Sunday, October 27, 2013

Random Walt Disney World, early 70's

Today we continue with more slides from a lot of early 1970's views of the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately a lot of them have turned out to be rejects, much too blurry to even bother with. Oh well, there are still about a dozen that are still worth sharing.

I like this little tableau along the Rivers of America; was it on the shore of the Mainland, or on Tom Sawyer Island? The little keel boat looks almost like a toy.


Maybe the owner of that keel boat also built this cabin. He used those Duraflame logs, which was just a bad idea all around. Was the settler's corpse ever seen in Florida, or did we get to assume that he was roasting inside?


The boys and their stripey shirts are enjoying a snack and the opportunity to take a load off; I guess that is Frontierland Station just visible to our left. 


How about a lousy picture from the Tropical Serenade, aka The Enchanted Tiki Room? At no extra cost to you, of course.



11 comments:

MIKE COZART said...

That cave with the Keel Boat was Island side. It was a River Pirates Hideout, and as you passed you would hear talking, hollering and drunk singing of "Little Brown Jug". At nite there had been a projection system that revealed shadows against the cave wall of people inside illuminated by flickering torch and lantern light. The spiel on the Riverboats would mention that the pirates would probably let the ship pass as they were to drunk to notice us.

Nanook said...

Major-

We LOVE the stripy-shirt brothers. And is that a Cast Member behind them sporting her own version of stripy-?

Thanks, Major.

Anonymous said...

Randomly nice pics!! Looks like the stripy-shirt brothers are chowing down on Fritos and Pepsi...did you know that in an emergency, you can burn Fritos as a substitute for your Duraflame log and stay warm, even in Florida? Also, a tightly rolled National Geographic will burn for hours. Learned that at the NYC Library!

Thanks Major -
Bill in Denver

Melissa said...

I have that same shot of the docked keel boat on my card from my 2011 trip.

And lookee that old Frontierland train station! While the new one is kind of cramped, the building does suit it surroundings a little better.

The last time I got on the train there, there was a new CM being trained. I overheard the trainer tell him, "Now, at least half the people coming up here are gonna think this is the entrance to Splash Mountain, and you're gonna have to turn 'em around." And he was spot-on.

Major Pepperidge said...

Mike, thanks for the info about the Keel Boat and cave… has this been removed, or is it still there??

Nanook, I would guess that that is a cast member behind the boys.

Bill, I know that many Frito-Lay products make excellent kindling - a recent video on Mental Floss showed Doritos being used for that purpose.

Melissa, don't you take your photos off of your camera?? Also, have they replaced the WDW Frontierland station? And is the station so close to Splash Mountain that it makes sense that it would be confused as the entrance for that ride? Also, do jellyfish have hopes and dreams?

K. Martinez said...

That looks like Pecos Bill Café where those boys are enjoying a Frito Lay snack and Pepsi-Cola beverage. I ate there once in the 1970s. Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola were also the original sponsors of the Country Bear Jamboree nearby.

The last picture isn't a bad photo. I love the silhouette framing of the upper and lower areas of the pic I remember the Tropical Serenade preshow with the curtain of water and wall opening up revealing the tiki god. I loved it because it was different than our pre-show. Keeps it unique.

Thanks for more seventies Walt Disney World coolness. I love it

Melissa said...

Jellyfish all hope and dream to be jellyfish, so it all works out terribly well for them!

I do take the pictures off the camera; I’ve just gotten in the habit of saying, “on the card” or “on the same card” the way I used to say “on the roll” back in film days, when we propelled our stone cars with our feet, kept dinosaurs as pets, and played records with birds’ beaks.

The original train station was torn down and rebuilt further down the line to make room for Splash Mountain. It’s closely sandwiched between Splash and Big Thunder now, and the new building is more frontier-rustic and less gingerbread-Victorian.

The entrances for the station and Splash Mountain are quite close, accessed from the same little plaza area, in similar architectural styles, and especially when it’s crowded I can see where it would be very easy to mix them up.

Melissa said...

Yeah, I'm sure it's Pecos Bill's - they had the same distinctive stools there last December. I love the CM's costume. She looks like she could jump up and dance a cakewalk on the table!

Melissa said...

Here's the keelboat scene in 2011.

Snow White Archive said...

It's cool to see how some things have changed but others not so much. Diggin' the WDW pics from the 70s.

Nancy said...

yeah, the train station is a far piece from Pecos Bill's nowadays. Love this picture :)