The first thing Walt Disney built when construction began on Disneyland in 1954 was an industrial lumber mill on the spot that would eventually become the elegant Main Street Opera House.
Walt needed plenty of lumber to build his theme park in the 1950s and today Disneyland gets its Douglas fir, white oak and mahogany from Ganahl Lumber just a few miles away in Anaheim.
Ganahl has supplied the lumber that Disneyland uses to maintain, renovate and repair its themed lands and attractions for more than 60 years.
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After 142 years in business, Ganahl understands the importance of creativity, artistry and craftsmanship that bring Disneyland stories to life.
“We can do things with wood that most people can’t do,” Ganahl Lumber chairman Peter Ganahl told the Disney Experiences Blog. “Disney is a visual artist and we help meet their needs.”
Park refurbishments often begin with Disneyland’s engineering services department and Ganahl’s industrial sales team walking through an attraction or land together to determine what materials will be needed for the project.
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Ganahl Industrial Sales Manager Kevin Johnson looks at Disneyland a little differently than the average visitor when he’s in Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland and Main Street U.S.A.
Everywhere he looks he sees Ganahl Lumber materials.
(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Main Street U.S.A. horse-drawn streetcars require a lot of Douglas fir and white oak for the wooden seats and running boards.
“There’s constant wear and tear on those,” Johnson said during an online video interview.
The new Emporium balcony over the corner entrance was built with mahogany as are all the windows along Main Street U.S.A. — including the new tribute window made for former Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Fantasyland uses a lot of mahogany on the interiors of Snow White’s Enchanted Wish, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
The Jungle Cruise dock needs a Douglas fir plank with a specific vertical grain while the boathouse calls for a cedar siding.
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Disneyland sandblasts the large timbers framing the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad lift hill to give the mine shaft a weathered and historic look.
“The only material that really can be themed that way is Doug fir,” Disneyland Engineering Service Manager Tony Alvarado said during an online video interview. “We can really sandblast it and bring the grains out. And it’s really easy to stain and work with.”
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The Fowler’s Harbor outdoor dining area next to the Harbor Galley restaurant has an expansive ipe wooden deck that overlooks the Rivers of America.
Ganahl even supplied the materials used to create the doors, windows and tiny roofing shingles for the miniature buildings lining the banks of the Storybook Land Canal Boats.
“The doors are probably two inches by four inches tall,” Alvarado said with a laugh. “Most of the time it’s Doug fir because it’s easiest to theme such small parts.”
Disneyland plans ahead for larger projects and seasonal maintenance, but there are always unexpected surprises at the massive 500-acre theme park resort.
“Sometimes things come up that we need to repair and fix right away,” Alvarado said via an online call.
Ganahl usually has everything Disneyland needs at its 20-acre Anaheim lumberyard or one of its 13 other Southern California locations.
“Disney needs things done fairly quickly,” Johnson said via an online call.
Ganahl keeps additional mahogany, cumaru and ipe woods on hand just for Disneyland.
Cumaru (Brazilian teak) and ipe (Brazilian walnut) are both dense, durable tropical hardwoods native to Central and South America.
Ganahl has built custom milling knives that mount onto woodworking machines to cut specific profiles and shapes just for Disneyland projects.
“I don’t think there’s any expense or detail overlooked at Disney,” Johnson said via an online call. “We do everything that we can to fit that expectation.”
Ganahl Lumber, the oldest continuously operating lumberyard in California, is one of 8,500 small businesses Disney works with across the country.
Founded in 1884 and based in Anaheim since 1904, Ganahl employs 1,200 workers in Southern California with about a quarter of the workforce in Anaheim.
The Disneyland resort had an annual economic impact of $16.1 billion in Southern California that directly and indirectly supported more than 102,000 jobs in the region in 2023, according to an Oxford Economics report commissioned by Disney.
Nearly 75% of the jobs were in Orange County. Just over a third of those jobs were at the Disneyland resort, the largest employer in Orange County with 36,000 workers. Nearly 1 out of every 20 jobs in Orange County can be attributed to Disneyland, the report found.