Saturday, September 20, 2008

Three More from 1972

Where were you in '72?! I was living in Huntington Beach, about 10 miles (as the crow flies) from Disneyland. On summer nights we would ride our bikes over to Edison High School, and you could see the teeny tiny fireworks in the distance. It was a kind of torture! Because it made me wish I was right there.

Anyhoo, these photos are from that year. Pictures of the "It's a Small World" entrance from around that time startle me because there is so much wide-open space. To be honest it's kind of ugly, all that pavement. But I prefer it to the merchandise shop that now blocks your view. You can really see the intricate and whimsical facade in all of its glory. We can be grateful that the pastel colors of a few years ago have been replaced with its classic white and gold again. Now if only they don't mess up the inside during the current rehab...


Here's a nice upshot of the Skyway buckets passing over the Pirate Ship. The complimentary colors of orange and blue enhance each other. I want my Skyway!


Tom Sawyer Island looks busy on this winter day. You can tell it's winter because of the coats and sweaters on everyone! Other photos in the lot show Christmas decorations aplenty, but those aren't evident here. The pontoon bridge is certainly popular. You know what would be cool? If it was a flaming pontoon bridge!

7 comments:

  1. I love the white and gold Small World....I hope it stays that way!!! Remember in the 80's when just the clock structure was painted blue and white? I never cared for the shop that was built at the exit either and I liked the Small World mall area when it was more open and not junked up with light and projection towers.....we can blame Light Magic for that! Oh heck, DL should just never change.....it should be that museum that they are always saying it isn't!

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  2. The pontoon bridge is a real beauty. I remmeber it well. 1972 was a very good year.

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  3. Speelling was always a problem!

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  4. Viewliner, I had some typos today too, but I can go back and fix 'em!

    Tokyomagic!, I know what you mean. Although, I am not really opposed to change per se, it's just that the changes have often been so ill-conceived, or made solely because someone has thought up another way to squeeze some money out of the guests.

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  5. Okay, I have to admit that I am actually open for change if the change is a trade upward to something better. Most of the time we just don't get things that are better than what was there originally....examples: People Mover/Rocket Rods, Country Bear Jamboree/Pooh Ride, Rocket Jets/Astro Orbitor, Electrical Parade/Light Magic, America Sings/Innoventions, Disneyland parking lot/California Adventure (yes, I would rather have the parking lot back...I don't have too much faith in that 1.1 billion they are supposed to spend on DCA to improve it. It is just too screwed up to begin with.)

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  6. Anonymous10:42 AM

    I like the Pooh ride and never cared for Country Bear. America Sings was nice but Carousel of Progress rocked.

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  7. Really? You like the Pooh ride? Wow.

    Compared to the other Pooh rides around the world (especially Pooh's Hunny Hunt in Tokyo!), our is just a pale copy.

    I'm glad someone likes it. :)

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