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By Paul Rodgers, Friday, July 17, 2015 10:00
To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past… and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America… with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
These famous words were spoken sixty years ago to the day, by creative genius and living legend Walt Disney. Disneyland, a step above the seedy amusement parks that dotted the coasts of America and declaring itself to be a "theme" park, was the master's magnum opus, what his achievements in Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck,
Snow White, and
Fantasia had been leading up to since 1928. Every part of Disneyland had been designed with such care that despite the disastrous "Black Sunday" opening, where dozens of potentially disastrous mishaps occurred, the park has survived and thrived. Over the decades, two new lands have been added, others have undergone extreme expansions and renovations, and dozens of beloved attractions have come and gone as millions walked through the turnstiles and left today to enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.
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So, after about a month of wrestling with SketchUp, I finally managed to crank out my first
real map in my
Laughin' Place timeline, which aims to explore a world in which Walt Disney stopped smoking in the 1920s and went on to live much longer than he did in OTL. At some point, once a thread has been made for this project, I'll make other posts not attached to maps describing the ever-changing world of entertainment. However, don't expect any adverse effects on politics. I just want to imagine how the entertainment world changes as a whole, so the Soviet Union won't be collapsing any time sooner than OTL, just as an example.
Here's a list of attractions divided by land at Disneyland Park in ATL 2015.
Main Street, U.S.A.
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No real attractions, but the Penny Arcade is an actual fully-functioning arcade, and all of its machines have been specially modified to only require a penny to stick with the name, and the Cinema actually has a few seats in it.
The Disneyland Railroad: This quote-unquote "attraction" (really more of an exhibition) begins its grand circle tour of the park here, with stations in New Orleans Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. To keep a nineteenth century train out of the twenty-second century, the railroad goed through three showbuildings in Tomorrowland, themed around time travel, prehistoric dinosaurs, and the concept of Tomorrowland itself.
Adventureland
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The Jungle Cruise: No changes from OTL. No Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson coming soon either.
Tropics Trek: Replacing Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a similar EMV ride that briefly crosses over with the Jungle Cruise before entering its own showbuilding. It's a fan favorite that draws long lines.
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room: No changes from OTL, minus the "Tropical Serenade" restaurant that's opened nearby where Aladdin's Oasis is IOTL. Tropical Serenade is a realization of the original "dinner-and-a-show" premise of the Tiki Room.
The Swiss Family Treehouse: I've never liked the expansion of other Disney characters into other lands and parks (they're supposed to stay in Fantasyland; I like Frozen enough, but it doesn't need to be invading Norway at Epcot's World Showcase), so no Tarzan here. It's the same as OTL, like most of the rest of this land.
New Orleans Square
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Pirates of the Caribbean: No Jack Sparrow, because obviously, the movies weren't exactly the same, nor did they come out at the same time. There still are Pirates of the Caribbean movies, though.
The Haunted Mansion: For the Golden Anniversary of Disneyland, the Hatbox Ghost made his frightening return to the mansion a little earlier than OTL.
Frontierland
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This place has gone a little insane in its sheer size. It stretches all the way around the north side of the Rivers of America, from OTL Critter Country to its Fantasyland border.
Big Lighting Mountain Railroad: The "wildest ride in the wilderness." It's pretty similar to Big Thunder, but instead has an iconic zigzag part of the track that gives it its name.
Western River Run: A slimmed-down port of Disney World's Western River Expedition. It's basically Pirates of the Caribbean, except instead of pirates it's cowboys and instead of the Caribbean it's the Wild Wild West.
Geyser Mountain: A drop-ride akin to OTL Tower of Terror, themed around a mining elevator. The ride climaxes with a titanic explosion of dynamite that launches guests to the highest point in the park, only for zero-g drop back down.
Tom Sawyer Island: A island themed around the backwoods Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn explored in Mark Twain's classic stories. No pirate invasion here.
Fantasyland
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With no Fantasyland Theatre, there's a whole new world of space to put dark rides based on classic cash-cow franchises.
Snow White's Scary Adventures: Same as OTL.
Sleeping Beauty Castle Tour: Despite its name, the Castle Tour takes place nowhere in the actual castle, and is a dark ride themed around the story of the 1959 classic.
Cinderella: A dark ride taking the place of Peter Pan, Alice, and Mr. Toad, this does what's expected and summarizes the story of Cinderella for the kiddies.
The Snow Queen: An original dark ride that inspired an animated movie of the same name. On the level of PotC, but at a much smaller scale.
Storybookland Canal Boats: A tour of miniatures based on exotic locations around the world. Characters are yet to invade this bastion of Walt Disney's creations.
Casey Junior Circus Train: A kiddie ride based on 1941's Dumbo. Not too exciting.
Dumbo's Flying Elephants: A classic spinner ride that somehow manages to draw long lines despite being exactly the same as a bland carnival ride.
Peter Pan Flight: Moved up north in the British trifecta, Peter Pan has gotten some room to breathe with a few more setpieces and an Omnimover system that severely cuts down on long lines.
Alice in Wonderland: Despite its move, not much has changed here.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: Without a doubt the most beloved attraction in the land, Mr. Toad has been completely reimagined into a high-octane EMV attraction. No more flat painted characters, although you still literally go to Hell at the end.
Mad Hatter's Mad Tea Party: The ride's made its second move, now all the way up north. Creates a serious bottleneck Disney should probably try and fix sometime soon.
it's a small world: This is another classic not invaded by characters. Still has that annoyingly catchy score, though.
Winnie the Pooh's Hunny Hunt: Another traditional dark ride exploring the Hundred Acre Wood.
Toontown
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Mickey Mousecapade: A speedy race through downtown Toontown in a competition between Mickey and Company.
The Rivers of Time: A flume ride that follows classic black-and-white Mickey alongside his long lost brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit on a quest to take down the evil Big Bad Pete who's kidnapped Minnie and Ortensia.
DuckTales: An aerial ride that follows Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie in the world of Carl Bark's Duckburg.
Tomorrowland
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Space Mountain: Renamed from its original name of "Space Port," Space Mountain has three tracks inside on three different thrill levels. The final level has one loop and two corkscrews.
Mission: Mars: A reimagination of the old-school Mission to Mars, now with real g-forces.
Adventure Thru Inner Space: Another reimagination, this one a take on the retro attraction of the same name.
The PeopleMover: Resurrected in 2005 from an untimely death, this attraction is just as pleasant as it ever was.
The Astro-Orbiter: Basically the same as Dumbo, except instead of thirteen feet up, it's thirty.
New Horizons: Another port from Disney World, this one exploring the past and future of all humanity.
Seabase Pacific: Replacing the rusty old Submarine Voyage is the shiny new Seabase Pacific, with orders to go deep into the Mariana Trench.
The Monorail: With connections to the rest of Disneyland Resort, five styles of monorail roam the tracks high above Tomorrowland.
Autopia: Now smaller, and featuring electric cars, the new way of the future in automobiles. Not banking on highways anymore, because it's not 1955 and all of Los Angeles is highway now.
Innovations: A place near New Horizons that shows off the latest in technologies currently being developed. Quite a cool place, actually, where big tech companies like Sony and Apple actually send a few prototypes every now and then.
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And there you have it! I know it's really long, but I tried to keep it as short as possible. Also, don't expect another map like this anytime soon. These ones take a long time. Keep an eye out for the thread proper.