Patio Umbrella and Shade Structure Ideas from Disneyland
Disneyland, as you may know, is divided into eight distinct areas: Main Street, Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Toontown and Tomorrowland. Each area has it's own style, which means that it is an easy place to witness a wide variey of architecture, landscape, costume design, crowd management and shade structures.
For your enjoyment I've assembled the following gallery of photos depicting some of the various shade structures in Disneyland and California Adventure.
Here's one of the first patio umbrellas you might encounter at Disneyland, a nine-foot one with a metal pole. Obviously these are built to last, but they are fabric, so they will not last forever. They have tassles.
If it is windy, the umbrellas are kept folded. This one is blue.
Near the entrance of Tomorrowland, these crazy umbrellas provide shade. They have eight ribs set at alternating angles, which probably forms a very interesting shape if you view them from above.
The Tomorrowland terrace has a ton of small tables, each outfitted with an individual umbrella. They are blue fabric and aluminum forming almost a complete canopy of of solid shade.
Deeper into Tomorrowland, Autopia uses rectanglar frames for shade. These probably provide a larger footprint of shade than any dome-shaped umbrella, but they are less attractive, in my opinion.
Into Fantasyland, these umbrellas have wide tabs which hang down from the umbrella edge. This photo doesn't show it well, but they have a white design on the top.
Aloft on the Dumbo ride, I got this shot of the wide awning around King Arthur's carousel. This looks like it was added after the carousel was built. It is a fairly simple shape, but it multiplies the visual effect of the carousel details. I love it.
These probably look familiar, but these umbrellas in New Orleans Square have the wide tabs and tassles.
These long strips of cable-mounted shades give the French Market Restaurant a distinct look. These can be splayed out or tucked away, depending on the weather.
Toon town had this yellow and white stand-alone awning covering the Fast Pass machines for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
These two-tone flower-shaped umbrellas were also in Toon Town. These look really crazy, but they aren't terribly complicated from an engineering standpoint.
Goofy's Playhouse in Toon town had at least two long shade strips. These were hung from what looked like telephone poles, four wires strung from their crossbeams.
The fabric was held by clips, with each end held by a long metal frame, also held onto the cables by clips or carabiners. Note the spacers which slide along the cable, presumably to keep the clips seperated when the shade is withdrawn.
Here's a shot of another shade strip, gathered evenly thanks to the spacers.
