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The Disneyland Resort in California has so much to discover!
Sure there are the rides & attractions but it's
all the little secrets that really bring the Disney magic to life.
Today we'll go on a little scavenger hunt through the Disneyland Park & Disney
California Adventure to discover some of this hidden Disney magic!
So sit back as we count down 7 hidden secrets and Easter eggs at Disneyland.
Number 7.... In Adventureland, you can find this
beautiful Indian elephant under the Tropical Imports stroller parking.
It looks like glass but the elephant's actually made out of lucite which is a type of acrylic.
Now it's been here since 2017 but this unique piece of theming actually has a
rich history at Disneyland; it dates all the way back to the early 90s in Paris!
Now, when Imagineers were designing what was then Euro Disneyland, they
had planned to include a candy jar shaped like an elephant in the Candy Shop on Main Street.
Imagineers were inspired by the Lucy the Elephant landmark in Atlantic City,
New Jersey. The entire shop was actually themed after Atlantic City.
You can see the elephant right here in this original piece of concept art.
Well, Imagineers ended up encountering countless problems with the elephant mold,
and production fell really far behind.
When it was finally completed, former imaginer Eddie Sotto recounts that it wouldn't fit
through the doors of the candy store since it was meant to be installed before the doors went in.
The elephant didn't even make it into the mural either.
So now Disneyland Paris had this elephant they weren't gonna use.
It was way too beautiful to be thrown away so it was decided it would be sent to Anaheim,
and in 1993, it found a home in the Penny Arcade. It was here
She got the nickname, Penny the Elephant.
Her time in the Arcade was short and she was then moved to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream shop.
This is where most people have memories of her being.
She was there until 2012 but was then removed, placed in storage & forgotten about.
It wasn't until 2017 that Imagineers rescued her from Disneyland storage.
As they were converting Tropical Imports from a food stand to stroller parking,
they dusted her off, placed her on top and today her beauty is on
display in Adventureland for everyone to enjoy. I mean she has quite the history!
Number 6......When Disney California Adventure first opened in 2001,
Condor Flats was one of the original lands at the park.
The whole area was themed to an airfield from the 1950s, honoring the history of aviation.
Well in 2015, Disney re-themed the land to Grizzly Peak Airfield which now sets
the scene as an airfield in a national park.
I think this area looks great now. It does look a lot different than what it was beofre, but there
are still a couple of little hidden details that pay tribute to Condor Flats. Yea, so the
first one can be found on the gas pump outside of Humpry's Service & Supplies.
Here you'll see it still says Condor Gas.
This is a leftover relic from when the land was Condor Flats but it
actually wasn't there on opening day in 2001.
Originally the gas pumps used to say Chevron Gasoline since
Chevron was one of Disney's corporate sponsors.
That partnership ended around 2011 and in 2012 Disney switched out
Chevron for Condor. I'm so glad this little relic still lives on.
Then inside Humphrey's Service & Supplies,
Imagineers themed this shop into a camping & recreation repair shop.
Well if you look at the top of the shelves,
some of the theming includes these blue cans of Condor Oil.
You'll notice it's the same logo as Condor Gas.
They're in a few different places around the shop
but they're a perfect little hidden tribute to the past!
Number 5.....The Emporium windows on Main Street are full of so many little surprises.
These sophisticated enchanted windows made their debut in 2015. They use all
the latest technology to bring many of our favorite Disney films to life.
It's pure Disney magic that goes unnoticed by so many.
You need to take some time out of your day to watch them. Now the
tradition of the Emproium windows began all the way back in the late 1960s,
where they would depict scenes from many Disney animated classics.
Well if you're inside the Emporium and head to the back, you'll find the Story Book Store Toy Shop.
There's a little toy train that circles around the shop
and there is a lot going on up on the toy shelf.
It looks sort of chaotic but you see there are these Disney character figurines.
Well, it's said that many of them are actually
old recycled figures from some of the Emporium windows of the past.
Now I do have to admit, some of the figures look a little large
to actually be from the window displays but there could be some truth to this.
You can definitely tell though that they're super old.
I mean some of them look like off-brand Disney characters, don't they?
Peter Pan looks especially creepy. Honestly doesn't even look like Peter Pan.
This little Toy Shop is really hidden compared to other sections of the Emporium
and there are a lot of fun details to take in! It's definitely worth checking out!
Number 4..... Imagineers love using numeric codes
as tributes to important dates and items in Disney's History.
They can be found all over the park but I think Tomorrowland has the most.
They're really fun to spot so let's go on a little
scavenger hunt through the attractions in Tomorrowland.
So here at Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage,
while you're waiting in line you'll see this water main pipe that says Seawater Supply TL59.
Well TL stands for Tomorrowland and 59 for the year 1959.
This pays tribute to the Tomorrowland expansion of 1959.
This marked the opening of the Submarine Voyage, the Disneyland Monorail,
and the Matterhorn Bobsleds which then became part of Fantasyland.
This view has to be one of the most beautiful vantage points at the park, I love it!
It's just filled with so many kinetics. I love it.
Then zooming off to the Autopia, while you're driving down the track,
keep an eye out for this sign that says Route 55.
It pays tribute to Disneyland's opening year in 1955.
