Flyin' Sorcerers! April, 1964
GDB friend Sue B. sent me some wonderful scans of the old Flying Saucer attraction, from photos taken by her dad, Lou Perry, back in 1964. There were six scans, so I decided to share three today, and the other three will appear at some future date. Deal?
This ride almost always looks great in pictures, with that vast blue surface for the saucers to glide across. One of the holes in the platform is stuck open, I wonder if that affected the performance of the ride? Anyone managing to drop a quarter down the hole would win a lunch with Walt himself.
It's controlled chaos out there! From what I've heard, some people struggled to move at all, while others eventually got the knack after a bit of leaning and unnecessary grunting. I've always liked that wall sort of blocked the administration building beyond it. The theory must have been to make the wall so dazzling that it sent guests into a kind of fugue state. It also made them spend money. Win/win!
This photo is interesting because all of the saucers are corralled by that movable "boom" that swept across the surface, gathering all of the vehicles so that loading and unloading was more efficient. I'm guessing that they are in the last stages of loading, and soon the boom would swing to the other side, releasing all of the spacecraft.
THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!
20 comments:
Major-
Fun Fact... that open "hole in the platform" actually goes all the way down to China. Hover with caution-!
Thanks to Lou and Sue.
My mom and I are in the first two photos, but Major saved my favorite mom-and-me photo for part 2, I see. Just look for the little kid in the blue pleather jacket with the white and red hat—with the crazy-fun mom with wind-swept hair and funky sunglasses. That’s us—literally flying around. Mom was a pro at this ride—sailing across open areas. I can still feel the excitement of riding this with her. I was thrilled to find theses slides, recently, as I hadn’t known that my dad took these pictures.
Nanook's comment got me thinking (no small feat!). Assuming he is correct about those empty holes going all the way to China (Nanook is always correct!), I bet this attraction was built upon the smoking (and glowing) remains of a nuclear reactor that underwent a meltdown. The radioactive fuel created a large pit as it melted its way clear through to the other side of the Earth. And Disney covered up the gaping hole with this beautiful blue surface.
As you can imagine, a whole lotta wind comes up through that Earth-piercing hole, which is what lifts the Saucers. PROVE ME WRONG!
Also, that same wind is what now keeps the Space Mountain dome from collapsing. And as an added bonus, the popcorn wagons in this area don't need any electrical power. The corn kernels just pop on their own from the residual radioactivity!
Sue, I see you! And your mom! And the red & white hat! And the funky sunglasses! How cool is that! (dang, I just ran out of exclamation points in my typesetting tray. Gotta melt some more lead.)
Thank you Lou and Sue and Major for another look at the Saucers.
- Jazzy Babe (the first of several droll expressions found on those chalky, candy "conversation hearts" that, as far as I know, I made up)
I was just reading in the Arrow Development book that when doing maintenance underneath the ride, workers were sometimes thrown to the other side of the room. That was new to me!
How cool that you have these pictures, Sue. I bet very few people have pictures of themselves on the Flying Sorcerers.
Sue, I see you & your mom! Thanks for sharing, and be sure to tell your dad that he’s done it again. One of the things I love about his photos (aside from their pleasing composition, sharp focus, and proper exposure) is how he took multiple images to tell a story and capture a history of how things worked. He wasn’t just a snapshooter. Can’t wait to see the next batch!
Andrew, I’d never heard that story before. What a weird ritual.
I agree with Andrew. the FLYING SAUCERS is kinda like Disneyland’s “WOODSTOCK” ( the 1969 music festival - not the bird) more people say or remember riding them than actually did! But Sue is extremely lucky to have beautiful photo-documentation of this short lived attraction.
Several years ago at a party - major I think you were there too - Bob Gurr related some operational stories of some things I believe he said he left out of his book and one was incidents involving guests having a disabled saucer and getting off the vehicle and stepping onto one of the blue circular push plates - and the plate giving way as it was designed to do - and having the guest’s leg plunge into the whole scraping their skin the length of the leg as it slid down against the opening’s metal edge. As the blast motors failed ... the disabled saucers became a more frequent occurrence .... and impatient guests - not waiting for the boom to collect them we’re stepping out and having this leg injury. The attraction at the time was a operational, maintenance and safety nightmare for Disneyland.
Nanook, I’d heard of the hole that goes all the way to China, but I never knew it was at Disneland!
Lou and Sue, as you said, the best photos of you and your mom aboard a saucer just happen to be in scans 4 thru 6. Don’t worry, everybody will see them! So great that you have photos of you with your mother on the Flying Saucers!
Jazzy Babe, if it’s true that the Flying Saucers was built on the remains of a nuclear (pronounced “new-kew-lar”!) reactor I guess it should be no surprise that it was eventually closed. Too many guests found themselves growing to 200 feet tall, with an urge to go rampaging through downtown Tokyo. You’ll see Sue and her mom much more clearly in the next “Lou and Sue” Flying Saucers post (I think I have some non-L&S saucers in the meantime)!
Andrew, I have that book but it’s been a while since I’ve looked at it. Glad you found a copy, I believe it’s pretty hard to come by! Imagine working on an attraction that was as unpredictable as the Saucers were… I still remember a description of forces building up until there was a big “BOOM” of air pressure.
Chuck, you are right, Lou knew how to tell a story; Sue recently sent a scan of Lou’s incredibly detailed breakdown of all of the expenses from a trip to Disneyland, and the biggest expense BY FAR was for film and film developing. He probably could have purchased a used car for less!
