Lead Exposure, Explosions, & Expanding Waistlines, at Disneyland!

Today's post can be filed under the heading of, "Tragic Kingdom."

On October 18, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published an article stating that, "Dozens of leaded-glass windows and brass rail chains, door knobs and drinking water fountains at some of Disneyland’s most popular attractions, expose children to high levels of lead.....according to an environmental group."

One of the items listed in the article, was the handle of the "Sword in the Stone," on display in Fantasyland.  There used to be a special "Sword In The Stone Ceremony," performed throughout the day.  During the ceremony, a young guest was picked from the audience to pull the sword from the stone and become "King or Queen of the Realm."  I believe that these ceremonies are no longer performed in the park, but guests can still approach the sword and attempt to pull it out on their own.  These pics of the official ceremony, are from December of 2006.

Another potentially hazardous object mentioned in the article, was the stained glass window in the door of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

The brass doorknobs in Minnie's house in Toontown were also on the list.

The photo from the article, shows a stained-glass window in the former Village Haus restaurant.

The stained glass image was of Pinocchio.

In 2017, this restaurant was converted into the Red Rose Taverne, and is now themed to the film, "Beauty and the Beast."  The Pinocchio-themed stain glass window was removed at this time, and replaced with a red rose design.  The question now would be, does this new window also contain lead?

This Los Angeles Times article from ten years ago (May of 2013), is about an incident that involved a water bottle containing dry ice, exploding and causing the temporary closure of Toontown.

After that article had been written, it was later disclosed that there had actually been two bottles involved, and two explosions, just minutes apart.  A 23 year-old Disneyland employee was arrested the same day, and pleaded guilty 6 months later, to a misdemeanor count of possession of a destructive device.  He was sentenced to 36 days in jail, 3 years probation, and 100 hours of community service.

The subject of this last Los Angeles Times article isn't necessarily as tragic, as it is comical.  It's from 2007, and mentions how the park's It's A Small World attraction would be closing after the Christmas season, to fix a problem that had been plaguing the ride for quite some time.  The boats had been repeatedly "bottoming out" within their water-filled flume/track, and were getting stuck.

I had heard multiple stories of this happening.  In fact, just one year earlier, during a December 2006 visit to the park, I almost experienced it myself.  We were riding in a boat that contained mostly "full-grown" adults, and there were multiple times when we slowed waaaaaay down, and almost came to a complete standstill, because our boat was dragging along the bottom of the flume.

Awww, Al Lutz was quoted in the article!  How much do we all miss reading Al Lutz' articles on his website?  I know, I do!  At least Disney was gracious enough not to blame the "fattening of America" as the reason for the boats getting stuck.  Although they did mention the steady increase in the size of their employees, over the years.

By the way, that 2008 It's A Small World refurbishment also happened to include the addition of 29 Disney characters, shoehorned into scenes throughout the attraction.  Now it's sort of like a ride-through version of "Where's Waldo?", but with Disney characters.  I won't even comment on the addition of the "American room."  (T.R.E!!!)  I'm kind of surprised that by now, they haven't added a bunch of projections, made riders wear 3D glasses, and given everyone a laser gun, or a web-shooting device.  Soon, I suppose.

Alice In Wonderland's Grand Reopening - 1984

In 1984, a newly remodeled "Alice In Wonderland" attraction opened at Disneyland. The rest of Fantasyland had already been remodeled, and had opened just eleven months earlier as, "The New Fantasyland."

At that time, a sign was posted out in front of the closed attraction, letting guests know that a "New Alice" was coming soon.

The Spring 1984 issue of Disney News Magazine had an article, about the anticipated reopening of "Alice."

The attraction opened on April 13, 1984, after a special grand reopening ceremony. I was at the park that day, and took the following pictures.

The festivities began with the White Rabbit approaching the attraction with a giant pair of ribbon-cutting scissors.

Next, the doors on the second level of the attraction opened and dancing flowers came out and made their way down the "giant leaf" track. These flower costumes were the same ones used in the Alice In Wonderland unit, of "Fantasy On Parade."

The dancing flowers were followed by the Queen of Hearts' marching cards. The large marching cards costumes were used the previous summer in the "Flights of Fantasy Parade", which celebrated the grand opening of The New Fantasyland.

The Mad Hatter made an appearance on the second level, holding a large bucket of red paint. I wish I could remember more about the ceremony or what the Mad Hatter was saying here. I do remember that this was the time, when Disney made the switch from the Mad Hatter character being a person inside of a "rubber head" costume, to a "face character" (where the face of the person portraying the character is visible, and they are allowed to speak to guests).

After the ribbon was cut, red and white balloons were released into the sky, along with some larger heart-shaped balloons.

This video features partial footage (the second-half) of the opening ceremonies for the new Alice In Wonderland attraction, as well as other new additions to Disneyland in 1984 (like Donald Duck's 50th Birthday Parade and the 3-D film, Magic Journeys).





****BONUS****

In 1982, the Disneyland guidebooks featured artwork, showing what the new Alice-themed section of Fantasyland would look like.

The "teapot" ride operator's booth for the Mad Tea Party attraction, never found it's way into the finished product. And notice on the far right, the Chesire Cat can be seen sitting on top of a mushroom. I wonder if this was intended to be an animatronic figure, a static figure, or if the artist was just "taking liberties." A static Chesire Cat figure was eventually added to the east side of the Alice attraction (the side facing the Matterhorn), but that came along many years later, and was not a 1984 addition.

And here is a pic from 1982, showing the "Alice Unit" of Disneyland's Fantasy On Parade. The "Dancing Flower" costumes seen here, were the same ones used in the reopening ceremonies of the new "Alice In Wonderland," and also on the cover of that Spring 1984 issue of Disney News Magazine.

