Friday, November 03, 2006

Frontierland Entrance & Fowler's Harbor



It's Frontierland Friday! First up is a photo from just inside the stockade at the entrance to Frontierland. The still-shiny-and-new Matterhorn looms in the distance while folks mill about...a lot of them seem to be looking over towards the right edge of the picture. What the heck is over there? The bathrooms? Drinking fountains? Free balloons? I'm also wondering what that structure is to the left (the wooden contraption with a bundle on top of it, sticking out towards us from the upper level of the stockade). No idea at all, me not so smart!

Next up is a nice, fairly early shot of Fowler's Harbor, named after Admiral Joe Harbor. Hey-yo! OK, I basically swiped that joke from the Jungle Cruise. Anyway, it was named after Admiral Joe Fowler, a man who was instrumental in the building of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. And he could dance the Turkey Trot like nobody else, even better than me!

It's pretty cool the way the Disney designers made a drydock - something pretty mundane - and turned it into a picturesque (if often overlooked) element on the river. The ramshackle, crooked buildings makes me think of Popeye's Sweethaven. One of the Keelboats is sitting unused way to the left, and above that you can see the tunnel entrance into the Indian Village.

3 comments:

Matterhorn1959 said...

I think the structure is a catapult with a rock sitting on it. Put there to repel those marauding Indians. Also a great view of Fowlers Harbor, I like that it is a close view. You are right in saying the designers took something that could be very ugly and mundane and themed it nicely.

Merlinsguy said...

The rocky thing is actually a verticaly swinging gate. There was a side entrance there, and the rock was a balance that theoretically - or actually - held the gate open.

William Kelley said...

I believe the tunnel on the left side of the photo is the train tunnel - you can see the black smoke residue at its apex. You can see the rocky top of the human tunnel to Indian Village in the center of the photo.

I've linked these photos in before, but can't help myself again after seeing Fowler's Harbor. This is the old Harbor with trees cut just at the start of Splash Mountain construction:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojave33/150103282/in/set-72057594140554299/

And then a month later minus all buildings and hills:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojave33/150103285/in/set-72057594140554299/