Friday, June 08, 2012

Flying Saucers, May 1963

Happy Friday everybody! 

I don't know about you, but I could use some Flying Saucer action today. If only I could eat a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart on a flying saucer, it would be like heaven! Here are two nice bright pictures of Disneyland's short-lived (only about 5 years) saucers as they bounce, glide and skitter across the cerulean blue surface. You can clearly see the boom that contained the other set of saucers which loaded and unloaded while the others were in motion.


Cerulean blue....! 


24 comments:

Nanook said...

I can hear Henry Fonda now... Cerulean blue.

Chiana_Chat said...

^ I'd rather hear it in Ricardo Montalban's voice hehe

Looks like fun and fun to look at - thanks Maj :)

Is that rust on the saucer floor? The guy on the far left of pic #2 doesn't fool me with his casual clothes and yellow socks: he is a CIA MIB... or an alien.

Major Pepperidge said...

Henry Fonda? I was thinking of an episode of "The X-Files"!

Chiana, I'd rather hear everything in Ricardo Montalban's voice. And yes, I think that is rust... they need to buy some more cerulean blue enamel paint at Sears.

TokyoMagic! said...

So why doesn't the new Flyin' Tires or whatever they're calling it today, have a second loading area to increase capacity and speed up wait times? I've already heard stories from people that have ridden them about the painfully long wait time.

Katella Gate said...

I hear Cerulean blue goes well with fine Corinthian leather... Just as Pop-Tarts go well with Quisp and Tang.

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic, that is a good question. I can only assume that it had to do with cost, or available real estate. I've already heard about the low numbers of riders per hour... they didn't learn from the first "Saucers" I guess.

Katella, of course Quisp was supposed to look like little flying saucers, so it is very apropos! Mmmm, I wish I had some right now. I know you can still buy it online, but they might have changed it. I bought some Frankenberry last October and it is not the same cereal that I enjoyed as a kid.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I remember these, so much fun. I wasnt heavy enough then to make it work, so i rode with my mom.

Check out the pattern on that wall behind, very punchy.

Major, the cereal is different because now they leave out all the chemicals, dyes, and sugar. No wonder it's no fun anymore.

Best to all.

JG

SundayNight said...

The design of the saucers loading area was a such great idea - one side loads while the other plays. I remember riding the Flying Saucers and trying to figure out if the little handles on each side of the seat actually did anything. I think they were just there for something to hang on to. Fun pics today as always.

Anonymous said...

Drat. I was hoping I might be in one of the pictures.

The handles were there for balance only. Moving the saucer involved shifting your weight in the direction you wanted to go. It would take a few tries to learn just how much weight transfer was needed. Involved some finesse. And that gets me to thinking that the Flyin' Tires is set up for 2 riders. That means BOTH passengers have to learn to cooordinate their balance correctly. So expect additional difficulty and frustration. Still, it will be nice to see them back.

David said...

Pretty dopey looking ride (and uncovered in that hot Anaheim sun?). But that being said, I would love to have one of those 'flying saucers.' They look pretty neat!

Anonymous said...

These are great pics thanks for posting them.

This was a great ride, in fact it's one of my new projects. Click on over and check it out.

Connie Moreno said...

Major, I knew what you were going for but then, I always hear the X-Files theme when I read your blog, LOL!

Douglas McEwan said...

David, the Anaheim sun is not "hot" all year long. Sometimes, it's even overcast. Sometimes, it even rains. Often, the temperature is quite moderate. People have been driving the Autopias around in the "hot Anaheim sun" for almost 60 years with few compaints. And in Fall, Winter, and Spring the Flying Sauvcers were, in point of fact, great fun. Admitedly, the ride that occupies that area now, something called "Space Mountain", is also a lot of fun.

PsySocDisney said...

Uh oh, saucer jam in photo two!

