A Magic Kingdom Selection
I have three very nice vintage photos from The Magic Kingdom in Florida! Let's start with this beautiful look (from September, 1972) at one of the four locomotives - the Roger E. Broggie. Broggie was a mechanical engineer who worked with the Disney Studio all the way back in 1939 (helping to develop the multiplane camera). He also helped Walt build his Carolwood Pacific railroad, and was of course instrumental in the railroad (and other attractions) at Disneyland.
For those of you who need to know, the other three locomotives are the Walter E. Disney, the Roy O. Disney, and the Lilly Belle. Old photos of the Disneyland Railroad tended to show grizzled old-timers working the big locomotives, but these fellas look like kids.
Next is this November 1978 scan of a mother and her young son posing with Chip the chipmunk. Maybe his pal Dale was nearby? Some costumed characters were relatively diminutive, but Chip looks to be at least six feet tall. They appear to be in Frontierland near "La Fuente Serena". Thanks to my high school Spanish, I know that the translation is "The Faithful Seahorse". Education is wonderful! Meanwhile, I am not impressed with those earless balloons.
And finally, here's an undated scan from the Grand Prix Raceway. What do you think, is this from the 70s? That would be my guess. I do like the Mark VII-style vehicles with the various race car paint jobs. My favorite is the green and yellow one, off to the side in the upper right! I'll just run across traffic and hop in. Notice what appears to be square speakers near the boys in the lower right, did they play a safety spiel?
24 comments:
Major-
You'll find that fountain in Adventureland...
Those loudspeakers appear to be Electro-Voice Musicaster 1A loudspeakers... An amazingly versatile speaker enclosure system designed for both indoor and outdoor enjoyment.
Thanks, Major.
It's interesting that the front section of the engine, where the smokestack is, is dull and kinda grungy. While the rest of the engine is shiny squeaky clean. I guess the front is where the hottest temperatures occur; business in the front, party in the back.
It is odd that those guys look like they're still in high school. Maybe Disney used up all their "grizzled old-timers" in the Anaheim park.
So, who's the CM on the left, in the faded red and green? Is he Chip's 'handler'? I thought they kept themselves incognito and only rushed in when/if needed. The little kid is having a grand ol' time. Evidently he has reasoned out that this six-foot furry critter is the same as the little chipmunk he sees in Disney cartoons.
I agree about the earless balloons; where's the fun in that? I thought that "La Fuenta Serena" meant "The Fiery Chili Pepper". I guess you took more years of Spanish than I did, Major.
I also like the yellow and green car. The orangey-red detail really sets it off. In fact, that car's paint job is, by far, more detailed and interesting than any of the others. It's parked on that elevated green mound, so there must be something special about it. And I agree that this is the seventies.
Thanks for the trip to Florida, Major.
I thought El Fuente Serena meant, "The Elizabeth Montgomery Fountain."
In the upper right corner of that last pic, we can see the "turnaround" station or platform, for the Skyway. In fact, I think we can see the bottom portion of a red Skyway gondola, leaving the "turnaround" thingy. I wish I could remember what that's called. It always fascinated me how WDW's Skyway changed directions, midway through the ride. Bush Gardens in Tampa has a skyride that also does that.
Major, my favorite car is also the green and yellow one. It looks like it has spotlight around it, as if it is out there on display. I wonder if there was something special about it? It does look like it has a special paint job.
Thanks for the vintage WDW pics!
Back when the fountains in Caribbean Plaza/Adventureland were actually fountains and not stuffed with plants.
Nice WDW pics! Thanks, Major.
Walt Disney World’s CARIBBEAN PLAZA featured 7 fountains …. Almost all today ate turned off and converted to planters.
I think the Grand Prix Raceway photo might be 1975. The cast members have the 1974 style racing coveralls costume …. But the cars seem to have the original 1971 color schemes. About 1976/1977 all the Grand Prix Raceway cars were given updated color schemes including a mint green car which was my favorite. About two years ago all the original WDW car bodies were removed and replaced with “newer” 1983 Grand Circuit Raceway bodies from the defunct Tokyo Disneyland attraction.
The Grand Prix Raceway featured audio Sfx along the entire race track …. With sounds recorded from real formula race cars making the attraction cars sound like they were accelerating and taking curves at great speeds. … there of course was also the attraction’s famous “ GENTLEMAN START YOUR ENGINES!! “ spiel and the count down flash lights to create a real race experience. In the entry building and grandstand viewing areas also featured high intensity “racing” music and about every 3-4 tunes was a quick instrumental with a chorus or female singer extolling musically “ GO GO GOODYEAR TODAY!!!”
