Disney Park
History Links

Color slides from many years ago hold a visual history of Disneyland.

Yesterland isn’t the only site about the history of Disney Parks. There are other sites with vintage Disney park photographs and all sorts of Disney park history. And while Yesterland deals primarily with Disneyland in California, there are sites that deal with defunct attractions at Walt Disney World. You can also find vintage photos and interesting commentary at a number of blogs that have popped up.

I hope you enjoy the links on this page. Please also visit Yesterland’s Park and Fair History Links for links about the history of other theme parks, amusement parks, and world’s fairs.

Blogs

2719 Hyperion

Jeff Pepper’s blog—named after the address for the original Disney Brothers Studios in Los Angeles—is about all things Disney, with an emphasis on Disney history.

Davelandblog

Davelandblog provides “new and vintage photos of Disneyland thrown in with a rant or two.”

Designing Disney NEW!

Designing Disney celebrates the art and history of Disney theme parks.

Disney and More

Alain Littaye publishes this blog with an incredible collection of Imagineering art.

Disney by Mark NEW!

Former Imagineer Mark Hickson shares his Disney experiences, photos, and art—old and new.

The Disney Frontier Blog

This blog provides links to new and vintage photographs, video, and audio.

Disney History

“Interesting discoveries about Disney history, vintage Disneyana, Disney artwork, the Walt’s People book series, and new books about Disney,” by Didier Ghez.

Gorillas Don’t Blog

The blogger admits this is a “ridiculously-named blog.” Great vintage Disneyland color slides and descriptions! Click on the pictures for much larger images.

Insights and Sounds

Blogger Mark Taft discusses all sorts of things that interest him. His main focus is on Disney theme parks, including the development of attractions, Imagineering art, and critical analysis of park elements.

Imagineering Disney

This is an unofficial blog about Walt Disney Imagineering and the Disney parks of yesterday and today, with many terrific photos.

Imaginerding

With the tagline “We’re bringing nerdy back,” George Taylor blogs about “books, movies, links and Theme Parkeology.”

Kevin Kidney

Kevin Kidney describes himself as a “long-time Disney designer, now a self-employed art director, illustrator, writer, sculptor, and maker of things.” His blog often features historical Disney content and striking mid-century style graphics.

O.C. History Update

This blog isn’t strictly about Disneyland; it’s about the county that’s the home of Disneyland—and with which Disneyland shares its history. There’s a great collection of O.C. history links too.

The Original Disneyland Hotel

The Disneyland Hotel is almost as old as Disneyland Park, and it has a history that’s just as interesting. This blog by author Donald Ballard takes you back in time.

outsidetheberm (Outside the Berm)

The blog celebrates the “builders and dreamers, artists and schemers who created all your childhood memories in the great American theme park.”

Passport to Dreams Old and New

The tagline here is: “Taking Disney seriously.”

The Pickle Barrel

The tagline here is: “Gather ‘round all you rascals and set a spell! let ol’ lonesome spin a yarn’ n’ brighten yer day with a drop of kitchy sunshine!”

Progress City, U.S.A.

It’s really hard to come up with a succinct description of this blog. So let’s just say it’s about Disney, and it’s very good. See for yourself.

Re-Imagineering

I’ll let the blog’s description speak for itself. This is... “A forum for Pixar and Disney professionals passionate about the Disney Theme Parks to catalog past Imagineering missteps and offer tenable practical solutions in hopes that a new wave of creative management at Imagineering can restore some of the wonder and magic that’s been missing from the parks for decades.”

SamLand’s Disney Adventures

Sam Gennawey, an urban planner, authors a blog that’s primarily about the history and design of the Disney theme parks. His blog entries provide details and insight that you’ve probably not read anywhere else.

Stuff from the Park

According to the blogger, Matterhorn1959, this is “a collection of images and other items from Disneyland, theme parks and other amusement parks. Also look for images and items I find interesting, amusing or both.”

Ultimate Orlando Blog

Author and MiceAge columnist Kevin Yee provides his thoughts “on Walt Disney World and the myriad entertainment offerings in Orlando.”

videblog

The description of this blog is: “This will be a blog about Disneyland, mostly pictures that I have taken in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I hope you all enjoy :)”

Vintage Disneyland Goodies

The goodies here tend to be vintage Disneyland paper (such as menus and brochures) and other vintage paper.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets

It’s not just about Disneyland tickets, but that’s the starting point for this Disneyland history site.

Disneyland Park in California

Atommobiles.com: Adventure Thru Inner Space

Here’s a whole site with sights, sound and flash animation of the attraction that was in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland from 1967 until 1986.

Country Bear Playhouse

The Country Bears have departed from Disneyland, but their attraction lives on in Florida and Tokyo. Get the “bear facts” from Paul J. Barrie, Jr.—or Paul J. “Bear”ie, Jr.

Disney Submarines

Disneyland’s Submarine Voyage has a long history going back to 1959. The ride returned in 2007 as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. This site is devoted to the Disneyland’s submarines, and there’s also information about their counterparts at Walt Disney World.

Disneyland Beginnings

Travel back to the 1955 opening of Disneyland. Also, enjoy construction photos of rides, including the Matterhorn. Click on the images for larger images.

Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years, 1954-1988
The Disneyland Hotel wasn’t built by Walt Disney; it was built by entrepreneur Jack Wrather. Today, we think of the Disneyland Hotel as three highrise towers, but it was originally a campus of lowrise buildings. Do you want to see pictures and learn more? Visit this site.