Looking at all those boys and men leeeeeeaning to shift their weight and move their saucer make me wonder how much harder it was for women to move theirs in those skirts and dresses. You can't very well separate your feet to gain leverage as many of the guys in the photos are doing unless the skirts are loose and long.

DonaldTDuck said...

BEST RIDE EVER!!!
I will have to return to DL soon to try the Flying Tires and be 10 again.

Anonymous said...

How thin everyone was in '63, you couldn't take a shot like that anymore.

Major Pepperidge said...

JG, that patterned wall seems inspired by pop art (or maybe "Op art" to be more precise). And it's hard to believe that the bright pink styrofoam Frankenberry that I had a few months ago was full of even more sugar and chemicals than before! ;-)

SundayNight, yes, the handles were just something to grab onto, they didn't "do" anything.

Anon, from the brief videos I've seen, you can spin the Flying Tires, but you're right, pointing them in the direction you want to go might be an extra big challenge.

David, you are so right… of the many Disneyland ride vehicles, a saucer would be extremely cool to have! I'm sure they all wound up in a landfill somewhere.

Disneyland Sketchup, I will check it out!

Connie, that was one of my favorite episodes of "The X-Files"!

Doug, I'm sure David knows that it's not always hot! Even the desert can get cold or rainy. But woe to those who go to Disneyland in the peak summer months (and even into September and October). I went in August about 10 years ago, and it was so miserable that I vowed to never go in summer again. Of course, it was partly the humongous crowds too.

Hannahx2, it does seem that by the early 60's, many women had made the switch to pants. Not all of course! It's kind of interesting to look at photos from '55 & '56, almost all girls and women are in dresses. by the late 50's, pedal pushers are making the scene, and pretty soon pants were everywhere.

DonaldTDuck, I never got to experience the saucers, but it sure *looks* fun!

Anon, the new Flying Tires are MUCH bigger (for two adult passengers) and seem to move around much more slowly; they must have really had to increase the power of the air flow to get those things to hover.

bloefeld said...

Always wanted to ride the Flying Saucers, but it was before my time. So you can imagine how excited I was to get a chance to ride the new Flying Tires. But I must say I was rather disappointed. The wait is long, and by the time you figure out how to operate the tire, the ride is over. We didn't do much but float amongst a cluster of other tires. I was hoping a modernized version of the attraction would have worked out all the kinks. Oh, well. But none of that takes anything away from how awesome these photos are!

Nancy said...

so how did it work with the second loading area? When the saucers stopped, did you just get out wherever they were on the floor? If so, who gathered them up to move them out of the way for the next group that was waiting?

I always imagined it was like bumper cars where you just got out and the next riders got in wherever the cars ended up!

cool ride; I have never even heard of one anywhere I have gone for an amusement park. must have been rare??

SundayNight said...

Nancy, there was a movable “arm” - a long walkway like affair that swept across the saucer “playing field and gathered the saucers into a bunch. I think you had to walk on top of the bunched up saucers to get to an available saucer. I don’t think you were allowed to walk on the blue “floor”. When everyone was ready, the playing field arm would sweep in the opposite direction releasing the bunched up saucers and away you go!

Anonymous said...

That "Wall" is actually made up of metal panels (top and bottom) and is really a fence, on aluminum pipes. Just the other side of it is (or was) a restroom and a gate at the end to go back stage.

CoxPilot

Douglas McEwan said...

Woe to sumer Disneylanders indeed. Except for going on the park's 50th anniverary in July, 2005, I haven't visited the park in the summer months in about 30 years. I never go on weekends either: too crowded. I prefer off-season weekdays, and even then, it's too crowded these days.

Owning a Flying Saucer ride vehicle would be intensely cool indeed, though if I were to pick one DL ride vehicle for me to own, it would be a Mr. Road car. It just would be.

Douglas McEwan said...

What is wrong with my eyes? I KNOW I proofed that remark before I hit "post". I meant a "Mr. Toad car, of course.

Nancy said...

Thanks, Sunday Night. Now I need to find a video of this....sounds pretty cool!!