A Pair From August, 1970
Here are two nice pix from 1970, starting with this shot of the Disneyland Hotel as seen from the far reaches of the Disneyland parking lot. To the left is the Sierra Tower, originally built in 1962 (and no longer saying "Hotel Disneyland" since its expansion in 1966), while the Marina Tower is to our right (construction was completed earlier in 1970). You can just see the yellow Monorail through the oleanders.
Next is this nice view, taken from the Tomorrowland Monorail station. I love the beautiful turquoise lagoon, along with the original "nuclear" gray subs - and the Peoplemover of course. I always like this angle because it shows that little pool just above the tunnel and waterfall - doesn't it make you want to swim there?
13 comments:
Major-
Beautiful. Bully-beautiful-! No, not the oleanders. The Submarine Lagoon. I'll dive in right now.
Thanks, Major.
Ah, the Disneyland Hotel and my personal parking spot. When I got my first annual pass, (early 1998, maybe), I was working a couple of miles away from the park and would visit frequently after work. There was always a spot just under the Monorail beam adjacent to the stairs that led to the loading platform. I was in and out of the park so easily for a short visit and had free parking 'cause I'd buy a vinyl figurine to get my parking validated. It seems in my memory that I enjoyed this happy state of affairs for years, but in reality it was probably only months before DCA's construction put paid to my little utopia.
And Nanook, no car I.D. in that first shot? How about a Bonneville of the appropriate model year?
The Mark III Monorail Gold is a favorite of mine. So bright and sunny. I've stayed in both the Sierra and Marina Towers, once on the top floor of the Marina Tower facing north and also facing west on a lower level floor in the Sierra Tower. Never stayed there after Disney purchased the hotel though.
There's that jagged rock jutting out of the lagoon next to the gray sub that I was always conscious of. In other words I really liked it. I was not too happy when it disappeared after the reshaping of the lagoon for Finding Nemo.
Closed on August 21, 1995, the PeopleMover has now been gone for over 20 years. It's time to take the down the tracks.
I love the way the turquoise PeopleMover echoes the color of the water. I wonder how deep the pool above the falls was? I'm going to guess at least 75 feet.
Note the maritime signal flags in the extreme left of the photo. I'd never noticed them before today, but, after looking through a bunch of Daveland photos this morning, the structure they hang from seems to have been added in 1961 along with lights along the docks, with the flags on display intermittently through 1970 and then consistently after that point at least into the 1980s. The order of the flags changed over time and seems to have been a random series of letters that didn't spell anything intelligible in the photos I found.
The flags were carried over into the current version of the ride, although they're not as prominent because they fade into the background of the expanded rockwork. They currently spell - you guessed it - "Finding Nemo."
Chuck, I was aware of the Sub Lagoon maritime flags but didn't know their history or detail. Thanks for the research. I love stuff like that.
Outstanding shots today, Major. Out standing in the Parking Lot, heh.
One of the few pictures of a parking lot that will be in my screen saver. And the sub lagoon, mighty fine. Yes, I was tempted more than once to vault out of the People Mover into that little pond, which seemed to exist only to feed the waterfalls. If the mermaids had been there instead of the deep lagoon, I probably would have done it.
Chuck, thank you for the tips about the flags. Disney has pretty good flag etiquette on the whole and that is the kind of detail that separates their parks from others.
Thufer would have enjoyed today's set, both his beloved parking lot and the "grays".
I miss Thufer. May he rest in peace, somewhere in Yesterland.
JG
Nanook, it must be a leftover kid dream of mine, but I’ve always thought that if I somehow had millions of dollars, it would be fun to have some sort of fancy pool with waterfalls and rocks, much like what we see in photo #2. No subs though!
Patrick Devlin, it’s funny, when you wrote “early 1998”, I thought, “Why, that wasn’t so long ago”. Only to realize that it was 17 years ago. Yeesh! There used to be a store at the Farmer’s Market on Fairfax that had bins full of vinyl Disney figures, I used to buy them regularly until I had quite a bunch. I finally sold them on ebay for more than I expected!
K. Martinez, I sure wish I had stayed in the Disneyland Hotel at least once. Back in the early 80’s my grandfather wanted to take the whole family for a two or three day visit, but then he got ill, and it never happened. That’s as close as I ever got. Like you, I am not crazy about the way the Nemo lagoon looks compared to the old days, but at least it isn’t “Pooh’s Playful Spot”. As for the Peoplemover track, I agree… now that we know that there is no hope for the return of that attraction, the track truly is completely pointless.
Chuck, in the past I’d looked up the nautical flags, and found that they were randomly arranged at Disneyland. But I did not know that they spell “Finding Nemo” now - I am impressed that they went to the effort.
K. Martinez, ditto!
@ Patrick Devlin-
Your wish is my command. I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say based on the shape of the radio antenna base, we're looking at some sort of Ford product.
Ooops, JG, I missed your comment somehow. Have you heard anything for sure regarding Thufer? I assumed (or hoped) that he just had better things to do, but if he is gone, he will be missed.
Nanook, impressive if you can ID a vehicle with so little to go by.
Please don't eat the oleanders!
I think they leave the PeopleMover track/beam standing there just as a slap in the faces of the fans. That and I think they are too cheap to spend the money to take it out. Why has the Fantasyland Skyway station been left standing for 21 years after the attraction closed? They ruin everything.
I have been wondering about Thufer lately...and Katella Gate. And Viewliner Ltd.
@Tokyo and Major. I fear the worst for Thufer, as you knew, he had been quite ill. His last blog post was over three years ago. I left a comment and he responded, but nothing since, there or anywhere else. His post sounded very resigned with discovery of another illness, and I think he may have passed on.
I haven't corresponded with Viewliner, but that blog hasn't been updated for some time either. From his commentary, he sounded like an older man, but I don't know how old.
I saw a Katella Gate post some time back, but can't recall when.
You knew that Cox Pilot passed away a few months ago. Dave DeCaro had a nice post about him.
It's kind of weird losing friends you have never met. I think of you all as pen pals, that's probably the best way to characterize this communication. ;-D. Cheers.
JG
TokyoMagic!, you are right, it really would cost a fortune to remove the track, and I think they would have to close much of Tomorrowland to do the job. I always hoped they might find a second use for the Fantasyland Skyway station, even if it was just for restrooms, or a shady place to sit and enjoy the view. No such luck.
JG, I actually did not know that Thufer was ill, to be honest, though (as you and I have discussed via email) I did notice his absence quite a while ago. I used to correspond with Viewliner, and he has not returned my last few emails, so I am assuming the worst. As for Katella Gate, I’ve always wondered if I inadvertently offended him (long story), since I don’t think he’s commented since one particular incident. I hope that I didn’t, maybe his silence is just a coincidence.
JG, thank you for that information. Yes, I knew about Cox Pilot, as well as Ken (a.k.a. "Cyberdillo") of the "Disneyland Postcards" blog. Thinking of everyone here as friends/pen pals is a very nice sentiment and I would have to agree with you on that! :-)
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