Adventureland
Here are two more scans from a small lot that I am confident in dating to 1955 (based on details seen in some of the other slides). I'm always happy to get a good look at the Tahitian Lanai, located right on the banks of the Rivers of the World. The Tahitians built their peak-roofed structure with some interesting gingerbread architecture on the opposite side, as was the custom. The sloped bank at the bottom of the photo is pretty barren, but somebody has planted a few flowering plants so that it looks less like a construction site. Notice all of the chairs lined up so that guests could sit and watch the Jungle Cruise boats come and go.
Now we're aboard one of those crazy boats, and we are approaching Schweitzer Falls, named after Jimbo Schweitzer, who discovered mosquitoes. "These blood-sucking insects help to keep me slim!", Jimbo proclaimed as he released a box of them into North America. The hut near us might be small, but it is decorated beautifully. The shells of giant bivalves are the international symbol that means "Welcome, buddies!".
13 comments:
Major-
I'm certain you're correct on the dating of [at least] the 1st image, as they have yet to install the roof antenna so the CM's can watch The Mickey Mouse Club-!
(I wonder if Jimbo Schweitzer was somehow related to Bimbo Jones...)
Thanks, Major.
So crazy (but genius!) that this structure is half Tahitian on one side and half 1905-ish USA on the other. The sloped bank looks like the Floral Mickey on a bad day. So, I assume this photo was taken from a JC boat?
Also, nothing says "Welcome, buddies!" better than a few human skulls on poles, staring at us with their happy rictus grins. Hey! We can see the backside of water without actually going behind Schweitzer Falls! Let's just pretend we went behind the falls, and say we did. That palm tree is looking mighty scraggly here. It was probably plopped down there just a month or two ago.
Major, after you taking us through Adventureland I'm too excited and scared to go to sleep. Thanks a lot! ;-p
These do seem like really early DL shots. Once again, the first time I saw a photo of the Main St. and Adventureland structures sharing one roof and building, was in the "Disneyland: The First Quarter Century" book. I think the photo in that book might have even showed that building while it was under construction.
Is that a ristra of red chile peppers hanging in front of that hut in the second pic? Or did someone place strips of rhino jerky out in the sun to dry?
Thanks, Major!
Skulls on sticks! I'm sure all the little lads loved it...and since this was a time that they were probably real...all the better...and more horrifying. I still am confounded by why they are OK in some places, and not in others....but....I get it...but I don't. Now: lets discuss chili ristras...and general decor...you have the skulls...then: you have full on pre-HGTV Design on a Dime. That hut is not random...but it's so very random...like the backside of water, this looks like the "backside of hut". Which...sounds kind of GBD After Dark.....so: enough about backsides....or as we were allowed to call them: BTM's...onto the falls. I just listened to an older podcast interview with someone I worked with 8000 years ago when Walt first started spinning in his grave...and the moderator was saying that when he worked there that cantilevered rock split and fell into the water (?) in the early 90's.... Have I heard that before or am I hallucinating? Water is heavy, I wouldn't doubt it. Regarding the Tahitian Terrace to be....I'm jealous that those hibiscus and bougainvillea can be plopped into that soil and start growing. And I don't think it would have taken very long in this bank to grow in splendidly...along with the giant birds of paradise. I love the supports that they used, and this definitely speaks to '55. I had these plants in my yard in CA and they are really spectacular when they bloom. The lonely couple looks pretty put together as they all were in '55. Would it hurt anyone to not wear sweats and jammies in the essence of "comfort" these days? As Karl Lagerfeld said : "Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants." or "I’m very much down to earth, just not this earth." He has some other dilly's...also for GBDAD. Shots from '55 are wonderful...and there has to be so many more out there that we haven't even seen yet. Thanks Major!
That Tahitian/Victorian building is one of the best, if not THE best example of Disney architectural legerdemain. It’s still somewhat visible today and I always stop to admire it.
I don’t recall that little hut in that location at all. At first I thought it was the one across from the load dock, but the Falls location is new to me. I wonder how long it stayed there? Did it house backstage equipment like pumps or electrical panels? If this were still there today, the clam shells and baskets would be arranged in a “hidden Mickey” (yecch). The owners of those skulls had so much fun, they decided to “stick” around.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, I honestly don’t know, was an antenna installed for some sort of MMC connection? I’m afraid Jimbo and Bimbo are just good friends.
