Go inside the berm
Disneyland hides its best work behind an earthen wall. We rebuild each attraction in 3D from public map and laser-scan data, show how the park changed year by year, and let you take its illusions apart yourself.
The Haunted MansionPirates of the CaribbeanMatterhorn Bobsleds
Pick a year
Buildings appear in the year their attraction opened; unnamed buildings use their land’s opening year, which is an estimate. Building outlines are today’s. Every place links to its source on the Lands pages.
Dossiers
Each dossier is a 3D model you can X-ray, ride and rewind through the years.
The Haunted Mansion
Six years as an empty house, a room that sinks below the railroad, and a ride that happens in a warehouse you never notice.
Dossier 002 · New Orleans SquarePirates of the Caribbean
Walt Disney’s last ride: a moonlit bayou, two drops under the railroad, and a pirate raid in a giant hidden building.
Dossier 003 · FantasylandMatterhorn Bobsleds
A hollow mountain with two bobsled tracks, a Snowman, a hidden basketball hoop, and the holes where a cable car once ran straight through it.
Jungle Cruise
In research
Enchanted Tiki Room
In research
Space Mountain
In research
How the magic works
16 working models so far, each labeled by how sure we are.
Pepper’s ghost
Angled glass reflects hidden, lit figures into a scene.
TechniqueHollow-face illusion
Concave faces read as convex and seem to follow you.
TechniqueProjection on a sculpted form
Film projected onto a blank head gives a face real depth.
TechniqueBlack art
Unlit black supports vanish against a black room.
TechniqueTwo-way glass
Glass that reflects and transmits merges two scenes.
TechniqueMoving room
Move the floor or ceiling and the room seems to stretch.
TechniqueMirror extension
A mirror makes a space read as far longer.
TechniqueRide-vehicle sightlines
Turning cars aim riders at the show and away from the backstage.
TechniqueMist screens
Projecting onto falling water or mist, so an image floats in the air with no screen in sight.
TechniqueFlicker flames
Fabric, a fan and flickering light: the stage trick for fire that never burns.
TechniqueForced perspective
Things that get smaller as they go up or away make a building or mountain look far bigger.
Fan memories
Your first ride, a cast member who made your day, a photo you took in 1979. We’re building a moderated place to share them. Until then, you can send one in on GitHub.