There’s a pretty extravagant Mickey Mouse clubhouse out there.
Disney has a sprawling 708-acre ranch mainly utilized for testing movie sets and theme park attractions. Yet, it remains quite a secret, largely hidden from fans.
Golden Oak Ranch is tucked away in Placerita Canyon, just 20 miles north of the Disney studio in Burbank, near Santa Clarita, and is not open to the public, as SFGATE reports.
This spot has been in Disney’s possession since the late 1950s when it was first used for filming productions like “The Spin of the Mickey Mouse Club” and “The Adventures of Marty.”
Walt Disney cherished this land so much that he bought it outright in 1959, wanting to secure it for his productions amid concerns about the decline of movie ranches.
The ranch is a private haven featuring several permanent backlots. These include Western sets, small-town facades, residential areas, and natural landscapes—all utilized in film and television since the 1950s.
According to reports, the ranch spans 315 acres, which Disney originally purchased for just $300,000. It also features a historic guest house that Walt Disney himself used.
While Disney leverages the property to trial future park attractions, it also grows hay for the horses at Disneyland. Interestingly, some of these horses eventually retire on the ranch, as noted by SFGATE.
However, all this creativity happens behind closed doors. The ranch is categorically off-limits to the public, with strict “no trespassing” signs and security measures in place to keep ride tests and filming under wraps.
SFGATE also mentions that Disney has leased the ranch to other production companies, and it has served as a backdrop for series like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Little House on the Prairie,” as well as films like “Back to the Future.”
But for fans of Disney, there’s still a bit of magic to cling to.
As per the report, the ranch’s name is referenced at a food stall called Golden Oak Outpost in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, and it also appears in Golden Oak, a posh gated community in Orlando.
