Two Fantasyland Views, July 1960
Howsabout two classic Fantasyland views, as seen from the Skyway (or "Sky Cars", as written on the cardboard mounts)? Both are from July 1960.
Here's a view looking down on the Alice in Wonderland attraction, with that kooky, curvy, winding leaf path that leads from the upper level back down to ground level. The green caterpillar is navigating it with aplomb - no surprise, considering how snooty he is. It seems as if we often see the Alice ride more from the Matterhorn point of view, in fact I'm trying to think of another slide in my collection that is from this angle.
I probably should have put this image first, since it was likely taken not long after the Sky Car left the Chalet, heading right toward the Matterhorn's nostrils. Down below, the Mad Tea Party hypnotizes us into spending more money, which is sneaky, but I have to give them credit for thinking of such a thing. It's a shame about the safety bar blocking the lower part of the image.
A little judicious cropping makes things a lot better!
15 comments:
Major-
I have see aerial shots of Alice looking eastward, but seemingly not from 'this far away' and from an angle making things seem aligned. Definitely very unique.
Thanks, Major.
Major, I don't think you have any other Alice photo from this angle. The first thing I thought when the thumbnail came up was, "Whoa, we haven't seen one of these before!". Of course, we could both be wrong... which NEVER happens! :-D
And there's a Bobsled in view! Well, half of one anyway. (Guess we'll have half a day of good luck.) Are all those Caterpillars that are lined-up, out of service?
"It's a shame about the safety bar blocking the lower part of the image." Yeah, we don't need no stinkin' safety bar! Heck, let's remove the doors from the Gondolas too! Add some real excitement to the Sky Cars ride! When I saw that dark-colored Gondola (#37) looming menacingly from above, it actually looked kinda scary! Something about the apparent size and closeness of it. It looks like the head of a giant hammer coming down on the NASA guys down below.
Nice photos today, Major. Thanks.
Major, that Alice in Wonderland view IS unique BECAUSE you have the image flopped. Look closely at it and you'll see. There's no doubt. And this time it wasn't my fault. ;oP
And, while you're at it, look closely at today's date, too.
Thanks, Major.
Dang it, Sue. You made me copy/paste the image into my photo editor and flip it... NOT FLOPPED! (Nice April 1st joke.)
The first pic does it for me. I've always wondered why no other Disney Park has an Alice in Wonderland dark ride. Along with The Columbia, another unique attraction only at Disneyland.
Thanks, Major.
Lookit all those tiny people down there!
Major, you are right, this is a rare view of Alice. Such an innovative dark ride too, climbing imperceptibly up to the second floor right over Mr. Toad and this open air race to the finish, nothing else like it. And one of my favorite Disney films too.
Photo 1 has no trash cans visible, another rarity. But we do notice a couple of oblong gadgets on the castle roof. I believe these were fluorescent tube lamps used to accent the battlements and towers at night. I used to look forward to the views of the castle roof, felt like we were stealing backstage secrets. I looked for scorch marks left from the fireworks launches, but never saw any. Still not sure where those rockets come from.
Photo 2 has two trash cans, and I am grateful for this, since the first one is the “hip roof” type which was apparently peculiar to the castle courtyard and the areaway between the carousel and the dark ride queues. At least I’ve never seen them elsewhere. I don’t think there were more than four or five of these. They were the same basic can but with a fancy metal hat added on. I think I have a photo of one with the plain “opening day” green paint and then the fancy harlequin checks on the hat. On second glance, this one looks to be that same combo.
The other is the nice candy-stripe pattern in pink and blue. This variety seemed to be the Fantasyland standard, except at the Pirate Ship where the pattern was the same but the color way changed to red and black, suitably swashbuckling.
Thanks for these interesting pictures on my favorite day.
JG
Nanook, huh, I was thinking that this was a closer view of Alice than I might have, assuming I do have any from this angle!
JB, I admit that it gets hard to recall nearly 18 years of slides, so for all I know I have one or two slides that are just like that first one. BUT… I sure don’t remember seeing any like it. Good eye on the bobsled! They should have removed the sides of the Skyway altogether, and just had seats, and a pole to hang on to. The EXTREME Skyway!
Lou and Sue, OH YOU.
JB, April 1st? You mean Lon Chaney’s birthday? Why would Sue do anything unusual on that day?
