Two From November 28, 1973
I'm using up the last two scans from November 28, 1973. Let's start with a view shot from the Monorail as it zoomed shooshingly passed the entry to the park, allowing a nice look at the Mickey Mouse floral portrait, and a train waiting at the station. A loudspeaker is on top of that structure, presumably pumping out a selection of Disney melodies.
10 comments:
Major-
"A loudspeaker is on top of that structure, presumably pumping out a selection of Disney melodies".
You knew I'd add my two cents about that speaker... It's most-likely our 'ol friend, the Electro-Voice 848A ‘CDP’ Compound Diffraction Projector - a very-popular, weatherproof, outdoor 'horn' designed for high-efficiency paging and musical sound reinforcement.
Gotta love the continued use of the chain link fencing at the ticketing area, some 18 years after opening.
Thanks, Major.
Pretty darn clear shot from the Monorail. Maybe the photographer moved the camera slightly to compensate for the movement of the Monorail. Orrrr, Maybe he used a fast shutter speed. Orrrr, maybe the Monorail stopped for a few seconds to let a mama duck and her ducklings to get clear of the beamway. (Little did the photographer know that the ducks were actually AEDs, and a catastrophic explosion was averted). Nice photo. We rarely get this kind of view, at least, not this clear.
Wow, this is a really nice photo! So crisp and clear and colorful. A good "you are there" photo. I am wondering though, why the composition is off center. The little girl in the bottom of the pic is doing her best to push the edge of the photo more to the left, so as to get the entire Rocket Jets into the frame. A mighty effort, but to no avail. Why would anybody want to get rid of this version of Tomorrowland?!?
Better than average pictures, Major. Thanks.
Not only is the Space Bar not open, as Major pointed out, but there are at least 3 empty Rocket Jets (probably more) that are just "hovering" low, because that is what they did if you didn't pull up on the control knob. The 28th would have been a Wednesday, and I believe once Thanksgiving Weekend was over, things would have been back to the "off season".......back then, anyway. Not today, of course!
Thank you, Major!
Why oh why did they ever change the practically-perfect-in-every-way original colors of Main Street Station?
These are such nice, clear, well-composed images. I’m enjoying studying the details of the main street station and the entry gates. Those flat roofs don’t look like they would drain very well, but maybe that’s not a problem since there is so little rain. That speaker looks like it is casually tossed up there, no fastening or bracing required. I’m wondering about the white square gadget, too small to be an access scuttle, which wouldn’t be needed anyway, just lean the ladder against the roof edge? Nor a vent, since there’s no attic to vent?
Photo 2 is very fine indeed, always a pleasure to see this multi-story tower in full function. What a concept! And four trash cans in a relatively narrow field of view. Not only is the World of Tomorrow a World on the Move, it’s squeaky clean too. And look at what we got instead. Sigh.
Thanks Major, for these just-short-of-postcard-worthy views.
JG
I always through that Main Street Station had two brick chimneys on the center section roof, but it appears those were a much-later addition--1990s perhaps? Some more-current photos on Davelandweb show them.
Nanook, yes, I definitely expected an ID on that speaker! I’m so proud of you ;-)
JB, it really is kind of amazing that I see NO motion blur in that Monorail shot. Even compensating by moving the camera doesn’t seem like it would work that well, but the proof is in the pudding. Whatever that means. I didn’t think about ducks on the beamway, something that all Monorail pilots have nightmares about. Counseling is recommended. I wish all of my slides were as bright and clear as these, that second view is from a “not usual” angle, and I love that the rockets were in flight.
TokyoMagic!, my mom rode the Astro Orbiter with my 8 year-old niece years ago, my niece was at the controls. Her rocket never went up high! Afterwards she said that she didn’t know that she could do it. ???
Steve DeGaetano, I agree with you!
JG, maybe those roofs looked flat but actually had a teensy slope? Yeah, probably not. I somehow doubt that there was piped-in music in the early days of the park, so that loudspeaker had to be sort of hidden - but they didn’t count on somebody taking a picture of it from the Monorail! No idea about that sqeuare thingy, as you said, there’s no need to vent anything, and somebody could easily climb a ladder to reach the roof for maintenance. I love the old Rocket Jets/Peoplemover “tower” so much, every time I see it at the park it makes me a little sad (and mad).
Major yes, "flat" roofs with modern materials (post-WWII) do have a minimal slope. Building code requires 1/4 inch per foot, but even now, this is often ignored.
Before we knew that coal tar was poisonous, it was used as roofing material and would resist leaks even at dead-flat slopes.
"Flat" terminology is still used to describe roofs with minimal slope. "Steep" roofs begin now at 1-1/2 inch per foot as that is the maximum that most asphalt bitumen roofs can be installed without sliding off the roof and the minimum slope that most shingles and tiles can endure.
JG
WiththeSpaceBaroutofservicethingsmusthavebeenajumbledmessalloverTomorrowlandthatday.
^ Chuck, it took me a moment…but I “got it”!
:oD
Thanks, Major.
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