The El Dorado Hotel, where the beds are made of solid gold! I feel sorry for all of you folks sleeping on soft, comfortable mattresses made of memory-foam.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Li'l Mining Town, 1975
The Rainbow Ridge hardware store has almost everything you could want to make life easier on the frontier. But do they have a potato ricer? Huh? Do they? No! And what about a gelato maker? Or a pocket fisherman? I'm going to write an angry letter to the proprietor. Angry letters are my specialty!
The El Dorado Hotel, where the beds are made of solid gold! I feel sorry for all of you folks sleeping on soft, comfortable mattresses made of memory-foam.
The El Dorado Hotel, where the beds are made of solid gold! I feel sorry for all of you folks sleeping on soft, comfortable mattresses made of memory-foam.
Those buildings are *so* adorable. Both the El Dorado and Mother Murphy Meals next door. MMM seats about two would you say?
ReplyDelete"NICE BEDS! Sheets 5¢ extra." Bed of Solid Gold?
Might clash with my complexion.
...and at 1975 it wouldn't be long before much would fall and the rest be relocated in the change from Nature's Wonderland to Big Thunder.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah Colt's Hardware Store has a front porch stacked with such a variety of items that look so "hardware/general store"-esqe - and the door open...it's one of the many reasons Rainbow Ridge really seemed like a town and not just a set.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I bet having breakfast and a cup of coffee on the second story balcony was a wonderful experience. Oh, if only......
ReplyDeletesuch attention to detail, i have always really loved that about Magic Kingdom.
ReplyDeletewonder who Jeremiah Colt might have been. i looked up the name but didnt find any connection to someone by that name with Disney.
i would like 1 room, please, and will definitely spring for sheets!
thanks for the pine trees, David :-D
Great images of the little mining town of Rainbow Ridge.
ReplyDeleteI think those are possibly the best photos I have ever seen of this location! So clear, so cool!
ReplyDeleteMajor, I bet you invented Angry Birds, didn't you?
What Connie said. These are awesome!
ReplyDeleteAnyone have any idea what the sign or poster at the front right corner of the El Dorado says?
Chiana's second comment has me thinking.....it's too bad that ALL of Rainbow Ridge couldn't have been saved. If Big Thunder HAD to be built, couldn't it have just been built behind Rainbow Ridge and couldn't the loading for Big Thunder have taken place in the former loading area for the old mine trains? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteChiana, those are adorable buildings. I want to hug them and brush their hair!
ReplyDeleteDebbie V, I'm wondering if all of those items are custom-made, shrunk-down versions of the full sized versions. Those saws look mighty stumpy. And look at those cute li'l brooms!
Thufer, that second-story balcony is pretty dinky... I don't think you'd be enjoying it much.
Nancy, my guess is that Jeremiah Colt just had a nice western sound to it (because of the Colt revolver). And I'm glad you enjoyed the pine trees!
Matterhorn, these are a bit overexposed, but I never tire of looking at Rainbow Ridge.
Connie, I've never even played Angry Birds, but I've eaten a few.
Chuck, I have some images of *some* of the Rainbow Ridge signs, but that one is unfamiliar. Kind of looks like a woman?
TM!, I know what you mean. But the Big Thunder version is close enough for me (heresy, I know). I miss Nature's Wonderland so much that, once it was gone, I was dead inside! ;-)
Beautiful shots, thank you.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite pieces of old Disneyland, most still intact, just harder to see.
@Thufer. My guess is that the cornice of the second floor is about the height of your shoulder. Still, you are right, Coffee in the sun there would be just fine.
JG
The signs and posters tacked on the Rainbow Ridge buildings were copies of vintage advertisements. They were usually laminated to last longer. I bought several of these on eBay, including 2 copies of this sign. It has a woman holding a fan with the text:
ReplyDeleteEverlasting Love-Knots
Securely Tied By
Parson Silvertongue,
Cathedral Porch
Bluebeardtown.
The sign is essentially square, 7 inches wide and 7 5/8 inches tall.
I probably have a scan on my other computer if it is of further interest.
James
Hey James, thank you for the info about the signs! Are the examples that you own unused, or were they taken down for replacement? I would imagine that they would get faded in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteMost of these seem to be part of a supply to replace ones that had been used. A couple seem to have thumb tack or tape on them to suggest that they had been installed.
ReplyDeleteI note that some of these are still used in the current town on Big Thunder.
I noticed a couple others that I recognize from those I purchased. For example, there's a "wanted" poster which is one of two designs we have. The sign with the eagle at the top is also one we have.
The amount of fading depends a lot on the type of ink used (remember how quickly ToonTown faded when they used artificial pigments in the paints?) and the exposure to light (especially UV).
James