A Selection of Instamatics
It's always a good time to look at some vintage Instamatic pictures!
I like this unusual angle, from beneath the Monorail track (along with the yellow Mark II Monorail) as it passes next to the Matterhorn. Notice the careful use of plantings to evoke an alpine mood in distinctly non-alpine Anaheim.
A peaceful-looking Town Square....
Next we have an unusual view taken from the Mark Twain; I can only assume that the young Mr. X was aiming at the Keel Boat, but he got lucky...
.... because you can see that there is still some final construction going on over in the brand-new New Orleans Square. There is a ladder or two, as well as what looks like stacks of wall board. It should all be finished really soon though!
15 comments:
A fresh-faced New Orleans Square about to be unleashed on an anxious public. And I was among them.
Thanks, Major, for the memories.
I love the Mark II Monorail Gold image. A great you-are-there shot! I can almost hear the horn.
In the 2nd image is my favorite color scheme for the Emporium. I miss the older Main Street color palette.
Great pics first thing in the a.m.!
One of my favorite things about Disneyland and EPCOT Center is that you can see monorails going by all day long. Monorail Yellow is so beautiful in this picture. If that was me walking there I would be turning around and snapping away as soon as I heard it coming!
I realize that I have never ridden a Main Street vehicle on any of the times I have been to the Magic Kingdom...and I have no idea why! I am definitely going to have to do something about that next time ;-)
Great pix to start Friday, thanks.
Very unique angle on the Monorail shot. The white shirt gang looks a little bored though. Might be all the fumes from the Clorox.
The last 2 just make me dream of a lazy trip down the river on the Bertha Mae. Only in our dreams and memories at this point i'm afraid.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the most mundane of times, it was the most superlative of times. It was an age of comma splices, it was an age of redheaded stepchildren.
As the blended family below me desperately dressed in identical white in a futile attempt at bonding that would surely end in chocolate stains silent car rides, and bitter recriminations, I gazed across the park at my own brother from another mother. There we were, locked in an endless dance of twinship and contrast, our names a cruel, mutual parody across time: Mark II and Mark Twain.
Was his old-timey charm inherently more worthy than my futuristic grace? My single rail more dynamic than his single wheel? My brother will carry you to yesterday to the strains of the banjo as surely as I’ll whisk you to tomorrow to the dulcet tones of the theremin. “Mark!” you cry, and we both will answer… well, we won’t answer at all. We can’t talk or anything; this is Disneyland, not a cartoon or something.
But I like to think that when we’re resting at night, we both have a good laugh at that stupid horse-drawn trolley. Boy, I bet he gets tired of barbershop music.
Brilliance, Melissa! Lol
Nanook, you're welcome!
K. Martinez, yes, I think the Emporium is now more of an orange color, and the roof is less green.
Nancy, the Main Street vehicles are easy to miss, there is so much stuff to do. From what I have heard, you have to ride them early before it gets so crowded that the vehicles are put away.
Alonzo, even people generally having fun aren't smiling all the time! And who knows, it might have been really hot that day, the sun looks intense.
Melissa, those aren't chocolate stains. How about a film in which the personalities of each "Mark" is switched? It's never been done before. Lindsay Lohan can play the Monorail. Danny de Vito can be the Mark Twain. Hang on, Spielberg is on the other line.
Oh boy, monorail.
Here we can see the front running lights, deeply recessed on this model.
Major, I found an old photo of yours of the Monorail Station, with the you man in the naval uniform acting as conductor, the Mark I train in the background clearly shows the long conical red taillights, but the front lamps can't be seen due to the angle of the photo. So, I'm still hunting.
JG
OK, Daveland's spectacular archive has answered my question.
Monorail Mark I had recessed headlights (appear to be automotive product).
http://davelandweb.com/monorail/popup.htm?images/KTPBKYC_9_59_N12.jpg
The rear lamps were the big red cones: http://davelandweb.com/monorail/popup.htm?images/50s/KTPBKYC_6_59_N03RX.jpg
I feel better now.
JG
Not much of a construction fence surrounding the still unfinished New Orleans Square. Rather than a barrier, looks more like an invitation, "Come on in, grab a hammer, and give us a hand here, won't you?" I'm surprised there's not a line of kids (and adults) waiting their turn to climb that ladder! I suppose that this was back in the day when a fence, no matter how short, still meant "Stay Out!"
@JG - Thanks for the research. Love those little details.
They probably told everybody the Great Ladder Ride was a D ticket.
JG, as far as I can tell, the headlights on the Mark I and the Mark II are very similar. Unless I am missing something! Knowing Bob Gurr, he probably did use "off the shelf" auto headlights. Thanks for the picture links!
RemainSeatedPlease, I thought the same thing. Anybody could just stroll on up. Maybe there is a fence that is out of the frame, because I can't believe they would be that careless!
Melissa, I think there was a Great Ladder Ride at Freedomland.
Freedomland tried to get away with calling theirs the Ladderhorn, but they didn't even make an effort at an Alpine theme with foliage. They just surrounded it with gravel and a couple of obviously repurposed funeral wreaths with little Swiss flags stuck in them.
This is awesome!
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