Substravaganza
I love the old Submarine Voyage, and have shared plenty of photos of gray subs gliding through the blue lagoon in Tomorrowland; but I admit that such photos can sometimes be a little dull. So I'm posting more of them to make up for it.
This first one is from July 1972, and we're looking down on the Seawolf from a Skyway gondola. You know, my nickname in college was "Seawolf". Or was it "Dorkweed"? I forget.
This next one is from a decade earlier (January, 1962), not that you can tell by looking. It's kind of a pretty picture, allowing us a bit of a view down into the coral reef.
The next two are from June 1967, with American patriot Ethan Allen's sub passing by. He added subwoofers and fuzzy dice, and the whole interior was lined with pink "fun fur"; Ethan had a very specific aesthetic.
I wish he wouldn't blast his rap music so much, but part of me admires his joie de vivre!
I hope you have enjoyed this SUBSTRAVAGANZA!
15 comments:
Major-
This was indeed a Substravaganza, featuring some beautiful images-! It will sorely be missed when [if-?] it's gone.
"You know, my nickname in college was "Seawolf". Or was it "Dorkweed"? I forget."
Everyone always called you "Dorkweed." But not to worry... it'll be our little secret-!
Thanks, Major.
Pretty lagoon pics.
Pylons!
Dorkweed. LOL (Where do you come up with this stuff, Major??)
Ah, now this is the Sub Lagoon as it should be! With crystal clear, glassy, cerulean water. Looks like some vandals emptied a few boxes of Trix cereal at the bases of the Pylons... or maybe it was Fruity Pebbles.
2) I love the rainbow coloring in the bottom half of the pic, as well as the ripples from the passing Sub. Looks like some other vandals dumped a bunch of Grape Nuts around the bases of the Pylons here.
3) Sounds like Ethan Allen's Sub decor was a bit like Capt. Nemo's salon interior... only different. Pink upholstery instead of red, fun fur instead of velvet, but essentially the same. This scan is really clear!
4) The similarities between Ethan Allen and Capt. Nemo continues: Ethan blasts his rap music while Nemo blasts his pipe organ! (I wonder if he knows any other tunes besides Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.)
I can hear the rumbling, gurgling put-put of the diesel engines and smell the fumes inside the cabins. Maybe the Subs should be converted to electric vehicles like the Autopia. Although they probably won't exist in a few years anyway.
Sue, "(Where do you come up with this stuff, Major??)". It's easy when you're a Dorkweed!
Thanks, Dor... Major.
JB, the Subs were converted to electric when Nemo moved into the Lagoon. They now run on batteries. Five hundred "D" size batteries, which have to be changed after every "voyage."
These are some very nice Sub pics, Major! Thanks!
I never knew the subs were sponsored by a furniture maker. Not sure I get the connection, but Ethan Allen must have seen a market.
Hey, "Dorkweed" is a better nickname than "Who's That?" "Substravaganza" is my new favorite word. And now I'm really craving a sub for lunch, with lots of pickles and mayo. JB, sounds like Ethan Allen is Captain Nemo's Dad, and Nemo is trying to rebel but just ending up being the same. Tale as old as time, under the sea. TM, for the next update, they're powering the subs with mules and tow ropes, like canal boats. That's real renewable energy!
Today's pictures are really clear and gorgeous and sunny, the next best thing to a real ride. Thanks, Maj!
Sea wolf? See wolf! Wolf wolf. Odd name for a sub, almost sounds like a u-boat.
Pic 2 is really beautiful, looks like a painting with the swirling colors in the water.
In addition to the improvements noted, Ethan’s sub had all-mahogany seats. Another odd name for a sub, since USN subs are all named for fish.
Beautiful pics today! Thank you Major!
JG
Nanook, I didn’t know you went to the Sorbonne too! We must have gone different years.
Lou and Sue, I feel like I didn’t invent “dorkweed”, but if I did, I want money money money.
