There’s gold in them thar’ chests…

I’m currently haphazardly researching Disneyland’s original Submarine Lagoon for a future web site, and stumbled across a pretty amazing fact. According to Marty Sklar, who wrote this back in the mid ’60s when he worked for WED (and directly for Walt Disney) as a writer, the treasure scene in the sub lagoon actually contained thousands of dollars worth of real, 24K gold treasure (in the form of “glittering urns and trinkets.”) Sklar referred to the fact that the treasure rested 10 feet below the surface of the water to be a “built in safeguard,” even though on a typical day, “thousands of viewers would pass within touching distance” of the gold.

I hadn’t heard this before, but plan to follow up on it (for all I know, this may be old news – I haven’t had a change to review the old E-Ticket article on the subs yet.) I’d also like to meet one of Disneyland’s original sub lagoon mermaids from ’65-’67 for an interview – so if anyone has any leads, please let me know.

See you at the park!