The Magic Kingdom, November 1982

I'm continuing a look at some scans of Magic Kingdom scans from 1982. They're pretty nice, though some are a bit darker than I'd like. In this case it gives the photos an interesting quality, or at least I think so.

We'll start with two Skyway views looking down into the beautiful lagoon of Vulcania - the flooded volcanic crater where Captain Nemo has his lair. It's pretty cool - as long as the volcano stays dormant. 

How do you transition the ride's scenes from the sunlit lagoon to the "ocean depths"? How about entering a "cavern" hidden by a waterfall? Definitely! Somebody needs to turn up the spigot on the waterfall. From up here, we can see the roof of the "dark ride" portion.

Looking closer, we can see some freeloading gulls hanging out nearby - kind of a fun detail.
 

Florida's "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" debuted in 1980, so it was still fairly new. From this angle it appears that the bulk of the ride is at the crest of a low hill - or is that just an illusion? 

Here's the obligatory photo of Cinderella Castle, but it's a beauty. 

Here's the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. From what I understand, this is still a pretty popular attraction in Florida (tell me if I am mistaken). As of this writing, I thought I saw an announcement on Facebook that this attraction would be closing, but I'm not sure if that is correct.

And finally (for today), another Skyway view, this time looking down on the Grand Prix Raceway. With so much land, I would have expected the Florida "Autopia" to be massive and full of fun features, but the "raceway" concept actually limited the creativity - you're just on a big racetrack. Imagine if they'd made a rolling landscape with hills and forests and creeks. Or something! I'm sure I'm speaking heresy to those who love it just the way it is.

There will be one more blog post with November, 1982 photos!

A Pair From March, 1961

Before we get to the vintage Disneyland pix, let's wish GDB friend Andrew a very Happy Birthday! Sue B. is so good at keeping on top of these things (unlike me), and she sent along a photo from a vintage birthday party. Maybe from the 1980s? 1970s? We'll just have to guess. That white cake looks delicious, my mom used to make a white cake with white frosting and raspberry jam between the cake layers, it was one of my favorites. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE BOY TO THE LEFT!  This family is very lucky, they have an original Cezanne hanging on their wall, they probably got it at a church jumble sale for $2. Thank you, Sue, for providing this photo, and Andrew, I hope you have a wonderful day.

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Here's a nice pair of slide scans from March of 1962! Let's begin with this photo of a reduced version of the Disneyland Band, a mere eight guys instead of  the 20 (or so) that you might see marching down Main Street with Vesey Walker in the lead. There aren't many clues as to where the band is standing, but I believe that the queue to the left might be for the Midget Autopia. Or is it Storybook Land? I MUST KNOW!

It's always fun to get a look at the Submarine Voyage when the lagoon was drained for maintenance - you can observe so much that is normally hidden beneath the blue water. From this Skyway view we can see how they had to use some intense colors to cut through the blue, like the corals in yellow and vermillion ("vermillion" = "fancy red").  

Zooming in, there are some rocks (just above the rim of the gondola) where you can see that some mechanical critters were normally placed, maybe a sea turtle, or an octopus battling a shark.

 

Two From April 1973

Here's a pair of "OK" images from Fantasyland, circa 1973 - starting with a familiar view of It's a Small World's busy façade. There are more strollers than we typically see in old photos! Of course, IASW is a very "toddler-friendly" attraction, so it makes sense. Still, you can sense that the stroller takeover was beginning! 

Next, a photo taken from the Disneyland Railroad, which was at rest at Tomorrowland Station, presumably. I'm guessing that this is the "Holiday Green" set of cars, though they could be the "Holiday Blue" cars I assume. Both went into service in 1966.   

 

Merlin's Magic Shop & Adventureland Bazaar, August 1962

It seems like it's been a while since we've had a good look at Merlin's Magic Shop, located in the courtyard of Fantasyland, right near the castle. Unlike most other original 1955 Fantasyland buildings, Merlin's is beautifully detailed, with hand-hewn half-timbers, steep swooping rooflines, crooked rain gutters, odd little windows, multiple chimneys... it's pretty swell.

Zooming in on one window, we can just make out a few items; the gorilla mask, what looks like several Randotti skulls, and packaged novelty items (A joy buzzer? Soap that turns your hands black? Hot chewing gum?); I have no idea what that oversized key is for (as if it was for a human-sized toy robot). If you can identify anything else, let me know!

In the other window, there is not much to ID - I assume some of those colorful shapes are magic paraphernalia. There's a ventriloquist dummy that resembles Jerry Mahoney - it's that bright red hair.

"Help! I'm stuck in this magic shop!".

Next, we're outside the Bazaar in Adventureland, our photographer seems to have been very interested in the architectural details, and maybe some of the "stuff" on the upper story - metal pans, clay pots, and that saltwater taffy machine.

Fantasyland Scenes, March 1961

Here's a couple of "different" photos from Fantasyland. They're not amazing, but at this point I'll happily take different.

I never really thought about it, but I honestly can't remember any other photos in my collection taken from aboard a Storybook Land Canal Boat just as it was about to be eaten by Monstro. The woman has been swallowed by whales dozens of times, this is no big deal.

Just west of Monstro you'd find Skull Rock; here's another "different" view, an interesting side angle from the pathway that led back to the dining area behind the Pirate Ship. We get a good look at the profile (such as it is) of Skully, a bit of that dining area, and even Cinderella's Castle from Storybook Land.

