Time for a patriotic post as our nation celebrates its 235th birthday! Disneyland has always been a place to celebrate patriotism, and what could be more red-white-and-blue than "America The Beautiful?"



In the location that is now Buzz Lightyear was once the home of the film "America The Beautiful," as seen in this September 1959 photo:



When it comes to parades, the wacky America on Parade had Bicentennial charm in spades. Whose nightmares weren't invaded by gigantic Betsy Ross and George Washington figures?!?









One of the most favorite patriotic attractions of yesteryear is America Sings, also found in Tomorrowland. Ollie & Sam served up a heapin' helpin' of July 4th spirit:





Remnants of this audio animatronic Marc Davis spectacular can still be seen today in Splash Mountain. Recognize some of the characters in this America Sings scene?



The 4th is often about the fireworks, and Disneyland has almost always had a spectacular display for guests. Here's one from July 1968:



July 2008:



And finally for today, the man who created America's favorite theme park, Walt Disney. Naturally, there is plenty of patriotic bunting behind him in this opening day shot from July 17, 1955:



Happy 4th all - hope you are enjoying a fantastic day of BBQs, Freedom, & Fun!

Follow my Daveland updates on Twitter. See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street U.S.A. photos at my regular website.

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Walt is shown with the concept art for two of the improvements at Disneyland that were to be rolled out for the Tencennial. Since Disneyland was laughed at by the press when it was unveiled, Walt's 10 Year Anniversary was a sweet slice of humble pie for the naysayers. Or should I say cake instead? In celebration, the larger-than-life Tencennial cake was wheeled out in front of the castle for guests to see:





Here is the accompanying publicity text for the photo of Walt:

WALT DISNEY ANNOUNCES DISNEYLAND "TENCENNIAL" — A year-long celebration will mark Disneyland's tenth anniversary in 1965. Top new attraction for the year will be "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" to be installed in what is now Disneyland's Opera House. Here Walt Disney points to artists' conception of the Lincoln setting and the lobby of the new Plaza Inn Restaurant to be added for the decade year. Many special events are planned throughout the year.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln debuted on July 18, 1965, which is the actual 10 year anniversary of when Disneyland was open to the public, as opposed to the invitation only event on July 17, 1955. Here's a closeup of the art that Walt is pointing to:



A beautiful night shot of the Opera House about one month after Mr. Lincoln debuted there:



The other piece of art that Walt is showing is of the Plaza Inn, a restaurant located in Central Plaza. Previously titled the Red Wagon Inn, it was sponsored by Swift Premium Meats.



Here's what the menu looked like during the first month it opened:



The Plaza Inn is still in business, serving delicious crispy Fried Chicken and other guest favorites. Here's to may more years of celebration for Walt's Disneyland! Follow my Daveland updates on Twitter. See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

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For those of you bored with my WDW Trip report, I will offer you a small reprieve with a post about the Progress City model. Formerly part of the Disneyland Carousel of Progress attraction, it now resides in Walt Disney World, visible while riding the PeopleMover...oh, excuse me...the Tomorrowland Transit Authority! The first photo is a vintage shot of the model with the following information:

“In capsulized realism is this 6,900-foot scale model of the city of the future provides a detailed example of city planning using today’s latest technology with more than 4,500 buildings and 2,450 moving vehicles in a myriad of forward looking transportation systems. The all-electric city is a new feature of General Electric’s Carousel of Progress at Disneyland.”

Here are two other vintage shots, showing Walt proudly telling the world about his ambitious plans for EPCOT and Disney World near Orlando:





And to keep things current, here’s the Progress City model today:







See more vintage & current Carousel of Progress photos at my regular website.

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Billy & Sybil get to join Walt on a ride through Frontierland atop the Pack Mules. Note the stuffed Mickey Mouse doll on the rear mule. He looks much less scary than the Mickey Mouse that was at Disneyland during the first few years! In case you haven’t seen the comments left yesterday (which were very much appreciated!), there is much more background information on Sybil & Billy’s visit at this link. See more vintage & current Frontierland photos at my regular website.

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You probably don’t know who Billy Krauch and Sybil Stanton are, but back in 1955, they were two of the luckiest kids on earth. Walt Disney gave them a preview of Disneyland before it was open, and this is one of the moments caught on film documenting their visit. Here they are, posing on the C.K. Holliday, engine #1. See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

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1959 was one of the most exciting years in the park, and even garnered its own TV Special, entitled "Disneyland ’59." Today’s entry into this series focuses on the Monorail. First came the Viewliner; as you can see from the photo, Walt was purty excited about this narrow guage miniature train, but as I have said before, it looked like a toy. Walt knew that this train was not going to be the wave of the future of transportation.



According to this drawing, the original Monorail would have hung from a beam rather than glide on top like it does today. From what I have read, Walt was not happy with this version.



On a trip to Germany, he saw the Alweg Monorail in Cologne and realized that what he had in mind was actually possible:



This John Hench rendering was more to his liking, and shows the Monorail that we all know and love today:



In this shot, you can see the construction of the track shortly before opening, as the workers rush to meet the deadline:



Walt truly believed that this mode of transportation was the wave of the future, and that city traffic would be greatly reduced when Monorails were installed. What I wouldn’t give to see a Monorail installed here in Southern California to help alleviate the mess on the freeways! As a little tease for part 2 tomorrow, here is a gleaming image from June 1959, the opening month of the Monorail; it just doesn’t get better than this, folks!



See more vintage & current Monorail photos at my regular website. Meanwhile in media-land, “Sleeping Beauty,” the Platinum Edition, is about to hit the streets, and boy is it a beauty (pun intended)!









The section of extras on the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama is not to be missed. Pick it up on Blu-ray at Amazon.com as well as regular DVD at Amazon.com.

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One of the more oft-told stories about Walt & Lillian concerns the Petrified Tree sitting in Frontierland on the Banks of the Rivers of America. As the story goes, Walt & Lillian were near Colorado Springs in June 1956; Walt saw a sign that said "Petrified Trees for Sale” and promptly pulled over. Leaving Lillian in the car, he checked things out for himself. Photo #1 was supposedly taken of Walt surveying the petrified goodies; I have included a close-up of “Walt’s” face; you be the judge.



About an hour later, Walt returned to Lillian, who had been waiting in the car the whole time. Knowing that he was in deep, Walt quickly said, “Lilly, I just bought you a wonderful present—a petrified tree.” The 5-ton marvel was shipped to the Disney’s Holmby Hills home just in time for their July 13, 1956 anniversary. I could say that Lillian was enthusiastic, but you’d know I was being a smartass. Other than Walt, how many people would have been enthused about a 5-ton Petrified Tree?!? It sat in her garden until Lillian “graciously” donated it to Disneyland about a year later. More than likely, this is where Walt wanted it in the first place. Here are two previously posted photos from November 1960 showing the tree and its original descriptive signage:





Here are a few shots of the Petrified Tree as it looks today:









See more vintage & current Petrified Tree photos at my regular website. For all you Pirates of the Caribbean movie fanatics, you can order the complete trilogy on Blu-ray for under $60 at Amazon.com.

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