Instamatics!
Delving once more into the ever-shrinking folder of vintage Kodak Instamatics, I chose two fun views that I think you'll enjoy.
First up is this wonderful shot (taken from a just-launched Skyway bucket) looking westward along the Peoplemover track. The sign in the foreground is awesome as are the Peoplemover trains in their original colors. To our left is "Adventure Thru Inner Space", while "America the Beautiful" is to our right (along with a bit of one of Mary Blair's tile murals). In the distance we can see the Columbia's sails, and the cupola of the Pirates of the Caribbean building. Meanwhile... where the heck is everybody? And how can I go back in time to this exact day and run around Tomorrowland like a complete spazz?
Here's a fun one showing a bobsled as it started its thrilling trip through the Matterhorn. Look at how tiny that tunnel opening is! I am willing to bet cash money that it has been enlarged by several feet in either direction since this photo was taken. Who listens to safety spiels? Not me! As soon as any ride starts, I take off my seat belt and stand up, because it is very important that complete strangers are aware of how cool I am.
19 comments:
Major-
Gotta love that first image - it just says it all.
Thanks, Major.
That first (beautiful) photo was actually taken from the Rocket Jets platform. Great shots, thanks for posting them!
What "Anonymous" said! The PeopleMover cars are leaving (on the left) and entering (on the right) the PeopleMover station.
Okay, Mr. "I Like To Stand Up While Riding The Matterhorn".....there is already a "Dolly's Dip" designated on the tracks. I guess we'll have to name another section of track, "Pepperidge's Plunge"! I know you were just kidding, but even if you wanted to stand up today, it would be quite difficult to do while reclining back on your tailbone, with your feet stuck into the new "stirrups" and your entire body strapped in with the new "locking" seat belt. They really do ruin everything, I tell ya!
So why isn't their a huge mass of chewing gum stuck to the rockwork over that tunnel opening?
By the way, that "PeopleMover" sign rotated, and the "red and yellow" that we see below the Mary Blair mural were the dividers between the windows of the Chatter Box telephone booths that you posted a pic of just four days ago.
I concur with Nanook. If the first photo was a wider angle I would have an new background screen photo (watermark and all) yoink!
Great friday post, Thanks. Have a great holiday weekend GDBr's.
I am casting my vote for shot #1 there as being the most perfect Peoplemover photo ever taken. It's so clear, so uncluttered, so vibrant and brimming with futuristic transportational joy, it just brightens my entire day.
Thank you for sharing that one in particular!
Nanook, I was pretty sure that people were going to like that one!
Anonymous, oh yeah, the Rocket Jets platform! I guess I thought that the piece of metal at the bottom of the photo (ro the left) was a handle on a Skyway bucket. Doh.
TokyoMagic!, standing up on the Matterhorn is part of my “can do” spirit! Your chewing gum comment reminds me of the Gold Rusher at Magic Mountain, where there was a gross wall of gum at the beginning of the first lift hill.
TokyoMagic!, knowing “Mr. X”, he probably waited for the Peoplemover sign to be in just the right position before taking his photo.
Alonzo, even though the square format of Instamatics is generally pleasing, I would definitely love a more wide-angle view of that scene.
Tom, I have seen some pretty nice Peoplemover photos, but I appreciate your nice comment!
Echoing the comments of everyone else, that first shot is pretty amazing! So much to look at, and yet the park is virtually empty.
When does the Delorian full of Spazes leave? Set the time circuits now. BTW, the picture is clear enough to expand it to 1280X1280 and trim the blue sky. It makes a nice monitor background.
The piece of metal the Major mentions seeing in the first photo is actually one of the handrails for the stairs between the Peoplemover and Rocket Jets levels. Employees could use the stairs in lieu of the elevator -- and the stairs were also available as an emergency exit for customers.
What Tom said. Photo 01 is the capper of all Tomorrowland shots.
I always wanted to go down those stairs, the railing reminded me of a swimming pool ladder.
Thanks, Major. I'm off to get some stale beer and banana peels to power the DeLorean.
JG
Major-
A reference to the Gold Rusher Bubblegum Wall of Shame-! Ah, the joys of GDB.
I actually let out an involuntary audible gasp when I scrolled down to that first picture. Photographic GOLD, Jerry!
Ooh-la-la! What a view! Let me just adjust my virtual reality goggles and get in there...
Just a quick correction: the cupola in the distance is the Haunted Mansion, with the railings of the Golden Horseshoe Revue just in front of it. The Pirates building would be off to the left of the ATIS spire. On that side you can see the top of the Plaza Pavilion and maybe Pirates on beyond that. What's lovely over there is that glorious red of the Swiss Family Treehouse.
Brad Abbott, it feels like we will never be able to see it so uncrowded again, unlike years ago when you could strategize your visit for the “off season”.
MRaymond, if you give me an email address, I’ll send you a nice big desktop wallpaper of that scene if you like.
Anonymous, thanks for the info; it sounds like you have first-hand knowledge of this staircase.
JG, I always wanted to go anywhere that was just for cast members! How I envied the guys and gals as they headed through some mysterious door to the backstage area.
Nanook, I think that the last time I rode the Gold Rusher, the gum was gone. BUT… a few weeks ago I was in San Luis Obispo and witnessed the disgusting horrors of “Bubblegum Alley”… people love it. People are weird.
Melissa, I thought I heard a gasp!
Patrick Devlin, I know, when will computer geniuses make an immersive vintage Disneyland environment? I would buy an Oculus Rift right away! They could even change it for various eras. 1955 (or at least pre-1959), pre-1967, and so on. You are right about the Haunted Mansion cupola, man, I am on a roll for errors today.
Ha ha, the gum on the beam over the Gold Rusher track is exactly what I was thinking of when I made that comment!
Is Disneyland ever that empty now? That's pic is the Disneyland of my dreams.
the first view is delightful...just gorgeous!
the Matterhorn bobsled looks a little like a boat to me in this view...hmmm
:-)
If I were ever in one of those Twilight Zone-type shows where a person gets trapped in a picture forever, that Tomorrowland image would be way up on my list.
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