Photos of Disneyland's periphery

TDAB in the morning, as seen from across Ball Road.

I initially hated TDAB because when I first drove by it, it was at night, and all I saw was a huge, dark, featureless building that looked like a factory, prison, or parking building that had replaced the beautiful grounds of Global Van Lines.

But then I learned it was designed by the world renowned architect Frank Gehry, that in the daytime it is a pretty iridescent green that changes hue depending on angle, and that it was intended to be reminiscent of a film strip, and I began to warm to it slightly. But I still say Gehry made strategically flawed aesthetic decisions in its design, and I'd still prefer to see the old Global Van Lines building any day.

TDAB as seen from across I-5 from Ball Road, and the Harbor Blvd. exit sign.

Slanted gear-like structures on the ground are part of TDAB's architectural design. Roundhouse in background.

These gear-like structures have the same green color as the main building.

Don't try to scale TDAB's fence: Big Mouse Is Watching You.

Many window displays in TDAB were obviously intended for public view.

One of two employees walking around on TDAB's roof one Saturday morning.

PHOTO TIPS: Direct view of TDAB from the best logical vantage point--Ball Rd.-- is obscured by a closely woven fence on the Ball Road Overcrossing. (The same is true about Harbor Boulevard, which farther away from TDAB than Ball Road.) The square spaces in this fence are 3 cm (about 1.5 inches) wide and horizontally aligned. To overcome this visual barrier, one can: (1) put the camera lens right up to a fence hole and zoom out on the zoom lens until the wires surrounding the hole are no longer seen in the viewfinder, and won't appear in the final photo; (2) stand up on the concrete portion of the fence, and hold the camera above the top of the fence, whose wire portion is about 5.5 feet high; (3) shoot from the other side of Ball Road so that the fence wires are too distant to interfere with the general view. Methods (1) and (3) were used in many of the TDAB photos on this webpage. Another tip: Avoid pressing the lens directly against the wire fence, since the fence vibrates from the traffic, and will tend to blur photos, especially in slow-speed photos taken at night.

Ball Road Overcrossing's fence squares are only 3 cm wide, but a camera placed against a hole while on extreme zoom will cause the photo to miss the wires.

TDAB during the day, full-length view.

TDAB at night.

It is possible to look into individual windows of many lighted offices of TDAB at night.

The stairwell on the north end of TDAB appears lighted red at night, from white light on red painted walls.

The way it used to be... 1980: The globe in front of Global Van Lines, where TDAB now stands. Photo courtesy of Synthetrix [3-28-07]. Global Van Lines, Inc., International Headquarters [1976] 1 W. Global Way Anaheim, CA (714) 776-0880

Created: February 24, 2007
Updated: April 25, 2007