Monday, November 14, 2016

More "New Tomorrowland" Construction

I'm getting down to the last few images showing some of the massive construction that took place for the addition of the fabulous New Tomorrowland. The three that I chose today all have their problems, so I decided to lump them into one post. Come on, it won't be so bad!

As usual, I am a bit discombobulated; is that the Carousel of Progress building? I don't recognize that grassy knoll, and the Monorail track is awfully close. 


This blurry shot was taken right at the entrance, with the Peoplemover track, and the pointy pylons (pre-metalized panels). The House of the Future is still there, but not for long!


And here's a kind of nice angle (and kind of a followup to the photos that I shared in the last post featuring images from this series), with the still-operating Skyway toodling along. I believe that it was a round trip ride, to Fantasyland and back again, at this point. We also get the Richfield eagle and the yellow Monorail at no additional cost to you. Or send me $5, that would be cool!


20 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, that first pic shows the back of the Circle Vision building. The fenced off grass is a part of the Matterhorn. I love these New Tomorrowland construction pics!!!

Nanook said...

Major-

That first image is the north side of the Circlevision theatre building. Gotta love that House of the Future still kicking around, wanting to be a part of the New Tomorrowland. The last shot is just so darn colorful.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

I think we can see early construction of the PeopleMover tunnel that ran along the backside of CircleVision. And I'm wondering if those black rectangular areas could be where the rear-lit panels showing scenes from the movie went?

Chuck said...

Wow - you guys are good! With that grassy knoll in the foreground, I was going to guess this was probably Dealey Plaza, but I can see I was way off.

I don't remember ever seeing a photo of the Tomorrowland entrance blocked off. The construction zone extends much farther out into the Hub than I'd ever expected (sort of like Tomorrowland '98).

In the lower left-hand corner of the third photo, you can just make out what I believe is the framing for the ceiling of the underground service tunnel that connects the Circle-Vision building, Tomorrowland Terrace, the Carousel of Progress, and the National Coke Syrup Reserve.

I think the original intent during this period was to make the Skyway a round trip to the Matterhorn and back, but the transfers turned out to be a real killer and the idea was dropped.

Fun set today, Major! Many thanks!

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, now that you say it, I can’t help thinking, “Of course, what else could it have been?”. Not sure why it didn’t come to mind.

Nanook, the House of the Future definitely feels like it has already been partly forgotten in pic #2. Kind of sad.

TokyoMagic!, do you mean that you saw backlit photos of “America the Beautiful” while riding the Peoplemover? If so, I don’t remember it at all.

Chuck, I guess one can’t use the term “grassy knoll” without expecting it to be related to November 1963…! I posted another photo of the blocked-off Tomorrowland entrance way back in 2012, but it didn’t really show the extent of the encroachment, I guess. And yes, the third photo shows parts of the same stuff that we saw the last time, including the service tunnel framing.

Unknown said...

You've got to get up pretty early to scoop you guys on photo IDs around here. 12:06 AM to be exact! The ever vigilant TM! nails the ID in one. Great photos today. Blah, blah my love of construction photos, blah, blah.

For additional trivia: the Monorail beam-way has been moved away from the Matterhorn where it used to do a "swerve" just before the station and is now closer to the backside of Tomorrowland. (I've been waiting to use that phrase.) Backside: heh.

Anonymous said...

I don't recall the skyway being a round-trip. Guests had access to Subs, Monorail, Autopia, and the Tom. Train station, so it makes sense that they'd have access to the Skyway station.

My guess on the small "windows" in photo one is the openings for two of the Circlevision projectors.

Anonymous said...

Patrick Devlin - The "swerve" was to avoid the Yacht bar. Removal of the Bar allowed the modification of the beam.

Unknown said...

Ah, thank you. I always wondered at the reasons behind that modification.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, yes, they had rear-lit scenes from America The Beautiful on the wall inside that tunnel. I don't know if that goes back to 1967, but I definitely remember it back in the early to mid 1970's. After you passed the rear-lit pics, the cars then passed by the window that gave you a peek into the waiting are for the theater. I miss the PeopleMover AND CircleVision! They really do ruin everything, don't they?

Anonymous, I guess part of that construction on the back of the building could be for the projection rooms. But if those openings were for the projectors, I think we would be able to see a couple more openings to the left of those two, wouldn't we? Who knows?

zach said...

The third photo prompts me to comment. I love the color, the mountain, the fluffy clouds, blue sky, monorail yellow (my favorite) until a blue or red one comes along.

Speaking of 'backside' I don't think I've ever been 'mooned' before by the Richfield Eagle.

Thanks, Major!

dz

Anonymous said...

Major, these are tops. I have little construction insight to add to what's already been said. I agree with the ID of the photo vantage, definitely the "back of the Matterhorn", just past the place called "three fences" by VDT.

I do recall reading in some photo comment a long time ago that the Yacht Bar was moved or eliminated due to the need to straighten the monorail track because the updated train had more cars and so could no longer negotiate the tight radius "squiggle" curves designed for the earliest monorail. I know one more car was added, but I don't know if the cars were lengthened too.

