Leftuggies™
Everyone loves Leftuggies™!
Today's first Leftuggie shows the wonderful Skyway gondolas as they passed over Holiday Hill, which has a number of paths for people who were up for a hike, or up for... other stuff. So the story goes, anyway. The Dutch angle makes the scene feel just the tiniest bit sinister. Harry Lime is probably in one of the gondolas! I was going to straighten the image out in Photoshop, but would have lost the tiny bit of the Viewliner train poking in from the bottom (sorry about my dumb watermark).
Hey lady! I like your orange gondola! I'll trade you!
This next one is from a black and white negative - oversized, I guess it would be 120 medium-format film? We get a pretty nice shot of the Mark VI Autopia vehicles. Why did they name them all "Mark"? It's weird. How about "Jeff"? Or "Sam"? We need an investigation. I give Dad props for letting the kid drive, though he is grabbing the safety bar with kung fu strength. This particular angle gives a good look at some of the complexity of the intertwining tracks of several attractions.
16 comments:
Major-
Who needs a crummy 'ol mountain anyway, when you have such cool pathways-?
Thanks, Major.
Harry Lime is probably in one of the gondolas!
Cue the zither music!
Who ever heard of using black and white film, in a post-1967 world? ;-)
The gondolas appear to be swaying at exaggerated angles, just like they do in the attraction posters and tiny illustrations. Finally, truth in advertising!
I like the shadows of the Buckets on the pathway below. The gentleman on the left of the Hill is spoiling the scale; he should be only half that tall!
On the right, I think that's Cinderella's Castle peaking through the trees.
In the B&W photo, the lack of passengers in the PeopleMover means it must be down for the day, or perhaps the attraction hasn't made it's big debut yet.
I bet clench-fisted Dad is the one with his foot on the gas pedal; Junior probably couldn't reach it very well.
I'm gonna say that the closest PM train is yellow, and the one farther down the track is red.
Thanks for the Leftuggies, Major. I sprinkled a little MSG on them tonight, it does wonders for the flavor!
That last, large-sized negative could also have been 620 medium-format film. Basically the same thing, but with thinner spools (and a different size number on the film stock outside of the image area). The square shape means that this was most likely shot with a top-view twin-lens reflex camera like the Kodak Reflex. Note the pad technician in the white clean suit working on the nitrous oxide system of one of the Jeff VIs in the background.
TM!, THAT’S what’s missing from Disneyland’s background loops - zither music!
JB, that man actually is only half that tall. Forced perspective makes him look twice as tall as he is.
That Skyway photo is a beauty! If only I had Peabody and Sherman's Wayback machine. Thanks, Major.
JB, if people were like trees, they would have no scale…
Major, did the proto-Matterhorn have an official name? We’ve heard “Snow Hill” and “Holiday Hill”, and possibly “Snog Mountain”. Were any of these on official maps? Did the excavation spoil pile rate as an attraction? “Climb the Mound of Leftover Dirt!”
Great photos too!
I really like the Autopia pic, brings up the smell of rubber, lubricant oil, rich mixture exhaust, all the rich aromas of motor vehicle repair. Looks good in black and white too.
JG
Nanook, I never thought about it, but you make a good point!
TokyoMagic!, the zither is the most beautiful instrument. Suck it, harps! And yes, why would anybody with a (presumably) good camera use black and white in post-1967 - at Disneyland??
JB, these photos were taken during a force five hurricane, which is why the gondolas are swinging so wildly. Some might suggest that the ride should have been closed, but I say NO! I think you’re right about Cinderella’s Castle. The man on the hill is having an existential crisis. Autopia gas pedals: I remember that it seemed very hard to push on the gas, it took a lot of effort. Then again, I was used to being carried around on a palanquin and rarely used my legs on most days. The closer Peoplemover train might be aqua!
Chuck, thank you for the info about the film stock - not that I will remember it. But it was a valiant effort! The nitrous oxide system will get that Autopia car up to 6.5 miles per hour.
K. Martinez, Peabody can stay home, I just want to hang out with Sherman!
JG, I am not aware of any maps that mention “Snow Mountain” or “Holiday Hill”, I assume that those were names cooked up by Imagineers or cast members. But I’d love it if somebody has a map with one of those names on it! And I don’t even remember ever seeing those pathways mentioned as an “attraction”, to be honest. They were just there. Glad you liked these!
two great pics.
in second pic, love to see the PeopleMover before they installed that dumb safety railing... I remember going to DL one year and noticing this change, I was *not" happy.
@ JG-
I believe it was called ‘Ye Olde Dirt Pile from the Sleeping Beauty Castle Moat’. Now you can see why it’s better known as Holiday or Snow Hill.
@Major-
Yes, those return springs on the Autopia has pedals were a bit on the ‘powerful’ side. It was tough on little legs/muscles to keep ‘the pedal to the metal’; although that didn’t seem to eliminate “accidents”-! The real fun was driving the vehicles at POP, which had separate gas and brake pedals; whoops - I forgot - these cars work just like Daddy’s Buick-! Ka-boom…
I love the first image - what a great shot! The 'clumps' of flowers (or flowering bushes?) look like candy Sno-Caps. Apropos for a baby mountain. Catching part of the Viewliner makes this one even better - I'll have to show it to my dad (who LOVED the Viewliner).
Thank you, Major.
LTL, unfortunately the guests couldn't be counted on to behave themselves!
Anon, I think that "Tomorrowland Lake" (a name I have read somewhere) also contributed to the big pile of dirt. Interesting about the cars at POP, I guess I just assumed that they all worked like the ones at Disneyland! Now that I think of it, the Autopia is the only "little car" ride that I have ever been on.
Lou and Sue, you're right, they DO look like Sno-Caps (a candy that I have never had, but I have seen). I hope the Viewliner makes your dad smile!
Love how it’s the same Tomorrowland curve, but totally different on both sides; trade Viewliner tracks for lagoon, mound of mud for majestic Matterhorn Mountain, and runoff riven for alpine waterfalls, tuck that unsightly tower into some ice-caverns.
MS
Yes, LTL, I recall that my father was not happy about them putting a concrete curb in the middle of Autopia lanes either, to stop guys like him from passing others off road.
MS
Realize I'm a bit late to the conversation and no one will see this... but to those future visitors who happen across this post... Doesn't it totally look like the Pirate Ship has been lifted up, as if the Bow of the ship was being swallowed by a GIANT Krakken that's just out of view (hidden behind Holiday Hill)!?
MS, yes, you could still see the "ghost" of the previous iterations even with all of the new additions.
MS, I have no memory of the Autopia "pre-guide track", but it must have been quite a thing to have complete control of your little car! Maybe you could even jump the curb and drive where you weren't supposed to!
Anonymous, I think I see what you mean, that bent tree sort of looks like a Kraken tentacle? Now that you have said that, it would have been pretty cool if they'd really had a giant tentacle rise up from the Pirate Ship lagoon every now and then!
^ Put that animatronic/puppet 20K Leagues giant squid to good use!
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