Old Fantasyland Fantasyland in 1974
Click on the buttons to see details in this 1974 picture.
 
        
 
        
Yesterland

In 1974, the heart of Fantasyland still looked much as it did when Disneyland opened in 1955. Use the eight buttons above to “zoom in” on old Fantasyland.
 

The next eight pictures are all “zoomed in” images from the picture above.

1.  Mad Tea Party
The teacups used to spin where the white horses of King Arthur’s Carrousel now gallop, and the Carrousel used to be wedged in between Mad Tea Party and Sleeping Beauty Castle.
 
2.  Fashions of 1974
Bell-bottoms and flare-leg jeans were the fashion in the mid-1970s. Too bad this picture doesn’t show the shiny polyester Mickey Mouse body shirts that were available at the Emporium on Main Street.
 
3.  Fantasyland Central Ticket Booth
Each land had at least one Central Ticket Booth, where guests could buy additional A-through-E coupons or special ticket books without a park admission ticket—or could just ask for information.
 
4.  Cartoon Festival at the Fantasyland Theater
In the days before The Disney Channel and VHS tape players, this theater was almost the only place to see classic Mickey Mouse cartoons such as “Mickey’s Trailer” (1938), “Through the Mirror” (1936), and “The Band Concert” (1935).
 
5.  Back facade of the Sleeping Beauty Castle
Guests probably a take a thousand pictures of the Castle’s front facade for every one picture of the equally handsome back. Note the high-tension power lines that used to march across the parking lot.
 
6.  Dumbo
The elephants used to fly above a plain concrete circle, not the beautiful fountain of water over which they fly today.
 
7.  Operator of Dumbo
The ride operator’s booth is a great example of the “tournament tent” style that was pervasive in old Fantasyland. Behind the operator’s booth, the Fantasy Gift Fair sold Winnie the Pooh plush toys.
 
8.  Timothy atop Dumbo
Timothy Mouse, who provided encouragement to Dumbo in the 1941 animated classic, stands atop this Dumbo ride, and on the current version as well. The souvenir stand behind Timothy was the “dead end” of Fantasyland before the opening of the Big Thunder Trail in 1979.
 

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Updated March 9, 2007.

Photograph of the Fantasyland (nine variations): 1974 by Werner Weiss.