Flying Saucers, June 1962
Hooray! I always love photos of the old Flying Saucers attraction. In spite of the many issues that plagued this ride, the images are so appealing. I wish I could have experienced it!
There's a happy customer, I wonder if she has figured out how to maneuver yet? Apparently it took some getting used to. Imagine how fast you'd move if you used a gas-powered leaf blower for propulsion! I have ideas.
Oh man, the lady to the right is coming in for the kill. It looks like she's smiling, but she is actually gritting her teeth aggressively. She gets the same way when she's behind the wheel of her Studebaker; mild-mannered in life, a demon from Hell on the road.
While she hasn't spotted the two folks behind her, her heightened senses let her know that her prey is close. SO CLOSE. Her nostrils are flaring and she is salivating.
I love the orange layer on the saucers (does it remind anyone of the "galaxy gold" on the Space Needle?), it looks like a flavored Oreo. Persimmon, maybe.
The sun seems to have managed to peek through the haze, bathing this last scene in a pleasantly warm glow.
I hope you have enjoyed today's Flying Saucers pictures!
29 comments:
Major-
I'd steer clear of the lady with the dusty rose slacks... the pointed toes on her shoes are deadly-!
Thanks, Major.
With all that open space and the right maneuvering, those saucers could fly across that landscape. Instead, these folks are sort-of bunched up. It looks like they need more practice.
Fun pictures - thanks, Major!
First pic: I wonder what that design is on the back of the passenger seat? Half of it is missing; scraped away. Which raises a second question, how did it get scraped away? It looks to be in a fairly protected position.
Second image: E3/130? I suppose that's the Saucer's identification number, but what does it signify? Why is the Earth round? How many balls can a snake juggle? Do helium balloons have squeaky voices when they speak to each other?
The design on the demon lady's Saucer is even more scraped away.
Third one: Major, now that you mention it, the orange layer does indeed remind me of the Space Needle. I think having the Saucer against that blue surface is like the blue sky one normally sees behind the Space Needle. Also, the top of the Needle and this attraction are both called "saucers". Funny how the term "flying saucer" became so prominent in our culture. It's a piece of dinnerware, for Odin's sake.
Numero quatro: Dang. We finally get to see that design in its entirety AND IT"S TOO BLURRY! Ah well, some things just aren't meant to be known by us mere mortals.
Is that a mailman on the furthest saucer?
Thanks for the Saucer images, Major. Such a strange, but irresistible attraction.
Nanook, what'd you expect? She's a demon from Hell!
- Jampacked Bags (No, not Santa. THE GRINCH! After he stole Christmas from the Whos down in Who-ville. Or so he thought.)
I have some photographs (1973) that were taken backstage next the Staff Shop focusing on some - at the time- recently completed subjects .... and in the background are two old Flying Saucer ride vehicles. There were plans on returning the Flying Saucers to the 1968 version of Space Mountain complex.... that of course didn’t happen, but it’s interesting that Disney had kept some of the vehicles around - for whatever reason - into the 1970’s. When New Tomorrowland was being developed in the 90’s , Imagineers Bruce Gordon and David Mumford went on a search through many WED storage facilities in Glendale hoping to find one of the “Saucers” to display in the Tomorrowland Transportation Warehouse Restaurant...... but to no avail.
Even from 1962 the Flying Saucer vehicle is a nice clean design that still looks contemporary...... similar to how sleek looking the 1967 Rocket Jets were.
Somewhere ....another blog? the E Ticket magazine ? ....Rolly’s book?? .... Showed a close up of the Flying Saucer insignia graphic clearly ... I know.
That passenger “mailman” I think is the Flying Saucer attendant.
In that last shot, there are two guys riding saucers and wearing blue kepis (a style associated with Fidel Castro today but that was actually the style worn by the U.S. Army through much of the ‘50s and well into the ‘60s) and grey slacks in the same shade as that bored-looking ride operator. One is wearing a blue coast that may have a “Disneyland” patch on the left breast. Trainees? “Instructors” to show guests how to operate the saucers? Two employees having fun on a slow day? Whatever the “why” of their presence, the smiles (you can just tell from body language the guy facing away from us is smiling) signify they are having fun.
