This article is a hodge podge of childhood memories. It is an affectionate reflection on the park I have adored—Disneyland—from a time in my life when magic was real. There is no scientific or historic approach to the items I am sharing here. Please just take them for what they are: one person’s whimsically erratic recollections of Disneyland in the 1990s.
In no particular order, but with plenty of fondness, here are five childhood memories from 1990s Disneyland.
Camping at Disneyland
In the early 1990s, my family stayed in a Disneyland campground. Not in Frontierland (I wish), but right next door to Disneyland near the Disneyland Hotel. A spin around the internet leads me to believe the campground was the Vacationland Campground.
I was so very excited to visit Disneyland that I did not pay much attention to the campground. My memory consists mostly of a narrow slice of asphalt where we parked our tent trailer and my impatience to get to the park as soon as possible (not much has changed). I do remember thinking it was pretty awesome that we were camping “at” Disneyland.
I wish I could remember more about this experience, because the idea of camping in the shadow of Disneyland seems inconceivable in 2025. Shiny new hotels rise around the neighborhood, and Vacationland is no more. And of course, the resort itself has changed quite a bit. There are now two theme parks when there used to be just one…
One Park, And Lots of Parking Lots
I have vivid memories of driving to Disneyland with my family in the 1990s. We would compete over who would be the first to spot the Matterhorn. When we beheld that snowy peak, we knew we would soon be in the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland.
Before we entered the (one) park, we would pull into a vast parking lot. I remember rows and rows of cars stretching towards Disneyland. We would make note of which character marked our section and walk right up to the entrance gates (or sometimes take a tram). One of my favorite memories was the time Minnie Mouse herself greeted us at the parking fee booth.
As the 1990s came to a close, that massive parking lot made way for Disney California Adventure Park. In the 90s, Disneyland was synonymous with Disneyland Park. Today we have Disneyland Resort with two parks, three hotels Downtown Disney District and Walt Disney’s promise that, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
Adventures with Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones Adventure stands out in my memory as one of the biggest additions to Disneyland in the 1990s. I distinctly remember the (literal) build-up to the blockbuster attraction.
When the Temple of the Forbidden Eye finally opened, my family waited in line for hours. Well, it felt like hours anyway. (There were no FastPasses or virtual queues yet in 1995.)
First we waited outside among the bamboo, and then we snaked through the temple itself. The lights flickered, and the tunnels rumbled. The wait was long enough, and I was young enough to be completely taken in by the atmosphere. I remember humming the Indiana Jones theme to keep up my courage as we moved deeper into the temple. It was all very new, and I was totally engulfed by the building suspense.
In my memory, there were more special effects and gags in the queue than there are in Indiana Jones Adventure today. I remember rattling spikes, a ceiling dropping ominously and fragile poles barely holding it all in place, and I made sure not to step on any diamond tiles. I think some of those special “booby traps” existed and fell into disrepair over the years. Others probably were the product of my dazzled imagination.
One thing I do know existed were special cards for the queue. At the entrance to the ride, cast members handed us wallet-sized decoder cards. We used the cards to translate the “mara-glyphs” on the walls of the temple. This activity helped pass the time and certainly helped build our excitement. Today, you can use Lightning Lane to access the attraction with less wait, but if you do find yourself in the standby queue, you can still decode those messages.
(And speaking of parking lots, the attraction was itself built over the Eeyore section of the old Disneyland parking lot.)
Boating Around Disneyland’s Gummi Glen
But now, let us switch from an attraction that holds-up beautifully three decades later to one that did not last even three years. We are headed to Gummi Glen, nestled in 1990s Disneyland.
A block of televisions shows called Disney Afternoon was very popular with 90s kids. My siblings loved Disney Afternoon in general and Adventures of the Gummi Bears in particular. As best I can remember, Adventures of the Gummi Bears was a show about colorful bears who lived somewhere resembling a fantastical medieval Europe. They brewed a special potion called Gummiberry juice. When they got into scrapes (at least once an episode), the Gummi Bears would drink the magic juice and bounce their way out of trouble.
In any case, the Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen was on my family’s must-ride list for the short time it existed at Disneyland. The boats went through a lovely lagoon, and the Gummi Bear additions were simple plywood character props. I think the characters also “spoke” in a soundtrack that played as our boat followed a track through the lagoon.
I mentioned this ride to a childhood friend recently, and she thought I was making it up. The attraction was there so very briefly that she may have missed in entirely, or maybe she did not live in a house with Gummi Bears fans. Happily, I have found other people who confirmed my recollections.
1990s Rocket Rods at Disneyland
And this last funny scrap of memory takes place on another one of Disneyland’s short-lived attractions, the Rocket Rods.
Rocket Rods was a Tomorrowland attraction that opened in May 1998 and closed forever in September 2000. Even during that short span, the ride was so often closed for maintenance issues, that I remember feeling like I won a prize when I traversed the queue and successfully boarded the attraction.
Rocket Rods was built on the track of Disneyland’s defunct PeopleMover, replacing a sixteen minute sight-seeing tour with a three minute high-speed thrill ride. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the track was never fully modified for the new ride. This reportedly caused maintenance headaches for Disney as well as jarring moments of deceleration for riders. Notably, the track’s curves were not banked to accommodate the record-high speeds of the new Rocket Rods.
Yes, I do specifically remember the drastic changes in speed and the frequent break downs. I also remember having a blast on the Rocket Rods. From atop the elevated track, I peered into various Tomorrowland landmarks before rocketing off to the next sight. I get memory snapshots of that experience when I cross under the tracks still winding over Tomorrowland today. Those memories are always accompanied by the dramatic acceleration sound effect that was part of the ride (those were some cool ride vehicles).
I treasure those Rocket Rods memories all the more, because it seems I was lucky to experience the ride before it so quickly disappeared. All of these childhood memories inspire me to cherish the experiences, fast or slow, I have with my kids today.
Thank you for reading my reminiscences of Disneyland in the 1990s.
I warned you that this would be an odd hash of five memories of 90s Disneyland. As I was writing, these five dragged many more remembered moments out of my head. It is likely I will share more 1990s or Y2K Disneyland in the future. For now, please consider subscribing to our free newsletter to get future posts in your inbox. And, if you are headed to Disneyland to make your own memories, we suggest Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep to aid you in your planning. Thanks again for reading!
