Disneyland, March 1992
Sue B. sent me some scans of photos taken by her cousin Stu, who was an avid photographer. Maybe not as avid as Lou Perry, but he loved to take pictures! These images are all from March, 1992.
This first one is taken from the wonderful Skyway as Stu headed toward the Matterhorn's left nostril. I hope there are no bats in the cave! We've seen many many photos of (and from) the Skyway, but knowing that the attraction would close roughly 2.5 years after these pictures taken (in November of 1994) is sobering. And I need to sober up, I've been sloshed for too long.
This next image is fun, showing a double-bobsled as it was racing from the brilliant sunshine into the dark and mysterious ice caverns - where Yetis dwell! RAWR! Here's an idea: what if the Yeti had a kid, who was adorable and fluffy and had big blue eyes? I'm already counting that plush toy money.
I'm so used to the Fantasyland of the 1950s that it is strange to see the Mad Tea Party moved so far to the east. Even though it has now been there for 40 years! Longer than when it was closer to the Castle courtyard.
Many thanks to Lou and Sue and Stu!
12 comments:
Major-
Seeing the Teacups from this angle, it really does somehow seem as if the attraction is lost-!
Thanks to Stu and Sue.
O Fudgie, Fudgie, wherefore art thou Fudgie? We haven't seen hide nor hair of him in donkey's years. I've almost forgotten what he looks like.
As you said, Major, seeing the Skyway so close to its demise is bittersweet.
Ooh! a Matterhorn interior shot... with a bobsled! They're scarcer than hen's teeth... or Fudgie photos. I'm keepin' this one, even though it is a bit out of focus.
This is an excellent photo of the Teacups. I'm keeping this one, too. I see that the platform is painted the same colors as the Cheshire Cat; purple and pink. Anybody know what that white/ light gray building is in the background? Or, what those red/pink things are standing up above the roof? Neither of them is go-away-green.
It must have been a little chilly on this March day; people are wearing coats and flannel shirts.
Thanks to Major, Lou & Sue & Stu, my brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl. (I don't really have any brothers named Darryl.)
The upper Matterhorn waterfalls are turned off, but yet there is a slit in the rocks, near the base, which is pouring out water. And yes, no Fudgie. I guess he had been "painted out" by this point in history.
I love ANY interior shots of the Matterhorn!
And there is Small World with a blue clock. But not for much longer. Any day now, I think they would be setting up the scaffolding and giving it it's "Easter" paint job.
Also note, in the Small World mall area, there are some little buildings, one being a school house. Those are remnants of the Disney Afternoon Live promotion that took place from March through November of 1991. The special "entrance arch" that was put up for the event is missing from the front portion of the Small World mall area, so the event was definitely over at this point.
JB, I'm not sure about that grayish colored building. I think it is too far west to be a part of the Canal Boat storage. I think at this point, some mobile units/trailers had been moved to that backstage roadways behind Storybook Land. I'm not sure if they were used as offices or storage or something else. I believe that pink and blue banner we are seeing isn't on the roof of that structure, but is a part of Videopolis, or the Fantasyland Theater, or whatever they were calling it at this point in time.
Thank you for these early nineties shots, Lou, Sue, Stu, and the Major, too!
That light grey structure is a maintenance building for Casey Jr. And Storybook canal. There was also a Fantasyland area manager-lead office . Part of the maintenance would allow a full Casey jr train inside while another can sit outside with a corrugated steel covered roof. There is also a crane that allows corrugated for storybook canal boats to be taken out of the water and placed on special made trailers and drive them over to the cycle shop for repairs . Now the cycle - sign- paint- mill- staff shop is located in the new “Miller building “ off of Miller street about 3 miles away from Disneyland …. After being ousted by “WOOKIE WORLD” .
It’s interesting how DARK paint colors became at Disneyland after Euro Disneyland ( Disneyland Paris) opened…. After Disney explained how Walt Disney Imagineering has to adapt part color palettes to adjust for regional sun and lighting situations …. Someone at Disneylands SQS ( show quality standards) …. We know her name so I won’t repeat it again — decided to first bring EDL’s dark colors to Frontierland making the Golden Horseshoe Revue look like a German chocolate cake it was so dark !!! And heavy exaggerated weathering highlights to the rest of the Frontierland buildings …. These have since been slightly toned down , but soon Main Street USA and Sleeping Besuty castle would get the IRVINE - EDL treatment ….