K. Martinez, I agree, it seems odd that there is not another Alice dark ride, and yet… it makes ours extra special!
Melissa, you mean PIPPLE!
JG, I’ve recently learned that the Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin was originally supposed to go up to a second level, but apparently budget concerns nixed that concept. Bummer! Just think how much more attention it would get from the fans today. It’s a good ride, but could be so much more impressive. Since so much of photo #1 is ride-related, it’s not too unexpected to see no trashcans. I was wondering about those bar-shaped things on the roof of the castle - are those fluorescent lights? They don’t really look like it from here, but I can’t think of what else they could be. The “hip roof” trashcans looked good, but you can’t pile trays on top of them. Think about it. I do like that pink and blue Fantasyland paint scheme.
JB. Must have been a slow day when this picture was taken. That line-up of Caterpillars are out of service. Or perhaps, they were lined-up for sale being used Caterpillars. Depends upon the day I guess. KS
Major-
Yes, those "bar-shaped" things are definitely outdoor fluorescent fixtures - and I'm gonna guess eight foot-length tubes. The big question is - were those just 'normal output' lamps or
the High output, or Very High output lamps-?
There have been several ALICE IN WONDERLAND dark ride attractions designed or planed for other Disney parks … the NEW WDW Fantasyland of 2010 originally was originally proposed to have an Alice ride Thru … and a hedge maze (similar to EDL) Tokyo Disneyland almost got an entire indoor WONDERLAND … theme land expansion to their Fantasyland to maintain a fantasy lit “moonlight all day “ atmosphere. Shanghai Disneyland too at one point in its design was to include a Wonderland area with a dark ride and a hedge maze …. But eventually only the hedge maze opened …. And in the 9th hour was change to be themed to the Johnny Depp Alice in Wonderland and not the 1958 animated version. Also included was a Jonny Depp version Mad Tea Party but that was changed to Pooh’s Honey pots. Disney management became concerned with getting as much Disney character exposure as possible for their introduction into mainland communist China since the people of China had almost no exposure or knowledge of any Disney films or characters before Shanghai Disneyland’s opening . Completely a different situation than the people of Hong Kong or Japan who were already big fans of Disney characters and films.
TOONTOWN and FANTASMIC exist because they were built with money for the canceled big new Tomorrowland ( TOMORROWLAND 2055) Eisner decided he didn’t like .
But TOONTOWN also had cutbacks as well … TOONTOWN at Disneyland always was to have a “down town business district “ and a “residential district “. All themed to the toons of the 1920’s - 1940’s … ROGER RABBITS CARTOON SPIN was designed - and began construct to include a ride with two levels … featuring a part where guests are exploded outside spinning uncontrollably then crashing back into windows of the power plant and back inside the show building. In imagineer Nina Rae Vaughn’s TOONTOWN overview concept painting you can see the ride vehicle taxi cabs outside on the second level….
Anyway … Eisner wanted the 1990’s Afternoon Avenue shows represented and marketed in TOONTOWN despite they didn’t fit in with the 1920s thru 1940’s theme. So money had to be cut from parts of toontown to go to include the 90’s shows into the new land .
So scaled back and shortened was the Cartoon Spin second level …
Also cut was the Scrooge McDuck Bank & Vault … that allowed guests to ride slides in and around piles of money and coins as they joined hewey ,dewy , Louie , Donald and Scrooge mcduck counting coins. This became a drastically smaller RESCUE RANGERS acorn crawl playground type thing and not an attraction .
I always thought it would be cool if Disney did a "Duckburg" theme area based on Uncle Scrooge Comics and DuckTales TV Show. There are a lot of cool characters like the Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey & Lewie, the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, Launchpad McQuack and Gyro Gearloose.
I do remember reading about the two-story Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin. Too bad they didn't build it.
"That line-up of Caterpillars are out of service."
They're just coming down. Don't harsh their buzz!
I remember at one time the Alice hedge maze was also being teased for the UK pavilion at EPCOT. Now that the Mary Poppins teacup ride is off the table, you would think that could be a relatively low-cost replacement.
Ken, I could have sworn there was a Duckburg section of Mickey's Starland at the Magic Kingdom in the early '90s. I'll have to go look at our honeymoon scrapbook. It wasn't anything spectacular, but I seem to recall a statue of a Pilgrim duck in the town square.
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