Page 54 - CelebrationsSpring2020

By J Darling
The Forgotten Frontier
There is no doubt that the year 2020 has brought a lot of change to the landscape of Disney Parks around the world, and Disneyland is no exception. Rise of the Resistance opened in January, completing the landscape of Batuu (Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge). This summer, the Avenger’s Campus opens in Disney California Adventure Park. Both mark Disney’s complete investment in the legendary Lucasfilm and Marvel properties. But what about the other frontier? One that didn’t start with space and super heroes?
Frontierland has looked different in every single Disney park. In fact, in Hong Kong Disneyland, it’s called Grizzly Gulch. Themed after an 1888 mining town, the story behind the establishment of the town comes from a family of bears that led miners to gold. Since the gold find was so valuable, the miners set up camp and established the Big Grizzly Mountain Mining Company, declaring the bears a protected species and lucky charms. Seems fitting, even if the bears do cause a ruckus in the mine from time to time. It sure makes for a fun ride though (via Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars – Hong Kong’s version of Big Thunder Mountain).
The Disneyland Paris version of Frontierland is the largest land in the park. Embracing the American Wild West, it has an all-encompassing backstory that ties into its two headliner attractions: Phantom Manor (a distinctly unique version of the Haunted Mansion) and Big Thunder Mountain. As the story goes, Frontierland chiefly represents the town of Thunder Mesa. The founder of Thunder Mesa was a man named Henry Ravenswood. According to local legend, Henry struck it rich by mining gold in Big Thunder Mountain. He created the Thunder Mesa Mining Company and built his manor on Boot Hill overlooking this beloved mountain. As the miners pushed deeper into the mountain, against the advice of the natives who warned against waking up the Thunder Bird, Henry’s family grew to include a wife and daughter. Suitors came to marry his daughter, but Henry wasn’t keen on the idea. Many suitors met grizzly fates (as played out in the story of Phantom Manor), until a mysterious earthquake shook the ground, splitting the ground on the west side of Thunder Mesa and engulfing the town. Henry and his wife were among the victims of the quake. Their daughter was ready to marry a train engineer – the perfect groom to take her away from her tragic life – but on the day of her wedding, a Phantom appeared at the manor and... well, it wouldn’t be called Phantom Manor without him. Big Thunder Mountain is, of course, the journey of a runaway mine train through the perilous earthquake.
Finally, although not known by exactly the same name (since “frontier” doesn’t easily translate into Japanese) Westernland conveys the rapture of the Wild West in a very similar manner to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom version of Frontierland. It’s a bit of a cross between Liberty Square and Frontierland, embracing the 1800’s culture of America. (Although here it wasn’t an earthquake that caused havoc at Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland Tokyo. It was a tsunami instead.)
The Frontierland of Disneyland in California has a deeply authentic feeling – perhaps because it’s seen so many evolutions. Originally, Walt envisioned a land that transported Guests back to the West as it might have been for travelers in
J Darling is a California native and life long Disney fan. Her parents first took her to Disneyland when she was 2 years old. According to them, her eyes just popped out of her head, and apparently they never went back in. Outside of her Disney fandom,
J is a singer, songwriter, blogger, and theatrical actress.
You can find her music at www.jdarlingmusic.com
and on Myspace at www.jdarlingmusicmyspace.com. Her blogs are available at www.jjourneybook.blogspot.com.
54 · Celebrations