Here are two more from a group of early Fantasyland photos!
Well, somethin's going on at the Peter Pan dark ride (to our right)... there's a sign out front, a mysterious workman is skulking around, and there's no line. Thanks to my incredible powers of deduction, I'd say the ride is down for maintenance. Notice the red "ribbon" over that doorway directly in the middle of the picture... it almost certainly was waiting for some lettering of some kind. I think that the little corner booth slightly to the left of it might have been a souvenir stand, or even the Fantasyland Art Corner. The green background with red/orange stripes reminds me of the book "Goodnight Moon" (which I finally finished!) for some reason. Hey, if you look way in the background to the left you can see the sign advertising the opening of Storybook Land.
More Fantasyland; I can't tell if it's just overcast, or early evening, or both.
Maybe the dark, overcast feeling of the second picture has something to do with the park being taken over by men in gray suits, who appear here to be making their hourly patrol.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the Men In Gray. They're kind of like the Men in Black, but not quite as intense...
ReplyDeleteWhat an eerie feel these have!!
ReplyDeleteMajor, the unused space in the first shot eventually housed the Mad Hatter, but I don't know if anything was there first. The Art Corner was on the west side of the land.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jason, I was thinking that it might be the Mad Hatter space, but was too lazy to do any research!
ReplyDeleteNotice the Skyway construction above the yellow "Entrance" flag in the first pic.
ReplyDeletedfan07 beat me to it... Skyway is still under construction. Notice the cable carriers are floating at weird angles because the cables aren't in place yet.
ReplyDeleteFirst pic has an Outer Limits feel to it... Odd photos, neat to stare at! Thanks!
ReplyDeletethese too much look like the kind of days that make them decide to close a place because there is not enough interest and business to keep it going anymore
ReplyDeletethe first one is nice, so colorful, and the area behind those pretty benches reminds me of a puppet show.
and what is that storybook telling there to the far rear left? dont remember seeing it before
You what really hits me about the old Fantasyland (I remember going there as a kid / teenager and young man prior to 1983) when I see the old pictures is the lack of bushes, flowers etc... It was all concrete back then. They really did improve it in 1983. It looks wonderful now. I don't agree with everything Disneyland does in terms of changing attractions, but for the most part it is usually an improvement. It is too bad they can't reopen a small version of the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland. I know they have about two acres or more in the back behind Thunder Mountain.
ReplyDeleteWhereas the Men In Black are symbolic of Eternal Darkness... the Men In Gray are merely symbolic of Insufficient Light, of which there is a bountiful sufficiency in these photos, accountable no doubt to their presence.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, these pics remind me of an episode in the TV show "Avengers" where Emma Peel runs up and down deserted streets chasing a man who is carrying a stuffed toy giraffe.
Now that I have written that down, it sounds really weird. Sorry.
JG
Late may 1956.The Skyway cables wernt instaled until june 10th 1956
ReplyDelete