Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Special Guest Photos, Part Two

Today I have the second batch of pictures, generously shared with all of us by Doug! See yesterday's photos if you missed the first part.

Doug and his brother John barely make it into this photo of Town Square; looks to be around high noon. Both boys already have their souvenir hats on, so presumably they've been at the park for a while at this point.


Two Indian Dancers are dressed as eagles. Or are they eagles dressed as Indians?!?! I just blew your mind. In the background is the wonderful "Mark W". The whu?? Presumably the steamboat was being repainted (all those years on the frontier are tough on paint), and they hadn't finished adding the name yet.


And finally, here's a nice view of the Rivers of America, with the Columbia and an Indian canoe. I can't remember the last time I saw the Columbia and the Mark Twain running at the same time, but of course Walt Disney was still around in 1965, and he wanted his river to be busy.


Once again, MANY THANKS to Doug for sharing his family photos with us!

9 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

I always liked that little sliver of the Matterhorn that is visible between the Main St. buildings as soon as you enter Town Square!

Alonzo P Hawk said...

It looks like the Mark W river boat is in need of some stenciling pronto.

Snow White Archive said...

Love the eagle dance photo with the Mark W.

K. Martinez said...

TokyoMagic!, I like the view of the Matterhorn peak above the Main Street buildings too.

Major, I've seen the Mark Twain and Columbia open at the same time when I was there about five years ago at the peak of summer. What I haven’t seen is the Mark Twain open for evening trips around the river since Fantasmic opened. Do they even have rides on the Riverboat at night anymore?

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, isn't it funny how that mountain peak seems to "work", even though it is sort of out of place?

Alonzo, I wonder how they painted those letters? Freehand? Professional sign painters of the day could do pretty amazing stuff.

Snow White Sanctum, thanks!

K. Martinez, the last two times I've been to the park (both times in November), the Twain has been running until 6 o'clock - and they apparently don't do Fantasmic in the off season. Since it gets dark by 5:00, you can get in a nice twilight or nighttime ride. It is one of my all-time favorite things to do... the river is so quiet and beautiful at night!

Anonymous said...

Actually the Mark W was a third river boat they added to the already existing Mark Twain and Columbia. It only lasted a few weeks. It hit a rock and sank. It went down like the Titanic. The got everyone off the boat okay, but it went down and is at the bottom of ROA about 125 feet down. It is still there today. ;)

Anonymous said...

When we visited last September (2011), both boats were running on the first day we were there, I think that was a Sunday early in the month.

I didn't ride Columbia since I thought I could do so the next day.

Of course, the next day, Columbia was closed and only Mark Twain ran for the rest of our stay.

I was really bummed since I haven't ridden Columbia since high school, over 30 years now.

I conclude that they run both only on weekends or high attendance days.

JG

scott8637 said...

looks like the navy moved the Philadelphia experiments to the Columbia. You can see that the rigging's just starting to disappear.

Nancy said...

I love the photo of the Mark Twain going by the Indian Dance Circle.... gorgeous!

I also enjoyed the Matterhorn being seen from Main Street. Enjoying the sunshine as always :0)

Thanks again to Doug!