MOUSE CHOW

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The "Welcome to Disneyland" Sign History

For over 60 years, some version of marquee welcomed guests to Disneyland as they drove into the parking lot's main entrance.  As I happened to grow up nearby, I became momentarily thrilled just by riding down Harbor Blvd. past the flags and iconic typeface that defined that "Happy Place called Disneyland".

This collection of images recreates all the different variations of signage, from opening day to the present, that I have been able to locate and identify.  Although the styles may vary significantly through the years, this set of graphics unifies the signs into a singular collection.

Your Ticket to Disneyland (1955-1982)

The term "E-ticket" has come to define a top rate ride or attraction, but did you know that Disneyland's iconic E-tickets existed for just less then 21 years.  (...and do you know why?)

I have recreated all the Disneyland ticket book styles and variations, from the first A-C books that were introduced a few months after the park's 1955 opening until all A-E tickets were discontinued in 1982.  I include variations in ticket size and paper stock, as well as the addition of D-tickets and, of course, the addition of E-tickets...

...and did you know the ticket order was reversed so that the more popular E-tickets were placed first and foremost, since they were most popular?

Disney Castles - The Heart of the Magic Kingdoms

Currently, there are 6 Magic Kingdom style Disney theme parks around the world, each with an iconic castle at the center of the park... some of the only castles built in the last century.

**Hong Kong needs to be updated & Shanghai needs to be created

I have a vague recollection from my MUCH younger days, in which I had a gold sweatshirt with a very simplistic castle icon above the Disneyland typeface in navy blue ink.  Aside from that sweatshirt, Disneyland continually used that simple logo for decades, and later Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom adopted a unique, but similar logo for that park.  The logos were perfect for the silkscreen image era and they unified the two (and at the time, only) sister parks.

Now that we expect more complex graphics and images, I have unified these 5 parks with same-style castle graphics, but none of these are as awesome as the original simplistic logos of a bygone era.  Here's my spin on these 5 castles, that represent 3 distinct architectural designs, and just 2 princess "residents".

MouseChow Shirts - What I Wear

As much as I like many of the Disneyland shirts available at the resort, there are rarely ones that I truly love.  I really like "Unique to Disneyland" and "Nods to History" style shirts, and the stores really do not offer a great selection.  In fact, for a long while, one could only find the super generic "Disney Parks" style souvenirs, and that caused me great disappointment.  I love "My" Disneyland and want to show it.  Contrary-wise, when I am at Walt Disney World, I want my purchases to celebrate Walt Disney World.

It was in this realm of frustration that I began to design my own Disneyland graphics that celebrated Disneyland history and uniqueness.  Now I take these graphics and put them onto my own shirts.  

"One Golden Sun" Throughout a Small World

As the lyrics state... "There is just one moon, and one golden sun..." and in the finale room that is definitely true.  But were you aware that in each regional room/continent that the boats float through they also contain "The Sun", with a local interpretation of it.

I am not a big fan of the character enhancements to Disneyland's "it's a small world" in 2009, but I gotta give credit to the stylistic choices in which "real" kids were represented as real figures, and "fantasy" characters were represented as toy-esque.  BUT, that has nothing to do with the images on this page, except that as Disneyland "introduced" the new additions, they employed a seek-n-find game to endear the new characters.  My complaint/concern is that there has always been a seek-n-find element to this ride... that element being where and how is the "one golden sun" interpreted within each region...?

Check this page out....print it out... and take it with you on your next visit to "it's a small world" no matter which of the five worldwide locations you may be sailing through!

Mapping Disneyland's Changes (1955-1995)

  • Anaheim Native
  • Disneyland Guest since age about 5-ish -- former Cast Member -- Magic Kingdom Club cardholder -- Annual Passport Holder since 1985 (10 years prior to general availability)
  • Graphic Designer
Read the list above (which is chronologically accurate).  Is it any wonder that I would feel compelled to delve into the historic Disneyland Map/location details and attempt to map out the park out for clarity?

I share my first attempt to uniformly "map"  Disneyland (utilizing the merging of vague graphic skills and specific architectural skills) through the years which resulted in this 1955-1995 series.

I am planning on Disneyland Map version 2.0 soon, to replace this series now that my graphic skills have improved.

Scaling the Disneyland Mountain Range

I have more than one "signature" design style, and despite that, I still hope to develop some addition styles.  I enlisted the Disneyland Mountain Range to help me out in creating a "new" style in which to work.

Beginning with the Matterhorn, I fell in love with this new style, and Space Mountain was an easy/awesome sophomore follow-up.  The next two, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain, presented a great challenge, and I think I achieved an A+ on one and a B- on the other... but hey, what do you think?

"SimbaSpot" Favorite Characters

My very FAVORITE Disney characters are: #1-Pluto and tied for #2-Figment & Oswald.

Beyond the top 3, there are at least a dozen awesome characters I love and adore, most of which are secondary characters and rarely get the recognition they deserve.

This gallery utilizes the wonderful Disney copyright images of my favorite characters, unaltered to preserve legal concerns, but uniformly presented---and ultimately, sharing my Disney kindred spirits!  ;-)

MovieToons - Movie Releases from Disney Animation~ Pixar Animation~Lucasfilm~The Muppets Studio

Here are all (2010-2016) the movie releases for each of the Disney branded, fantasy-based studio arms.

(except Marvel, currently)

40th Anniversary Trading Cards: Full Set AND 40 more...

On January 21st, 1995, Disneyland began handing out the 40 Years of Adventure trading cards with the first card celebrating the opening of Disneyland in 1955.  On each of the next 40 days, a new card was distributed to park goers, each card representing a subsequent year's highlights. The bonus 1995 card was issued on March 2nd, 1995 celebrating the opening of hew Indiana Jones Adventure, making a complete 41 card set.

Since I never was able to complete a full set, I researched the internet to see what a 1995 era Disneyland considered worthy to represent each year of its history.  Some years had very little to say. 

I have reedited all the original cards and have posted them here for reference.  I have also imagined and created "cards" for the years after 1995.