Mike, they should have played the Speed Racer theme song. I know, Speed Racer wasn't a Disney production, but neither was Kimba The White Lion, and that didn't stop Disney from turning it into a feature length film and renaming it "The Lion King."
I was about to comment about the racing sound effects, but Mike beat me to it! I always found it a little humorous that they had all that revving and zooming playing while the cars put-putted around the track.
In my experience as a WDW guest, the character handlers were clearly seen, but hung back to allow for the interactions. They did a lot of assisting with moving about (seeing, time management) but didn't interact with the guests much at all.
Mice WDW pics, Major
TM! said pretty much everything I was to say, to include the Bewitched reference. Thanks for saving me some time this morning. ;-)
As Mike said, I think that first speaker was the first car sound effect as you began hurtling around the track at the reality-warping speed of 12 km/h.
I miss the WDW with fountains everywhere. They enhanced the ambiance and provided a serene source of calm in the midst of a busy Park. And on a hot Florida day, it always felt nice to splash some water on your face and the back of your neck. And take off your shoes and wash your feet. And clear out your nostrils and brush your teeth. Public fountains are incredibly sanitary.
Thanks again, Major!
That fountain needs a bag of C&H sugar. Can they get that in Florida?
Roger Broggie also helped bring a locomotive up to Lasseter Winery in Sonoma County. Not sure which one. Lasseter named a wine after the train.
Being in a chipmunk suit in Florida weather would rate hazard pay.
I love that fancy green car, why is it so different?
Thanks Major!
JG
Well ....don't these photos want to "Blow you a kiss, in the wind..." My own ode to The Elizabeth Montgomery Fountain. Ms. Montgomery IS a Disney family member, being the 15th Cousin twice removed from Mr. Disney. Who knew? Mr. Samantha Stevens #1, also directed Ms. Funicello in the post-Disney Beach Party series. (He has also some close connections with the series that we don't talk about.) Samantha went on to marry Falcon Crest's Chase Gioberti...who was also featured in the smash hit "Treasure of Matecumbe" a few years prior. I actually LOVED that movie! Back to the photos: I don't have any strong memories of the Magic Kingdom, as in my eyes there is only ONE Magic Kingdom, and that rivalry was fierce. I can see why they needed these kids to run the locomotives...especially one year into things...you open a giant "thing" in a swamp, and where do you get all those employees?! Probably now, there are old geezers a-plenty. I am enjoying that they are relatively scrubbed and don't look like hippies. Regular balloons...how strange curious and odd...I don't mind them...but why? As I have "balloon" in my DNA, I should probably know. Chip or Dale IS a giant...perhaps that goes back to "make costumes that fit the employees, not the other way around"...could be? Speakers on Autopia? Let's make it even LOUDER and more chaotic!....the load in is particularly interesting, and overall, I like that this was more of a "race" than the Disneyland "bumper cars"...but please don't bump, because these cars are expensive and you are ruining them. Go Go Goodyear! Thanks Major!
@ Chuck-
"... it always felt nice to splash some water on your face and the back of your neck. And take off your shoes and wash your feet. And clear out your nostrils and brush your teeth".
And I thought I was the only one to use those fountains for 'nasal irrigation'-??!!
@ Bu-
Those "...close connections with the series that we don't talk about" amounted to directing more than half of the episodes... He has tremendous street cred here.
Nanook, man, that is a very civilized Adventureland! I know that the WDW version is different in theme from the Anaheim version, but still!
JB, I don’t actually know why they don’t have that shiny metal jacket around the very front of the boiler, but I’m sure there’s a good reason. And yes, I’m sure that guy is Chip’s handler, maybe even directing guests when it was their turn to pose. I’ll bet that kid loved Chip’s fuzzy fur! I’m sorry if I sounded like I was bragging about my Spanish fluency, but hey, when ya got it, ya got it! It seems like that yellow/green car was special, though WHY it was special is a mystery. At Disneyland they had “Walt’s Car” on display for a while, it was a little bit fancier than the average Autopia vehicle. Maybe somebody out there knows?