King Arthur Carrousel: Part 2 - Relocation & New Fantasyland Construction

This is Part 2 of my Disneyland's King Arthur Carrousel posts. For Part 1, Click Here.

Today, we will be looking at the relocation of King Arthur Carrousel as well as some "New Fantasyland" construction. These first three photos show the "holes" in the ground that were left after the removal of The Mad Tea Party and Dumbo's Flying Elephants attractions from their original locations in 1982. Note the Big Thunder Trail from Frontierland to Fantasyland in the distance. It was closed to guests at this time.



These photos were taken from the Skyway, which at the time, due to construction, was a "round trip" ride only. During this time, guests could only board the Skyway in Tomorrowland and were not allowed to disembark when they got to Fantasyland. Instead, as the vehicles arrived at the Fantasyland Skyway station, they were greeted by cast members that pushed them through the station and back onto the cable to be sent back over to Tomorrowland.



Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was temporarily closed during this preliminary construction period, but would later reopen for a short time before being shut down once again for it's New Fantasyland rehab. Peter Pan's Flight continued to operate at this time, but Snow White's Adventures had already closed for it's rehab and The Fantasyland Theater had closed permanently to be replaced by Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



From this angle we get a better view of Dumbo's former location which was eventually replaced in part by the Village Inn (later Village Haus) restaurant. King Arthur Carrousel can be seen beyond the construction wall in the distance. It was still operating in it's original location.



Now in this next shot, the Carrousel has been moved and the spot where it had originally sat has been paved over.



The Snow White attraction was gutted leaving only it's roof and two walls. The Fantasyland Theater was completely bulldozed. What we cannot see in this photo is that the Carrousel has been moved to the former location of the Mad Tea Party and is just out of frame on the right.  Note the camera mounted on the roof to record the construction progress in these next two photos.



The sign on the construction wall reads, "Wish Upon A Brighter Star - A New Fantasyland Coming True in 1983.  This version of the sign did not remain for very long.  It was replaced by a much more colorful and detailed sign which can be seen here over at Gorillas Don't Blog.



And here we see just a corner of the relocated Carrousel on the far left.  We can also see what looks like a basement for what will become Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



This view was taken from the upper deck of Captain Hook's Pirate Ship.



And this was taken through a peep hole in the construction wall surrounding the Carrousel.  The view is looking west towards what's left of the original Snow White attraction.



The Los Angeles Times ran this photo in early 1982.  There was no accompanying article, just the caption beneath it, which mentions a reopening date of April 1st.



Here, we see three Disneyland icons that would not coexist in this close proximity for very long....Captain Hook's Pirate Ship, Skull Rock, and the Carrousel.



I wish this next photo had turned out better. It's a view of the Carrousel as seen from the cove behind Captain Hook's Pirate Ship. At the bottom of the photo is one of the many barrel-shaped stools that could be found in the cove's dining area.



Here's one of the versions of the guidebook that was available during the time that Fantasyland was under consctruction.



The Fantasyland pages of the guidebooks would change throughout the year as the various attractions would shut down for remodeling. This version shows that the Carrousel had already been relocated and reopened.



By the time this photo had been taken, the Carrousel had been shut down again. The planter around it had already been added, and workers were just beginning to paint a new design and color scheme on the roof. Note also, that the new facade on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is nearing completion.



This last photo shows the Carrousel on the official opening day of the New Fantasyland. The "Sword In The Stone" ceremony is taking place in the foreground with Merlin being assisted by one of the "Make Believe Brass" band members. The band was also making their park debut that summer along with the New Fantasyland.



I hope everyone enjoyed this trip back in time, to the transitioning Fantasyland of 1982 and 1983!

King Arthur Carrousel: Part 1 - 2013 Construction/Refurbishment

"Carrousel of Fun - Disneyland's colorful "King Arthur Carrousel" is one of the largest of it's kind in the world. Today's bold knights may ride on any of the Fantasyland attraction's 72 beautiful hand-carved steeds for an imaginary journey back to the days of King Arthur."



That was the description that came with a photo I received from Disneyland's publicity department back in 1983.



I don't recall exactly why I had written to them, but as a kid, I wrote to them often. I would always get a reply back and it would often include press information, or the latest issue of Disney News Magazine. A couple times, they even sent me a copy of the current Disneyland Pictorial Souvenir that was being sold in the park. Incidentally, the postmark on this mailing was May 19, 1983. That was just 6 days before the "New Fantasyland" would have it's grand opening.



King Arthur Carrousel recently underwent a refurbishment that put it underneath tarps and behind construction walls. The following photos were taken just a few weeks ago.





Lately, Disney has been doing a pretty nice job of posting some history on the park's construction walls.



These signs on the walls around the Carrousel provide information about the attraction's origins as well as it's history over the last 58 years.













Here's a close-up of one of the photos on that last sign. The part about the Carrousel being relocated in 1983 isn't really accurate. Yes, it was moved as a part of the "New Fantasyland" remodeling which was completed in 1983, but the Carousel itself was actually relocated in 1982 and it also reopened that same year. This was prior to the completion of the Fantasyland remodel in 1983. Of course due to surrounding construction, it did close again at some point in it's new location and did not reopen again until the "New Fantasyland" opened in May of 1983.



I have some photos that I took back in 1982 that show some of the stages of the Carrousel's relocation, including a shot showing it operating in it's new spot right next door to Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull Rock before they were both demolished. I will post those pictures in Part 2 of this post, so stay tuned!

****POST UPDATE! Here is part two of my King Arthur Carrousel/New Fantasyland Construction posts: King Arthur Carrousel & New Fantasyland - Part 2