JB, when the lagoon is at its peak, it should look like the same blue as a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin. You know how much I love to drink! Walt made a deal with Post Cereals, so there is a mixture of Fruity Pebbles and Grape Nuts. What the hell is a grape nut, anyway? Maybe I don’t wanna know. I’m sure Ethan Allen and Captain Nemo would have been friends, in fact maybe Nemo wouldn’t have been so cranky if he’d had a pal. An electric submarine? I will call my pal Elon! He’ll get right on it.
TokyoMagic!, ha, I had a radio when I was a kid, it took 8 “D” cells. Dang that thing was heavy, and my dad would get mad because it cost so much to put new batteries in it.
Steve DeGaetano, not many people know that nuclear submarines in the 1960s had delicate wooden furniture inside.
Melissa, I’m still leaning toward “Seawolf”, I’m sure that’s what everyone called me, because I was so cool. I stood by the juke box and could make a song play just by hitting the machine “just so”. Or was that The Fonz? Hmmm. I love a good submarine sammich, just not from Subway. Don’t go there.
JG, “Where wolf?”. “There! THERE wolf!”. A classic. Remember, Disneyland had the “George Washington” and the “Patrick Henry”, so they really broke with tradition. They should have had the “Curly Joe DeRita”, nobody loved him, but that’s why he needed a submarine.
Major, I'm guessing that Grape Nuts got it's name because the little bits of cereal look like the seeds inside grapes. Do they even sell grapes with seeds in them anymore? I haven't seen them in years. Not that I'm complaining, the seeds were annoying!
I don't know if anyone's growing commercial grapes with seeds in any quantities anymore, but the wild grapes that grew in the woods on the family compound had seeds that looked just like Grape-Nuts! The grapes were so delicious, and so much more flavorful than storebought grapes, but you really had to climb to get to the good ones. Whereas you could gorge yourself on wild blueberries and blackberries just by letting yourself get scratched up a little. Those were the days. Anyway...
The Kraken, by Ethan Allan Poe
Once upon a midday rainless, while I set off, weak and brainless,
Fantasyland's bright track-filled blue lagoon to re-explore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of mermaids gently rapping upon porthole number four.
“’Tis some latex gal,” I muttered, “tapping down at porthole four—
Only this and nothing more.”
I remember with a sigh, it was in the hot July;
And each separate dying fly wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished for Friday; —vainly I had sought to tidy
Up my dirty socks and nighties —laundry's not my favorite chore—
The rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Used to sort my sweater drawer.
Open here the porthole shattered, when, with many a splash and splatter,
In there reached a Kraken's tentacle and swept both aft and fore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a note on th'organ played he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, groped toward my chamber door
Grabbed and broke the bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
Then the door from off its hinges tore.
And the Kraken, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
With one tentacle a-sticking, stuck inside of porthole four.
And his eyeball still is eyeing, but my laundry isn't drying,
And the mermaids are a-crying, 'cause I guess they knew Lenore;
And my soul from out among the flies that lie dead on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
Melissa, Poe would doff his hat to your work if he could.
@ Melissa-
Sigh....
TM, for the next update, they're powering the subs with mules and tow ropes, like canal boats. That's real renewable energy!
Melissa, they should have updated them decades ago. They could have paid Jack LaLanne to tow the subs with his teeth! Or Lillian Disney. I bet she would have done it for free.
Melissa,
Thanks to you and Lenore,
you hath raised our IQs
by ten, or more!
This post was a bit overwhelming for me....it's taken me 24 hours to "take it in" and I'm still overwhelmed....what I will say is this: wow...the water is so clear...this is sorcery...I work like a dog to keep 30K gallons KIND of clear....and one rain: screws it all up....leaves, etc etc.....why is it we never see nary a leaf in this giant pool? And how much bromine/chlorine.....etc etc etc....does it take? This is an expensive attraction to maintain....it's super cool...and in 1959 it must have been a sensation....now: if they did this today...and put it in Tomorrowland....would we all have something to say about it? Like: subs aren't TOMORROW!! Now: if it was some kind of Bob Gurr space age looking sub: ok....with like aliens and things in the water...going to Mars...kind of Star Tours under water....hmmm....just saying...with the "new Tomorrowland" on it's way...(I will believe it when I see it) I'm not sure I see a sub for 100 miles or more....Thanks Major.
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