 Beautiful stainless doors lead into the court of angels which is a really beautiful area of the park. Unfortunately they don't let most guests inside anymore. It's still quiet, serene, beautiful and they have a plaque music deonje - music lessons vocal instructions dedicated to Sally McWhorter. Sally was a beloved highly regarded Disney cast member who began her career in the Disney Stores. In Indiana she was promoted to district manager before coming to work at Disneyland. Unfortunately she passed when she was still only 40 years old from Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This plaque is a tribute to Sally. She sang in her church choir and that explains the quiet preference to the music of angels.    Big changes recently with the recent opening of Tiana's Palace Restaurant so I wanted to feature the current condition and lay-out of New Orleans Square. The roughly three-acre area was the first land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening, at a cost of $18 million. It is exclusive to Disneyland.   Current attractions and entertainment
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   Club 33 Membership in the club has been exclusive since the very beginning. In fact, in 2007 the wait-list became so long that the club officially closed the wait-list for 5 years before reopening it again in 2012. That same year, the reported cost of membership was a $50,000 initiation fee and $15,000 annually for individuals, and even more for corporations. Membership initiation fees and dues are reportedly much higher now; as of 2022, it is reported that individuals invited to join must pay closer to $60-70,000 for initiation and up to $20,000 annually, according to current members.      The second stop on the Disneyland Railroad is home to the telegraph cable office, where a paraphrased portion of Walt Disney’s opening-day speech from July 17, 1955, can be heard in Morse code. The telegraph message is just over a minute long and decoded it says: “To all who come to Disneyland, welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future.”  We are soon to lose this view as the Haunted Mansion queue line expansion begins in 2024.
   Located in New Orleans Square, originally designed and called The Royal Suite, due to the discrete entrance on Royal Street. It was intended to be a private apartment for the Disney family. It was later opened in 1987 to the public and introduced as the Disney Gallery. The stairway leading up to the second floor gallery just above the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction. The 3000 square foot Disney Gallery interior had various rooms and short hallways. It was decorated in the Victorian style with elegant moldings and parquet floors. Unfortunately the images are old and of poor quality.      Towards the back was a small patio with outdoor iron furniture. The ornate iron railing just outside the art rooms, still has the initials WD and RD curled into filigree as tributes to the Disney Brothers.      Here's a look at the top of Tiana’s Palace, featuring the restaurant’s completed marquee and riverboat-inspired smokestacks and wheelhouse.   Swift’s Chicken Plantation House was one of the original Disneyland restaurants when the park opened in 1955. It stood on the banks on the Rivers of America, just west of where the entrance to the Pirates of Carribean attraction is now. Walt Disney, like many people, was a big fan of Knott’s Berry Farm’s chicken restaurant and thought something similar would be a great addition to Disneyland. Like all restaurants in the early days of the park, the Plantation House was operated by a lessee. Swift & Company, a large Chicago-based meat processing company, operated both the Plantation House and the Red Wagon Inn restaurant on Main Street. As you can see by comparing both pictures, the restaurants exterior design featured two different architecture themes. On the side of the building facing the Rivers of America the restaurant has the look of an antebellum mansion from the South. The other side, which faced the train station, has the style of a Spanish colonial home. Notice the similarities of the Blue Bayou restaurant’s interior, on the last image, with the mansion styling of the Plantation House. On January 7, 1962, the restaurant was closed to make room for the New Orleans Square addition.   |
My Story
Growing up in Los Angeles in the 70s/80s we visited Disneyland on a regular basis and often after school, before "Annual Passes". 
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