My initial reaction was that the “E” in the “registration number” meant “east,” but that makes no sense since the Flying Saucers were divided into a north section and a south section. And why would you limit yourself as to which half of the attraction you could put a particular saucer on? Since that “E3” alpha-numeric designation appears on both saucers whose numbers we can see, I wonder if it doesn’t mean anything at all and was only chosen because of the visually pleasing, neo-mirror (that’s a word, right?) symmetry of the “E” and the “3.”
Looking forward to the upcoming GDB episode, “Lil’ Sue on the Saucers.”
J. Bags and Chuck, I didn't realize that all of the vehicles had "E3" on them, until doing a search of previously posted GDB pics. Maybe the "E" stood for "Elias." Or for "E" ticket, since the attraction did require an "E" coupon.
As for the scraped up decals, that is a mystery. I noticed at least one previously posted "saucer" pic of the Major's, in which there weren't any decals or numbering on the backs of the vehicles.
I know when you attempt to peal a decal off of a ride vehicle, it must be done very slowly and with care, otherwise it can tear. Maybe that is what had happened to these decals. I am not talking from personal experience. Honest.
- Toky O Come All Ye Faithful!
Scraping decals...maybe there is a fudgie or a dent in our future...I am not surprised that ANY decal in ANY position gets scraped/damaged/dented. Guests pretty much destroy everything they get near to, so hats off to the third shift that gets everything ready for the next day. Looks like the decals were probably saved until the next rehab...or things got grim and the end of the saucers life did not dictate to bother or pay for such details. I don't think I ever saw a photo/reel/etc. of the Flying Saucers without people not just smiling, but ZANY with happiness and laughter. This ride must have been a hoot. Even a grump like me possibly would have mustered to crack a smile. There has got to be a surviving saucer somewhere...it will turn up, and then someone will end up having enough money to buy an island next to Richard Branson. The best part of this ride I've seen is when the "scooping arm" scoops all the saucers to one side to open the other for the next ride. This ride is an engineering marvel, an ADA nightmare, and OSHA disaster, and several giant lawsuits waiting to happen- those were and still are the best ones! I never saw this in person, but it was talked about frequently in my DL days as one of the most memorable Disneyland attractions ever.
Everyone remembers these so fondly, but I've never really seen the appeal. Now if you put jet thrusters and real laser canons on them, then we'd have something!
Sue they are bunched together because of inherent localized gravitational pull. Sort of like the two last Cheerios in the bowl of milk. I'm pretty sire I just made that up. Nobel prize for me!
You're a mean one, Mr. JB...
Regarding the design on the back, I found this, which is helpful but not definitive:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51AmK5y5UYL.__AC_SX342_QL70_ML2_.jpg
Looks like it's just a stray preview image. Maybe someone has a better version?
Maybe the decals just deteriorated from the elements, since the saucers were outside 24 hours a day for 5 years.
Design-wise the saucers look a lot like the structure that eventually replaced their area, Space Mountain. Just smooth the top off and add some spires. When it was new, Space Mountain was also rich in orange, from the wall tiles to the walkways to the ride operators' outfits.
Thanks Major, these photos have released my inner juvenile primate, which wants to shriek and bounce and bump into people.
Yup, this was a fun ride. I only rode it once, sitting with my Mom since I was too small to go alone. When we came back the next year, it was gone.
The vehicle was hard to steer or sometimes even to make it move, which is why those folks are all bunched up. It was sensitive to weight, and lighter people had an advantage, but if you were too light, then it didn’t work either.
Still a lot of fun. I still remember those stick-shift handgrips. They didn’t move, fixed in place, and were only a way to get leverage to throw your back into moving the car around.
Great pictures, Major. Thank you.
JG
This post has been brought to you by the letters F, U, and N.
Nanook, you just know that when she stamps her foot, an even pointier steel blade pops out. She’s a killer!
Lou and Sue, I think you’re right, it took most people a while to figure out how to move their saucers, they probably got good at it just as the ride was over!
JB, I once made a high-res version of that graphic, it is a stylized sun with planets. I do wonder if those decals just weathered away, or if guests somehow monkeyed with them. The “E” in “E3” stands for “Earth”, or at least that has always been my assumption. I’d share the graphic that I made, except that I will be away from home until late tonight. As for the term “flying saucer”, I used to read a lot about UFOs, and remember how often, back in the early early days, people described them as “cigar shaped”. I guess those were the early models. It’s only natural that folks would compare a strange object to something more familiar. Glad you liked these!
