Skip to main content

Disneyland Drive

By


Disneyland Drive is an approximately 1.3-mile-long north/south road within the city of Anaheim, California.  Disneyland Drive serves as the western frontage road to the Disneyland theme park.  The signage of Disneyland Drive does not conform to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control devices.  This blog will explore the history of Disneyland Drive and off-color signage.   


Part 1; the history of Disneyland Drive

Prior to the creation of the Disneyland theme park what was to become Disneyland Drive was part of West Street in the city of Anaheim.  West Street can be seen extending north of Katella Avenue to Ball Road on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Orange County.  

The original concept of Disneyland first appeared in draft documents sent by Walt Disney to production designer Dick Kelsey during August 1948.  Conceptually known as "Mickey Mouse Park" the original site desired by Walk Disney was near the Walk Disney Studios in Burbank.   The park envisioned by Walt Disney soon became too large to construct near Burbank which led to Walt Disney Studios purchasing 160-acres of land in Anaheim.  Construction of Disneyland would begin on July 16, 1954 and would open to public on July 18, 1955.  

The location of Disneyland was further driven by the connectivity it would have to the Santa Ana Freeway (then US Route 101).  The September 1955 California Highways & Public Works refenced the eventual site of Disneyland in Anaheim was suggested by the Stanford Research Institute on August 28, 1953.  The recommendation of Anaheim was made due to the close proximity to the planned Santa Ana Freeway.  Harbor Boulevard was noted to the initial primary connecting road from the Santa Ana Freeway to Disneyland parking area.  













Disneyland can be seen on the 1965 United States Geological Survey Map of Anaheim primarily served by Harbor Boulevard directing traffic from the Santa Ana Freeway (now Interstate 5) to the main parking lot.  West Street can be seen serving as the western frontage of the Disneyland park in addition to the adjacent hotel facilities.  


Construction of the California Adventure annex of Disneyland would begin on January 22, 1998 and would open on February 8, 2001.  California Adventure was constructed over the original Disneyland parking lot.  The parking areas of Disneyland were moved to the west of the park and West Street was rebuilt as Disneyland Drive.  Exit 110B from southbound Interstate 5 was constructed to connect to Disneyland Drive.  Disneyland Drive can be seen on the 2012 United State Geological Survey Map of Anaheim.  




Part 2; a drive along Disneyland Drive

Southbound Disneyland Drive can be accessed from Interstate 5 Exit 110B.  







As southbound Disneyland Drive approaches Ball Road magenta signage directs traffic towards Mickey and Friends Parking Garage.  Downtown Disney and Convention Center traffic are directed to stay right on Disneyland Drive.  The magenta signage does not conform to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  



As Disneyland Drive passes south of Ball Road traffic can access the Mickey and Friends Parking Garage again via a second overpass.  Through traffic on Disneyland Drive is directed to stay to the right.  





Southbound Disneyland Drive crosses over the entrance to the Mickey and Friends Parking Garage towards an intersection with Magic Way.  The Pixar and Pals Parking Garage and other Disneyland parking areas can be accessed from Magic Way.  




Disneyland Drive continues south of Magic Way where it eventually terminates at Katella Avenue.  



Part 3; road stuff at Disneyland

Given Disneyland features a Cars Radiator Springs area in California Adventure it has some US Route 66 related items to offer.  


Disney's attempt at a button-copy adorned US Route 66 shield.


Another US Route 66 shield can be found next to Flo's V8 Cafe along with a painted shield emulating that of the Californian Mojave Desert.





Lighting McQueen at "Not Jack Rabbit Trade Post."


Surprisingly "Not Hackberry General Store" had several Crossroad Signs US Route 66 replicas as decoration.  These are actually very high-quality reproduction shields which are sixteen-gauge steel embossed stamping with porcelain.  I purchased numerous of these shields before Crossroad Signs went out of business.  The other replica signage is a fairly decent representation of the actual Hackberry General Store.  



Definitely not Burma Shave signs.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
2 comments
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more