Sunday, July 14, 2013

It's My Way or the Skyway

I hope you are in the mood for some incredibly awesome photos taken from the Skyway! Because sooner or later there will be some of those on my blog. Not today though. Sorry.

Monstro is the hungriest whale ever, he just snarfs boats full of people down like mini tacos. Chomp! They need salsa. 


Just a second or two later, this picture was snapped. That façade for It's a Small World is just plain massive. I'm assuming that most of those nice shade trees are in heaven now.


11 comments:

K. Martinez said...

Yep, that Monstro the whale just snarfs them up and poops them out into the canals of Storybook Land.

Nanook said...

Major-

Geez, I never thought of 'all good trees going to [tree] heaven'; but it makes such good sense.

Okay, maybe the shots aren't "incredibly awesome", but they come awfully close. Thanks.

Chiana_Chat said...

Being he's stuck in the rocks, Monstro will take whatever comes his way. Lucky for Disney his back half is missing or they'd lose a steady stream of paying customers.

Why is the employee near the popcorn cart near Small World pointing his broom to the ground instead of sweeping? He is looking back at the cart. Is he holding the cart operator to blame for the bits of popcorn he has to keep cleaning up? We may never know what drama was unfolding. But I know now that I'd like some popcorn...

Nancy said...

I always enjoy pictures from the Skyway. Perspective you just cant get anywhere else!

What is that roof or walkway looking affair we see on the right between Small World forecourt and the edge of the Canal Boats?

There sure are plenty of trees here....makes me very happy :-)

Chuck said...

Nancy - not only is that a perspective you just can't get anywhere else, it's also a perspective you can't get any more [sniffle].

If you're talking about that big, tan area just above the Casey, Jr. train in the first photo, I think that's the Canal Boat maintenance area, the "Never Never Land" referenced by cast members as part of the Storybook Land cruise narration because Canal Boat guests "never never go there."

Anonymous said...

The sweeper in question is actually mid-sweep and is preparing to go shoot the breeze with the outdoor foods girl. His name was (is?) Bob (totally not kidding, and not sure providing his last name would be fair to him) and although his Jack Nicholson shades provided us some giggles at the time, his rapidly thinning hair severely limited his success with the younger "casuals" who typically were assigned to popcorn wagons.

There is a maintenance room inside the Matterhorn with grinders sweepers used to sharpen/flatten the lip on the metal pans back when sweepers used metal pans. There were also grinders available in the Alice/Toad/Pan maintenance room near the Prince and Princess restrooms a little further south down the Extension toward Main Street, USA. Perhaps Bob has dinged the thin lip of his pan on a raised parade stanchion hole (a common occurance along the main parade route) and is headed inside the Matterhorn to address the issue.

More likely, Bob probably opened Matterhorn/Extension (which included "iasw" on slower non-summer days) and might be thinking about going home after his weak banter fails to convince the 17 year old popcorn vendor that she should join him for Margaritas at the Acapulco Inn on Harbor after she finishes for the day. Poor Bob.

Nanook said...

@anonymous- Poor Bob, indeed. I have a friend who swept the Matterhorn/Extension back in the day; perhaps he's the "unlucky" one.

@ Major- You need to copyright "It's My Way or the Skyway" It's just that good.

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, you decided to tread where I did not dare!

Nanook, maybe there is a hell for trees too. Bad trees.

Chiana, I'll bet that sweeper is asking the popcorn vendor if he wants the sweepings put back into the popper. Waste not, want not.

Nancy, I do love pictures from the Skyway, but it bums me out knowing that we will never have the experience of riding it again. And see Chuck's comment regarding that area you were wondering about!

Chuck, I wonder if that "never never land" line was a Wally Boag zinger?

Anonymous, when I think about how great it would have been to work at the park in the old days, I have to admit that the thought of all those cute female Orange County cast members would have been extremely appealing. I can't tell if you are kidding about the grinders for the edges of the metal sweeper pans!! And if Bob strikes out with that popcorn girl, he needs to realize that there are lots more opportunities at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Anonymous said...

Completely serious about using the grinders to take the double-lipped edges off the metal pans. After grinding, the pans would lie perfectly flat in the area and make sweeping fun back when sweepers were guys (only) and did tricks like sweeping between their legs and tossing the toy brooms up over the Bear Country trestle (catching them behind their back when they came back down, of course). The Eisner era killed all that "dangerous" stuff and now it's chunky people of indeterminate sex dragging around plastic pans for just above minimum wage. Sheesh.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pics from a time when the full wonder of the IASW facade could be seen without an intervening "gift shop".

There was a day when I thought sweeping the grounds at Disneyland would have been the best job ever, and I think it is coming back to me again, in spite of the "Eisner era".

I bet Disney could get all those positions filled for free by old people like me who would gladly spend their vacation sweeping up TSI or Fantasyland, just to be there.

Major, you know how I love Storybook Land, it would take much more than becoming whale poop, even metaphorically, to keep me away.

If you ever need to find me, just wait by the exit of the Canal boats until you see an old fat guy, riding alone, with a tear in his eye. It might take a while, but It's the Cafe de la Paix of Disneyland, eventually everyone passes that way.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, thanks.... I plan on making millions from my intellectual property!

Anon, I want "trash pan grinder" on my resume. Chicks dig it! Thanks for the stories about the old days... it sure seems like everyone had more fun back then.

JG, instead of whale poop, you would be ambergris! (Not sure that's an improvement, but let's go with it).