I think Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is my favourite as well.
I am also looking forward to seeing the miniatures that are part of the Storybook Canal Boats!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
Oh, Mr. Toad is great fun! I had forgotten so many parts of it and was so happy to ride it again as I know you will be too! Thought I'd let you know that I happened upon a horse-drawn ride around 12noon when I was there. I have no idea if they keep any schedule, but there ya go. Thanks for researching that list as I wondered about that when I was there.
Thanks for the info! That list is only the ones that are still around today--you can find a full list of opening day attractions and eateries at Yesterland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
Your plans sound like fun. Are you going to make time to get one of those hand made candy canes? (If so - I am totally jealous. I.WANT.ONE!) We saw the horse-drawn trolley on Main St at MK this past time. 1st time I've seen it. And I never knew Mr.Toad. But I hear there's a nod to him in Winnie the Pooh's ride.
I'm going to try for a Candy Cane on Wednesday morning! (It's the only CC day while I'm there)
There are several nods to Mr Toad in the MK today. He appears handing the deed to Toad Hall to Owl in the beginning of Winnie the Pooh, Mr Toad also appears in the pet graveyard at the exit to the Haunted Mansion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
What a great idea to try and recreate opening day at Disneyland!
Three weeks from today I'll safely be housed at the Renaissance Hollywood, hopefully I will have visited Walt's Grave and the merry go round at Griffith Park.
Today my DL park ticket arrived. I did think about getting the Premiere Passport, but I don't think I'll be back to DL within a year and there's no DVC discount so I'd have to pay quite a lot of money to upgrade my WDW AP, so I decided against it. MY 5 day DL Parkhopper pass is safely in my wallet next to my AP. I also decided that I only needed a 5 day day pass and not a 6 day pass because of the ABD tour day. I won't be going to a park that night, I'm thinking about a nice sit down dinner at one of the resort hotels, or depending on finances--mozzarella sticks at Dennys--j/k. The ABD tour includes an early evening at a famous Malibu restaurant, but the paperwork I received says appetizers, so I don't know if it will be enough for dinner--our return time to the hotel is also 7pm so I'm guessing that means appetizers are at 4 or 4:30. I'm going to be hungry again at 9ish. I'll spend the evening exploring the resorts--perhaps visiting all of them and maybe going for a swim. I'd like to check out Trader Sam's at the DL hotel--so maybe I'll grab a bite there.
I need to figure out where I can do a grocery store stop once I'm in Anaheim. I'm going to need a few bottles of wine for bedtime while I'm there and some breakfast provisions, as I like to grab something easy in the morning and get a move on. At WDW, if we aren't staying CL at AKL, I have bagels and fruit delivered. Does the Walmart in Anaheim sell groceries--and wine?
I think those are the only things left on my list to figure out. I have a few meals that need some thought, but I'm not super worried about them. I'm going to wait to see how the next couple of weeks go before I start making tons of sit down meal reservations. I need to think about Tuesday and Wednesday night and Friday lunch. Karen and Sharon are working on the rest of the week I believe--but they are leaving on Tuesday as far as I know.
It all sounds so wonderful! Five days is a good chunk of time at DLR and with your energy you should be able to really explore a lot, especially with PP pros along for part of the ride!
That's kind of the nice thing about DL is you don't really have to worry about making all your dining reservations 6 months in advance! Even the day of works too. Denny's is always a good option.....
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Finding Walt at Disneyland . . . or Disneyland opening day. On one morning I'm going to try an experience what DL was like on the day it opened. A lot of the opening day attractions have been replaced but there are still some left. I did a little research and I came up with a list of attractions from opening day and the name changes for those attractions that are still left. Thanks to Yesterland - Disneyland History & Other Disney Park History for the help on this one!
Main Street, USA
Horse-drawn Street Cars
Main Street Arcade
Main Street Cinema
Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad which has been renamed to Disneyland Railroad as of 1974
Fantasyland
Canal Boats of the World, which became Storybook Land Canal Boats in 1956
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Dumbo Flying Elephants
King Arthur Carrousel
Mad Tea Party
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Peter Pan Flight
Snow White’s Adventures became Snow White's Scary Adventures in 1983
Tomorrowland
Autopia
Frontierland
Golden Horseshoe Revue
Mark Twain Riverboat
Adventureland
Jungle Cruise
I've taken out all of the attractions that have closed from this list. So it looks like I've got to go through 15 attractions. I know that the horse drawn cars run very sporadically, so if I can't grab a seat on one, I'll try to get some pictures of that one. I'm also not sure that there are any arcade games left in the Main St Arcade--I think it's a shopping location now, but I'll grab photos to show you what it looks like today.
Several of these rides I am very excited about! Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was my favorite ride at WDW when I was a child. I know that it's old and has perhaps lost it's thrill and luster, but I can't wait to ride it because of the nostalgia factor. A little background for you--I was treated to 3 trips to WDW as a child. The first was way back when I was 5 years old . . . it was a bribe because my parents had just had a 2nd child--which I was NOT happy about. We stayed off site and I will never forget my mother saying that if we ever did it again, we would have to stay at a Disney Resort. I cannot remember if my brother was on the 2nd trip or not, but we stayed at the Contemporary and on the third trip our family of four stayed at the Poly. I really only remember 4 things from all 3 trips: Mr. Toad, Figment and Dreamfinder, getting lost outside Captain EO, and the heart shaped sunglasses I wore on the last trip. I know--sad. I imagine if I could look back at the photo albums from that time period it might jog my memory, but that's all that stuck in my head. The heart shaped sunglasses are long gone, Figment is still around, but the Dreamfinder is gone and the current Figment ride leaves a lot to be desired. I hope I'll never find myself lost at a Disney Park again, so the only thing that's left of my childhood memories of Disney is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but I have to go to California to relive that memory. I'm quite sure that it's going to make me cry.
So I guess that morning I'm going to try and find both Walt and my childhood. And that's all I've got for today!
I wish you lived close to us here in San Diego because I could tell you EXCATLY what it was like on opening day, Jluy 17th, 1955, because I and my two sisters were three of the lucky 20,000 OFFICIALLY INVITED to attend. It would take a long time to recall everything from that day to do it on line. I was just 10 1/2 years old but something like this is burnt into ones memory bank forever.
I can tell you that the day did not come off well at all and the local newpapers the next day all were saying that Disneyland would not survive one year because it was badly planned and all.
Oh, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. That was always one of my favs.
I love your idea of finding the original rides from opening day.
I think you are going to have a fantabulous time!
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Of those, I think Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is my favourite as well. 
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