Hidden in the hills of California sits a 708-acre ranch that the Disney company tries to keep secret from devoted fans who want to peek behind its gates.
The Gold Oak ranch in Placerita Canyon is used as a film set and testing ground for amusement park rides, just about 25 miles north of the company’s largest studio in Burbank.
Unlike the Disney Burbank Studio, the Gold Oak ranch is completely off-limits, lined with no trespassing signs to keep the company’s future plans secret.
‘They go out of their way to limit access because once you open the door, the floodgates just would be unleashed by all the Disney fans,’ Bill Cotter, a former Disney employee, told SFGATE.
The ranch is closely guarded to keep filming hidden, and plans for future rides private, noted the outlet.
While access is off-limits to the public, diehard fans have likely seen inside the mysterious ranch while watching projects such as The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, Follow Me, Boys!, and The Parent Trap.
Walt Disney purchased the studio, which was only 315 acres, in 1959 for just $300,000 after spending time there while filming the Spin and Marty serials, the SF Gate noted.
‘The rugged canyons and oak-lined meadows, as well as its proximity to the Studio in Burbank, made the Golden Oak Ranch the perfect place to film Walt’s increasing slate of film and television productions,’ according to the Walt Disney Family Museum.
The Gold Oak ranch, which is 708-acre long, in Placerita Canyon is used as a film set and testing ground for amusement park rides
It was originally purchased by Walt Disney in 1959 for $300,000 and was only 315 acres at the time it was bought
A particular spot on the ranch frequented by Walt and his family was the Guest House, a three-bedroom cabin where they stayed for quick getaways or while on production.
Walt feared that, over time, motion picture ranches might cease to exist, the Disney museum said.
The official Disney Fan Club wrote that Walt’s prediction became true in later years: ‘With 20th Century-Fox and Paramount selling their large ranches, the Golden Oak Ranch has become practically the sole surviving movie ranch.’
The entertainment giant rents out the film set to other studios for notable projects such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Little House on the Prairie, and Back to the Future, according to The Gate.
The museum said the staff of Golden Oak takes pride in continuing the founder’s legacy of conversation and community service by protecting the property’s acres of land and structures.
Disney purchased the studio after spending time there while filming the Spin and Marty serials
Some of the horses that worked at Disneyland are sent to the ranch to retire and grass that is cut from the acres of land is baled into hay and sent to Circle-D Corral at Disneyland to feed the animals in the park
In addition to employees spending time on the ranch, a large number of wildlife call the film set home, including rattlesnakes, deer, and mountain lions.
Some of the horses that worked at Disneyland are sent to the ranch to retire, including its most famous animal, a horse named Tornado, Zorro’s black horse in the popular television series, who lived at the ranch until his death in the late 1980’s, according to the Disney museum.
The grass that is cut from the acres of land is baled into hay and sent to Circle-D Corral at Disneyland to feed the horses in the park.
While the ranch is not a complete secret, it does not seem eager to open its gates with the happy, magical energy the company is known for.