Skull Rock and Pirate Ship, July 1969
Somehow, with all of the many photos that I have seen featuring Skull Rock, I never get tired of it. It's just so cool! Wouldn't it be amazing to have a pool in your backyard with your very own skull rock with gushing waterfalls? It looks like our photographer was standing on the poop deck (heh heh) of the Pirate Ship, which is actually a rather unusual angle. We love you, Skully.
The Peoplemover makes a special guest appearance just for me. Well, OK, you too.
Oh that Pirate Ship, it was the subject of many photos, but this one is extra nice. There's my favorite mermaid, pointing her wand in the direction of a big school of tuna. Which is mighty neighborly of her. The sails are unfurled, and that's always the best look in my highly controversial and outrageous opinion.
18 comments:
Major-
Who could ever tire of Skull Rock-? And today's image is another beauty. Definitely extra points for both the Peoplemover and the Monorail beamway in the background.
I prefer to think of the mermaid's pose as a special one, as she welcomes me aboard the 'tuna clipper'.
Thanks, Major.
I have seen other attempts at creating a Skull Rock - including at other Disney locations. This one is by far the best. Whoever gave the OK to demolish it in 1982 should be horsewhipped, healed, and horsewhipped again.
I wonder if that is an employee behind the mermaid (on the potty deck?) I don't remember ever seeing anyone out there before, even though we have seen that door open in early photos of the ship. It seems like in the later years, that door was always closed.
Graffer, you are my hero!
I know we have seen plenty of time travelers on GDB, holding onto their cell phones from the future. In that first pic, on the far left, there appears to be a woman about to walk underneath Skull Rock, who is wearing her face mask from the future.
Graffer, the guy who cancelled Star Trek, the one who green lighted New Coke, and the yutz who got rid of the pirate ship and Skull Rock. Morons all. Major, you have nailed it again, thanks.
I think the guy that killed Skull Rock's name rhymes with Boney Taxter.
It does seem that a Skull rock pool would be a no-brainer. I wonder if it's been done? Personally, I want a Skull Rock bathroom!
Nanook, what other bones would have made a good rock? I’m thinking the pelvis. I might have picked a molar, but that’s part of the skull, so I am disqualifying it.
Graffer, I agree with you; the Skull Rock at Disneyland Paris is nice, but it lacks the number of waterfalls and beautiful tropical greenery. And there was (still is? not sure) a Skull Rock at the Disneyland Hotel’s Neverland Pool, it’s kind of crude. Somehow it’s not surprising that those old Imagineers nailed it!
TokyoMagic!, I was thinking the same thing, I would bet dollars to donuts that the man in the striped shirt is an employee. It’s hard to see, is he sweeping the deck? He should be swabbing it, the salty dog!
TokyoMagic!, boy, what IS going on with that woman’s face?
Jonathan, what about the guy at Decca who famously rejected The Beatles? I don’t remember if I ever tried New Coke, I’d love to be able to taste it side by side with Classic Coke. Also, I miss Coke Black, which had coffee in it. I’m not even a big coffee fan, but I liked that drink!
Stu29573, ha ha, “Boney Taxter”. If I ever need a username for a website, I’m gonna use that name! A Skull Rock bathroom is inspired. Reminds me of the bathroom at the Madonna Inn, in which men get to pee into a waterfall. While I was using that facility, three women walked into the men’s room to see this bathroom they’d heard so much about. “Um…” I said wittily.
I love the contrast between the vertical red stripes on the sales and the horizontal blue stripes on the cast members shirt. And I am so there for the Skull Rock bathroom! I should have put a Skull Rock in the cats’ Fancy Pooping Grotto. http://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-pair-from-july-1971.html?m=1
I love that Monstro also appears in the first picture - swallowing a boatload of guests. That picture really is packed with activity and fun!
I would bet dollars to donuts that the man in the striped shirt is an employee. It’s hard to see, is he sweeping the deck?
Major, he's wiping the 'poop deck' off his shoes, I think.
Great pictures and commentary today! Thanks, Major and everyone!
That's a great view in pic 1! I was gonna mention the Monorail beam and Monstro but you early birds beat me to it.
The last time I peed in a waterfall the Ranger asked me to leave and suggested I not come back.
Thanks, Major!
zach
Oh boy, Skull Rock! I never get tired of the Pirate Ship, Monstro, and Skull Rock. Any photo, any angle, and these are very fine indeed.
Also; What Graffer Said x 1000. There are insufficient imprecations in all the world's languages to heap on the imbecile that destroyed this place.
If I had all the money, I would reconstruct all of this in my backyard and have you all over for tuna sandwiches and soda. My office would be in the back of the galleon with all the tilt-in windows, we could swim in the lagoon, walk on the little forbidden treasure beach, and climb out on the fo'csle deck where Able Seaman Stripey is swabbing away.
Some details: The Lighthouse ticket booth and explanatory sign; another booth far in the distance, maybe the entrance for Junior Autopia? A pink and black trash can! A lone belaying pin left in the rack (I believe these were fixed in place as I couldn't pull one out, maybe King Arthur can do that?). The guardrails wrapped in varnished white cord; the lack of the curved lid treasure chests on the fo'csle roof (these seem to come and go over time). The "headway fountain pumps" are off, so the ship appears hove to. Both upper and lower deck guns are run out, 32 pounders below, 16 pounders above. "Mr. Smee, My compliments to the gunnery officer, I would be obliged to have the guns run out, steer to starboard and fire as your guns bear!"