JG, it’s funny how that sloped bank has tiny plants spaced out in a barely-successful attempt to make it look less like they haven’t had time to make this spot beautiful. But I’ll bet a year later, with plenty of water and SoCal sunshine, it looked much better! Human skulls are a fun decoration that is now back in style. So “retro”. I’m glad we don’t have to go behind the waterfall yet, all that mist makes my long golden curls go limp. I’m sure you’re right about that palm tree being planted a month or two previously - if that!
TokyoMagic!, I’m sure I also first became aware of the building with the two styles in “Disneyland: The First Quarter Century”. It was one of those bits of trivia that I love so much about Disneyland! I can’t remember if the building was under construction, as I said fairly recently, I haven’t looked at my copy of that book in many years. Maybe I need to dig it out! And I’ve learned a new word (for me), “ristra”, I honestly don’t remember seeing that before! I admit that chile peppers seem kind of out of place in an Amazonian jungle, but perhaps I am wrong.
Bu, “Skulls on sicks! I’m sure all the little lads loved it”… I remember when I was about five years old, and “Creature Features” would start - part of the opening montage showed a skull sinking into goo. It scared the crap out of me! I think audiences just expected skulls in the jungle, what with all the headhunters. “BTMs”… what’s that?? Gosh, I never heard that a large piece of Schweitzer Falls broke off and fell into the water, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Disney is good at covering up things like that. Bougainvillea and hibiscus, they go crazy here, in fact bougainvillea is practically a weed once it gets established. Hibiscus thrive as long as they get plenty of water. Giant birds of paradise are cool, but I think the smaller versions are actually prettier. While I am lazy in many ways, I do not wear sweatpants out in the world, unless I am sick and need something from CVS. And luckily I hardly ever get sick! Knock wood.
JG, you get three and a half stars for using “legerdemain”. I feel like I *should* notice the two different architectural styles on that building, but I get distracted by all the other stuff to look at. Which I guess was the plan. Like you, I was wondering if that little hut hid equipment, but if so, why place it right in plain sight? Maybe there is a perfectly logical reason. I’d think that pumps would be noise, but perhaps not. You should hear our neighborhood when there’s a power outage, all the generators make an incredible racket!
Major-
"... was an antenna installed for some sort of MMC connection?"
How should I know-? That was merely an attempt at 'humor'. (But, if there was one, though, I should hope it would be better located to be out of view of guests' wandering eyes-!)
I assume Bu's reference to BTMs is simply shorthand for 'bottoms'. On the other hand - I have a more-colorful set of words for such occasions: 'jiggle factor'; and my fav: 'rumpus room'.
I just happen to have easy access to my copy of Disneyland: The First Quarter Century, and the aerial view of the 'Pavilion Restaurant', as it was originally referred to, was taken [during construction] looking from the Jungle Cruise towards Tomorrowland - making it impossible to discern two different exterior architectural styles. But, as JG pointed out, that in no way should stop anyone from referring to the Disney architectural legerdemain as seen in perhaps its finest example.
The hut across from the jungle cruise load dock and its accompanying outrigger was a budget attenpt to finish tge feel of a very active jungle river port with exploration , shipping and tourist vessels and natives coming into port to trade - this was in fitting with the original jungle Cruise loading dock and port.
I speculate that overtime there has been some misunderstanding of the real skulls used in the jungle Cruise and Pirates Caribbean, etc.. The staff shop has had many different skull and skeleton molds, kept on property used to create artificial skulls for Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and duplicated later for Tokyo Disneyland. I kinda have a feeling that no real skulls were ever actually used and that the misunderstanding is that real skulls were used to make the molds of the skulls used within the Disney parks . The skeletons and Pirates may be a bit more iffy. It seems that medical school skeletons were purchased by Disney for use in the parks, but the first ones had to be returned because they were male skeletons and they were too large and so female skeletons from medical supply companies were used but to my understanding at the mid 60s to late 60s the medical supply companies were already using plastic replicas for the medical school skeletons so I don’t think Disneyland really had very many actual skeletons. Almost all medical school skeletons came from India.. but again, I think there’s some lower/confusion with those real skull stories.
