Fun Find Friday

July 1, 2011
Location: Sunset Boulevard, Disney's Hollywood Studios

Ahh, Sunset Boulevard! Who doesn't love the sights, sounds, and screams that come with this amazing street? Here you can plummet 13 stories, watch a beauty tame a beast, get flipped upside down while on your way to a concert, or even watch a mouse battle a dragon!

It really is an amazing street! What's even more amazing is the fact that at one point, Disney's Hollywood Studios didn't have this extremely popular area, which brings us to our Fun Find for the week:

I know. What on earth does this trolley car have to do with anything I've talked about so far? Let's flash back to the year 1994. Behind a wall near the end of Hollywood Boulevard construction was being done. Everyone could clearly see the Hollywood Tower Hotel off in the distance, but a brand new story was taking place.

The story focused around the Pacific Electric Railway Company that was slowly going out of business (much like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). The story (which will be covered in more depth in a future Fun Find Friday) was recognized through a few different spots throughout the park, but the most intriguing opened with Sunset Boulevard in June, 1994.

So how does this trolley connect a time before Sunset Boulevard with the Sunset Boulevard we all know and love today? Imagineers often let guests know when an attraction, park, restaurant, etc. joined the Disney world in subtle ways. Some times it's by a phone number written on a wall, a code written on a parade float, or a street address listed next to the building.

In the case of Sunset Boulevard, we will always know that this section of the park opened in June, 1994 due to the trolley cars numbers seen below:

So there you have it, 694 (6/94, June, '94), will forever be remembered as the month and year this section of the park opened thanks to the Imagineers attention to detail!

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