Also, the reason given for the "squiggle" to start with was the picturesque views of the train as seen from the rear cars as it negotiated the tight turns. I'm not sure if any of this is right, but it sounds plausible to me.

I also seem to remember one trip where the skyway was a round trip and we couldn't get off in Tomorrowland. I don't have any memories of Tomorrowland construction at all, but the skyway memory might have been from that time. Some of the work shown in the earlier photos might have required a brief closure of the station, or not.

The last picture with the blue buckets, yellow monorail and the blue eagle on the yellow ball is just a brilliant memory image. The vantage from that general direction is one of the best possible views of Disneyland, even today.

Heartfelt thanks today, Major.

JG

Nanook said...

@ Anonymous-

There were definitely rear-illuminated images from America the Beautiful along the Peoplemover route, as TM! pointed-out; and quite possibly, those framed-in openings housed those rear-lit panels. I'm afraid it's a thumbs-down as to those being two of the nine projector ports for the CIrclevision theatre itself. Those ports were actually quite small - maybe no more than about six inches square. Remember - their location was within the black "pseudo-masking" separating each of the nine images. But it does beg the question - just where is the circular projection booth - and I presume, just behind that framed-in wall.

Major Pepperidge said...

Patrick Devlin, might I recommend never going to sleep? Don’t let those other guys scoop you! Also, I wish the Monorail ran on a track that was about 200 feet up in the air. Crazy? Like a fox.

Anonymous, the man who took the photos (my friend “Mr. X”) told me the round trip Skyway factoid - it’s possible that it only lasted for a very brief time or was intermittent? Not sure.

Anonymous II, the Monorail Swerve was my favorite dance of the 1960’s.

Patrick Devlin, wonder no more.

TokyoMagic!, just think how sick the Disney people are in regards to questions about the Peoplemover and its possible (impossible) return. Not that I feel bad for them, they made a dumb decision to remove it for a flawed and poorly thought-out replacement.

David Zacher, yeah, that blue sky really makes everything else pop. Looks so great! Being mooned by a colossal fiberglass eagle was considered good luck in ancient China.

JG, I believe I have also read about how the longer Monorail necessitated a change to parts of the track. Makes sense, really. I thought the “three fences” area was near the old Motor Boat Cruise queue, but clearly I am mistaken. Matterhorn1959 has a photo of a special round trip Skyway ticket, though I believe it dated from before 1966/67.

Nanook, I could have sworn that one used to be able to find some sort of blueprint-type illustration showing the layout of the old Circlevision building, but I’ll be damned if I can find it now. Boo.

Chuck said...

Major, I had a hard time digging it up, but I did find a view of the layout of a Circle-Vision 360 theater.

Anonymous said...

@Major, the "three fences location is just behind the vantage point of the photo in this post, under the monorail beam. The three fences that come together are:

1: The public fence around the Autopia and the submarine lagoon (that continues southerly along the lagoon. (to the right in the VDT photo)
2: The public fence around the old motorboat lagoon (coming up from the left in the VDT photo).
3: The backstage fence between the Autopia / submarine lagoon and the old motorboat lagoon. This fence is the continuation of the line of the public fence no. 1 above, but inaccessible to the public as it is beyond the intersection with fence no. 2. (Far left in VDT photo).

If none of this makes any sense to other readers, the Blogger "Vintage Disneyland Tickets" named this spot where 3 completely different fence designs come together in a "T" configuration, and yet somehow look completely compatible. He featured it several times on his blog.

http://vintagedisneylandtickets.blogspot.com/2008/04/whats-gotten-into-matterhorn-at.html

http://bp3.blogger.com/_3jV5FcVqpE8/R_Wgw-NlHAI/AAAAAAAABCo/rL8nTJAo6jg/s1600-h/040308_13121.jpg

I see in the aerial photos now that the Edelweiss snack bar has been built nearby, along with a covered area that I don't recognize. Not sure if the three fences location still exists as described, but it was there in 2008 and 2013. One of the little oddities of Disneyland.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, thanks!

JG, I remembered the photos of the "three fences" (from Vintage Disneyland Tickets), but could not recall exactly where it was. Thank you for the links! Edelweiss snack bar, I don't even know where that is. But... I hardly ever stop for snacks. It's go go go, all the time. That's how I live! Ha. And I also wonder if those three different fences still survive. My guess is that they do, but who knows for how long.

Eric F. said...

The Edelweiss snack bar sits right at the entrance of what was the queue for the Motorboat Cruise. The covered queue are is still there and just an area for seating and relaxing now.
The 3 fences are still there. They sit at the corner where the Sub Lagoon and the old Fantasyland Autopia queue met. Just under the monorail beam across from the Matterhorn. And they look as original and glorious as ever!

The 1st photo is taken from the vantage point of where the queue for the Matterhorn now starts. Almost across from the Sub Lagoon Kodak Picture Spot.

Thanks for sharing these awesome pics!

Anonymous said...

@Eric F, thank you! I remembered the fences but forgot the exact spot.

JG

walterworld said...

'Three Fences' still existed as of Feb, 2016 when I was there last.

Thank You Major!