By the way …. Southern California and Paris France countryside have two very different sun intensities and lighting so how did she justify Euro DL color treatments to Walt’s Disneyland ?? Was there a surplus of paint?? If a employee applied make up too heavy and thick , should they be coming up with paint schemes for theme park facades?
Looks like a chilly day in Fantasyland. And hey, it's Peter Jackson in a yellow Skyway bucket! (With a couple of hobbits.)
Great views, Lou, Sue and Stu!
These live in a strange time zone, old enough to be nostalgic, but new enough to look like the Park today. I do miss the Skyway, nothing like sailing through the Mountain Nostrils.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, the Mad Tea Party used to feel so “featured”, and in today’s photo it looks very “tucked away”!
JB, Fudgie is probably appearing regularly on another blog. Typical! Every time I see a nice photo of the Skyway, looking just the way I remember, it makes me miss that ride all over again. And taking a photo from a moving gondola, of a moving bobsled… no easy task. Hmm, I never thought about how the turntable was Cheshire Cat colors, interesting! I’m not sure about the gray building, maybe it is a backstage “Storybook Land” structure? The red/pink things appear to be some sort of banners.
TokyoMagic!, I always wonder if the pumps were kaput when the Matterhorn waterfalls are off, or if the pictures were taken on a windy day? I know many people liked the pastel IASW facade, and it occurs to me that it would have been MUCH more difficult and expensive to repaint when the color faded. In fact I’ll bet that is one of the reasons they returned it to it’s “mostly white” paint scheme. Thanks for pointing out the Disney Afternoon Live stuff! I had no idea. I also would have never thought of Videopolis for that banner, since that was never a part of my Disneyland experience. I read about it for years, but am not sure I ever even laid eyes on the stage.
Mike Cozart, well, I’m giving myself 1/2 a point! And also a candy bar, because I love candy bars. I think the Fantasyland area manager should have worked out of the Alice mushroom. With no AC. I’ll bet the people in the Miller Building miss being so close to the park - unless the new office is super modern and comfy. I didn’t really know that the colors at Disneyland were affected by what was used at Euro Disneyland, but somehow I’m not surprised. I’m almost positive that I read an interview with you-know-who stating that she used paint left over from another project when the Golden Horseshoe was repainted. So it’s not that it was the best color for the job, it just saved them some money. Arg.
Melissa, in Tolkien’s original manuscript, Frodo and company went to Mordor on a Skyway ride.
JG, I agree, these feel like “not long ago”, with the exception of the Skyway view. But 30 years is a considerable chunk of time! Recently, a reader offered to share some photos from around 2000. Even that is now two decades ago!! My super computer said so.
Picture #3: Yellow sharks!
Sue
Major...I'm going to vote and say something with the pumps or screens caused a shutdown. A very windy day could cause a manual shutdown as well. But then again, the buckets would likely not be operating due to the conditions. SJ
Sue, I knew it was you before I even saw your name! :-)
SJ, you make a good point, I didn't think about the Skyway, which really did close on windy days. The pumps around the park do have a tendency to fail, and some are apparently quite difficult to access for replacement or repair. One waterfall by Storybook Land has been non-functioning for years.
Thanks Sue, Stu and you Major, for fun photos today.
Yet…sob. Aside from good taste and believable color schemes disappearing…Disneyland lost an entire Dimension in removing the Skyway. Literally, no more vertical movement (along with the loss of Rocket Jets and the upper level of Carousel of Progress, as even Alice abandoned her perilous journey upon edgeless leaves at the time). When my young nephew said he wished he could fly, I knew just where to take him. Not inside Peter Pan, but actually flying over Disneyland! right through Matterhorn Mountain was an astonishing bonus…Fantasyland under your feet and Tomorrowland shimmering beyond the lagoon…talk about “Only at Disneyland”; a phrase they were using around that era.
MS
SJ and KS are twins, you know! LOL
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