How Disney Hid a Three-Story Building in the Middle of Disneyland

Another thing most people don’t know is that Fowler’s Harbor is a functioning dry dock. The Columbia or the Mark Twain can be put in there, the locks closed and the water pumped out to allow access to the hulls. Admiral Fowler had to fight Walt to build the harbor, which turned out to be the absolute correct thing to do. I think the admiral may have known a little more about boats than Disney.

I assure you that no one wants to hear a buzzer go off every time you bork a word

So smart for Disney to dig deep to have more room for infrastructure in their limited space. Thank you for digging deep to share how all this was put together.

Seeing Splash Mt. dead and fenced off is truly heartbreaking.

It is sad that Disney does not put this type of effort into current projects. Also, the quick services there is one of the hidden gems of the park.

I've never been a passholder so I've only ever visited the park a dozen or so times, but it took me until last year to finally walk through the "secret path" and get an upclose look at Fowler's Harbor. It's very underappreciated. I guess I always figured the area around the dock was a maintenance-only path (this was before they added the extended dining area, which made it more obvious to guests), and I never noticed the other end of the path by Splash, as attention is always drawn towards logs going down the drop, or the Riverboat passing by.

This is why I like your channel Brickey. You talk about all the little details in the park and all the story lines that tie everything together. Its great. Im here for it, everytime.

As someone in the trades who works at a themed establishment, and also a Disney fan, I appreciate the engineering history involved in the Disney Parks. My wish someday is to do a behind the scenes tour of the awesome engineering of the parks. One can wish.

The secret path is one of my favorite spots in Disneyland. Thanks for another great episode!

I remember the old days of riding the skyway over the old fantasyland and all the pipes and hvac systems on the roofs of the buildings. It was ok with Walt obviously. But I’m still happy they decided to hide all that on this building. It looks really nice.

Hey Brickey, Way back in Disneyland's early years Joe Fowler had his little office here. Every Wednesday morning Walt would have his Disneyland management meeting. Afterwards Walt and Joe would stroll back to Joe's hut. Joe kept a pot of coffee on the go there. Joe would sit behind his desk and Walt would sit in front to drink their coffee's and discuss any matters of the moment. When Walt left the park he usually drove over to WED for most of the afternoon before heading back to the studio. Cheers, Chris Perry.

That’s the real magic of Disney. The attention to detail. I wish I could spend a day just admiring all hard work they put in. I usually just get caught up rushing to each ride because it’s so crowded.

Keep the niche deep dive stuff coming Brickey. Another video that shows and shares your love of the park. Appreciate you and all you do!

Crazy how much they care about sightlines considering they do multiple constructions at once and put up fences everywhere to block everything

Love this kind of Disney Content. I am so fascinated with creative process that goes in to all of the parks.

Just like Holly Jolly, from now on I'll forever know this area as the Galley Harbor. - Loved the edit, Brickey!

Thanks for the Expose' of Fowlers Harbor! It has been one of my very favorite places in Disneyland! Now even more so! It is a real work of art and a construction masterpiece! What really interests me is that most people just walk right by this gem and don't give it a second thought!

I love Disneyland history and this was full of information that I had never heard before! Great video Brickey! Loved it!

Nice video but stopped watching after 5min because that buzzer was so loud and annoying

I used to work on the Columbia both during day and also prepping and running it for Fantasmic. I spent a lot of time in Fowler’s Harbor. Thanks for this fantastic detailed view that took me down memory lane!