TokyoMagic!, i don’t get the reference to Elizabeth Montgomery. Did they film a WDW special with her at this fountain? The Skyway “turnaround” shows up in a surprising number of photos, because I didn’t know about it until somebody mentioned it, and then I was happy to be able to spot it multiple times. If only they had made the Skyway do a loop. Hey, you’re right, there are little spotlights shining on the yellow/green car. WHY?
K. Martinez, Florida ordinarily has so much water, I don’t really understand why they stopped running so many fountains. Well, I have a pretty good idea - fountains cost money to maintain.
Mike Cozart, maybe the fountains in Florida sprayed guests on windy days? No idea, I’m just guessing. I still vote for the idea that they’d rather not have to fix broken pumps over many decades. So Tokyo Disneyland did away with their Autopia (whatever it was called)? Did they replace it with something cool? I think I might have heard a spiel for the Grand Prix Raceway that included the sounds of race cars. All that noise must have been wearing on the CMs after a few hours, maybe they got used to it and tuned it out. Whenever I pass the Mad Tea Party at Disneyland and hear the “tooty” tea party music, I think that it must be driving the CMs crazy.
TokyoMagic!, “Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he’s a demon on wheels…”!
Stu29573, if I ran a Disney park, the character handlers would shout a lot more, and maybe even make fists at some guests. “Why I oughta…!”, they would say, with a cigar in the corner of their mouths. Everyone would behave!
Chuck, after three minutes of doing no research, I still don’t get the “Bewitched” reference. Did Samantha Stevens go to WDW?? Your (gross) comment about the fountains reminded me of a recent trip to Descanso Gardens here in SoCal. A mother was cheerfully watching her two little kids as they splashed around in a fountain, which was weird enough, but the fountain was rather grungy, full of moss and other crud.
JG, I’m afraid the bag of sugar would have had to be called “F&H”, and it just doesn’t have the same ring to it. I had no idea Roger Broggie helped to move Ollie Johnston’s railroad to John Lasseter’s winery! I wish I had a railroad at my winery.
Bu, what a treat it must have been for that man to be known as “Mr. Samantha Stevens”! I know that Liz was married to a man who was a director. “Treasure of Matecumbe”… I’ve heard of it, had no idea it was a smash hit. Was it a Disney film? Maybe from the years of stuff like “Moon Pilot”. With Florida being such a popular retirement destination, you’d think that there would be plenty of old-timers to work on the trains. But by that time they probably realized that they could just have younger folks trained, and the older guys could hang around in the roundhouse and spit (that’s what I would do anyway). Regular balloons = sadness. I’ll bet the regular Chip performer was out sick, so the Goofy actor had to fill in.
Nanook, beware of that brain-eating amoeba!
Major-
"At Disneyland they had “Walt’s Car” on display for a while, it was a little bit fancier than the average Autopia vehicle. Maybe somebody out there knows?"
Yes, Walt's car was equipped with an 8-track player (or was it a 4-track-?), with a VERY loud sound system-! And an ashtray - OF COURSE. Did you really have to ask-??
Major, Elizabeth Montgomery also played Sabrina’s mischievous, dark-haired cousin Serena, sort of like Barbara Eden playing Jeannie’s evil twin sister, Jeannie on that other magic girl show that was on at the same time.
Treasure of Matacumbe was indeed a Disney film from the mid-‘70s, starring the always superb Peter Ustinov with guest appearances by Billy “Pop” Atmore of the New Mickey Mouse Club and that guy who always shows up as an old coot in movies around that time. You know who I’m talking about - can’t remember his name. Voiced one of the animated bullets in . The guy that’s not Strother Martin. Going to bug me all day. Part of the movie was shot on Bay Lake at WDW. Big hit? I don’t know. Never saw it until Disney +.
Nanook, I guess Walt wasn’t willing to pay for the in-car soft serve ice cream machine.
Chuck, OH. Jeez, that’s an obscure reference. I would have never made the “Serena” connection, and I used to watch “Bewitched” a lot. Granted it’s been decades now. “That guy who always shows up as an old coot in movies”… Slim Pickens? Pat Buttram?
On steam locomotives the shiny painted color section is a boiler jacket … it helps insulate the needed hot water to make steam to power the locomotive. The front extension of the boiler is the smoke box. This you do not want insulated as you want the ash and possible embers to cool as fast as possible … the stack also features many barricades to try and stop any potential hot embers from escaping … the stacks on locomotives a are technically called a “spark arrestor” . The smoke boxes on most locomotives were actually coated with a graphite paste .. in the 70’s to make disneyland locos look fancier they used a graphite paint that cured a very light grey …. Almost white .
