I get e-mail asking why attractions are missing from Yesterland. One answer is that I don’t have suitable amateur photographs. That’s why the old “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” walk-through and the original “Golden Horseshoe Revue” (with Wally Boag) are missing from Yesterland. But often the answer is that the attractions are still vital parts of Disneyland. In other words, they haven’t gone to Yesterland.

This page contains actual e-mail (sometimes edited for length) along with my answers.

To: Yesterland
From: Patrick
Date: April 29, 2001
 
Saw the URL for your site in my local paper and paid you a visit. Wonderful memories of the cool stuff I saw as a kid. Don’t go to Disneyland anymore; too expensive. I didn’t see any listing for one of my Dad’s favorites, The Tiki House!

 
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is still enchanting audiences at Disneyland. In fact, you’ll still find the original 1963 show. The Offenbach segment and some snippets from other segments were removed to speed up the show. Ethnic parrots Fritz, Michael, Pierre, and José are your hosts for a musical show featuring hundreds of singing birds, orchids, tikis, and other Audio Animatronics. There’s corny humor and the sound of Aloha. Sing along! “Let’s all sing like the birdies sing, tweet, tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet...” By the way, there are also Tiki Rooms at the Magic Kingdom in Florida and at Tokyo Disneyland, but they have newer shows—the cynical “Under New Management” in Florida and the 1990’s style “Get the Fever!” in Tokyo.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Darrell
Date: May 3, 2000
 
My question is this: Recently I acquired a 1961 “Guide to Disneyland.” In this book, I see a lot of the same things you mention in your website. One thing, however, I do not seem to see listed in “Yesterland.” In the 1961 “Guide to Disneyland,” there is a picture of mountain goats with a caption, “Sure-footed desert mountain sheep are viewed atop a rock formation in the foreground of DISNEYLAND’S GRAND CANYON DIORAMA.” Does this still exist? The map in the book places it at the Main Street train station. Can you help?

 
The Grand Canyon Diorama is still there. Take a ride on the Disneyland Railroad, and you’ll see this 1958 vintage indoor diorama between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. The beautifully crafted diorama is similar to something you'd see at a natural history museum—nothing moves. But how many natural history museums have a diorama that's as long as a football field? The music is “On The Trail” from the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé. Immediately after the Grand Canyon, you’ll see the Primeval World dinosaurs from Walt Disney’s Ford Motor Company pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The dinosaurs move.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Jeff
Date: May 13, 2001
 
Your site is wonderful. I do hope you find the time to update it—I’m very curious about Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and any other rides which have been discontinued! Thank you for your site.

To: Yesterland
From: Jim
Date: May 17, 2000
 
You are doing a valuable service, keeping these memories alive. But where is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride? I think it’s safe to assume you’ve received many e-mails on this one. A real controversy started when plans were announced to replace it with a Winnie the Pooh ride.

 
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride continues to entertain (and scare) guests at Disneyland, as it has since the park opened in 1955. But at the Magic Kingdom in Florida, the Bear of Very Little Brain evicted the Motorcar-loving Toad in 1998 to make room for “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” ride. It was a national news story. Sometimes the press misidentified the park as Disneyland. The show building in Florida was much larger, containing two similar (but not identical) Toad tracks that came together in one scene. That building allowed plenty of room for a Pooh ride and, not surprisingly, a Pooh gift shop. When Disneyland’s Fantasyland was renovated in 1983, Mr. Toad was redone with up-to-date Imagineering. So the current Disneyland version is better than its departed East Coast counterpart ever was.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Nadine
Date: February 12, 2000
 
One question, didn’t the Mine Train go through a cavern where you saw miners at work and then there was a cave-in or something like that?

 
The miners at work are part of the Calico Mine Train at Knott’s Berry Farm, a six-mile drive from Disneyland. For four decades, those miners have been toiling in the Calico Glory Hole, and they’re still at it. Yes, passengers still need to be wary of an explosion.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Carl
Date: March 20, 2000
 
I haven’t been to Disneyland since I was a kid in the late 60’s, but I recall a boat ride where you go through Monstro the Whale’s mouth and see a lot of miniature buildings. Is that ride still there?

 
The boat ride—the Storybook Land Canal Boats—is still there, and is still delightful. The boats pass lovingly crafted miniature homes, villages, and palaces from animated Disney classics. The boats began running in 1955 but the miniature scenery wasn’t added until 1956. There’s the little English Village from Alice in Wonderland (including the rabbit hole), the cottage where the Seven Dwarfs lived, various locales from the story of Cinderella, the village where Geppetto carved Pinocchio, and a lot more to see. Living, miniature landscaping adds to the charm. In 1994, the Sultan’s Palace from Aladdin appeared where the miniature Toad Hall previously stood, but Toad Hall returned the following year in another location.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Armando
Date: July 13, 2000
 
Do you remember the Casey Jones Train ride in Fantasyland? It was a small circus train ride which rode around the Storybook boat ride. I remember riding in the small lion’s cage car. I didn’t see it in your web page.

 
The Casey Jr. Circus Train is still chugging around the bend and up the hill at Disneyland. The attraction shares a history with the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Both attractions make journeys through Storybook Land, but the train provides a different perspective.
 

To: Yesterland
From: Gail
Date: February 10, 2000
 
My favorite thing, and the most magical, was Tinker Bell flying off the Matterhorn.

 
Disneyland still has Tinker Bell, the pixie from Peter Pan, flying off the Matterhorn whenever there a fireworks—all summer long and selected other nights. Tinker Bell’s flight now happens during Disneyland’s current fireworks show, Remember... Dreams Come True.
 

Submarine Voyage Construction Inside the Old Matterhorn Home

© 2007 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Updated March 9, 2007.

Photograph of Parrot in Tiki Room: 1997 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Toad Hall: 2000 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Monstro in Storybook Land: 2000 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Casey Jr. Circus Train: by Charles R. Lympany, courtesy of Chris Taylor.