Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at the evolution of Disneyland Shooting Galleries.
This past week, Disneyland reopened the path from Critter Country to Galaxy’s Edge as we are just three months away from the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland. That long walkway into Galaxy’s Edge is my favorite way to enter the land because I get so much time to take in the ambiance of Star Wars. The park feels so much closer to being complete now that guests can traverse their way around the entire park again.
Via D23
But the park today is so much bigger than it was when it first opened on July 17, 1955. Disneyland still has a good number of attractions open from its opening day, but of course, so much has changed since that fateful day. The one area of the park that you would think would stay relatively similar is Main Street USA, but it has undergone as much change as the rest of the park with one of the most surprising parts being that the land featured the Main Street Shooting Gallery on its opening day.
But what is somehow even more shocking is that the attraction was such a success that it was prominently promoted in guidebooks and almost always had people lining up to shoot away. In fact, the attraction was so popular that they quickly moved to add one to Frontierland.
Opening on July 12, 1957, the Frontierland Shooting Gallery replaced the Miniature Horse Corral where smaller guests could take a gander at mini horses (like our good friend Li’l Sebastian). Similarly to its counterpart on Main Street, the gallery used real pellets so every night the galleries needed to be repainted. For years. That’s so crazy and would never happen today.
Across the way from the Frontierland Shooting Gallery was the Davy Crockett Arcade which some consider to be part of shooting galleries of Disneyland, but from what my research showed, was really closer to a traditional arcade that also had a lot of retail space and doesn’t quite fit into what we think of as an attraction.
After a few years, the Disneyland executives realized that Main Street Shooting Gallery didn’t quite fit the vibes that they were looking for along Main Street USA, so the attraction closed to become the Penny Arcade in January 1962. But rest assured, the demand was still there, so Disneyland opened the Big Game Safari Shooting Gallery in Adventureland on June 15, 1962. The newest gallery was the biggest one yet, but still just cost a quarter to play like its predecessors. From what I understand, guests could also use a C-Ticket instead (which conveniently cost one quarter, imagine that!).
Over the years, Big Game Safari went through quite a few name changes, dropping nearly every word in its title at some point, but the goal of hunting down some safari animals always remained the same. It could be a bit dangerous for those guests around the safari with cast members handloading each gun, whose pellets would occasionally ricochet and hit guests just strolling by. The times were MUCH different back then, that’s for sure.
The Big Game Safari Shooting Gallery ultimately closed in January 1982 to become the same shops that it remains today, but a nearly 20 year run was a great shift for an early Disneyland attraction.
The Frontierland Shooting Gallery was still kicking around (and the most justifiably so), but it closed in September 1984 to switch to laser guns and become so much safer (and cheaper when you cut down on those paint costs). Upon its reopening it was renamed the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade and in 1996 became the Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition, its moniker today. With Walt Disney World’s closing earlier this year, I have to think it won’t be too long before Disneyland’s last shooting gallery hits the cutting room floor. They are fine time killers that were super popular back in the day, but are certainly outdated in today’s day and age, having served their purpose, killing time and eating money.
Via Orlando Weekly
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!