1995 Disneyland Map – 40th Anniversary Wall Map with Errors

1995 Disneyland Map – 40th Anniversary Wall Map with Errors

Dubbed by MouseMaps.com as the 1995e map, Disney released this 1995 Disneyland map honoring their 40th anniversary and the opening of the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction. However, this map contained two large errors and was sold for a very short time before being corrected and reprinted. There’s no telling how many copies of this map still exist, but I have one that I’d like to show you.

1995 Disneyland Map Errors

In the typical style of original map artist Sam McKim, the 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2005 series wall maps were created by Nina Rae Vaughn and resembled the early maps from 1958 on through the mid-60s. In 1995, there are two known versions of the “40 Years of Adventures” maps — one of which was printed on the typical plain paper used on all other versions and this one, which was printed on higher quality glossy paper.

There’s no apparent reason why Disney made the switch, but it can be said for certain the reason for releasing a new version was to correct two major errors (and possibly some others) found on the first run.

Error 1:
The most glaringly obvious error was printed in the upper left corner of the map right under Walt Disney himself. Disneyland was dedicated on July 17th, 1955 and even if you argue that the official opening date was really July 18th, 1955 (first day for the public), neither of these dates were July 15th, 1955 as printed on this map!

1995 Disneyland map with errors

Error 2:
My favorite error on this map is one that leaves a few questions to be answered. Anyone can have a typo here and there as in the mistake above, but how do you explain a noticeable error within the artwork itself? Here we have a mysterious Skyway bucket floating in mid-air and appearing to be completely transparent! The missing Skyway attraction from this poster is accurate due to its closure the year before this map was designed, but one question left open is, how did this lone bucket survive onto this map?

1995 Disneyland map with errors

Some people say it was left there intentionally as a nod to a much-loved attraction, while others say it was just an oversight in the art department. Another guess was that Nina Rae Vaughn’s previously designed map was used and only changed to represent the current attractions in the park and someone simply forgot to erase all the buckets. To explain the lack of color, it’s likely that these maps are created like animated films where color is applied later (by someone else) and that person would have no reason to color something that wasn’t supposed to be there. The problem with this theory is that Nina Rae Vaughn’s first design appeared in 1995, meaning that her designs should never have included the Skyway attraction at all since it closed in 1994! Ok, it’s getting too deep…let’s move on!

This last error was really just something I noticed after looking very closely at the rest of the map trying find things to judge, so assume that it isn’t an “official” error for this map!

Error 3:
Ever since its opening in 1966, it’s a small world has been entertaining (or annoying) guests the world over. Also since its opening, Disney has stylized its name using all lowercase letters to emphasize the word ‘small.’ This can be seen on the original attraction poster as well as guide maps and even signage posted in the park. However on this 1995 map, the title appears grammatically correct as “It’s a Small World.”

1995 Disneyland map with errors

It should be noted that on the second release of the 1995 Disneyland map, all of the attraction names and labels were switched to use all capital letters. This change emulates how the labeling was done on all prior wall maps that were released since 1958.

Autograph

The last thing I wanted to show you on my copy is that it was signed by the artist herself! I originally found out about this error map from an old Disney trivia page and decided to pick it up after finding it on eBay. I was surprised to see that it had the added benefit of being signed by Nina Rae Vaughn. Maybe one day, I’ll track her down and see what she knows about this version of the map!

1995 Disneyland map signed

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7 Comments

  1. Patrick Pittarelli December 26, 2016
    Reply

    It appears you may have found a fourth error, as it pertains to the It’s a small world ride. At the bottom of the map, below Monorail Blue, the designation is “Mark VI.” The actual designation should be “Mark V.”

  2. Jayson Geveshausen March 20, 2019
    Reply

    So were all these errors on one map? Or was each error on a seperate map? I am looking at one for sale and it only shows one error “the date”

    • Brandon March 21, 2019
      Reply

      All of these errors are the one map I have. However, I can’t say for sure there aren’t other versions of this map that only contain the wrong date and nothing else. You may want to check with the seller.

  3. Kip Ertel September 14, 2019
    Reply

    Hey Brandon, I just might be the guy who sold you this map! When I saw the autograph I could have kicked my self – my carelessness your gain. The story of the map is as follows so I was told.
    I was an employee of Disney and was friends with John/Debbie Stone both now deceased (tragic). John was instrumental in the Indiana Jones Ride, Splash and Pooh plus many other projects- super talented. I got to go to work with him at Imagineering (being an employee) and WOW met all the stars ,John Hensch Marty Sklar etc. The story John told me was that Nina had been in charge of reissuing the map (updating old art work) and that she was out of the office for vacation and some how the map got released without her authority (Don’t know if that’s true but …why not) In any event when it was discovered they were recalled. Not sure if the got out into the parks but I do know they were printed and were supposed to be destroyed except for a few souvies for the imagineers. John gave me the map and the rest is history. After I saw your article I tracked down Nina and arranged to have one re-autographed – which I am being much more careful with!

    • Brandon September 25, 2019
      Reply

      I’m not sure you were because if I remember correctly, the eBay listing I acquired it from actually mentioned the autograph. I do remember for sure that there was a closeup photo of the signature and it was one of the reasons I ended up wanting it…besides my desire to collect at least one variation of each map style that was produced.

      Anyway, that’s really cool that you had a chance to work with some of the geniuses at Disney! Good job on getting a new autograph. 🙂

  4. Kip Ertel September 25, 2019
    Reply

    Oh – then no it was not me – Because I would not have listed it or intentionally sold it. John was SO incredibly talented and Debbie (his wife) was an absolute sweet heart TRAGIC story – they both died WAY too young.

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