Disneyland ’66 Brochure
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A kind Yesterland reader mailed two terrific artifacts from 1966 to me—a 4-inch-by-7-inch “Your Guide to Disneyland” and an 8-inch-by-3-inch brochure heralding the new attractions for 1966.
Imagine three new attractions opening in the same year.
In fact, imagine that one of those attractions is a brand new land for Disneyland.
Those additions from 1966 have stood the test of time; they’re still going strong over forty years later.
Let’s look at every page of the brochure...
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The front cover
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The front cover is printed with dark red ink on yellow paper.
Because the cover of the brochure is damaged and has ballpoint-pen writing on it, I cleaned it up with Photoshop and saved it as GIF image.
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I’ve long admired the elegance of the Disneyland calligraphy.
If you look closely at the Disneyland logo on brochure, you’ll notice it’s not the same as the current Disneyland Resort logo, shown above.
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“it’s a small world”
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The first new attraction in the brochure is “it’s a small world”—one of Walt Disney’s four hit attractions at the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair.
In New York, “it’s a small world” was presented by Pepsi-Cola to benefit UNICEF.
After the Fair closed, the ride came to Disneyland in May 1966.
The new sponsor was California banking giant Bank of America, which had a relationship with Walt Disney going back to the financing of his first feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Bank of America’s sponsorship of the ride lasted until 1992.
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New Orleans Square
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New Orleans Square was the first land at Disneyland that did not connect to the Hub.
When it opened in July 1966, New Orleans Square had only one attraction—the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad—which was actually the Frontierland Station, and which was also listed as a Frontierland attraction.
New Orleans Square had plenty of shops, such as the One-of-a-Kind Shop, Mlle. Antoinette’s Parfumerie, and Laffite’s Silver Shop.
The emphasis was on unique items that would be difficult or impossible to find anywhere else.
Kids complained to each other that were no new rides in this new land.
“It’s like Main Street, nothin’ but stores.”
But they already knew that a ride called Pirates of the Caribbean was under construction.
They just didn’t know yet that would it be the greatest Disneyland attraction, and that it would still have that title in the minds of many guests more than forty years later.
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The Primeval World
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Guests visiting the Ford Motor Company’s Magic Skyway at the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair rode in automated Ford cars through the dawn of time, the age of dinosaurs, and the era of cave people.
Only the dinosaurs made the trip to California after the Fair ended.
They didn’t become an entirely new ride.
The massive diorama was installed along the Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad, right after the Grand Canyon Diorama, between the Tomorrowland Station and Main Street Station.
The Primeval World Diorama opened in Disneyland in 1966.
Guests of the Disneyland Railroad are still treated to the spectacular diorama today.
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Back cover
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The back cover has a fun logo for “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
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“it’s a small world” presented by Bank of America, 1976
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1966 was a big year with three new attractions—well, actually, one new land, one new attraction, and a significant enhancement to an existing attraction.
Disneyland could rest on its laurels, right?
There would be no need to add anything new the following year, right?
Walt Disney had even bigger plans.
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A street in New Orleans Square, 2004
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By the end of summer 1967, Disneyland guests could enjoy far more new attractions:
Wow!
But Walt Disney never experienced the 1967 roster of attractions himself.
On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney, age 65, died from lung cancer at Saint Joseph Hospital, directly across the street from Walt Disney Productions.
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The Primeval World from the Disneyland Railroad, 2004
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© 2007-2015 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks
Updated May 8, 2015.
Photo of Photo of 1966 Disneyland Guide and 1966 new attraction brochure: 2007 by Werner Weiss.
Five scans of 1966 Disneyland New Attraction Brochure: courtesy of Carol Ashman; scanned by Werner Weiss.
Photo of “it’s a small world” presented by Bank of America: 1976 by Frank T. Taylor, courtesy of Chris Taylor.
Photo of New Orleans Square: 2004 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of a scene from the Primeval World: 2004 by Werner Weiss.
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