Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gold rushes along with some influence from American history and North America in general. It is named Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland and Grizzly Gulch at Hong Kong Disneyland.
To build an accurate depiction of an old-West town, Walt Disney sent a camera crew to Frontier Town, in North Hudson, New York, to film a movie that was used as the inspiration for Frontierland, as revealed in the book, "Frontier Town Then And Now."
Disneyland
Original dedication
Frontierland. It is here that we experience the story of our country's past. The color, romance and drama of frontier America as it developed from wilderness trails to roads, riverboats, railroads and civilization. A tribute to the faith, courage and ingenuity of our hearty pioneers who blaze the trails and made this progress possible.
Frontierland first appeared in Disneyland as one of five original themed lands.[1] Initiated by Walt Disney, in the beginning, the land contained few attractions, but centered on open expanses of wilderness which guests traveled through by stagecoach, pack mules, Conestoga wagon, and walking trails.[citation needed] The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland opened in 1960, consisting of a sedate train ride around various western landscape dioramas. The Mine Train closed in 1977 to make way for a new attraction; the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which opened in 1979.[citation needed]
On the roof of the Westward Ho Trading Co., there are elk or deer antlers. Elk antlers were commonly placed on general stores in the old west so cowboys coming into town immediately knew where to get supplies. Also in Frontierland is a building that has a large sign that says "Laod Bhang Co. Fireworks Factory". Plus, at the storefront marked "Crockett and Russel Hat Co.", there is a window honoring Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett. Frontierland borders Fantasyland (via the Big Thunder Trail), New Orleans Square and Adventureland, and connects to the Central Plaza through an iconic set of fort-style gates.
Few changes would be made until 1991, when Splash Mountain, based on the animated sequences from Disney's 1946 film Song of the South, was built on the vacant land between Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Walt Disney World Railroad station and parade access road, necessitating the relocation of the railroad's station. Splash Mountain and a new two-story railroad station opened on October 2, 1992. Frontierland borders Adventureland on the south, Liberty Square on the east, and the Rivers of America on the north.
In June 2020, Disney announced that they would be reworking Splash Mountain into a new ride, based on the 2009 animated film, The Princess and the Frog. Disney stated that the project had been in development since 2019 and was overseen by Walt Disney Imagineer Senior Creative Producer Charita Carter while Splash Mountain's original creator Tony Baxter returned as a creative adviser.[9][10] Splash Mountain closed on January 23, 2023.[11] Tiana's Bayou Adventure officially opened on June 28, 2024.[12]
On June 13, 2024, Disney announced that Magic Kingdom version of Frontierland Shootin' Arcade would permanently close on June 23, 2024 to make way for a new Disney Vacation Club Member lounge, McKim's Mile House, which will be open in Summer 2025.[13][14]
At D23 Expo 2024, plans were unveiled for a Cars sub-area focused around off-road adventures in a new portion of the Cars universe's American wilderness, which is set to replace Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America.[15][16]
Tokyo Disneyland's area is known as Westernland, as "frontier" does not adequately translate into the Japanese language. The Mark Twain sails this park's Rivers of America. Other than differences in placement, and minor variations in color, theming and name, the land is very similar to the Frontierland and Liberty Square areas of the Magic Kingdom.
Located in the area that is traditionally occupied by Adventureland, Frontierland at Disneyland Park opened with Euro Disneyland in 1992. Unlike all of the other instances, this instance has an elaborate backstory concerning the town of Thunder Mesa, founded by Henry Ravenswood to support the mining of Big Thunder Mountain. This backstory also serves as the foundation for several of the attractions, such as Phantom Manor, a version of the popular Haunted Mansion attraction that can be found at some of the other parks featuring a Western theme and a darker tone to fit in with the rest of Frontierland. The land is the largest of all of the Frontierlands thus far, containing the entire Rivers of the Far West within its borders.
Two riverboats circle the river here, the Molly Brown and the Mark Twain and can be boarded at the Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing. Critter Corral was an old area of the land converted into Woody Roundup, a meet and greet area with Woody from Toy Story along with Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story 2. On the shores of the Rivers of the Far West is Frontierland Playground (formerly named Pocahontas Indian Village), a children’s playground themed to resemble a traditional Native American village. [23] The land is converted into 'Halloweenland' in October, with many pumpkins and other scary characters lurking around every corner. Frontierland borders Adventureland and the Central Plaza of Main Street, U.S.A. via Fort Comstock.
In October 2008, for the first time in Disney history Jack Skellington and Sally from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas made appearances as meet and greet characters in Halloween and Christmas overlay. They are situated outside Phantom Manor.
In 2012, Grizzly Gulch (Cantonese: 灰熊山谷) opened as the park's equivalent to Frontierland. Grizzly Gulch is much smaller compared to the "Frontierlands" of other Disney Parks, featuring only one ride, Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars. This roller coaster attraction provides a cross between the Big Thunder Mountain Railroads of the classic Frontierlands with elements from Expedition Everest, featuring special ride elements unique to this attraction, including backwards portions, and a high speed launch section.
Grizzly Gulch is themed as a Northern California mining town established on August 8, 1888, a founding date chosen as "the luckiest day of the luckiest month of the luckiest year". Though geyser fields disrupted the initial settlements, the town eventually found success when a family of bears lead one of the prospectors to a bountiful gold find, resulting in the establishment of the Big Grizzly Mountain Mining Company. The bears were declared as being a lucky charm for the town and were given protected status, despite their activity occasionally disrupting work in the mines.
