Two Leftuggies™
Here are two nice Leftuggies™ (or maybe they are Randos)? We'll begin with this March 1961 view looking down Main Street. There's nothing especially unique about this photo, other than the fact that it is very pretty and is full of vintage Main Street goodness. And glutamates. I don't like the way those people are walking toward the station. It's almost as if they are thinking about leaving! I will accept this, but only if they are all suffering from dengue fever. Which is possible if they went on the Jungle Cruise, where mosquito-borne diseases are common. Several guests are about to be flattened by a Horseless Carriage - they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Next is this wonderful from March, 1982. After an hour of calculations (and plenty of frustrated crying), I determined that this was 21 years after the first photo was taken. We've got the beautiful New Tomorrowland in front of us, with the Rocket Jets and Peoplemover, but we get the added bonus of Space Mountain, which had debuted about five years earlier. Fabulous!
8 comments:
Major-
Hey, look... a 'New' Tomorrowland where ALL the parts work-! although the platform above the gantry elevators is free for the need for follow spots.
Thanks, Major.
I wonder if in the early days of the park, the Horseless Carriage drivers were allowed to speed up, when people crossed the street in front of them?
In the second pic, we get a nice view of the Tower of Terror. Okay, it's actually the Inn at the Park, but there is some foreshadowing taking place. The Disney peeps ended up putting the Tower of Terror in a position, where it is visible in Disneyland, from ground level, as guests walk between the Matterhorn and the Sub Lagoon. Bad show! But management had already stopped caring about sight lines and themeing at that point.
Thanks for the serving of Leftuggies, Major!
I should have been more clear, the Tower of Terror/Guardians whatever building is visible today, in the same general area on the horizon, as that hotel.
Wow, this is a great picture! Lots of color. Lots of detail. And like yesterday's photos, excellent lighting! That streaky sky adds 20 points to the picture!
Another great picture! [JB wipes a tear from his cheek]. We get to see into the 'guts' of the PeopleMover loading platform. The Rockets are a-flyin', the PeopleMover is a-glidin', Space Mountain is... well... it's just sittin' there; but that's enough! It's Space Mountain!
These are especially scrumptious Leftuggies, Major. I saved both of these pics.
I think that group of people are just going to get a nice, refreshing Coke! Or maybe gawk at the bi-colored lightbulb. Or maybe I'm not looking at the same people you are, Major, in which case, nevermind!
Ah Tomorrowland in all it's spinny glory! Ok, very few things actually spun, but they have that "look" to them. Now it seems more sitty-around than anything. The future has gotten lazy, I fear.
A tuggie, a rando....well...these could be a combo platter. The trees without scale lining Main Street baffle me...as this is an older photo, and the trees in the 80's still were about the same size, albeit a bit thicker....before they were all slaughtered. Tomorrowland without Rocket Jets, PeopleMovers and Coke Terrace is not Tomorrowland at all. This world on the move became a world of stagnation and head scratching. Even the entrance to Space Mountain is strange and unbecoming today....oh: I get it...the lines and crowds and what not...but it's like "let's go to Captain Eo and Space Place entrance" to one of the best rides in the park....underwhelming....The best queue in the park in my opinion is Indy: where they took this rather narrow space, and celebrated it's narrowness and out of the way-ness. Although the whole Lucas IP has always been odd to me, despite who owns what....I do enjoy the attraction and it's very well done...and the entry queue is thoughtful, and shaded. Back to the Inn At The Park: a Wrather production. I've mentioned I stayed there for NYE 1979...and now it's a Sheraton. These older hotels tend to have larger rooms or at least feel larger due to floor to ceiling windows....I don't mind them as long as they've been updated. From my memory the Inn At The Park needed updating in 1979. Wrathers decor tended to lean toward the traditional and functional: lot's of laminated wood surfaces and quilted bedspreads: I'm way to picky for my own good! Thanks Major!
Major, these are wonderful photos, thank you!
The Main Street view is fun because it’s the reverse of the usual view, AND I can almost see the split painted lightbulb. I’m telling myself I can at least. Four trash cans too!
But Tomorrowland, “A World On The Move”, with the Inn At The Park and the power lines! Always enjoyed the round skylights over Tomorrowland Terrace, and that too-flat-to-be-true flat roof. Even a silver trash can or two.
Thanks for the good stuff today!
JG
Nanook, I need a follow spot on me at all times so that people realize how important I am.
TokyoMagic!, not only were Horseless Carriage drivers allowed to speed up, they were encouraged to do so. Walt remembered that this is how it was when he was a boy, and he wanted an authentic experience for his beloved guests. I have to admit, I don’t ever remember noticing the Tower of Terror being visible from inside Disneyland, I’m probably too distracted by the Subs and the lagoon. I’ll have to look for it the next time I go (hopefully in the next few months!).
TokyoMagic!, I understood what you meant!
JB, I do like a good streaky sky. When I pass on to “beyond”, I want my epitaph to read: Here lies Major Pepperidge: He loved a good streaky sky”. I also love guts, especially Peoplemover guts.
Stu29573, I don’t want a refreshing Coke, I want a warm, flat Coke. The customer is always right! Until I learn otherwise, I’m under the assumption that the bi-colored bulb story was invented sometime in the 1990s. That’s right, I’ll say anything that’s controversial! I do miss that Tomorrowland, with the Peoplemover, Rocket Jets, and Skyway (from which the photo was taken).
Bu, I wonder if there is some sort of set schedule for tree replacement on Main Street? “Every 15 years”? Or do they just look and decide “It’s time”, which is how I do my haircuts? Nobody can call today’s Tomorrowland a “World on the Move”, sadly. The entrance to Space Mountain is so strange, the way the queue zigs and zags, moves inside, back outside (etc); it does the job but is not very interesting. They put some spaceships and other props to look at, but sometimes you can be stuck looking at them for a LONG time. I do like Indy’s queue, and sometimes regret that I now miss a lot of the details - not that I love waiting in long lines. So somehow Disney did not acquire the Inn at the Park? Seems surprising, considering that they bought the actual Disneyland Hotel from the Wrather family. I’ll bet they regret it now.
JG, I’m going to ask a very knowledgeable friend (yes, the Mysterious Benefactor himself) if he knows when the story about the bi-colored bulb started. Maybe one of the ladies whose heels sunk into the asphalt on opening day was trying to deliver that bulb to the Coke Corner? “Silver trash can” - Shakespeare thought that those three words were among the most beautiful in the English language.
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