Flying over to Star Tours, your trip on the Starspeeder 1000 is always flight 1401.
1401 is actually the address of Walt Disney Imagineering,
which is located at 1401 Flower Street in Glendale, California.
Our last stop in Tomorrowland is Space Mountain. Now when
you enter the loading area,
the cargo ship hanging above actually has two numeric tributes you can find.
You'll see the first one as you make your way around the top floor.
It's that SMS-077.
The SMS stands for Space Mountain Station and 77 represents 1977 which
is the year Space Mountain opened here at Disneyland.
Then as you make your way to the bottom just before loading onto the rocket ships,
you'll see DL 05 is written on the undercarriage.
Well this stands for Disneyland 2005
and that's the year Disneyland celebrated its 50th anniversary.
2005 is also the year Space Mountain received its major refurbishment.
This included replacing all the coaster track and
repainting the exterior back to its iconic white color scheme!
Number 3....The great thing about Disneyland is
that there is so much in the park Walt Disney personally touched.
It's truly Walt's park.
Well, in the antique Penny Arcade which is now part of the Candy Palace,
you can buy many delicious treats, but at the back is a little hidden gem.
Here you can find a vintage self-playing pipe organ,
known as the Welte Style 4 Concert Orchestration.
It was built in 1907 and was purchased by Walt Disney himself in 1953.
It's one of the oldest items at Disneyland.
It's been here in the Penny Arcade since the park opened
in 1955 and to this day it actually still works.
It has 265 pipes, a bass drum, snare drum, timpani, symbol and triangle.
It's literally a little mini orchestra.
If you've been into the Penny Arcade before and have never
heard the organ play, that's probably because you caught it between sets.
The display on the organ tells you when the next performance will be.
This time it was playing the classic It's a Small World.
There are actually a number of different songs you might hear like the Mickey Mouse Club theme, Chim
Chim Cheree from Mary Poppins, Some Day My Prince Will Come from Snow White and so so many more.
Exploring the Penny Arcade isn't something I do often but stumbling
upon this gem on my last visit to the park was such a pleasant surprise.
These are the little things that make your visit to Disneyland just that much more special.
Number 2......Cars Land is a heyday when it comes to details and theming.
There are a lot of great nooks and crannies to explore but there's one
specific place in the land that pays tribute to Pixar Animation!
So one of the three stores in Carsland is Radiator Springs Curios.
The store is themed to a shop you'd find along Route 66 and inside it's
filled with car parts, Route 66 memorabilia, and license plates.
Well on the display shelf at the back of the store,
you'll see a black license plate that says A-113.
Well A113 is a very common Pixar easter egg that can be found in almost every Pixar film.
It's significant to Pixar because A113 was the room number at the
California Institute of the Arts where they held animation classes.
Many Pixar animators went to Cal Arts.
Now there are also two stickers on the license plate.
This actually represents the month and year Pixar Animation was founded. It was February 1986.
Then on the other side of the store, you'll find a set of snow globes on
top of the display case under the Never Tire sign. They're super
small and a lot of people don't even notice them, they just walk right by.
Each one of the Snow Globes is different but the one with the Snowman is a little
hidden easter egg that pays tribute to one of Pixar's first short Films.
Knick Knack was released in 1989 and it features Knick the Snowman in his snow globe.
Well here on the shelf that's the same snow globe. If we zoom you can even see
it says Home Sweet Nome Alaska, just like it does in the short.
This is also the inspiration behind the Knick's Knack's gift shop over on Pixar Pier!
So next time you're strolling through Carsland
head into Radiator Springs Curios and check out Knick the Snowman!
Number 1..... With the reimagined Mickey's ToonTown, the land received a brand new hilly
mountain backdrop to cover the show building for Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway!
As you've seen in this video, Imagineers are always hiding
little hidden easter eggs and here in the backdrop, there are so many to find!
First off, let's talk hidden Mickey's.
I was able to spot two but I'm sure there are a few more.
The first one is right here upside down, and the second is on this clump of trees!
It's definitely the easier one to find.
It's hard to miss the red barn but this isn't just any red barn.
It's actually the barn from Walt Disney's Backyard where he would control the track
switches for his miniature train. I love that there's a Walt Disney tribute here.
Today, you can actually visit Walt's Barn since it now has a home at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Then behind the El Capitoon theatre, you can spot the vine of the beanstalk from
inside the queue that's burst through the roof. This one is
really hard to spot and you have to be just at the right angle to see it but
it is there. I mean these are the kind of details that make the Disney difference.
Then this last one is definitely my favorite!
So remember on the old Toontown backdrop, how there were a couple of the trees spelled out WDI?
These are them if you don't remember them and it was a tribute for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Well, obviously they were torn down and scrapped,
but Imagineers cleverly incorporated WDI into the new backdrop.
This is probably one of the hardest details to
find because it really blends in well. Imagineers were sneaky with this one.
Can you spot it?
Okay, look at the lines that make up this top set of mountains. Now do you see it?
Well if you don't, here's the W then the D, and finally the I!
Once you know it's there then you'll never be able to unsee it!
I mean talk about a perfect easter egg that has a double meaning. So what's your favorite
hidden secret at Disneyland? I'd love to know! Leave a comment down below to
start a conversation and don't forget to hit that like button if you enjoyed the video!