Whenever I visit Downtown Disney, I like to walk the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel. Even if you aren’t staying at the hotel, it’s fun to visit Trader Sam’s and explore the scenery. On the path across from Trader Sam’s, toward Frontier Tower, you’ll find a small walkway. Follow this walkway, and you’ll stumble across a hidden gem: Cascade Falls and Ol’ Unfaithful.
Cascade Falls (the waterfall in the background) and Ol’ Unfaithful (the geyser in the foreground) pay tribute to Frontierland’s past. Cascade Falls was once a much larger waterfall spilling over Frontierland’s rock formations near Ol’ Unfaithful, an unreliable geyser. Both features left Frontierland to make room for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the 1970s. Miniature versions joined the Disneyland Hotel grounds, to remember the land’s early landscape.
The plaque reads: Cascade Falls and Ol’ Unfaithful were once prominent features in the classic Frontierland attraction, Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland, which made its debut at Disneyland in 1960. Taking its cue from the True Life Adventures series nature films, this attraction took guests on a train tour through Beaver Valley, Bear Country, the Living Desert, and Rainbow Caverns. Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland eventually closed down to make room for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which opened in 1979. These new interpretations of Cascade Falls and Ol’ Unfaithful are a tribute to the nostalgic past of Frontierland.