Disneyland could have had a Robin Hood Castle, Pleasure Island, archery range, ghost town and little church if initial plans dreamed up in the early 1950s by Walt Disney and his artists for the fledgling theme park had come to fruition.
Early conceptual maps of Disneyland drawn by Disney Legends Harper Goff in 1951 and Marvin Davis in 1953 reveal a host of early ideas that were never realized at the Anaheim theme park.
A dozen of the early maps created before Disneyland’s grand opening in 1955 on display in the Main Street Opera House lobby show a visual evolution of the park as it progressed from concept to reality.
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The Opera House lobby serves as a pre-show for the new “Walt Disney — A Magical Life” animatronic show that debuted on July 17 — the 70th anniversary of Disneyland’s grand opening.
The earliest Disneyland maps from 1951 envisioned a 16-acre theme park adjacent to the Disney movie studio in Burbank.
A pair of May 1953 maps expanded the footprint of the park as Walt began scouting for larger locations for Disneyland. Those 1953 maps maintained the western entrance intended for the smaller Burbank theme park.
The first maps of the Anaheim location in August 1953 still incorporated a western entrance. The orientation shifted to the south entrance that we know today during a series of September 1953 maps. Plans for a Sound Stage and TV Theater Building left over from the earlier Burbank studio plans still remained in the September 1953 renderings.
A castle always played a role in the early plans for Disneyland — but it didn’t belong to Sleeping Beauty.
A 1951 map showed pleasure boats encircling a castle on an island. Other plans called for a Robin Hood Castle along with a Sherwood Forest. Another version envisioned a Cinderella Palace along with a dining room dedicated to the princess.
Disneyland could have included a Police Department, Court House and Post Office that showed up on early maps alongside the City Hall and Fire Station that made it onto Main Street U.S.A.
A hotel imagined inside the park in 1951 would have served more as a storefront facade for a shopping arcade. A larger hotel planned next to the park entrance in 1953 could have accommodated overnight guests.
The earliest renderings of Disneyland in 1951 included a Little Church near a Riverboat Landing. The church moved to the end of a Residential Street on a May 1953 map and to the park’s central hub where the Plaza Inn restaurant stands today on a September 1953 map.
Walt sent his artists to Knott’s Berry Farm to draw inspiration for Disneyland — and several signature landmarks in the Buena Park tourist attraction showed up in early plans for the first Disney theme park.
The 1951 Disneyland maps included a Ghost Town, Blacksmith and Gold Mine while the 1953 maps featured a School House and Wells Fargo stagecoach stop.
May 1953 maps included a warren of Foreign Streets and a series of Foreign Shops before the Main Street U.S.A. concept was settled on. An August 1953 map featured a version of Fantasyland with a London Street leading to a Peter Pan Pirate Ship next to Pinocchio Square.
Fantasyland evolved as each new rendering was created with a Pleasure Island section, Fantasia Illusion walk-through attraction, Captain Nemo submarine and Toy Factory all making brief appearances.
Early plans for a Lilliputian Museum and Lilliputian Land with a miniature train and canal boat rides eventually got absorbed into Fantasyland.
An archery range planned next to a Sherwood Forest party dell on a Sept. 7, 1953 map was later placed next to a Mother Goose walk-through attraction in a Sept. 12, 1953 rendering.
Disney artists struggled to fill all the empty spaces on the every-growing maps as the scope of Disneyland grew.
Early plans called for a Zoo and Marine Land as well as a Botanical Conservatory and Tropical Garden that led to a True Life Adventure Island.
Large swaths of land were filled with plans for a Recreation Land with a baseball diamond and a Holiday Park with a lake for special events and convention outings.
A few attractions that eventually made it into Disneyland showed up on the early maps. A Haunted House appeared on a 1951 map and an Alice in Wonderland walk-through attraction was on a 1953 map.
The Alice in Wonderland ride debuted at Disneyland in 1958 and the Haunted Mansion opened in 1969.
The opening day Autopia attraction was initially called Drive Yourself Freeway.