Mike Cozart, my older brother swears that he and I rode the Flying Saucers, but I have no memory of that at all. He also says we did the 20,000 Leagues walk-thru - again, no memory of it. I was probably at that party that you mentioned, though I only had brief encounters with Bob Gurr at those things, so I didn’t hear those particular stories. The thought of stepping through one of those holes and having a leg scraped raw makes gives me goosebumps. OUCH. I can’t help wondering if they could have put some sort of mesh (sort of like chicken wire, only not so crummy) over the whole surface of the saucers area so that air could still pass through the larger holes, but making it less likely that somebody would hurt themselves? Maybe a mesh of any sort would reduce the efficiency of the "lifting power".
Can't wait for pics 4 thru 6.
Sue, your Mom must have been astronaut material. Those things were hard to handle (for me). I left the right stuff back in the hotel room. I had a heck of time getting anywhere on those things. Loved the idea and the allure of those little saucers, but the ride lasted over 5 years which might have been too long.
Good story Mike, with nice graphic detail. I could feel that leg long scrape.
Thanks Sue. How's Dad doing?
Thanks Major, hope everyone is doing well.
Now I'm picturing a guest with their leg stuck in one of those holes, and a vehicle coming along and bumping into them. Fun stuff.
Thanks Lou, Sue, and the Major, too. Looking forward to more of Lou's Saucer pics!
Sue, your mom does look like she knows what she's doing! These are fun pics of the ride! (Something no one will ever say about Luigi's Flailing Tires).
I never got to ride this, but I was abducted by aliens, does that count?
Sue, thanks for sharing these pics, I agree with Andrew, amazing treasures.
I remember one trip on these with my mom, but it was sort of a bust.
It sounds like we are both lucky to have survived without injury.
Major, how does one distinguish between necessary and unnecessary grunting?
JG
I read Roller Coasters, Flumes, and Flying Saucers on Kindle Unlimited, bit you can also buy the ebook for $4.
Oh man, I'm now picturing some poor soul scraping their entire shin, dislocating their knee cap and then getting rammed into by a flying saucer. Makes for a fun day at Disneyland.
DrGoat, my dad is doing very well, and looking forward to celebrating his upcoming 93rd birthday. I hope you and your wife are doing well, too!
Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!
DrGoat, I’m sure I would have been lousy at maneuvering a saucer, but it looks like it would have been fun! I wonder how long they gave guests to figure it out? 90 seconds? It sounds like the weight of the guest made a difference too. If you were too light or too heavy, the saucers wouldn’t cooperate. And that leg scrape: I know! Owie. We’re all well here, Peter, hope you are well too.
TokyoMagic!, I can’t help thinking of when I went hiking years ago. We were walking across a creek that had a fallen tree (conveniently) to walk on. I stepped on what I thought was solid wood, but it turned out to just be floating bark, and that leg went right through while the rest of me stood on the log. I had a soaking wet foot and leg for the rest of the day.
Stu29573, based on the other photos that you guys haven’t seen yet, Sue’s mom was really zipping around on that blue surface! Must have been fun for Sue. I think that telling the difference between “necessary” and “unnecessary” grunting is like identifying great art. I know it when I see it (or hear it, as the case may be)!
Andrew, I am pleased and amazed that Roller Coasters, Flumes, and Flying Saucers is available as an ebook!
Lou and Sue, if they gave all of the guests snow shoes to wear, then nobody would have plunged through one of the holes. I have ideas! So glad that Lou is doing well, what an amazing guy. Can’t wait to celebrate his birthday on GDB.
Mom SO cool. She the boss of that saucer, like no one.
Something interesting I just noticed in the first pic, on the far right edge, is a saucer with two people (mom and son? two brothers?) in blue. Their bodies aren’t ‘in sync’ - they aren’t looking in the same direction - so they probably aren’t going anywhere. In the 2nd pic, they look like they may(?) be getting the hang of it.
Back to the first pic, looking at ‘my’ saucer, you can see that I can feel what way my mom is leaning - so I’m looking in that direction - anticipating the ‘quick zoom’ across the surface that we’re about to experience - in that direction. When the Major posts part 2, you’ll see the front of my mom and me going into a ‘zoom,’ which I was glad my dad captured - making it one of my favorites.
Anonymous, you are so right! :o)
Mike, " the FLYING SAUCERS is kinda like Disneyland’s WOODSTOCK" Hmm, now I'm gonna look at these photos again and see if I can Spot Joan Baez or Jimi Hendrix!
Major, if not 200 feet, then certainly 50 feet. And the urge to go walking through a southwest desert in slow motion (and slightly see-throughish) calling for "Haaarryyy!"
Sue, great news about your dad!
I think this is also the first time I’ve noticed how rusty sections of the blue flight arena is. It may be mostly worn blue paint with exposed primered steel. But there definitely is some rust visible....
I’m sure guests back then had no idea that they were suspended high above spinning “blades of death” fans ... I bet guests would have been more hesitant to ride had they known - much like the suspended omnimover track through Madame Leotta’s Sceance Circle .... with a gaping drop between their DoomBuggy and the Crystal Ball table platform !
Faint memory of riding exactly once. What I recall was getting bumped and the saucer bouncing, like a stone skipping across water.
Another memory was the old AAA guidebooks, with ads for all the funky themed motels with Free Courtesy Shuttle to Disneyland. There were still a fair number in the 80s when I made a trip down via Amtrak. The Anaheim station was a single little building. Now it's like a major airport.
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