Major, the Madonna Inn Mens' Room is legendary. We took our daughter through there a couple years ago, but I ran interference to be sure it was not occupied. The whole hotel is awesome and the cafe' food is great too. We usually stay at the corporate hotel down the street, but one of these days, I'm going to stay there instead Readers outside California should check out the images:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=810&ei=hsAZX5SEA-6s0PEPo66Y8AQ&q=madonna+inn+bathroom&oq=madonna+inn+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgDMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoFCAAQsQM6CAgAELEDEIMBUKsIWLUeYIg-aABwAHgAgAFKiAG3BpIBAjEymAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img
@Tokyo, I have never seen that door open, I always assumed it was just a prop, I don't recall ever seeing anyone out on that deck.
@Zach, Laugh Out Loud. Yes. Reminds me of my trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
@Lou and Sue, good thing that the ride isn't any more realistic, imagine what they would be like coming out...
Wonderful post today, Major, thank you!
JG
If you love Skull Rock, Major, you've got to go to Disneyland Paris and see it as part of Adventure Isle!
Mark
There's that delightful waterfall again. I can feel the mist on me on this hot day. Yep, it should have and could have been fitted into the current Fantasyland. Shame on them! KS
Melissa, Disney has heard you, and they will now be painting everything with more stripes! Maybe even a few polka dots. Soon bidets will be out, and fancy pooping grottoes will be IN.
Lou and Sue, Monstro was cursed with a hunger that will never be sated. Luckily he found a job where he gets fed plenty. With the park closure, he’s probably lost some weight. Maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought the poop deck was the one up high? Not really sure why it is called that.
zach, it’s pretty hard to beat some of these early birds - sometimes they comment mere minutes after the post goes “live”! And I have to agree with that ranger, Niagara Falls is not a bathroom.
JG, I hate to heap too much scorn on Boney Taxter’s head, as we know, all of these projects have many sources of input. I do have to wonder if they figured nobody would miss the Pirate Ship and Skull Rock because they didn’t “do anything”? The lighthouse ticket booth is always fun, remember the days before they added the porthole? Some poor employee would have to sit in there, with not much light. I never noticed the little addition tacked on to the back of it. You are noticing so many things that I don’t even know what some of them are. “Headway fountain pumps”? I’ve only eaten at the Madonna Inn once, for lunch, but it was nice. I attended a scholarship ceremony there a few years ago (not for me!), and we’ve ordered cakes from the bakery, which are excellent. I have friends who have stayed there and had their room upgraded at no extra cost, which was nice. I think they stayed in the “Caveman Room”.
Mark, I WISH!!
KS, I wish they’d just relocated the Pirate Ship and Skull Rock, though I really don’t know where they would have found the room. Maybe instead of Toontown, we could have had an extension of Fantasyland. Except for Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin, I find Toontown to be a bit of a dud.
Major, your Madonna Inn story reminds me of an uncomfortable experience I had at Six Flags St. Louis last Hallowe'en.
In the men's rooms, they display anti-drug posters done by local schoolkids over the urinals. Also, there are no dividers between the urinals, just a line of four or so next to each other on the wall.
So, I was standing at the urinal doing what you do while standing at the urinal when a teenaged guy and a teenaged girl walked in. They walked over to the urinal next to mine and the guy pointed to the poster, commenting about how so-and-so from their school had made it. Then the girl whipped out her cell phone and started taking pictures!
I was too flummoxed and flabbergasted to say anything. I mean, this is something that just doesn't happen, so I wasn't prepared to react. I was also too full of processed lemonade to safely step away. I just sort of turned away 45 degrees as my face turned beet red.
I use the stalls now.
I initially thought the first pic was taken from a low-flying Skyway bucket, which would have been quite a feat!
These pics show what a fun section of Fantasyland this used to be. I remember sitting on the rock benches and wandering behind the waterfalls of Skull Rock. I agree that they really should have left it as it was and put Dumbo somewhere else.
Chuck, I guess most people have had odd bathroom encounters at some point over the years! I can think of a few others. Luckily they were mostly fodder for an amusing story years later! But taking photos in a public restroom is a big “no-no” in my book! I’m always conflicted - if a lady comes into a men’s room, they’re just gonna see stuff. I can’t help wondering how that girl would have felt if you had walked into the ladies room and started taking pictures!
Omnispace, at that point the Skyway is relatively low, but not that low! I agree, moving Dumbo elsewhere seems like the easiest solution, but I guess they wanted it to be more centrally located, instead of having it moved to a more out-of-the-way place.
Major, as far as the responsibility for the loss of Skull Rock, "Success has many Fathers, Failure is an Orphan."
The "Headway Fountain Pump" is a term I invented for the little fountains in the lagoon that squirted water on either side of the ship's bow to make it appear to be moving forward, or "making headway" as the nautical term runs.
You can see them in operation here >>
https://www.davelandweb.com/chickenofthesea/images/60s/KTPBK_12_6_62_N28B.jpg
https://www.davelandweb.com/chickenofthesea/images/60s/5_31_63_BW_1.jpg
https://www.davelandweb.com/chickenofthesea/images/60s/KTPBKYC_1_65_N15B.jpg
I think these were added in the 1961 update that added Skull Rock and the Grotto. Like Monstro's eye, they were not always operating.
JG
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