Recently an early concept Disneyland map sold for the whopping auction price of $708,000 and tucked in the article was the connection between Walt Disney and Griffith Park.

Anyone who’s visited the Griffith Park Merry-go-Round may have noticed a rather nondescript green bench off to one side, but if you were to look really close, you’d easily identify the man in the picture. Walt Disney would occasionally bring his daughters to ride the carousel and would patiently wait on the bench for the ride to finish. There are actually two benches… one still resides in the park, while the other resides at the Opera House lobby in Disneyland. According to legend, Disney originally conceived Disneyland to be built in Griffith Park, or in adjacent Burbank. Thankfully, Burbank was deemed too small, and eventually Anaheim became home to this massive park.

Article from the Canyon News…