Sunday, February 26, 2012

Random Frontierland, 1958, 1956

Oh, it's "Cheat Day" here on GDB... this first image is a crummy repeat! That's right, those of you who have been paying attention might remember it from years ago. Which means that, for most of you, it'll be like new.


I love this late-afternoon shot of the park as seen from Tom's Treehouse on Tom Sawyer Island - the highest point in Disneyland in 1958 (pre-Matterhorn). Everything is bathed in golden light, the way Disneyland should always be! The Mark Twain is chuffing away at the dock, and other familiar landmarks are visible; Rainbow Ridge, Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Rocket to the Moon, the Golden Horseshoe, and maybe a few more if you have sharp eyes.


Staying in Frontierland (this time in 1956), we gaze across the river to the dock where one of the rafts has docked on Tom Sawyer Island. Just to the right of that, a bunch of guests are fishing for trout (and bluegill, I think)... maybe this was the first time those suburban kids ever got to experience the thrill of catching a (captive) fish.


9 comments:

Orange Co Native said...

The first photograph is not a viewpoint that is photographed very often. Interesting perspective on the park, especially prior to the Matterhorn mountain.

Chiana_Chat said...

What a great ship, the ol' Mark Twain! Fantastic bird's eye like view.

Plus a neat early shot of the TSI dock. The bypass millrace is dumping loads of water. That's a good point, it might be the first and who knows maybe only time fishing for quite a few of those kids.

SundayNight said...

Oh yes. I well remember that photo. It just seems like yesterday. I’m a big fan of the early days of Gorilla’s Don’t Blog.

I wonder if anyone actually took a fish home, cooked it and ate it?

Nancy said...

nice set...there is Rainbow Ridge!! i always welcome the chance to see it ;-)

is the Island as big today as it always was? I dont know much about that part of the part to be honest, but it seems like it was pretty big when you see it on the Disneyland USA film....

Andrew said...

Hay Major, SundayNight brings up a good point. When you fish do you get to keep it and have your mom walk around the park with your dead fish.
Or was it purely catch and release, over and over? I wonder if those fish ever got wise to the hooks.

These pics remind me of how a visit to DL could be leisurely and peaceful if you let it.

Major Pepperidge said...

OC Native, it's true, I might only have one or two other shots from up there, out of my thousands of photos.

Chiana, now that you point it out, I don't remember noticing water coming out of the bypass before. Maybe it happened all the time and I just didn't look!

SundayNight and Andrew, from what I've read, you could have your fish cleaned for you to take home, but of course that caused all kinds of problems on hot California days. Supposedly they eventually changed to catch and release.

Nancy, the island is a pretty good size, but guests can only traverse part of it... maybe half. The north end has show elements that you see from the various rivercraft.

Anonymous said...

I remember this photo from the first time around and I dont mind at all.

TSTH is a great vantage point, even today. I'm glad they kept it through the pirate changeover.

JG

PsySocDisney said...

The first photo was my desktop background for quite a while...so yes I do indeed remember it :) Definitely a favorite, so no harm in this repeat!

walterworld said...

Has anyone noticed that TSTH no longer has any plastic leaves?

Guess they decided to remove them as some point. Of course, this fake tree is surroundeded by real trees now so it's not very noticeable.