Postcards

Frontierland Folio

Folio (folder) postcard sets featuring multiple scenes were available for each of Disneyland's major themed areas. When opened a selection of scenes would drop down.

This is an mint copy.

13 Colorful Scenes from FRONTIERLAND! - Circa 1976

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www.flickr.com/photos/39527581@N07/sets/72157629962168350/

Rainbow Ridge & the Pack Mules

An Overview

This photo shows Rainbow Ridge with the Mine Train ride (upper right) and the boarding area for the Pack Mules Through Nature’s Wonderland. In the middle of the photo is a smaller sign in the waiting queue: Mule Pack Limit 195 lb. (That would eliminate a lot of guests these days).
 
The building to the right is apparently the entrance to the mule attraction.
 
There is a sign for Nature’s Wonderland on one of the store fronts to the left of the boarding line of mules.
 
To the far right you can see the rather drab surface of the material that used to pave a lot of the parks. 

Nature’s Wonderland was replaced by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1979) and Big Thunder Ranch (1986). Some of the buildings (or similar reproductions) can still be seen while in the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
 
The Big Thunder Ranch is now being demolished for the new Star Wars Land area.

Live in Disneyland: Pack Mules

Yes, mules.......

The Pack Mules ride was one of the original Disneyland attractions in 1955.

With an expensive expansion in 1956 the mule ride became the Rainbow Ridge Pack Mules.

When Disneyland introduced the famous "E" ticket in 1959 that's what a mule ride required.

Yet another expansion in 1960 was inspired by Disney's short documentary nature films, the True Life Adventures.  The ride became Pack Mules Through Nature's Wonderland. 

The Pack Mule Trail is in the lower center of this preview map.

The Pack Mules were disbanded in 1973. I was able to take the less than wild but sometimes unpredictable ride in 1971. 


Looking at the following original photograph taken then it's something of a wonder it lasted that long.


A recalcitrant mule with a somewhat confused rider is seen blocking the progress of the mule train before it even gets to Nature's Wonderland.

Photo: copyright Ross Care

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McCall's in Disneyland

February 1956

A little less than a year after Disneyland opened. It was getting attention everywhere in the media.  

McCall's was a popular large-format woman's magazine in the 1950s. Price: 25-cents.

This issue features a fashion spread photographed at various spots in Disneyland.

Frontierland, DISNEYLAND, 1971

The CACTI 5 plus 2

Fantasyland 1971

This shot shows the original FANTASYLAND in 1971, about a decade before the 1983 makeover. Disneyland was not yet two decades old, and you still needed tickets.

You can see what I assume is a medieval ticket kiosk in the middle of the frame.

You can also observe the original overall medieval tournament look for the Happiest Land of All, a kind of extension of the style of Sleeping Beauty's castle, the back of which can be seen in the distance.

Between the old Carousel with the striped roof on the left and the then-less ornate Dumbo Flying Elephants ride on the right you can glimpse the Fantasyland (Mickey Mouse Club) Theater (with the striped awnings. See photo below).

Early postcard view of the Mad Tea Party teacups ride, circa 1960. In the upper middle is the Mickey Mouse Club Theater with the MMC Mickey logo, and to the upper right the ticket kiosk which is seen in the previous GAF photo.

The theater was one of the original 1955 attractions, then called the Mickey Mouse Club Theater. I remember seeing it in a set of Viewmaster 3-D reels showing the Mouseketeers.

In 1964, the name was changed to the Fantasyland Theater. It closed permanently in 1982 for the beautiful Fantasyland renovation project.

In 1983, the theater space became  Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, a pleasant and  nostalgic dark ride which remains there to this day. The ride as a whole is rather blah but the final room does have  charming 3-dimensional realizations (models) of some of Gustaf Tenggren's original toy designs for the film.
 
TOP PHOTO from an original GAF color transparency by Ross B. CARE, copyright 1971.

STAR WARS Invades Disneyland

And It's Only Just Begun........