Lagoon & Mountain
I have a small batch of 120-format slides that leave something to be desired; usually the larger size means that you also get a sharper image, but these are a bit soft. And the color is weird! But all in all they're still OK, really.
This first one is oddly-composed - the photographer didn't point the camera at the passing monorail or nuclear submarine, but more toward the Monorail station in the distance. These were undated, but one of the slide shows the Douglas Moonliner, and the round Skyway gondolas are in use, so we can narrow them down to between 1962 (when Douglas took over from TWA) and 1965 (when the rectangular gondolas came into use).
This next one is not too bad; the Matterhorn really looms over the guests, including Marcello Mastroianni in the foreground. He was taking a break from Fellini movies!
11 comments:
Major-
I'll take your word the "Douglas Moonliner" is shown in 'one of the slides'... but in the meantime, we can narrow-down the 1st image to [probably] late 1964/early 1965, as we can see the upper floors of Wilbur Clark's Crest Hotel under construction, peeking-in to the right of the Skyway tower. (It opened on August 1, 1965).
Thanks, Major.
Monorail Tangerine is hiding behind that station. :op
The subject of that 2nd image is obviously that tree in the center, of all things.
Two Monorails, a Sub (or two), and a gaggle of gondolas. A little bit of everything! There's a tall crane on the right. What would be going on there? Yes, the color is weird. The yellows, oranges and reds are overly vibrant. But that does lend a definite 'look' to the photo.
Wow, nice picture! Even the tree, dead center, somehow adds to the photo rather than distracts. I don't see Fudgie anywhere; he must be taking a 'me' day. I also don't see any mountain climbers, no surprise there. It's been a while since we've seen Fritz and his Alpine brothers. The picture wouldn't be nearly as interesting without the Skyway buckets. Are you sure Marcello Mastroianni isn't Robert De Niro?
Lagoon and Mountain. Moose and Squirrel. Donny and Marie. Oh sorry, my mind started to wander there for a sec. ice photos, Major. Thanks.
@ JB-
"There's a tall crane on the right. What would be going on there?"
Tall crane = Crest Hotel construction.
[JB searches his cluttered computer desk for the missing "N" that fell off the word "Nice" from his comment, above.]
Thanks, Nanook!
JB and Nanook, I ran the first pic through "A.I." and it told me the crane is there for the construction of Space Mountain. I disagree. I think it's the early stages of construction for the Tower of Terror. Or Star Wars Land.
Why on earth did Disneyland get rid of it's Skyway gondola-eating tree?
This photo 2 is very dramatic with the gushing waterfall and looming tree. The number d306 tells me that the nuclear sub is the George Washington.
In the first photo, the Buckets are parallel and if you didn't know better you might think they are racing.
Thanks, Major, for the trip to early Tomorrowland.
Zach
These are so oddly framed that I wonder if the camera had an offset viewfinder? Imagine missing framing that red monorail? I do like the pink rocks at the pylon bases. Such luck that those little islands occur just where the pylons needed to be. Pylons.
Well-dressed man in a gray suit is enjoying his day under the round buckets. Later he will go off to count the coins in the wishing well. I think we can narrow the time frame even further since the square buckets began appearing in mid-summer 1965, so before then.
Unusual views today. Thank you Major!
JG
Nanook, I’ll take your word the “Douglas Moonliner is shown… ha ha, I worded that poorly. The Moonliner is show in one of the slides that is in the lot, but not in today’s pix! Good eye on the Crest Hotel construction, I didn’t even notice it.
Lou and Sue, I think the Crest Hotel is the “Monorail Tangerine”!
JB, that crane was there for the construction of “Annoying Moments With Mr. Lincoln”, one of the least-popular Disneyland attractions. Abe cleared his throat a LOT. Fudgie had taken a long “vacation” at a nearby sanatorium, which explains his absence. He was eventually seen in public, tanned and well-rested. Hey! I think I know Marcello Mastroianni. After all, we made three movies together, one with Catharine Deneuve (hubba hubba). I see that you are a huge fan of Donny and Marie too!
Nanook, well, I guess you’re right, it might not be “Annoying Moments With Mr. Lincoln”.
JB, sometimes letters just go missing, possibly to the Bermuda Triangle.
TokyoMagic!, did AI really tell you that the crane was there for Space Mountain?? I’ve been playing around with various AI programs hoping to sharpen up some soft images, and so far the results have been unacceptable. Distant signs or license plates turn into hieroglyphics. I was thinking that tree might have been the one that some guy “fell” into, but I believe that tree was in Fantasyland.
zach, I do miss those old waterfalls that had the spigot turned up to “11”. Now most are a mere trickle in comparison. At “Freedomland USA” (and I believe at the 1964 World’s Fair) they did have four “Sky Ride” cables, two in each direction, so perhaps it sometimes felt like two gondolas were racing.
JG, I think the “offset viewfinder” is a likely suspect. I was just reviewing a box of slides that I haven’t scanned, and there is a batch that is pretty bad, all photos are 80% sky. It’s a good thing those pink rocks just happened to be right where they needed to put those pylons. Sometimes you just get lucky. I hope Marcello gets to spend some time with Anita Ekberg!
BTW - yesterday’s Disneyland Tour Guide brochure was used for a VERY VERY LONG TIME! My “newest” example is 1982 ….im sure it have to be completely overhauled when the tickets were disbanded. But even for 1982 the look of the brochure and its graphics is very dated. Surprising for Disneyland that seemed to update things like that pretty frequently.
Mike Cozart, that makes sense, in a way there’s no reason to change it except that they might want to include the latest attractions. But I’m sure the average guest didn’t really pay attention to such things. I think I first saw one of these on the Matterhorn1959 blog.
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