Elevated, nighttime view of traffic along Main Street, U.S.A., in Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif., 1962.

In 1953, over one frenetic weekend, Walt Disney and artist Herb Ryman created the first glimpse of what Disneyland would eventually become. The ten-page brochure they produced that weekend included the earliest sketches of the park, and the first holistic vision of what Disney had been dreaming up for years at that point. It included things a visitor would recognize today, like Fantasyland — but many that never made it into the park, like a Christmas-themed attraction.

“Walt Disney sometime — in 1955 — will present for the people of the world — and to children of all ages — a new experience in entertainment,” read the first page of the prospectus, a document intended to entice would-be investors. “In these pages is proffered a glimpse into this great adventure … a preview of what the visitor will find in Disneyland.”

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

That preview has a lot in common with what was eventually built, and what remains today. Main Street, U.S.A., leads to the central hub, from which lands like Frontierland and the “Land of Tomorrow” (what became Tomorrowland) all branch out. Around the entire thing was a track for the Disneyland Railroad.

“Here, you may board a 1/3 scale train pulled by a 12 ton steam engine, six feet high,” Disney wrote in the prospectus. But many of the lands in Disney’s original vision never made it into the park, like Lilliputian Land or Holidayland. That one, with its festive promise, would have celebrated Christmas. 

Herb Ryman’s original Disneyland artwork (shown here at Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House) from the 1953 Disneyland prospectus showed a “Holiday Land” that would have changed themes with the season, including Christmas.

That original Holidayland would have changed with the season, “a showplace of special attractions,” as the original 1953 Disneyland prospectus described, the document that Roy and Walt Disney showed to potential investors ahead of the park’s construction. 

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“Its theme is as current as the calendar,” it continued. Holidayland was to celebrate a flower festival in spring, Fourth of July in summer, a harvest festival in fall and, you guessed it, Christmas during the winter........

© SFGate