Thursday, April 04, 2013

More Damaged Slides, October 1972

Here is the second blog post featuring delightfully damaged slides from 1972. I've fixed them, pretty much, but the damage is still evident in some cases.

Chicken of the Sea went out to get ice cream one night, and never came home. So Captain Hook moved into the Pirate Ship. He suffers from Crocodyliphobia, but other than that he has been a quiet and tidy tenant. (Remember when this ship had sails?)


I kind of like this unusual angle of Skull Rock and the Matterhorn (and Skyway). Two of those items aren't there anymore. 


Was that platform placed in the water just for the swans, or did it serve some other purpose? The moat was filled with heavy water (D2O) so that the moon swans don't sink to the bottom.


12 comments:

Chiana_Chat said...

Cap' Hook knows what became of the Chicken of the Sea. Yea, and he has a mortal fear of that crocodile 'cause he knows he's the Jerky of the Sea.

The 2nd one, that is quite a view... Alpine freshness, desert palms, an island lagoon, fantasy whimsy, leisure under umbrellas and the fair So Cal skies, ah!

Melissa said...

Neat shot of Skull Rock. It almost looks like one of those Easter Island faces from this angle.

K. Martinez said...

Love the Skull Rock pic. Nothing is the same in that image anymore. Not only is Skull Rock and the Skyway gone, but the Character Foods stand is gone, the dark ride facades have changed and the Matterhorn's nostrils are plugged up. Even the the Matterhorn's paintjob is different. It's like a total make-over forty years later.

Anonymous said...

Major, your PS repair skills are terrific. You should show us a before and after set of images!

Am I correct that heavy water is a gateway drink, leading to excessive consumption of Dole Whips over in Adventure Land?

Love the Skull Rock pic.

Bill in Denver

Tom said...

I can never get enough of that pirate ship. And that second pic - wonderful! So much scenery condensed into so compact an area, but done well.

Raimundo said...

Remember inside the ship, at the stern? You looked out the window onto a little scene of rocks and shells and seaweed and shimmering light, as though Hook's boat had gone under the water.
One of the smallest, oddest , and most pleasing sights in the Magic Kingdom

Anonymous said...

Raimundo, tell us more. I'm lucky enough to have visited the ship, but I don't remember that at all!
Tarzman

Major Pepperidge said...

Chiana, are you hinting that Captain Hook had something to do with the disappearance of Chicken of the Sea? What do you know and when did you know it?

Melissa, Skull Rock does look like an ancient idol. Those Easter Island moai are the coolest things!

K. Martinez, you are right of course, everything has changed in that photo.

Bill, if I wasn't so lazy I could have done a better job (you can see lots of damage in the Pirate Ship photo… I couldn't bring myself to spend hours fixing it all). As for heavy water, I've heard that you can safely drink it (in small amounts), but I wouldn't want to.

Tom, "compact" describes a lot of Disneyland!

Raimundo, I have never heard about a little window in the stern of the Pirate Ship. Maybe you are pulling my leg? I would love it if it was true!

Tarzman, I wish I had my copies of "The E Ticket" handy, maybe they wrote about the Pirate Ship.

Anonymous said...

Major, I sort of recall what Raimundo was talking about. My admittedly faulty memory recalls a sort of diorama box on the back wall of the inside restaurant (opposite the order counter). The diorama had an underwater scene like he describes. I don't remember it as an illusion that the ship was underwater, more like a "preview" of how the mermaid(s) lived at home. I remember being too short to see it clearly.

I always thought the swan platforms were just for them, since there was no place in the moat where they could get ashore and dry their feet. The moat edge is too steep and swans want dry feet occasionally.

If the heavy water comes from that pool, you can have it. I don't want any.

Great pictures, the damage parallels my memory problems. Oh for the perfect recall of youth.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

JG, I honestly don't ever remember boarding the old Pirate Ship at all. Probably never ate there either, sad to say. It was just a landmark that I loved looking at. Man, I sure wish there was a photo of the diorama display you mentioned - I wonder if it was something that was added later?

I'm sure those platforms were for the swans… they probably wanted to keep them away from the fences and the guests.

Heavy water is delicious with tang!

TokyoMagic! said...

I took a picture of that diorama at the stern of the ship's interior right before the ship was brutally destroyed. However, Kevin Kidney posted a much better photo of it in his post from February 4, 2011:

http://miehana.blogspot.com/2011/02/fish-talepart-three.html

I remember the display being as Kevin described it...."a waterless aquarium diorama" rather than a window. It contained rocks, coral and fake fish. You can see in his photo that it is basically a showcase with sliding glass doors. A lock to keep guests from sliding the doors open is visible at the very bottom of two of the glass panels.

K. Martinez said...

Wow! It really did exist! All the times I've been in there and never noticed it. Thanks Raimundo for recalling this gem and thanks Tokyo for posting the link to the diorama. So cool!