Friday, March 08, 2019

Two Nice Ones From November, 1975

The 1970's were pretty good years at Disneyland; many of the old classic attractions (Nature's Wonderland, Carousel of Progress) were still going strong (at least in the early part of the decade), and some wonderful new attractions were added. The Country Bear Jamboree, Space Mountain, America Sings, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mission to Mars. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 

This is a nice photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle, but as far as I'm concerned, the highlight of the image is those red polyester pants. Why put up with horrible cotton when you could wear high-tech artificial fibers? The tree near the center of the picture seems to be in kind of a bad location, unless they always kept it scrupulously manicured. 


You could still enjoy a ride on the Peoplemover - what more could anybody want? Plus there were the Rocket Jets. The elevator/gantry to the third level was a secret ride. You can see the Carousel Theater, now painted red, white, and blue for Sam the eagle, Ollie the owl, and all of the other AA performers in "America Sings".


15 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

Pooh is trying to photo bomb that first pic, but he's not being very successful.

With that second pic, we are getting a little bit closer to those animated Goodyear advertising pods!

Budblade said...

Ahh... back to full California color. Even if it is during the awful fashions of the 70’s

What’s up with mr 48 in that second pic? It appears he is not happy with something “red”.

Chuck said...

Note that there's a dude in a plaid sportcoat to the far right in the first photo. It's funny how sportcoats were the norm for male guests in the first years, while by '75 he really stands out as an oddity.

I have photos from the '90s with that tree still in place, and it's pretty close to the same size you see here. Either they pruned it or maybe the swans came out at night and feasted on its branches...and sometimes each other.

JC Shannon said...

Those red pants are a lot like the ones I had, I bet they are bells and I would also wager he is wearing white shoes to match his belt. Very hip. The second photo is a great shot of Tomorrowland, and the turquoise Peoplemover. Number 48 is obviously a mouth-breather for Jack Dragna, and is taking a much needed day off from loan sharking. Maybe someone paid him in E Coupons. Faugetaboutit. Happy Friday to all and thanks to Major.

K. Martinez said...

The circular Rocket Jets sign with the red arrow going skyward is one of my favorite Disneyland attraction signs. Thanks, Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, I sure didn’t notice Pooh (or his arm, anyway)! He was always trying to steal Mickey’s thunder, and for a while he was successful at it.

Budblade, awful fashions? The 70’s was the height of elegance! Maybe Red told #48 that she’d had a nightmare in which all of the rides they liked in Tomorrowland had been removed, or replaced by things with names like “Nemo” and “Buzz Lightyear”.

Chuck, I really wonder if loud plaids like that will ever make an un-ironic comeback? I saw a photo of a guy at one of the “Dapper Days” wearing a blue plaid suit that I actually thought looked pretty cool. I’m amazed that they would plant a tree in front of the castle like that, but the fact that it survived into the 90’s is surprising.

Jonathan, oh yeah, DEFINITELY white shoes! I had a pair or two of white dress shoes when I was a kid (to go with my red, white, and blue plaid sport coat), those things got scuffed as heck. I remember trying to fix them with white Kiwi shoe stuff (with a sponge applicator). I had to look up Jack Dragna, I think I only knew the name from James Ellroy books and wasn’t sure he was a real person.

K. Martinez, I agree, that is a brilliant logo. I have a patch from that ride that is just that logo, and it’s one of my favorites.

zach said...

You can't see them, but Mr Red is wearing white shoes, too.

zach said...

I should read the comments before I comment. Or get here earlier.

Happy Friday everyone,

dz

JC Shannon said...

Major, I never had a pair of white shoes, but I did have a pair of Gatsby platforms to die for. Groovy.

Nanook said...

Major-

Tune-in to the re-runs of The Match Game from the 70's, if you want to see 'cringe-worthy' plaids. Some of the combinations are beyond frightening - which undoubtedly means ...they'll be back...

Anonymous said...

The descendants of those coats haunt the internet, you can buy these today >>

https://patrickjames.com/SKU/13345/Reserve-Lavender-Windowpane-Sport-Coat.aspx?ParentPageID=62&CategoryID=43

https://patrickjames.com/SKU/13300/Robert-Graham-Kalman-Palm-Sport-Coat.aspx?ParentPageID=62&CategoryID=43

I confess to having had white shoes, and plaid pants, and to wearing them in public, together, but only with solid color sport coats. No one was immune to the plaid zeitgeist.

The Rocket Jets shot is a topper. Major, you're right as usual, the gantry elevator was a ride unto itself and the view from the deck was a prize even if you never rode a jet. As a dork kid I never appreciated the pure simplicity of that logo, but now the genius is apparent.

And any picture of the SBC is a good picture. Now that it is covered again with scaffolding, I am in fear of what may be wrought behind that construction wall. It's like I can never trust WED again. I'm hoping the "blingles" will be removed, but concerned something even worse may take their place.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

David Zacher, great minds think alike! Happy Friday to you too.

Jonathan, I don’t even know what Gatsby platforms are, and I was alive during that era. Maybe I was too young?

Nanook, oh yeah, I remember some of those awful “Match Game” fashions. It really is amazing how ugly it all is to us now, and back then, it was considered to be wonderful. How?

JG, those coats are very appropriate if you are going to Fantasy Island. I hope Charo is there! I think I liked my plaid coat at the time, but then again, I was 7, so what the heck did I know. No kid notices things like cool logos, do they? They’re more worried about what’s for lunch. My guess is that we won’t see much difference with the castle upgrades, but I’ll be curious to see when they finally remove the scaffolding and scrims.

Dean Finder said...

Maybe Mr. 48 is sad that he lost the Joe Montana look alike contest.

I've heard that the work on SBC is structural, not aesthetic. Much of is is still the hastily built structure from opening day, and time has caught up with it. There's a pretty good chance that it will come out looking no different, since it will be a "preserving Walt's park" project rather than "plussing" it.

K. Martinez said...

The work being done on the SBC is more than structural. They are changing the aesthetics a little by adding "pixie dust" to the structure as part of Dineyland's Star Dust Project. The roof structures were damaged by the 60th Anniversary diamond themed overlay promotional.

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/disney-releases-new-details-for-changes-coming-to-sleeping-beauty-castle/

TokyoMagic! said...

To be perfectly honest, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if they were converting Sleeping Beauty Castle to Disney Vacation Club condos or to an exclusive "Dream Suite" that nobody can ever stay in.