Almost all the Disney park locomotives are painted in liveries that were really obsolete by the 1870’s … after the civil war Americans stopped giving train locomotives names and gave them numbers instead …. And bright elaborate color schemes … with sone exceptions of high end passenger service … toned the colors and decorations down drastically. Also in the 1870’s a d 1880’s were many financial panics so people didn’t hade lots of extra money to spend on overly fancy locomotives ..
@ Chuck-
I believe you may be thinking of Dub Taylor - who played Sheriff Forbes...
Nanook, YES. That’s the guy! Thanks - now I can sleep tonight.
I recommend you NOT search for "Disney World Fountains" unless you want to see people all but swimming laps in them. I know WDW management said that the converted the fountains in Adventureland to planters to conserve water during a summer or 2 of droughts, but I think it was a maintenance cost issue.
I don't remember the sound effects or "Christmas tree" start lights operating the last time I was on the WDW Speedway - probably 5 years ago now.
Maybe the special car with spotlights around it was originally going to be Roy's car? Unlikely, I know, because he probably would not have been interested in such a thing.
Major, yes the Elizabeth Montgomery reference was VERY obscure. Sorry about that. And since one of her husbands was brought up as starring in "Treasure of Matecumbe," I must mention that one of her other husbands, William Asher, was a director of many "I.L.L." episodes, starting with season 2. He also directed most of the "Bewitched" episodes and produced them, as well.
Yes, Tokyo DL got rid of their "Autopia," which was called the Grand Circuit Raceway. It was removed in 2017 for a "Beauty and the Beast" Fantasyland expansion. Unfortunately, they also took out their Star Jets for that expansion. The Grand Circuit Raceway had an automatic breaking feature, which prevented people from bumping into the backs of other cars. ALL of the versions of the ride should have that feature!
Mike Cozart, thank you for the train info! I’ve read two books about the Disneyland trains, so I feel like I should have known that, but like most things, I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve read. I’m OK with the locomotives being a bit brighter in color than historically accurate, in this case - they are one of the first things most guests see when entering the park, and a drab, realistic steam locomotive just wouldn’t set the tone that Walt wanted.
Nanook, oh yeah, him too!
Chuck, fun fact, one of the girls in my high school was Tiffany Taylor, Dub Taylor’s granddaughter. Leslie Nielsen’s daughter Moira was also in some of my classes. And Belinda Carlisle’s sister Hope!
Dean Finder, somehow I’m not surprised that so many people misbehave at Disney parks. Sadly.
TokyoMagic!, yes, somehow I don’t think Roy Disney would have cared about having his own custom Autopia car. It’s OK that your Elizabeth Montgomery reference was obscure, but clearly lots of other people got it. Oh well. And somehow I thought that TokyoDisneyland still had their Star Jets, so I am sad to learn that it was torn out. I’ve definitely been bashed by cars following me in the Autopia, always a very unpleasant experience.
Dean Finder : those lightning and sound effects on the Grand Prix Raceway were long gone 5 years ago … they along with checkered flag “car pack” racing start were gone around the early 90’s … around the time Goodyear ended sponsorship …
To finish the obscurity: "Serena", Samantha's "fun" cousin, hosted two MORTAL singers at the "Cosmo's Cotillion"...Songwriter/Singers: Boyce and Hart. They were real people, and amongst other things, wrote songs for the Monkees including "Last Train to Clarksville." Hence, my comment "I wanna blow you a kiss in the wind", which was one of their songs that Elizabeth Montgomery sang (as Serena) on Bewitched, and Boyce and Hart also sang on the same episode. That reference is even more obscure that the TM obscure, so I had to pick up the baton and run with it. That particular episode is noteworthy if you are a Bewitched fan, and I own the 45. And yes...Bill Asher was a prolific producer/director/etc. directing 100 episodes of ILL, basically shaping the way for future sitcoms forever, and many other things. As everything is connected, Mr. Asher was also married at one time to Joyce Bulifant of "The Happiest Millionaire", and Joyce was once married to James MacArthur of "Swiss Family Robinson", so her mother in law, would be legendary Helen Hayes: "One of my Dinosaurs in Missing", "Candleshoe", "Herbie Rides Again", and a small part of "Tourist" in "Third Man on the Mountain" which featured her kid. There ya go. Obscure, may not be so obscure...
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