Wednesday, May 06, 2015

More GDB Greatest Hits - Frontierland

Today I have gleaned a few extra nice vintage images from GDB's past, featuring FRONTIERLAND.

This 1958 photo of an Indian War Canoe is almost too good to be true. Originally posted in 2010, the low angle picture must have been taken from a neighboring (racing?) canoe.


The Stagecoach is just pulling out of the corral, and man, look at those little horses go! The top of the coach is infested with small children. Cougars and coyotes only manage to get the ones on the outside, allowing the others to survive the journey. This picture was first posted back in 2009.


And finally, there's a little Keelboat... the "Bertha Mae", scooting through the water along side our vessel, which I assume is the Columbia. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I will always regret that I never rode the keelboats. 



10 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

All three images are quite wonderful; but the first one is almost in a class by itself.

Thanks, again, for posting these.

Chuck said...

I still think the low angle of the first one could only have been taken from the conning tower of one of the submarines.

Great to see these again! They're brightening up my day all over again. Thanks for sharing.

K. Martinez said...

Major -

I'm glad I went on the less celebrated attractions like the Mike Fink Keelboats and Motor Boat Cruise when they were still around. The only attractions I missed at Disneyland during my existence were the Flying Saucers, the 20,000 Leagues exhibit and Rocket Rods. The Carousel of Progress I saw at WDW.

Are there still any attractions you haven't been on at Disneyland that are still there today?

Unknown said...

GDB's Greatest Hits indeed!

That first is gorgeous. The smooth water for the reflection and perfect framing: wunderbar. That shot is nearly identical (except for era), to the photo Disneyland uses on their main site to show the current version of the canoes.

I'm curious if these were all Kodachrome slides because the colors are so rich and well-preserved? If so, that might explain the blur of the stagecoach in the second shot. Kodachrome was ASA 25 (low speed film) and it was sometimes hard to get a really fast shutter speed without a fast lens. It's still another great shot, though.

Ah, K. Martinez you've dredged up a pleasant memory for me: we used to use the back of the guide books as a "check off list" for the attractions we'd seen. Sort of a "life list" like serious birders have.

K. Martinez said...

@Patrick Devlin, we used to do the same thing back then with checking off the rides in our guide book as we'd rode them. Oddly, after 50+ years of going to Disneyland, I still haven't tried the Monte Cristo Sandwich. I still have a few items left on my Disneyland bucket list.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I agree with you!

Chuck, now that you say that, it would be cool if they had an old-fashioned “iron-clad” (like the Virginia or the Merrimack) on the river!

K. Martinez, that’s a good question… I can’t think of any rides that I haven’t experienced at this point. I never saw “Captain Eo”, but have no desire to (that’s not a ride, exactly). I’ll need to look at a list and see if there are any I have somehow missed!

Patrick Devlin, I just looked, and you’re right, the angle on the canoes is just about exact. But I like my photo better! I believe that all of these were Kodachromes, though it seems like the earlier Kodachromes tended to be more saturated for some reason. The Keel Boats shot from the 1960’s is more naturalistic, I suppose.

K. Martinez, I haven’t had a Monte Cristo either! My friend “Mr. X” says they are (or were) delicious, but that he would have “stomach troubles” later in the day. Why risk it!! But I do want to try one. From what I’ve read, the sandwiches have been changed since the early days.

Chuck said...

Major, I had the same experience with the Monte Cristo. And yet I still get it almost every time I eat there. Go figure.

An ironclad like the Virginia or the Monitor would be pretty cool, although I'm guessing guests would be less enamored with having to see the sights along the river through the Virginia's gunports. Unless they got to actually fire the guns. Especially if it was at that bathroom that replaced Fort Wilderness. That would cover a multitude of attraction loss sins.

Anonymous said...

I'M NOT FOOLED BY YOUR DIVERSIONARY TACTICS. PHOTO 01 WAS TAKEN BY A DUCK.

thanks Major, great set today.

JG

K. Martinez said...

Major - I've seen Captain EO a few times (always at the request of family or friends I was visiting with) and never thought much of it. You didn't miss anything IMO.

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, I can’t imagine why a huge, deep-fried sandwich would upset anybody’s stomach! And the Disneyland iron-clad would have windows added, just like the subs. Easy!

JG, I had to lie because the duck was a Russian spy.

K. Martinez, yeah, I’ve seen large chunks of “Eo” (on YouTube I think) and it looks pretty terrible. I guess if a person was a huge MJ fan, then it would be worth it….