Now for something completely different (as the saying goes). We always read about Walt being disillusioned with the second rate Las Vegas that popped up around Disneyland. He was upset with the motels, restaurants, and shops that quickly sprang up around the Happiest Place on Earth, following the huge success of Walt’s dream. So upset with this, he told one Imagineer that if they ever built another theme park, they would do it right and buy up as much land as possible, something they could not afford to do with Disneyland. Seems like we always see great vintage photos of Disneyland, but never get the period look of what was so upsetting to Walt. So for something completely different here at the Institute, we offer three high-resolution images of Harbor Boulevard in July 1962. Click on the images for a much larger and more detailed view. Lots to see. And after a few minutes of study, it will quickly become apparent what Walt was talking about.
At age 6 in 1967, the craziness of all the Vegas-style signs were obvious, but all I was focused on were the magical Monorail gliding along the blvd and the majestic Matterhorn further inside the park. I’ll never forget those images as long as I live. It’s a wonder I slept at all that night, waiting to cross the street from our Holiday Inn and enter Walt’s Magic Kingdom!
That is a great point. When I was 15 in 1977, that was my first trip. I too remember being so giddy with excitement that I have absolutely no recollection of what existed outside of the park. As kids I think we were perhaps oblivious to this. I wonder what our parents thought. We know what Walt thought. Good point. Thanks. Paul
I’ve seen a few photos that hint at what was outside of Disneyland, and while I can understand Walt’s displeasure, there is something kind of wonderful about all of those 50’s/60’s motel designs with motifs ranging from tiki to spaceage, or just plain old mid-century modern.
Like lights in the desert, these exotic motels and their neon only meant to me that we were getting close to the park and the excitement would build. Some of them were thematic curiosities too, like Stovall’s “Cosmic Age” and “Inn of Tomorrow”. My favorite of them all was the dark and rustic “Jolly Roger Inn”, as it’s Restaurant was tastefully pirate themed and the food was good. The Disneyland Hotel was as good as it got, but as a kid it only made me dream of how it could be more themed. My mom would explain that it wasn’t really owned by Disney.
I tend to agree (with both Dr. Bitz and Major Pepperidge). There was something charming about some of the motels, if only that they were trying to theme their businesses, which was in keeping with Disneyland. I have fond memories of the Jolly Roger Inn, if only because the first Mouse Club Conventions were held there. That was a time when Ken Anderson, or Herb Ryman, or a host of others, would sit in the lobby (or that great restaurant) and tell you great stories of working with Walt and building Disneyland. I think in the 1970s and 1980s, as you got a block or two away from the area around Disneyland, you found some really scary flop houses, and a lot of rent by the hour places. I guess it is good that Walt never saw those. Thanks for your comments, Paul
I grew up close to Disneyland in the 1970s and 1980s, and I would have told Walt not to worry. If my neck wasn’t craning to spot glimpses of the monorail or matterhorn or Space Mountain, I was getting excited by the googie architecture and landscaping of Harbor Blvd. Yes, landscaping. As a young boy, I loved how all the bushes of the motels around Disneyland were sculpted into animal shapes. The outside of the park teased what was ahead, in an odd way.