Finally, it was “the people�? who took the place to the next level. Cast members staffing the Gallery were often friendly, experienced, and very knowledgeable about Disney artwork, history, and trivia. The atmosphere and these cast member, in turn, attracted guests who were enthusiasts of various things Disney. Out of tens of thousands of people in the park at any given time, if you stayed up there long enough, you were likely to bump into a friend.

The patch of land where Adventureland meets New Orleans Square meets Frontierland has been through many changes since Disneyland Park opened in 1955. Originally. there was no Treehouse, Swiss or Tarzan. There was no New Orleans Square.

Dedicated in 1966, New Orleans Square radically changed that corner of the park.

Until the opening of The Disney Gallery in 1987, the part of the building over the entrance of Pirates of the Caribbean had nothing to really draw your eye. The pavement in front of the building, covered in dark slurry, smoothly sloped downward from the entrance of Pirates to the Rivers of America. A queue area of chain switchbacks would usually fill up with guests, spilling over to the east side of the building, next to the Treehouse, and go deep into a covered area that is now part of the entrance to the Indiana Jones Adventure. Part of the way crowds would be cleared after Fantasmic when it premiered in 1992 was by sending them down this side area, out some back doors, under the railroad berm, and around a backstage area along the berm back to Main Street, USA.

Although crowd control for Fantasmic would have been much more difficult without it, the concrete bridge now at the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean was built more with an eye towards crowd control in preparation for the construction of Splash Mountain. At the same time the bridge was built, staircases were added that met the ends of the bridge, offering steps that led up to the entrance of the Disney Gallery.

By that time, I had been coming to the Happiest Place on Earth frequently (every week or two) for about two years. Having something new to experience was welcome! I didn't know what to expect when I saw the Gallery sign at the bottom of the staircase. I decided to see for myself what was going on, ascending the steps.

I loved the place from the moment I walked in. Since I was developing an interest in theme park design, it was quite exciting to find a place that had illustrations and models involved in the creation of Disneyland Park. This is where I would find Disneyland: The Inside Story – a book large and colorful enough for a coffee table and rich in Disneyland design history. Once I found out that the Gallery that it had been intended to be an apartment for the Disney family, it felt even more special to be there. I imagined what it would have been like for Walt to host parties there, or to wake up in the morning and look outside to see the guest enjoying Tom Sawyer Island or taking a ride on a keel boat (look it up). Parts of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse were at the same level and nearby, and I could imagine a Walt’s face catching the attention of some kid as he glanced over while climbing the steps in the tree.