July 24 - New Orleans Square

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On this day, in 1966, the New Orleans Square area of Disneyland welcomed its first official guests. When Disneyland opened in 1955, it was the culmination of a dream, but it wasn't the end of the dream. Walt continued to think up new things that he wanted to put in his park. Within two years of opening, several of Disneyland's attractions had been removed and replaced with something new or expanded to include fanciful new elements. The first major expansion Walt wanted to do would have involved almost doubling the size of Main Street USA to include an attraction that was all about the US Presidents. The technology of the time couldn't keep up with Walt's vision, though, and that plan never made it off the blueprint. Soon thereafter, however, there were enough dreams around that a whole new area could be created.

The first time the public got an inkling that an expansion was afoot came on the souvenir maps that began being printed in 1958 showing a pirate themed land that would be coming soon. Construction didn't actually begin on the area until late 1961. Part of Frontierland was leveled to accommodate the New Orleans Square and a giant hole was dug. That hole would be the basement of a restaurant and would house the pirate wax museum attraction that would be the highlight of the place. You heard that right. A wax museum. Fortunately for people everywhere, the 1964 World's Fair began taking up everyone at Disney's time and energy and construction in Disneyland was halted for a while.

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It is almost impossible to underestimate how the leaps in technology that Disney's Imagineers were able to make while creating attractions for the World's Fair were instrumental in the development of theme park entertainment. The creation of Audio-Animatronics, the boat ride system of it's a small world and the omni-mover ride system all helped push New Orleans Square to levels that wouldn't have been possible without the sponsorship money the Fair brought in and the millions of people willing to put everything to the test during the Fair itself. When construction finally resumed, just about every plan that had been in place for the attractions in New Orleans Square were either greatly modified or tossed out altogether.

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The pirate wax museum disappeared in all but concept only. It was quickly decided that Audio-Animatronic pirates would become part of it and that it would be a boat ride (the capacity numbers of it's a small world had been very impressive). It just as quickly became clear that the hole in the ground was no where near big enough to house this new attraction. In fact the park itself wasn't big enough. While the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean was constructed inside the park, most of the ride would be housed in a new show building located just outside the official parameters of Disneyland. But don't think that hole in the ground would go to waste. A three story building was built there with a triple usage plan: the Blue Bayou restaurant on one floor; Club 33, a private club, above it; the top floor would be a cafeteria for Disneyland employees.

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When the time came for the grand dedication ceremony on July 24, 1965, Walt invited the mayor of the actual city of New Orleans, Victor H. Schiro, to be a part of it. Mayor Schiro declared Walt an honorary citizen of New Orleans. Walt quipped that New Orleans Square cost more than the Louisiana Purchase. Without adjusting for inflation, it did. In fact the $18 million cost for New Orleans Square meant that Disneyland's first new land had a higher price tag than construction for the whole park did just a decade earlier (again, that's without adjusting for inflation, but it makes its point; it's cheaper to build a room initially than to add it on later). Though no one knew it at the time, that dedication ceremony would be the last time Walt would make an official appearance in his beloved park.

Image courtesy wikipedia.org

The irony of dedicating New Orleans Square when they did was that there wasn't much to do there yet. Besides a few shops, it was just a pleasant area to stroll through. The Blue Bayou Restaurant and Pirates of the Caribbean didn't start operating until March of 1967. Club 33 didn't open until April 1967 (which means, contrary to popular belief, that Walt never entertained anyone there; he'd already been dead for four months). The Haunted Mansion (which utilizes the omni-mover ride system I mentioned earlier) didn't open until 1969. What isn't ironic, is that Disneyland's first expansion left behind of legacy of guest favorites that has endured for over five decades.