It might not make much sense that a person would escape to Disneyland to get away from a crowd. As I’ve mentioned, I have an income tax filing practice, and the “madding crowd” of March income tax filers is far more stressful to me than any Disneyland crowd has ever been. I had family flying out from Virginia to visit Disneyland at the beginning of this March, and they wanted me to be there. I knew that I’d get behind in my work, but I’ve never been to Disneyland in March, and it didn’t take much for a Disneyland revelation like that to get me to go. Before I headed down there, I found a collection of interesting pictures taken by a photographer named Larry Syverson on a visit to the park he took with his girlfriend in August of 1969. The Disneyland before the New Millennium of California Adventure and Downtown Disney is the Disneyland I have the most memories of. It’s probably why I keep going back there, so I did some updated photos of Syverson’s 1969 images of Disneyland the way it was. (Thumbnail images)
The Sleeping Beauty Castle:
The old French Market in New Orleans Square: That’s Larry’s girlfriend in the pink striped outfit.
Tomorrowland and the old People Mover Ride: The People Mover track is still in Tomorrowland.
It’s a Small World, and Larry’s girlfriend again on the left:
The riverboat Mark Twain in Frontierland before the opening of the Big Thunder Mountain Ride:
The Monorail Station, the People Mover Ride and Submarine Ride in Tomorrowland:
The Jungle Cruise in Adventureland:
The Mark Twain Riverboat passes by the frontier town where the Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland and the Pack Mule Ride left from. The Thunder Mountain Railroad Ride is there now.
The Main Street Plaza from the top of Omnibus Ride:
The Disneyland entrance at the Main Street Train Station:
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
Well, this was something different. Disneyland was one of those places that most of my colleagues went to while we were in school in order to see the ‘landscapes’. Most of us find them to be impressive. I find them to be dreadfully contrived. I never went, but can see all I need to in pictures. It is a prestigious establishment for a horticulturist to work at, but definitely not for me. (I am a nurseryman, so had no intention of working in landscapes anyway.)
You may enjoy the Jungle Cruise though, Tony. The foliage, if that’s the right word, throughout out the ride, although artificial, may be enjoyable and identifiable to you. To me, like most passengers, it just looks like the setting for a Tarzan movie.
I would be offended by artificial foliage, and I am familiar with more of the real foliage of Southern California than most. I went to Gilroy Gardens when it was new and still Bonfante Gardens. Prior to that, I delivered rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and andromeda that my colleague grew. It was interesting, but not as impressive as it is to others. The Circus Trees were relocated from a site near here and where the material that I delivered was grown. They are weird, but were made with horticultural techniques that orchardist use regularly.