Sunday, January 24, 2016

Pals at Disneyland, September 1971

There was a brief period of time in which I went to Disneyland with "the guys", instead of with family, or with girls. There was always a part of me that was surprised that the guys wanted to go, since I was convinced that cool people didn't hang out there, and some of them seemed pretty cool. I was OK with my fandom, but you know how it is. And yet we always had a great time!

Today's snapshots remind me of those days, although I admit that these two fellas in the pictures might be brothers. Who knows. Anyway, this first one shows one of them standing next to an Omnibus; we get a pretty good look at three of the small posters that adorned the side of that vehicle... I wish I had some of them! I'm not entirely sure if they were silkscreened on one long piece of material (metal, I believe), or separately.


Next we have another dude enjoying the view from the upper level of the Carousel of Progress building. It must be lunchtime, everyone is eating! It's a shame that we can't get a nice elevated perspective of Tomorrowland anymore.


6 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

As I imagine many other GDB-ers did at one time, I often stood on the upper level of the CoP taking-in that incredible view of what has proven to be so far - just The Best Tomorrowland, ever®-!

And speaking of a bunch of guys 'hanging out at Disneyland', on September 11, 1981, a bunch of us guys went to The Happiest Place on Earth, one whom carried a Sony recording Walkman, and proceeded to capture high-quality stereo audio recordings of many, many attractions - along with The Main Street Electrical Parade. It's been years since I listened to the tapes, but I should probably pull them out and fire up the 'ol cassette machine and give them a listen. For as I'm writing this, I realize all the Fantasyland sounds are from the pre-1983, New Fantasyland. Not to mention the Grand Circle Tour on the DLRR. Golly - why am I still writing this, when I could travel back 34-½ years-??!! Gotta go...

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

I wonder which band is playing on the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage? Sunshine Balloon? The Establishment? I know it isn't Airplay or Krash.

Nanook, you might want to see about transferring those cassettes before they break. I speak from experience!

K. Martinez said...

I remember standing out on the upper level of the carousel building overlooking Tomorrowland back in 2012 when it was "Innoventions". Of course the view wasn't as good as it was back in the 60's and 70's. Has that changed now? Can you no longer lookout over the second level?

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, you MUST digitize those tapes! ASAP. Maybe you have a friend with a stereo that still has a tape deck? You can hook those up to a computer, and using a program like Audacity, turn them into something much less prone to decay. I know I would want to hear them if I could!

TokyoMagic!, it was actually a Beatles reunion that the press never covered. And yes, I agree, Nanook needs to do something with those tapes.

K. Martinez, you make a good point, I have avoided Innoventions since the first and only time I visited it… I assume you can still go up to the top level and get a view. But as you said, it’s not quite as nice as it was. Still, at night I’ll bet it’s pretty.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

If I said it once I've said it hundred times. It doesn't get much better than Disneyland after the Haunted Mansion was open and before Nature's Wonderland and COP closed. My personal "fave" period of the park. Thanks for posting.

Nanook said...

@ Major-

Awright, awright – I can digitize my own tapes, as it turns out. As a matter of fact, I own a Nakamichi Dragon cassette recorder so you know I’m serious. It still performs flawlessly the few times it has been called-up to serve these days, and I have a bevy of 'A to D' software to make the transition into “modern times”. The tracks span three, C90 cassettes, so I keep using that as an excuse for not moving forward. But I do respond well to shame and embarrassment, so…

@ Alonzo P Hawk-

Add one more vote to that period in Disneyland’s history (at least for us ‘old-timers’). As we often say (lament) in these pages: “Change is inevitable”. Some old favorites had to make way for new ones, and other favorites arrived following this ‘Tiffany Period’, but all in all, it’s still hard to top-!