Center of Disneyland?

[ongkhan]

I was reading somehwere that there was something on the ground where the center of Disneyland is. Can anybody direct me to where it is? I'm leaving for the park tomorrow and would like to take a picture of it.

[TimmyII]

The exact center of DL as originally built is marked by a BRASS SPIKE HEAD
embedded in the ground right as you walk into the entrance of SLEEPING
BEAUTY CASTLE.

[dag]

Is that right?
It seems like it would be too close to the back side of Disneyland to be the center? At least when DL was built. (Seems like it is to close to the end of Fantasyland considering how long main street is)

Danny

[tyler14man]

Timmy is right
right inside the castle

[iluvdisney01]

I read online though that it's not the center of DL anymore because Toontown was built outside the perimeter (the train tracks) of the original park. I'm not sure if this is true....

[ghoofie]

I tend to believe too that the spot mentioned is no longer the center of DL. But it's under the archway when walking through the castle entrance.

[Harrison Hightower III]

Its actually gold

[HiddenMickey]

There is a gold spike in the castle; however, that is for the original design of the park. The center must now be elsewhere, not only because of Toontown (assuming you don't follow the legend) but because of New Orleans Square and Critter Country.

It's kinda tough to make out the center of the park now, given that Toontown is in the back to the right, and NOS and CC extend the left of it. I would guess the center is now somewhere in the left side of the hub, or possibly Frontierland.

[ttztotdca50]

Mind you Critter Country was originally the Indian Village, so you can include that.

[Disneyluvr2]

Originally Posted by TimmyII

The exact center of DL as originally built is marked by a BRASS SPIKE HEAD
embedded in the ground right as you walk into the entrance of SLEEPING
BEAUTY CASTLE.

TimmyII is right. Walk from the Main Street side of the castle and look down just as you're about to come out on the Fantasyland side. It's just about under the arch in the center of the walkway. I step on it every time I go through the castle!

[smd4]

Actually, the brass spike in Fantasyland was NEVER the center of Disneyland--not before Toontown was built, not after...Never.

It is a survey marker that in fact represents the "center line" of Disneyland.

As you can see below, the original center of Disneyland was, in fact, the Hub.

It's a good story that won't seem to die--partially because of threads like this, and partially because even Disney's tour guides continue to perpetuate the myth.

Disneyland is full of stories that are just plain wrong, but have been told so often that they've taken on lives of their own--they've become accepted dogma--sort of like the "blind bulldozer operator" that's even mentioned in Disney's 50th film.

Anyway, the horizontal blue line goes through the spike. The vertical red line goes through the center of the park (also through the spike), and the horizontal red line goes through the hub.

Now, is there anyone else out there who still believes that where the red and blue line cross--the "spike"--was ever really the center of the park?

[CoryTheRaven]

Not that I necessarily doubt you, but do you have a good overhead photo rather than a perspective photo?

[ShrunkenNed]

According to Kevin Yee's 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland:

"...the center of Disneyland upon its opening (in the days before Mickey's Toontown) was at the Hub, or Central Plaza. This was part of the idea behind Walt's notion that museums and traditional amusement parks were laid out poorly - with the Cental Plaza, visitors could quickly and easily traverse to another section of the park. The bronze spike underneath the castle was simply one of many survey markers throughout Disneyland, in this case marking the centerline of Main Street through the castle. Builders had to be sure the castle was centered when viewed from Main Street."

This makes sense, as even though I was told by a tour guide that the spike marks the center, it doesn't seem to geographically fit as such.

[smd4]

Okay, here's a completely vertical image to satisfy the curiosity of CoreyTheRaven...not that it matters much. The first image conveys the message completely--and accurately--even if it is angled.

Anyway, the red lines toward the outer edges show--roughly--where the orignal borders were (quite a change over the years, huh? The park has expanded on three sides with age--as us older folks often do.)

The horizontal green line goes through the spike. The red horizontal line goes through the plaza.

Now...where's the "center?"

[Steeeve]

Originally Posted by smd4

Now...where's the "center?"

When looking at that new picture, I think the spike under the castle may be the center now.