Similar to the misunderstanding that the actual 20,000 leagues organ is in the Disneyland haunted mansion, - The disconnect is that the weed prop makers used the 20,000 leagues Oregon to create two full organs one for Disneyland and one for Walt Disney World, but they were duplicates or copies of the organ used in 20,000 leagues under the sea. Obviously the mansion has completely different sets of pipes and woodworking. . Either way, if it was true that the Disneyland mansion had the actual film organ we still had to make a duplicate for Walt Disney World. Also, there are prop fabrication drawings for the organ and drawing sets for Disneyland at Walt Disney World. Mabey , I’m getting too cynical for all these fantastic Disney Park behind the scenes stories as I get older.
At WDI We used to laugh because every couple of years the press releases with feature the same kinds of stories. Oh, the truck in the Indiana Jones camp is the one from the actual film. Oh the fuselage from the great moments in the movie ride from Casablanca is the actual plain fuselage. Oh this is the organ from 20,000 leagues under the sea. Oh this is the original dish was found and was put in the parks. There’s a little too many of these exact same stories to be real.- but they sure get people excited once they read those press releases. As mark twain said : “ thats the truth whether it happened or not!”
Nanook, I feel like I’ve been surprised so many times that I can’t assume that somebody is joking! Ah, “BTMs” makes sense. I’m too pure and innocent to have figured it out. I thought for sure that there was a view of the Tahitian Lanai in “Disneyland: The First Quarter Century” taken from the Jungle side - more or less ground level. But as I said before, it’s been MANY years since I looked at that book, so I might be conflating it with something else. Maybe the Randy Bright book?
Mike Cozart, I think the hut seen here is different from the one seen from the dock. But I could be wrong! I agree, it is clear that at least some of the skulls at the park are copies. Looking at one photo, I’m assuming that they were individualized - some had less teeth, etc, but they still appeared to be from the same mold. I still think it’s weird that real skulls would be used in “Pirates”, it sounds like more trouble than it would be worth, when realistic plastic skulls were probably easily had. My mom bought me a real human skull at an antique shop in Wisconsin, I don’t know what the hell to do with it. It’s in a box and I kind of wish I could get rid of it. The top of the cranium was sawed off (but the “lid” is there), and there are lightbulbs in the eye sockets, somehow I imagine some teenager with the skull on a shelf. A friend of mine is a traveler, and he says there is a brisk trade in human skeletons and skulls in parts of India and Asia. It just seems disrespectful to me, but then again, the people are gone and this is just the remains. Of course there can’t be TWO 20K pipe organs, I don’t know if I’d ever heard anything about the Florida version, but I also don’t really study Magic Kingdom history very much. I know what you mean about the same stories emerging every few years - on Facebook I’ll see “Did you know that Steve Martin worked at the Magic Shop??” every five months or so. YES, I know! I think that a good story is often too hard for the park to resist, and too hard for some fans to resist too.
"I thought for sure that there was a view of the Tahitian Lanai in “Disneyland: The First Quarter Century” taken from the Jungle side - more or less ground level. But as I said before, it’s been MANY years since I looked at that book, so I might be conflating it with something else. Maybe the Randy Bright book?"
Major and Nanook, I really thought that was the book where I had seen the "half and half" architecture photo. After reading Nanook's comment, I was also wondering if maybe it was actually Randy Bright's book that I was thinking of. Either way, I think it was in a book that came out in the 1980s.
Pay no attention to the comment regarding which publication has the image in question. Turns out BOTH Disneyland: The First Quarter Century and The First Thirty Years have the image that captures [at ground level] both sides of the building.
TM!-
See the reply to myself that corrects my original pronouncement - yes both editions (25th & 30th) have the image in question.
"Pay no attention to the comment regarding which publication has the image in question. Turns out BOTH Disneyland: The First Quarter Century and The First Thirty Years have the image that captures [at ground level] both sides of the building."
Thanks, Nanook! You had me thinking that I was losing my marbles! And I need all of my marbles! ;-)
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