Here's a pair of pretty nice early Frontierland views... at least, early enough to have that charming "rough around the edges" quality that I personally like so much.
There's a Keelboat (which one???) scooting along the river, past the fairly-new Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island - the Island had opened to guests less than a year before, and it still has a "new construction" look to it. The berm also looks rather bare, with some weedy trees and some rocks and shrubs - you can still clearly see power lines in the distance.
Next is this very nice look at the Friendly Indian Village, before the nearby trees had grown large enough to actually obscure some of the tepees at the edges. I'm noticing that wooden "arch" for the Disneyland Railroad to pass through - part of the structure seems to be holding that hillside in check, but I don't really "get" the point of the arch. Cinderella's Castle (from Storybook Land) and more power lines are easy to spot! Shiny Boy and his faithful pooch have not made their debut yet.
Do we know if Fort Wilderness opened with the rest of TSI? It sure looks like it's still under construction in that first pic. There is even some lumber piled up on that dock.
ReplyDeleteMajor, I think that second pic shows the train tunnel under construction. Since we can only see the arch and we can see the hillside through the opening, instead of darkness, I think only the arch is standing, and not the tunnel itself.....yet. This would be before the placement of the giant corrugated metal "tube" that made up the train tunnels. Once the tube is in place, I'm sure that is followed by the dumping of dirt over the entire thing. So this is a great.....and rare construction pic.
Thanks, Major!
In that first image, I think I see a couple construction workers in the lower right. Construction workers of the old west.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThese are both lovely images. I'm very impressed that Disneyland was ahead of the curve (as per usual) with its well-saturated installation of rural electrification in the area. (Can cable television be far behind-?)
Thanks, Major.
@ TM!-
ReplyDelete"Do we know if Fort Wilderness opened with the rest of TSI?"
'My sources' say "Fort Wilderness was one of the original features of Tom Sawyer Island." So - Mike - what say you-?
Major, now I'm wondering if the date is correct on these. Was the date handwritten, or is it the "stamped" date on the mount, from the developers. Not only does Fort Wilderness look like it's under construction, but shouldn't we be seeing the Skyway chalet in that second pic? I think the construction of that tunnel would be the preparation for building up the hill that the Skyway chalet would eventually sit upon. Even though there was a north/south cast member tunnel directly underneath the FL Skyway station, there was a east/west tunnel on the backside of that hill for the train to go through. If you were standing behind the Cinderella's Castle miniature, the two tunnels were right next to each other. (The north/south tunnel is still there. The east/west tunnel was kept, even after the train tracks were moved further north for the construction of IASW, and it remained there until the construction of Wookie World.)
ReplyDeleteI also like these early Disneyland photos. Especially the Frontierland pictures that, like you said, look so bare and undeveloped. It's like getting a peek 'backstage'.
ReplyDeleteThe teepees look brand spanking new. They're a darker, more saturated ochre color. Although, that could just be due to the camera setting or the slide processing. Besides the missing Shiny Boy and his dog, "Arf", I don't see any papeeses drying in the sun either. Nor the two deer, standing on their hind legs, doing the foxtrot. I wonder if the Indians ever walked over to Cindy's castle to see what that was all about? ;-p This is a really nice photo.
Lots of neat information from the Jr.Gs today! Thanks to everyone, and of course to Major P.
TOM SAWYER ISLAND did open with Fort Wilderness. There’s a possibility there was a soft opening where the fort may not have offered guest access . Obviously from this image neither the Fort or Island are guest ready.
ReplyDelete