Cool Tomorrowland! July 1967
Here are a few nice Tomorrowland images for you (with a special cameo from Fantasyland)!
I am trying to figure out where this first one was taken from; a Skyway bucket that has just left the Tomorrowland terminal? The upper level of the Carousel of Progress building? This oddball angle seems to be directed mostly at the "It's a Small World" building in the distance. But I am more about the Autopia, Peoplemover, and Monorail. Even a submarine has managed to photo bomb this picture. I'm always amused by the old-fashioned Santa Fe logo in relation to the Monorail.
OK, this can only have been taken from a Skyway bucket, right? You can see the Carousel of Progress ramp to our left. Kooky, Suessian palm trees lean in; but the best part of the photo is the Peoplemover load area, with the wonderful Rocket Jets positioned dramatically on the level above, and the crowded Space Bar is on the ground level.
Just for yucks, let's zoom in on the mob scene below; it's pretty crowded, but I'd give anything to be there!
15 comments:
Major-
Looking at other images of Tomorrowland, it seems fairly certain the first image was captured from a Skyway vehicle.
Thanks, Major.
"Please use the self-service elevators for your trip to the Rocket Jet flight deck"
I concur, skyway bucket. To get that angle on the Monorail station you would have to be in between the Carosel of Progress and the PeopleMover station. Awesome shots of may favorite time period/land! Thanks.
You know how sometimes you see things for years and years and don't think anything about them and then suddenly, one day, BAM! something falls into place and you notice something obvious you've never noticed before? I just had one of those moments. "Space Bar" - it's a typewriter joke. Tee hee hee.
(If it took me 44 years to get that easy, over-the-plate pun, what else am I missing? Let's see...is there a "yacht" key on my computer...?)
I miss the trees/plants behind the center portion of the "Small World" façade. :[
Love the original Character Shop marquee!
I'm going to lobby for "upper deck of the Carousel of Progress" on that first shot. I cite an aerial view of Tomorrowland circa 1970, in which lining up the awning over the Alweg Monorail station - that western edge points directly to it's a small world. It points back at the photographer, and in the aerial view that would put the photographer on the upper deck of the COP building.
One strike against my theory is the lack of Skyway lines in between photographer and monorail... hmmm... yeah, I guess I'll backpedal and go with Skyway Bucket.
Major, these are brilliant photos, simply beautiful scans of some of my favorite places in a favorite time.
I have some pics from other sources of similar views, but they have lint and spots and muck on the slides. These seem crystal clear.
I am certain that all of us are in the crowd down there in that last photo, we just don't recognize each other.
Thank you so much for this brilliant work.
JG
And who knows the exact date when the Disneyland-Alweg.... sign changed to a solid 'sandwich sign' from individual neon letters. It appears by 1970 the swap-out had occurred. I wonder how much prior to that date it transitioned.
Nanook, either that or the photographer was very tall!
TokyoMagic!, I wonder if the elevators were always self-service?
Alonzo, we will definitely go with Skyway bucket. Imagine seeing this "New Tomorrowland" when it really WAS brand new.
Chuck, I'm not sure if it's really a typewriter joke! One never knows with those pun-loving Imagineers, though. I don't think Disneyland was so "punny" at the beginning… it seems like as the years have gone by, *everything* has to be a play on words. Meanwhile, I've always wondered why Tomorrowland had two "bars" for snacks and meals.
Anon, are those the trees that were actually on top of the building?
Tom, one of the reasons I don't think it's from the Carousel of Progress is that we are so close to the Monorail - it's almost right beneath us. Unless the photographer had a zoom lens, of course. I'll have to look at an aerial view now to see how things line up!
JG, wow, thanks for the nice comment! I'm glad you like these… wish I had more.
Nanook, that is one of those little details that only a true Disneyland fanatic would know! (I used to think I was a fanatic, but long ago realized that I barely qualify compared to some folks).
I was wondering the same thing about the elevators, Major. Tokyo Disneyland's are not self-service. I have a feeling that Anaheim's wouldn't have been self-service back in the day. However, I can't see a cast member standing down there next to the doors. I guess it's possible that a CM could be hidden behind some of the guests in the crowd.
Me seems to remember "operator service" of some sort when the new Tomorrowland was literally fresh and new - and for some time beyind that.
I did, but I was four and don't remember much. The exception was a vague memory standing outside Haunted Mansion and wondering why we couldn't go in (not open for 2 more years).
@ Major-
I would never shy-away from the moniker of Disneyland 'fanatic' - but I'm merely a junior member of that club. (As my friend is so fond of saying - and has done so for decades: There are fans - and there are fanatics) Actually, I think 'fanatics' has now been superceded by yet another term for über-fanatic - what ever that might be.
Actually, I only noticed the sign change as I was 'researching' where the camera was most-likely placed to capture the first image. A true fanatic would be having dreams about the two styles of signs. Me - I just dream about The Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland continuously...
TokyoMagic!, somehow the self-service thing just doesn't seem like something Walt would have wanted. I realize that he was gone by the time the New Tomorrowland opened, but I'll bet there were cast members who pushed the buttons.
Nanook, it just makes sense!
Alonzo, it's so amazing to think that the Haunted Mansion appeared to be finished and ready to go (from the outside), and yet it didn't open for something like SIX years.
Nanook again, "regular" people who know me consider me a fanatic; but my fandom rates pretty low compared to some. Consider that I haven't been to the park for a year and a half, and still haven't been to DCA since before the whole Carsland thing. :-(
For what its worth, the way I remember the queue operating at the Rocket Jets was A CM grouped at the base of the elevator while the Jets themselves were midway through their ride time.
That elevator load then rode up through the gantry and were held in a pre-load pen, with the elevator car waiting for the debarking guests, who would then be about done with their ride experience.
Guests then debarked into the elevator car as the other guests moved from the pre-load pen into the Jets themselves and went spinning high for that awesome view. The departing guests then descended through the gantry and emptied the car readying it for the next group on guests made ready by the CM at the base.
Post a Comment