Busy Castle, 1957
I admit it; when I see that I have yet another photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle, I roll around on the floor and rant. Maybe I need a vacation? But today's first photo is pretty fun with all of the authentic vintage humans! Oh the humanity. I love the striped ice cream vendor's cart - business seems to be slow for him on this chilly day.
Do you think that the image was supposed to be a portrait of this family? Or is it just a coincidence that they are all facing toward the photographer? Or maybe gramps (to the right) was the star.
This one is from a different lot, but I figured I'd stick with the castle theme. You might recognize grandma and the two boys gazing down upon the swans.
Let's zoom in, just for the hell of it. Any idea what that blue/green roofline is, to the right of the trio's heads?
16 comments:
I have a postcard of that striped ice cream cart in front of the original Tomorrowland entrance.
I'm going to say that blue/green roofline is part of the Rainbow Caverns building and Mine Train storage.
I'm going to second what K. Martinez said about the building being Rainbow Caverns.
Does anyone know why they no longer have swans in the Castle moat....and what year they got rid of them?
I'd never noticed that big, blue backdrop behind the castle before.
@ TokyoMagic! - I don't know for sure why they got rid of the swans, but I'll pose my three leading theories for consideration by this august community:
1. It was an attempt at providing symmetry between the East Coast and West Coast parks by eliminating all floating, swan-shaped objects from the vicinity of each park's castle.
2. They disappeared after the accidental introduction of piranhas into DL's waterways, necessitating the inclusion of a warning to keep your hands and arms inside the boat at all times in all ride safety spiels.
3. Paul Pressler was looking for even more reasons for longtime DL fans to hate him.
That's the custodial office building behind Carnation Plaza Gardens. It pretty much abutted the train storage shed.
What happened to the swans?
SWANson's TV dinners were introduced around 1957. Coincidence??
And there was the short-lived breakfast food with extra protein:
MoatMeal.
Bill in Denver (Super Bowl in 6 days.)
This is why I think it's the Rainbow Caverns building and Mine Train storage:
http://davelandweb.com/nw/popup.htm?images/1965aerial_dd.jpg
http://www.imagineeringdisney.com/storage/Imagineering-Disney_Natures-Wonderland_aerial-2.jpg
http://davelandweb.com/aerial/popup.htm?images/55-04-15c-002_full.jpg
http://davelandweb.com/aerial/popup.htm?images/Aerial_5_61.jpg
It may have been a multi-purpose building, but the main purpose seems to be the Rainbow Caverns as it wasn't there before the attraction was built.
K. Martinez, I know the postcard you are referring to… it's an early one, and pretty scarce! I thought that the building might have something to do with the mine train.
TokyoMagic!, I'm sure the swans were evicted because they were just one more expense, and swans make a mess; As far as I can tell they were only there for the first few years, but I'm really not sure.
Chuck, I think your reasons make a lot of sense! It's amazing how Paul Pressler still engenders so much antipathy years later (he really was a disaster).
Anon, thank you for the additional info, I certainly would have never guessed that it was a custodial office building!
Bill in Denver, you have been inspired by Melissa!
K. Martinez, it does appear to be a multi-purpose building; Anon did say that the custodial office butted up against the Rainbow Caverns structure, so maybe it's a case of "a little bit of both"?
The swans were there just a few years ago (maybe 3 or 4). Don't know why they took them away but I'm thinking expense and mess. I do miss them.
Well, just to add more fuel to the fire regarding the disappearance of the swans... the chemical makeup of the water surrounding the castle was being contaminated from the huge amount of "coinage" being tossed into it. Additionally, the swans had taken to ingesting the coins.
And one of the swans (Walter - well, you just knew that, didn't you-? Can you guess the name of the other swan-?) was attacked by a raccoon.
Hey - it all sounds plausible to me.
I don't think there have been swans in the moat since they intoduced the turkey leg carts (cue dramatic music).
Goth Boy and Safari Boy!
Swans can go beak to beak with geese in the Evil Bastard Olympics, but my personal conspiracy is the feral cats in the castle ganged up on them.
The big, one-eyed orange Tom they called "Cap'n Walt" used to ride a captive swan around the moat at night, claws sunk in for purchase and steering, a big wad of white feathers in his mighty tangerine jaws, and the night air streaming through the shreds of his ears.
His many lady friends would preen on the bank, daintily grooming their lush whiskers after a well-earned meal of swan kebabs, and swish their tails in greeting as the Cap'n passed by.
"Have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow, ladies," he'd purr, spitting out a few plumes in the process. Then he'd sink his starboard talons in, humming, "'Way Down Upon the Swanny River," and glide off into the night.
And every ladycat was sure he was winking just at her.
I have video that I shot of the swans in the moat in 1997. I just couldn't remember how soon after that that they disappeared. If they were eliminated due to contaminated water, then that's understandable. I was also assuming that it must have been a Pressler thing. I kind of like to blame him for anything bad that happened at DL during his reign of destruction.
@Nanook....speaking of raccoons, I was at Disneyland last Sunday and while riding the Mark Twain at night, the pilot put the spotlight on a fairly large raccoon that was walking along the shore. I'm used to seeing stray cats around the park late at night, but it was strange to see a raccoon.
I think the consensus regarding the disappearance of the swans is sometime around the beginning of 2010 - unless someone spotted the pair menacing around the waters since then.
Irene… huh, funny, I don't remember seeing them ever, but I believe you! So much for my memory.
Nanook, I actually wonder if people were throwing popcorn (or even worse things) to the swans to eat, maybe they were getting sick? It wouldn't surprise me. Er… Walter and… er…?
RemainSeatedPlease, I would feel LESS guilty eating a swan leg!!
Melissa, those sound like comic book heroes.
Melissa again, swans are fierce for sure. I think you need to write a children's book about Cap'n Walt.
TokyoMagic!, as I said to Irene, I had no idea that the swans were there until the 1990's. Your video might be more important than the Zapruder film!! Yes, let's blame Pressler, it sounds like one of his many bad decisions.
Nanook, we need to get Congress to do an investigation. When were they there? Who did they know and when did they know them? Where did they go? This is big, I tells ya!
IME, you'll get a raccoon or two on the fringes of any source of food scraps, no matter how well-maintained and stocked with feral cats it is.
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