After the Monsanto House of the Future vacated Disneyland in 1967, this nebulous patch of Fantasyland/Tomorrowland square footage that once housed the plastic home was converted into the Alpine Gardens. The signage in photo #1 is the only shot I have specifically related to the gardens. The next two shots show the general area of the Alpine Gardens.
In December 1997, 8 years after the 1989 release of “The Little Mermaid,” Ariel got her own piece of Anaheim real estate by taking over the Alpine Gardens. Basically a meet-and-greet area, young guests could line up to meet the famous Mermaid herself, sitting on a huge seashell in her grotto.
Sculptures of Ariel & her father, King Triton, were located nearby.
But time marches on, and eventually Ariel was replaced by Tinker Bell & Pixie Hollow. Yup...gonna’ make you wait awhile for that one. You won’t have to miss Ariel for very long; she’ll have her very own dark ride at Disney’s California Adventure in just a few years. If you can‘t wait until 2012, then you’ll just have to seek her out in the next Holiday Parade.
Next up: Astro Jets! For those interested in the Art Corner/Art of Animation, it would be difficult for me to add much to the fantastic post previously published here. See more vintage Ariel’s Grotto photos at my regular website.
3 comments:
A bit late to the party on this, but Ariel didn't arrive in the former Alpine Gardens until December 1997. The Alpine Gardens souvenir stand was there until August 24, 1997 (and somewhere I should have a receipt for candy sours from its final day of operation!).
Thanks for the correction, Jason. Naturally, I include these errors on purpose so that you have a reason to leave a comment!
Don't think I don't appreciate it. ;)
As a clarifying follow-up, I want to note that the area including the souvenir stand and the paths through the waterscape were collectively known as Alpine Gardens until 1995. (That's my understanding, anyway.) At that time the King Triton and Ariel statues were installed and that specific area then became known as Triton's Garden. The Alpine Gardens souvenir stand, as I said, persisted until August 1997, with the Ariel meet and greet (Ariel's Grotto) moving in at the end of the year.
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