Welcome to Bountiful Valley Farm, Presented by Caterpillar, a “tribute to the abundance and diversity of agriculture in California.”
Other theme parks have attractions with pirates or submarines. But where else can you find an attraction with full-size farm equipment?
Link to Bountiful Valley Farm at Yesterland.
Please discuss Bountiful Valley Farm here.
Werner Weiss
Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions
A nice look back, Werner. Somehow, I had forgotten about the tractors that were on display until 2006, and actually never even noticed that you could climb into one of them before they were removed!
I always liked the idea behind Bountiful Valley Farm. What was in the park was a sadly underdeveloped and underfunded concept though. If the idea had been given more money (like everything else in DCA), it could have been a great California-based counterpart to EPCOT Center's The Land pavilion. It's a shame it didn't turn out that way.
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Good riddance! That entire area was a disaster and was an embarrassment to the Disney company.
I think it would be kinder to say that this area was more of homage to the early exhibits of Tomorrowland. Back when the Disneyland opened in 1955, I seem to remember that there was quite a few of these. Bathrooms of Tomorrow, Hall of Aluminum Fame, or The Dutch boy Color Gallery
Werner, you were very forward looking to take all these photos at the time, or you have a great resource for old photos, either way you have a great sense of preserving history. The exhibits were great, IF you were at the County Fair! I don't fault Caterpillar, the exhibits seemed to be an earnest attempt to present them in an informative way.
I do lay fault at the decision makers at the time, whose initials are ME, PP and BB, in a way they let all of us down, including the sponsoring companies. Wolfgang Puck's Avalon Cove restaurant closed and Robert Mondavi ended his operation of the Golden Vine restaurant within months of DCA's opening, Mondavi taking a $12-13 million loss. Sadly, they hooked their wagon to the wrong tractor.
Last edited by Disneykin Kid; 10-16-2010 at 08:56 AM.
Why did they keep It's Tough To Be A Bug? I hate that show.
Yeah, it was.Originally Posted by Sharkbay8
Yes, it might "be kinder to say that this area was more of homage to the early exhibits of Tomorrowland." But it would be more accurate to say that Bountiful Valley Farm and other corporate showcase attractions at DCA were part of an unsuccessful effort to maximize profits.
My understanding is that the Tomorrowland of the 1950s was not at all what Walt Disney wanted. With his limited financial resources, the corporate exhibits were the best he could do until something better could go into Tomorrowland.
When it built DCA, The Walt Disney Company was a media giant, capable of spending billions on acquisitions. But the company hoped to maximize profits by getting corporations to pay the bills for DCA. They put Barry Braverman in charge, based on his success in creating Innoventions at Epcot. The plan was that the Disney brand would pull in guests, and the sponsored exhibits and standard attractions would keep those guests happy enough when they weren't busy dining or shopping.
The company was largely unsuccessful in getting sponsors to sign up. Perhaps if there had been more exhibits and if they had been better, then the plan might have had some merit.
The Walt Disney Company discovered that guests expected attractions with Disneyland creativity and quality. The company is now spending $1.1 billion to fix their mistake.
Werner Weiss
Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions
It's Tough To Be A Bug! was originally created for Disney's Animal Kingdom, so there were no new production costs. It sort of fit in with the theme of Bountiful Valley Farm (there are bugs at farms). But when It's Tough To Be A Bug! became part of A Bug's Land, it was a perfect fit with the theme.
As far as things that were really "broken" at DCA and needed to be fixed, there was a long list, and it's hard to make a case that It's Tough To Be A Bug! should have been on it.
The gimmick of 3-D animation is a thing of the past. In fact, today's digital 3-D movies from Pixar, Disney, and other studios are far more impressive than It's Tough To Be A Bug! in content and technology. Still, It's Tough To Be A Bug! is one of the better 3-D offerings at a theme park because of its clever in-theater effects.
I enjoyed It's Tough To Be A Bug!. I think I've seen it twice in Florida and once in California over the past 15 years. I'm not eager to see it again. That's not because I didn't like it; it's because I've seen it. I think that's the real problem. 3-D movies are far less repeatable than rides. I could go on the Mark Twain or Pirates of the Caribbean a hundred times (and perhaps I have). But, as far as I'm concerned, movies are different.
Last edited by Werner Weiss; 10-15-2010 at 03:17 PM.
Werner Weiss
Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions
All photos in the article were by Allen Huffman, who lives in Iowa. He gets credit for the foresight.
Allen closes his Park Hopping Podcast shows (which have unfortunately been on hiatus for over a year) with something along the following lines:
"So, the next time you're at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, be sure to take an extra picture, shoot some extra video, because you really never know when something you like, love, or hate is going to go away and never be around again."
I'm glad Allen follows his own advice. When DCA opened, I had already been doing the Yesterland website for almost six years. Yet I often find myself turning to Allen's photos because he took photos of so many things that I ignored (and because he had a digital camera several years before I did).
Thank you to Allen!
Werner Weiss
Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions
Great article! I kinda miss the Bountiful Valley area. It was one part that perfectly fit the California theme.
I could have sworn the shake shop was called "Sam Andreas Shakes," yet another horrid DCA pun.
The Right Honorable Count Boogie Bonz of Random, at your service.
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My problem with Bountiful Valley Farm was that it didn't look like a farm, and it didn't make me feel as if I were at farm.
Okay, Bountiful Valley Farm was slightly more successful in conveying its theme than Condor Flats. Does anything think Condor Flats really looks and feels like a high desert air field?
You're right! Thanks. (I fixed it.)
Werner Weiss
Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions
I saw it this past March, and I hated it so much that I will never see it again!
I guess it's the Texas farm boy past in me, but, I loved the original pre-Bugs farm. What a nice trip back to then!
I now remember this. I miss it a lot now.
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