Mike Cozart, wow, the thought of two Flying Saucer vehicles still existing in 1973 is tantalizing! I can’t help wondering if at least one still exists in somebody’s collection, though those things were big and bulky. Who has room! I would not be surprised if those last two finally went to the shredder, the powers that be figured nobody would care. Little did they know. I have all of my E-Ticket magazines at my mom’s, if I can I want to see if there is a clearer look at that graphic.
Chuck, I noticed the two guys with the kepis… I always think of that particular style as looking like General de Gaulle’s headwear. But you know me, I’m always asking myself, “What would Charles de Gaulle do?”. And the answer is always, “Eat more candy!”. I can’t tell if that is an insignia on that man’s blue coat, or if it’s just his ticket book sticking out of his breast pocket. Or a nice hanky! I really do think that the “E” stands for “Earth”, at one time I was looking at as many of the best images of that graphic as possible, though none were super clear, so I had to make some inferences. Sue, are there photos of you on the Saucers??
TokyoMagic!, I am wondering if those decals are multicolored “water slide” decals. If so, those things are very expensive to make (or to have made for you), I looked into it for a project I was thinking about. Also, they are somewhat fragile, unless they are coated with a clear lacquer. It seems a little surprising that they wouldn’t occasionally replace the decals, since they look a bit ratty, all worn like that. And I’m sure that in the 1960s the price wasn’t too bad. I hope your mom didn’t see you trying to peel a decal off of a Disney vehicle, or she would have taken you RIGHT HOME!
Bu, you are right, guests have a way of destroying things, whether they mean to or not. I know from looking at many photos that the worn decals were pretty much the usual thing, it’s hard to find a photo with one that is completely intact. I’m sure that when it was clear that the Flying Saucers’ days were numbered, that any maintenance was cancelled. I do think that the ride was super ingenious, and beautiful to look at, but it just had too many technical issues. I hoped that they would figure them out for “Luigi’s Flying Tires”, but that ride was big, lumbering, and slow.
Stu29573, I agree, thrusters and some sort of weaponry. If not laser cannons, why not REAL cannons? It would be fun to see Newton’s third law in action! You sure know a lot about gravity. And Cheerios!
Anonymous, as I said to JB, I made my own high-res version of the graphic, but it’s not handy at the moment. I might share it in a future Saucers post!
Stefano, are you telling me that they didn’t cover each saucer with a hand-knit cozy each night?? Hand-knit by Lillian Disney, too! She just wanted to help. Interesting about the Space Mountain similarities, you are right about that. I wonder if there was any connection, as far as designers were concerned?
JG, my brother swears that he and I rode the Flying Saucers, but I was very young when they were removed. He also says that we saw the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walk-thru. Oh, if only I remembered those! I’ve heard that the saucers were tricky to control, and if anybody happened to be a bit heavier than average, they got to enjoy a minute or two of leaning this way and that way, without moving!
Melissa, it’s like that SNL sketch about Friendship, Unity, Kindness, and Caring!
Melissa, I can't type or spell, it should have been Friendship, Unity, Caring, and Kindness of course... d'oh.
Yep, Major, you have them. One of my favorite Disneyland family pictures—that I’ve unearthed to date—is one of them. :o)
HERE's an image of one of the decals, and HERE's another one, with a different number. There's an image in the Spring 2003 issue of The "E" Ticket that also shows one of the decals but no explanation as to the meaning of the alphanumeric design.
Thanks, as always to Daveland.
When I see pictures of the Saucers, I keep looking to see if I am riding one of them. This was one of the most memorable rides of my childhood. Some got the hang of it...like me...but others were frustrated in the...what seemed to be ...a 45 second experience. It went by way too fast. On every visit, the ride seemed to break down...come back in two hours they would say. And so I would with E ticket in hand. It was so cool to scoot all the way across. And it was,not surprisingly, a fairly loud ride both beneath you and with the compressors running behind the curtains. I never witnessed an evacuation of the ride in mid operation...I suppose they could still sweep the arm across and collect the saucers. One had to be careful stepping from saucer to saucer. Of course stepping on one of the air cylinders would depress the opening. But this is all pre OSHA and we survived just fine thank you. They ruin everything. And we I beleive...or the next generation or two that comes...are to blame for some of it! Progress? BAH...HUMBUG. LOL KS
Major-
The "Friendship, Unity, Caring, and Kindness" sketch reminds me of my days in high school, long before SNL, where four 'geniuses' decided to have custom sweatshirts made, each bearing only one of the four [potentially] 'naughty letters'. They carefully roamed-around the grounds without ever meeting-up, merely generating interest.
