Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Old Dark House, August 1969

Today's photos are from the same lot as some extremely crowded Frontierland photos that I posted recently. Some of you logically assumed that the Haunted Mansion's opening was one of the reasons for the enormous crowds. But that wasn't the case...

As you can see in this first rather murky and partially obscured image, there are still some pieces of metal fencing and other stuff on the ground. It must have been mere days or a few weeks before the attraction officially opened.


Niether slide is that exciting, but they at least answer a question or two regarding those other images!

9 comments:

Chiana_Chat said...

t-t-th-there's a w-window open on the t-top floor!

Boy that's a great design.

thepicklebarrel said...

pre-opening, spooky shots of the HM are a whole genre unto themselves!

neato!

Jason Schultz said...

I have lots of pictures like the top one, just of New Tomorrowland 1998...

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Nice closeup of the fence in pic#1 - LOL!

Seriously, these have the perfect murky-ness for this attraction.

I wonder what that stuff is piled up in the walkway???

Nancy said...

very cool, like some dark spooky fog was providing a moat of sorts around the place....

Katella Gate said...

VDT: The stuff on the walkway is the iron topping rails that goes on the brick walls either side of the path.

When I was young (say 8 years old in 1968), this building was a revelation to me. It was the first time I saw a building that was actually art... not clever, not pretty. Art. And every part of it was beautiful. And every part was beautiful no matter what angle you looked at it, even unexpected angles like UP.

In a world of popcorn ceilings, to be young and look up between the pillars into the decorated soffit of the pediment was like looking up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

HBG2 said...

Lovely. Thank you.

Vaughn said...

I am filled with an overpowering sense of foreboding looking at these artful photographs!

Anonymous said...

@Vaughn: Foreboding? Heck, six or eight boding... it's a scary looking building.

@KG: i remember it vaguely from before the opening, just as you say. Having the building in place for so long before the attraction opened added to the mystery...when can we get in...maybe next year.

thanks for these great shots.

JG