From the seat of our brand-new rectangular Skyway gondola, we see a familiar (but very nice!) sight, the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship in its green lagoon, surrounded by sandy beaches, and volcanic rock formations. Notice the waves being kicked up around the prow! There is probably a pod of porpoises just under the water too. I love it when the ship has its sails unfurled.
There's nothing like fishing, especially if you're a bear. Nature's Wonderland had the best fishin' hole - a chilly mountain pond full of fat trout just waiting to be caught as they leapt out of the water.
Always love seeing the tuna boat. I am pretty sure that the secluded little cove there behind would have been one of my favorite spots in the park to dine if I had been there back then :-)
ReplyDeletecute little bears eating in one of THEIR favorite spots!
A nice, sunny set today, Major.
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ReplyDeleteThat’s one of the things I love about GDB: we do see shots of the same things, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Pirate Ship from this exact angle, with those artistic little waves crashing on the prow. And although it only makes common sense, I didn’t realize before now that there was access via two docks.
ReplyDeleteThere’s something sinister about the three men in identical white shirts hunkered over the table to the right. That wasn’t the CM costume for this area, was it? They’re up to no good, I’ll wager. Our photographer in the Skyway bucket was no doubt spying on their nefarious activities. Or maybe HE was the nogoodnik, and our brave boys in white were plotting to blow him back to Havana with an exploding tuna pot pie.
I guess “eating fish” is the theme of today’s post!
Heps do it, squares do it,
Even automated bears do it -
Let’s do it; let’s eat some fish!
Even busboys do it, cooks do it
Even Smee and Captain Hook do it -
Let’s do it; let’s eat some fish!
I've heard that mermaids with tails do it
Layin' on a rock;
They say that grandpas do it
In sandals and socks.
Ladies polite and well-bred do it,
(With babushkas on their heads, do it!)
Let’s do it; let’s eat some fish!
The most refined Mouseketeers do it,
When they hear the lunch bell.
Monstro the whale, he does it -
Give his breath a good smell.
All cowboys in Frontierland do it,
Vesey Walker and his band do it.
Let’s do it; let’s eat some fish!
I'm sure sometimes on the sly you do it
Maybe even you and I might do it
Let’s do it; let’s eat some fish!
I like the kicked up waves you mentioned. I remember they used to have them on the Jungle Cruise in the rapids of Kilimanjaro section. They still had the rocks and rapids area in between the Settler's Cabin and Indian Village along the shores of Rivers of America last time I was there. Where else do or did they have waves and currents?
ReplyDeleteI remember going with a friend who never had been to Disneyland and he asked me if Chicken of the Sea was the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Melissa - I'll bet that even Walt Disney did it.
I heard a story once that the "new" skyway cabins came from the NY World's Fair when it closed. Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteNancy, I never ate at the Pirate Ship (yet another thing I didn't do that I could have), but I agree, I'm sure I would have loved it.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I'm sure you're right, as much as I think that all the Skyway photos look the same, they do differ in subtle ways. I wouldn't be surprised if the "white shirts" were DL employees of some kind. Maybe Autopia guys on their breaks. This photographer took surrepitious pictures of pretty girls, so he was maybe a little bit creepy! Another song, wow… do you write songs (or anything else) for a living? It's like they flow out of your fingers so easily.
K. Martinez, I think they still have a "rapids" area on the Jungle Cruise, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm pretty sure they're still on the Rivers of America too (not terribly convincing!). I've seen more than one photo of the tuna boat labeled "Pirate Ride".
Anon, I doubt that story is true… for one, the rectangular Skyway buckets debuted at Disneyland in 1965 while the Fair was still going on. Plus I think they differed very slightly (I suppose they could have been modified). Anyway, in my opinion, the buckets at Disneyland were not the same as the ones at the Fair.
The gondolas at the 64\65 worlds fair were manufactured by gangloff cabins. Disneylands were strictly WDI.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures, I really like the bears. The spirit of Baloo can be seen in the actions of his "forebears".
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I wrote that.
@Melissa, yes, the Pirate ship had two docks, traffic came in on starboard, on your right as you entered was the counter for food orders, on the left was a kind of "dry aquarium" display and a stair (gangway) that led to the upper deck. These features can be (mostly) seen in photos on the Daveland site.
Picking up your order, you exited through the port side of the ship and walked out to the grotto, shaded by sails, and took a seat on the casks and barrel furniture, or the rock benches, to enjoy the sound of the waterfall and the occasional chug of Casey, who was hidden by the shrubbery.
Looking at the design now, it's a wonder that it worked at all. There was no apparent service access to the back counter area. All the food inventory, trash etc. must have had to come and go using the same route as the guests. Storage limited, etc. Must have been a nightmare to manage efficiently, especially compared to the high volume place which replaced it.
The grotto also had sidewalk entrances to the right and left, theoretically one-way, enter at the left (Dumbo) side, exit at right next to Monstro. These directional signs were cheerfully ignored.
The grotto paving was unique, a sort of gravel terrazzo with black and white stones in a gray matrix, unlike anything else in the Park. The closest now existing can be found in the little alcove outside the restroom in the Tiki Room enclosure, but those stones are a little smaller than the Pirate grotto.
While in the grotto, the view out was mostly blocked by the Pirate ship, there was a wonderful sense of being in another place entirely, like Neverland, which we knew was nearby, behind Storybook land, or so the young ladies would say at the end of the cruise.
Also, the tuna sandwiches came with little sword-shaped toothpicks stuck in them. I had so many of these that I stopped saving them. I sure wish I had one now, what a memory that would be.
Thanks for letting me rattle on.
JG
Forebears? I guess the other two must be hiding underwater! (I can;t believe I wrote THAT!)
ReplyDeleteI guess they could have drop-shipped supplies off the Skyway, but they wouldn't have wanted to risk hitting a guest with a pallet of bread on a little parachute.
Major, I have been paid to write a song or two and the occasional libretto, but if I had to depend on it for a living I'd be writing exclusively for the ghosts at the swinging wake.
Robert Skyway, thank you for the info!
ReplyDeleteJG, ouch! You have been reading too many comments by Melissa. I think I have pictures taken from the back side of the boat in which you can see the other dock. I've noticed that you are observant about construction details like the cement/terrazzo… I think it's really interesting.
Melissa, I am impressed, even if the songwriting money wasn't great, that's pretty cool!
The Swiss Sky Ride from the NY World's Fair was installed at Great Adventure in Jackson NJ
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nywf64.com/legacies03.shtml