If you are hankerin' to experience the feeling of walking in a busy Adventureland, then this photo might help to scratch that itch. I've seen it a lot busier! The man in the white shirt (with the stripes) is assuming his best gorilla pose (and I'll bet he is saying "Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!"). I like his little straw hat. The girl in the red sailor shirt is checking out the goods at the souvenir stand to our left.
A jam-packed Columbia sails past the Plantation House and the equally busy fishing dock, while a canoe is getting up to ramming speed!
Major-
ReplyDeleteYou ain't kidding about the fishing dock and the Columbia being jam-packed-! In spite of the crowds, the Columbia never looked lovelier.
Thanks Major.
Ahh, yes - the early 60's "Smucker's Days" promotionals, where they filled the Columbia below decks with fruit preserves and allowed guests to swim. Those were the days...
ReplyDeleteYour comment about seeing Adventureland more crowded reminded me of the crowds for the opening of Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye back in '95. The line often snaked out of the entrance of Adventureland and into the hub, and cast members stationed along the line would cut it into segments so guests who weren't in line could get from one side of Adventureland to the other.
The worst I ever saw it was immediately after a line drop in late July of '95. It was my 91-year-old grandmother's first trip to Disneyland, and we were trying to get her to the Tiki Room to start her visit. The crowd for Indy stretched from the entrance to the main queue through Adventureland, out into the Hub, and up through the gates of Frontierland, petering out somewhere around the start of the Golden Horseshoe's porch. We decided to start the day with POTC instead.
And to think the next few years (1961-64) would bring rapid change and growth to Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise with the removal of the two-story boathouse and the additions of Swiss Family Treehouse, Enchanted Tiki Room, Tahitian Terrace, Elephant Bathing Pool, Cambodian Ruins, Trapped Safari and African Veldt.
ReplyDeleteThe Sailing Ship Columbia image is great. The shores look natural. Can you even see that view of the Columbia today without the distraction of trees on the horizon? Bee-eautiful!
Chuck -
ReplyDeleteI remember that! I also remember waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise in Summer '86 and the queue line was so long for it that it went all the way to the base of the Treehouse and back to the dock area then snaked around Tropical Imports and on towards the Enchanted Tiki Room entrance. I've never seen it that long for the Jungle Cruise since. It was crazy. This was of course before the 1994 revamp.
Gentlemen, I too remember those epic lines. The Indiana Jones wait seemed eternal. There were similar queues at the 1964(?) advent of the Tiki Room as well. I think we waited a year after it's opening to go on that one.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, the waits for the Jungle Cruise seemed extremely long and dull. The guard rails between the aisles looked like real bamboo then, and they were beautifully shiny, polished by the thousands of hands passing by every day (hour?). They were the only thing to look at while in the middle of the line.
The new two-story queue with the various set-scenes goes a long way to improve the experience, but the rails are now cast plastic, more resistant to wear, sigh.
Splendid pics, Major.
JG