Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Up In the AIr, October 1967

Here are three fun pictures taken from the Skyway!

I particularly like this first photo, looking toward "It's a Small World"... you can see Peoplemover vehicles that appear to have been parked on the track (notice they are all empty). To the right is load area for the Fantasyland Autopia, with the little cars all painted the same colors as the Peoplemover vehicles. The Richfield eagle makes a cameo appearance, and you can just see a few Matterhorn bobsleds (back when they were single cars) to the left. 


Here's a lot of the aforementioned stuff, only from a different angle! Love the little ticket booth.


I guess I should have put this one first, but what the hell. There is something so cheerful about the juxtaposition of the gleaming white Small World structure and the lovable red, yellow and turquoise Peoplemover trains. 


21 comments:

K. Martinez said...

These are really extra cool! And all the colors of the PeopleMover too!

In the first pic it looks like they still had the older Autopia cars. The Fantasyland Autopia marquee/signage was always my favorite of the Autopias. I wonder what the sign on Harbor Blvd. says in the second pic.

I like the Santa Fe logo on the monorail station in the third pic. Does anyone know what years they dropped Santa Fe and then Alweg from the monorail sign? Again, these are all great!

Tom said...

Great pictures! I think it must have been a slow day there; the middle picture leads me to believe the Peoplemover had just started moving again.

I think the late 60's Disneyland was the best ever. Particularly over in Tomorrowland.

JG said...

Wow, Jackpot images, Major. Love to see these views, especially of the seldom-seen Matterhorn queue.

I was standing in that area recently admiring how the trees have grown up so big. I remembered it much more like these pictures, and now it's almost the Black Forest.

And any view of Small World is welcome. I'm going off now to put the theme music on Itunes.

JG

Rich T. said...

Wonderful, wonderful photos! Thank you!!!

RemainSeatedPlease said...

It's a fine set of pictures today, Major. And you can put them in any order you wish.
Why the PeopleMover isn't moving people is a bit of a mystery. It would only have been operating about four months when these pictures were taken. Still working out some bugs, perhaps?
BTW, K. Martinez, the ALWEG name came off the Monorail in 1976.

PsySocDisney said...

Oh man, great images this post! I wish I could see these same scenes from a birds-view today...RIP Skyway!

Anonymous said...

Major, these are terrific! Are they from your new "collection" of negatives?? They are super! Thanks for putting them up!!

Bill in Denver

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, I think you're right, those might be the older style of Autopia car; I always forget which is which ("Mark V", "Mark VI", etc)!!

Tom, it seems like super-crowded days at Disneyland were the exception rather than the rule back in those days. Back before the Annual Passes!

JG, in spite of the tons of Skyway images that I have, there's something about these that is a little bit extra special. As for the trees, I can't complain much about big beautiful trees (they've all been removed from Knott's), but it is nice to be able to see the view as well.

Rich T, You're welcome!

RemainSeatedPlease, it is very possible that these photos weren't developed until October, but actually taken in June (or whenever). I wish I knew for sure. Also, I didn't know that the Alweg name was there until 1976, so thanks for that.

Hannahx2, ME TOO!!

Bill in Denver, nope, these are from the old batch. I haven't started seriously scanning the new batch yet. We'll see some soon though, including some wonderful Peoplemover views!

Alonzo P Hawk said...

Great shots!!! My favorite land, my favorite time period good quality photos to boot. As Rhino would say Totally Awesome!!!!!

Orange Co Native said...

Would you look at that short line for bobsleds. When did the line for the bobsleds begin to wrap around the mountain? Sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's or was this just a slow day at Disneyland in 1967?

Great pictures from 1967.

K. Martinez said...

RemainSeatedPlease, Thanks for answering my question about the Alweg name.

Chiana_Chat said...

What a happy scene :D

I'd be very happy to be in it! Still enjoy looking.

Nice short queues for the Matterhorn! As unimaginable today as a carefree leisurely ride over that scene in a Skyway or Peoplemover.

Nancy said...

Bring back the Peoplemover!!!

Major Pepperidge said...

Alonzo, it took me a minute to remember who Rhino was!

OC Native, you do see some very long lines for the Matterhorn and Subs back in the day… remember this picture from just a few days ago? Look at those crowds!

Chiana, the thing that amazes me STILL is how clean and pleasing the park looks; they still do a very good job, though a lot of the charm has been lost somehow.

Nancy, AMEN!

TokyoMagic! said...

Notice how skinny the PeopleMover beam is. They hadn't widened it yet. I wonder how they evacuated people from the cars back then? And now I'm wondering when it was that they did widen the track?

Major Pepperidge said...

TM!, I didn't even know that the Peoplemover track was ever widened! That must have been an expensive process. If they could do that, and the current track is in bad shape, it seems that they could certainly restore what is already there. Hopefully.

TokyoMagic! said...

Well, I don't think I've ever seen any pics of the construction, but the beam does have a walkway alongside of it now that seems to have appeared in the late sixties. You are right Major, that would have been expensive and involved. I'm surprised it wasn't designed that way originally. Wouldn't they have known that it would break down at some point?

K. Martinez said...

TokyoMagic!, Here's a link to a close-up image of the PeopleMover beam. It looks like they widened the beam by attaching the walkway extension with the railings. I don’t think they widened the beam itself. It looks more like an add-on to fix it without re-building the whole thing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/GORILLLAS/Autopia2_1973.jpg

Hope it’s okay to post the link.

TokyoMagic! said...

Thanks, K. Martinez!

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Three things;

(1) This post ROCKS!

(2) Never knew about the widening of the PeopleMover Track, awesome!

(3) Three Fences!!!!

Anonymous said...

@Vintage Tickets...

LOL, I thought of you and the fences the moment I saw that picture.

I did take my own 3 fences shot last trip. Am I in the club now?

JG