The better moment was when the Girls' VP corralled all four "gentlemen" - and just to be certain - lined them up 'in the correct order'... Well, just in case.
Jingleheimer Junction!
Lou and Sue, almost as soon as I left my comment I remembered the photo of you and and your mom’s friend on that saucer! But by then it was too late. And now it will go on my permanent record.
Nanook, I probably used those photos as part of my attempt to recreate the graphic!
KS, wow, 45 seconds is REALLY quick! I mean, two minutes isn’t much time either, but at least I would feel like I had a chance to get the hang of things. And then I could get right back in line. It never seems like the line was that long. I never thought about the noise of the ride, which is an interesting thing to think about. I have no idea what they did about evacuations for the Luigi’s Flying Tires version, and how they dealt with walking on that platform with all of the spring-loaded openings.
Nanook, I like the idea of those “geniuses” walking around school just causing trouble! There was a girl’s Vice Principal? And hey, SHE’S the one who lined them up, she should be the one who gets detention.
Major, that would make sense that "E3" stands for Earth since it's the third planet from the Sun and it starts with an "E." The neo-mirrorism is just fortuositous serendipity.
Mangez plus de bonbons!
Nanook, I don't understand the Girls' VP's issue. If you line them up in the correct order, it spells "CFKU." How is that offensive?
You did mean "alphabetical order," right?
Major, before I read your info on the decal design, I looked at some Saucer images of yours that I had saved. Yes, it certainly appears to be a stylized Solar System with the Sun prominently featured. Followed by the orbits of Mercury, Venus, and finally Earth. So, my guess is that you're right about the "E" being Earth. Also, Earth is the 3rd planet. Hence- "E3". Chuck is probably right about the 'neo-mirrorism' thing as well; it just looks neat and tidy. And then, the bottom number is the actual Saucer I.D.
Although, Ride Operators could probably I.D. the Saucers simply by the scuffed up pattern on the decal. Much like people identifying whales by the patterns on their tail flukes.
According to the image posted by "Anonymous", it looks like Bob Gurr designed the Saucers?
(Chuck expressed the same thoughts just before I posted this)
Chuck, “neo-mirrorism”, wowee. I need to work that into my conversations when I’m at cocktail parties. (If only I went to cocktail parties).
JB, I may email the graphic to you rather than share it on the blog. If that’s OK! I had a buddy create a neat graphic on a website that is now gone, but he later found that somebody had taken it and made it into t-shirts that they were selling. And of course he could do nothing about it. There was a Haunted Mansion-related piece of art that I thought about sharing, and he told me that I should only share it if I didn’t care what happened to it once it was out there! I think I’ve heard that Bob Gurr designed the Saucers, though he may have had some help.
Major, sure, that's OK. I understand why you don't want the graphic to show up on T-shirts, baseball caps, and dog sweaters.
Though I suspect a few Jr. Gorillas might want to see it as well. Maybe you could paste your watermark all over it, without covering too much of the graphic, and post it here? I don't know, handle it however you think best. :-)
The imagineers must have really liked the gray/blue/orange color pallet. For Space Mountain, they used the same blue for the floors, much of the interior with the light gray, and of course the bright orange for the cast member costumes.
Blue and orange are complementary on the color wheel. And it worked for Howard Johnson’s.
Bu, I’d love to hear more of what you recall folks said about this ride.
KS, I agree, this ride was one of my favorites. I have never experienced that floating-zooming feeling on any other ride, since. As I recall, when we’d skim across the entire width of this ride—we picked up speed and were moving fast. Being able to lean and zoom was so cool. One of the pictures (that Major will eventually post) shows my mom and I together leaning and facing sideways—headed into one of those really long cool fast zooms. I just stumbled on that slide/picture, about 6 months ago and didn’t even know my dad had taken it. It confirmed my memories of how good my mom controlled that flying saucer. Wouldn’t it be great if you were in that picture, too, zooming past?!
Lou and Sue...
I so agree. Yes...you did pick up speed. Like you say...the experience has never been repeated. But we were youngin's and such impression can get embellished with time. Still, it was always the highlight of a day's visit! KS
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