Disneyland Photos at Daveland

Daveland has a spectacular collection of vintage Disneyland photos, some going all the way back to 1955. The site relies on pop-ups to show larger images, so make sure you’re not blocking pop-ups.

Disneyland Postcards

Click on the thumbnails to see larger images of a great collection of authentic Disneyland postcards from throughout the park’s history.

Doug’s Disneyland Page

Let Doug Rhodes be your Disneyland tour guide, as he shares park history, trivia, and facts with you.

D23
The Walt Disney Company describes D23 as “Disney’s first official community for fans.” You don’t have to be a member to enjoy the great web content.

The Imaginary World: Disneyland Photo Tour

Take a photo tour of Disneyland in the 1950s and 1960s. Then enjoy the other fun articles at The Imaginary World, even though they’re not about Disneyland.

Jan’s World

Jan Vincent tells you all about the entertainment at Frontierland’s Golden Horseshoe Saloon—the classic Golden Horseshoe Revue and the comic bluegrass act Billy Hill and the Hillbillies.

John’s Disneyland Page

John Perry presents his personal tribute to Disneyland Park, including Disneyland 40th Anniversary Collector Cards and old Disneyland tickets.

Karen’s Disneyland Home Page

You’ll find Disneyland trivia, history, links, and lots of photos of the Happiest Place on Earth. There’s a timeline too.

Keeline.com: Your Key to Our World

If you look around the home page, you’ll find links to pages about Disneyland ticket books, Disneyland magazines, and other Disney content.

The Lion King Celebration

Allyn Fratkin presents a cyber-tribute to this outstanding parade, which ran from 1994 to 1997. Lots of great photos.

Sorcerer’s Workshop

You can explore various “sites within a site” about subjects such as the Monorail, the Circlevision exit lobby , and the Pirates Arcade Museum—with audio too!

The Sounds of Disneyland

Listen to dozens of WAV files from Disneyland’s past and present, including “The floors on which you are walking, the gently sloping walls around you, and even the ceilings are made of plastics,” from Monsanto’s House of the Future.

Wally Boag: Clown Prince of Disneyland

Read about Disney Legend Wally Boag, who delighted guests in nearly 40,000 performances Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue. Learn about the 2009 biography by authors Wally Boag and Gene Sands.

Walt’s Magic Kingdom

Here’s a long list of Disneyland attractions, shops, restaurants, and shows—including the dates they were open. Some have links to audio.

Walt Disney World in Florida

Horizons
Epcot’s Horizons, an ride about living in the future, closed permanently on January 9, 1999, to be replaced by “Mission: Space.”

Lost Epcot
EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982. Much has changed since then. This site takes you to the attractions that have closed or been redone over the years.

Studios Central
This frequently updated site has everything you’ve always wanted to know about Disney’s Hollywood Studios, including numerous columns about the history of the park that was originally Disney-MGM Studios.

Ultimate Orlando
In addition to his work on MiceAge, Kevin Yee also maintains this site. Click on “Extinct Attractions” for extinct Orlando attractions and shows. Dig around, and you’ll find all sorts of fun content.

Walt Dated World
Read about Walt Disney World attractions that no longer exist. This site also includes Walt Deleted World, about attractions that were never built.

Walt Disney’s Original EPCOT Project
This site describes Walt Disney’s vision of EPCOT—Walt’s planned Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow—not Epcot, the theme park.

Widen Your World
Mike Lee presents the Magic Kingdom’s “extinct” attractions, shops, restaurants and other features. Visit Space Mountain’s RCA years (featuring the Home of Future Living), the Mickey Mouse Revue, If You Had Wings, the Swan Boats, and more.

Multiple Disney Parks

Disney Fans Photo Site at DisneyFans.com
See tens of thousands of digital photos taken primarily at Disney theme parks by Allen Huffman. Because the photos go back to 1996, there’s plenty of park history here. Allen also hosts other Disney sites at ParkHopping.com.

Korkis Korner and Wade’s Wayback Machine at MousePlanet
Disney historian Jim Korkis (who wrote as for MousePlanet as Wade Sampson from May 2010 until September 2010) writes columns that concentrate on stories of Disney history that haven’t been recorded elsewhere.

The Mckyfoto Home Page
Enjoy illustrated accounts of Disney media events, such as the opening ceremonies for the Indiana Jones Adventure (at Disneyland) and The Legend of the Lion King (at Walt Disney World).

This Day in Disney History

Click on any day of the 12-month calendar to find our what happened on that day in the life of Walt Disney and the company that he founded.

Tim’s Disney News Archive
From its launch in 1965, Disney News was a wonderful quarterly magazine. Originally published by Disney’s old Magic Kingdom Club, the magazine grew into Disney Magazine, until it ceased publication in 2005. It’s fun to see the cover of every issue at this site.

Walt Disney

Thank You Walt Disney, Inc.
Thank You Walt Disney, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-grams Studios in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum opened in the Presidio of San Francisco on October 1, 2009. Plan a visit, learn what’s going on, buy tickets online, or become a member. This site is hosted by Disney.go.com.

The Walt Disney Hometown Museum
The Walt Disney Hometown Museum is in Marceline, Missouri, the boyhood home of Walt Disney. Housed in the town’s historic railroad station, the museum’s collection includes Disney family artifacts that you can’t see anywhere else.

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