Goofy and Pluto, August 1981

The walk-around characters of Disneyland are real rock stars, everyone sees them and wants a piece of them. They remember their innocent, early days, before they knew of the double-edged sword of celebrity. Well, boo-hoo! That's what I have to say about it. In fact, that's what I have to say about everything. 

There's Goofy, attracting hoards of fans outside the American Egg House (formerly the Hills Bros. Coffee House). Is the man with the pale shirt-and-tie behind him his "handler"? When a guest becomes particularly enthusiastic, he might have to use his electric cattle prod. Don't worry, they hardly feel it through their thick hides! Cattle, I mean; it hurts like heck if you're a hu-man.  

Nearby, a grown woman has knocked over three children so that she can have her photo taken with Pluto, one of the most huggable characters. Two boys to the left prefer lampposts anyway - always have, always will. There's a woman to the right...

... somehow she reminds me of Gladys Kravitz from "Bewitched"!

 

Semi-Snoozles

After careful analysis, I have determined that today's slide scans DO qualify as Snoozles™. But just barely! This first one is from August, 1962; we see a salty sea dog up in the rigging of the Columbia. He's whistling the Old Spice jingle, as was traditional in the 18th century. Based on this fellow's expression, he's spied a sea cow, but he's been at sea for so long that he thinks it's a beautiful mermaid. 

Next, it's July 1963, and we have this partially-obstructed view of the Submarine Lagoon. Why the photographer didn't lean forward so that the gondola safety bars were out of frame, I'll never know. I guess the brain edited them out. Still, if you just look within the upper "window", it's a nice look at the yellow Monorail, the last of the Mark IIs (introduced in 1961).  

 

Vintage Los Angeles

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have a nice picnic lunch with hotdogs, potato salad, and corn on the cob.

I decided to pay tribute to Vintage Los Angeles today - for the heck of it - with two nice old views. This first scan is from "sometime in the 50s", looking North on Vine Street in Hollywood (Sunset Blvd. is behind us). There's the old NBC Studio to our right. Other fun details, ABC/KXCA Studio to the left (CBS was just around the corner on Hollywood Boulevard), the Santa Fe offices, and if you look closely, you can see the sign for the Brown Derby above the gentleman in the white jacket. One interesting note... I frequent the "Vintage LA" Facebook page, and the woman who runs it owns the fraternal twin to this slide - taken moments apart, same cars on the curb, same clouds in the sky. Hers is better! Still, I'm happy to have this one.

Next is this unassuming photo of a place called the "Sidewalk Coffee Corner". Looking it up, I discovered that it was from the venerable Robinson's department store at Seventh, Hope, and Broadway. Robinson’s food service in its flagship store included the aforementioned roof-top tearoom, which was remodeled in 1955 and renamed The California Room. In 1954, a quick-service restaurant was built on the seventh floor and named The Round Robin, playing on its circular design reminiscent of a birdcage, and the store’s name as well.  The California Room and Round Robin were exported to several of the branch stores as well.  The downtown store also had a “Sidewalk Coffee Corner” for light snacks. I had to color-correct this one, with limited success, but I'm happy to have this rare interior from one of Vintage LA's important stores.

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EXTRA! EXTRA! I recently had lunch with my friend Mr. X, we met at the Smokehouse in Burbank. A good old-fashioned place with dark wood and red leatherette booths. X showed up carrying a long cardboard box. He then pulled out a genuine silkscreened attraction poster - America the Beautiful (circa 1967). And then he GAVE it to me! Incredible. It's one that I never owned. I can't even remember how long it's been since I acquired an attraction poster. Many years, for sure. Take a look, it's a beauty. I am very grateful to Mr. X for his generosity! And it's perfect for the 4th of July.

Mark VI Autopia, June 1967

There's just something about the classic Autopia; I love the various styles that Bob Gurr cooked up over the years (even though versions he dislike, such as the Mark V cars), I love the winding miniature highways, and the often-smiling faces on kids and adults alike. 

Big Sis is returning to the Autopia load area, based on her expression I'd say she had fun. I'm a little confused about the fact that we are seeing Mark VI cars in June of '67, since the familiar Mark VII cars were introduced this year - but we all know that date stamps can lie. Perhaps the photos were taken many month earlier. It's also a bit strange that the cars are slightly different shades of blue. Where are the yellows, the greens, the candy-apple reds? Looking in the distance we can see...

...Kid Sister, in her "Peter Max"-colored dress and proper white cardigan. She's not smiling, perhaps she had a premonition of the future, since it feels like the Autopia's days might be numbered. I hope I'm wrong! Hey look, a white car, what an exciting color variation!

The Mark VI cars always remind me a bit of manta rays.

Pack Mules and Gullywhumper, August 1962

I have a few nice slides from August, 1962, starting with this fun look at Pack Mules as they returned from their trip through Nature's Wonderland to the safety of Rainbow Ridge. A few lesser-seen buildings are visible here. This attraction looks SO appealing to me now - sure, the Mine Train was incredible, but you could see Nature's Wonderland from different angles, such as from a "natural arch" bridge.

Next, the Gullywhumper loads up with a new load of passengers. Sitting up top would be great, but how about the two crates at the bow? There's a gun for warding off rabid elk (don't worry, the gun didn't hurt them, it was filled with puffed rice).