Wednesday, November 11, 2015

More Construction from Fantasyland, 1983

Here are two more scans of snapshots featuring construction for the "New Fantasyland", which opened in 1983.

Presumably this one was taken from the queue of the Skyway Chalet, so as to capture all of that interesting dirt! The concrete steps and pad at the lower edge of the photo are where you would line up for the Casey Jr. Circus Train. The blue dumpster is right about where the old Pirate Ship used to be, while Skull Rock and the beautiful grottoes were between that and Monstro, who looks like he needs a good bath. And a hug.

Meanwhile there are some trucks, little earth movers, storage sheds, and a big hole in the side of the castle - I can't tell if that will be for more work on the "Alice" dark ride, or for "Mr. Toad".


In this next picture we are just emerging from the Matterhorn. Acres of rooftops seem to be getting some work done (why the heck not?), while the hoodoos of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad peek up in the distance.


This one is for the Snow White Archive blog... it is not a very good view of the work being done on that façade, but... perhaps it is better than nothing. You can see the white columns flanking the gothic window from which the Wicked Queen glares down at guests.


13 comments:

K. Martinez said...

There's Monstro the Whale and a 1978 bobsled careening down the Matterhorn! I remember when the old Fantasyland was still in existence and you could see Big Thunder Mountain very clearly from Fantasyland. It was weird. Nice set today. Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

AAAAAAAAAAH! I remember when Fantasyland looked like this, but the images still give me nightmares! It's mostly because of the destruction of Skull Rock and Captain Hook's Pirate Ship. That just seemed so unnecessary. And then there were the lies that were told about how they tried to carefully preserve Skull Rock....but we have since seen pics of it being destroyed right where it stood.....just like the Mary Blair mural on the south side of Tomorrowland which we were all told was still completely intact. Yeah, right! I've seen those pics too. I try not to be bitter, but it is very difficult...especially when I can't help but look at these pics and see the very same fate for the Rivers of America and a good chunk of Frontierland in the very near future.

Unknown said...

Nice shots. Construction photos from the Park are always cool. They make a nice historical record and an all-too-rare peek behind the scenes. I can remember shooting the bulk of my 36 exposure Instamatic cartridge on construction shots of Old New Tomorrowland in June 1966. My sister Judy thought I was a dope for taking pictures of plywood.

And a teensy correction: I think The Skyway gondola in the second shot is entering the Matterhorn, not exiting. Of course I could be wrong.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

These are some interesting photos. No wonder Tony Baxter was a little scared/overwhelmed after they tore apart Fantasyland.

Poor Monstro had to eat bulldozers until they got things back together. He looks better now that his steady diet of humans has returned. Thanks for posting Major.

Melissa said...

The Matterhorn looks like a big melty snowman face with the red Skyway bucket for a nose.

TokyoMagic! said...

Patrick Devlin, the gondolas on the castle side of the Skyway were heading towards Fantasyland and the gondolas on the Storybook Land side of the Skyway were leaving Fantasyland. :-)

Major Pepperidge said...

K. Martinez, for just a second I thought you wrote that Monstro the Whale was careening down the Matterhorn. Now THAT I want to see.

TokyoMagic!, huh, I always thought that you were glad that Skull Rock and the Pirate Ship were destroyed. In fact, you laughed out loud while wearing a monocle and petting your white Persian cat! Quite a while ago I began to learn that you could not take what the Disney Company said at face value. Disappointing. I try to just not let it get to me - not that it always works.

Patrick Devlin, do you still have your photos of the construction of “New Tomorrowland”? Hint hint? You might be right about the Skyway gondola direction, since we can see that wire that appears to be a bit to our left. Hard to say for sure.

Alonzo, we already know that Monstro ate a whole boat (including passengers Geppetto, Pinocchio, Cleo, and Figaro), so bulldozers were no problem for him.

Melissa, I see the melty snowman! I have always been reminded of Paul Blaisdell’s creatures from “It Conquered the World”, personally.

TokyoMagic, I agree with you, although I know there can sometimes be variations, depending on how the photographer was sitting, or if they turned, or whatever!

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, you often make me laugh out loud, and your comment above did just that! Ha ha, you called me out on that one! I also hated Tomorrowland and was celebrating for days when they destroyed it in 1998! ;-) Patrick Devlin and Major......oooops! I was judging the direction of the photographer's gondola by the close proximity of the Matterhorn rockwork. I didn't see that wire or the other gondola in the photo. I was wrong. Sorry!

TokyoMagic! said...

P.S. I was wrong about which direction the photographer was heading. The gondolas did run the way I described above.

Nanook said...

Dear All-

An easy way to remember the direction(s) of the Skyway is to imagine you're waaaay up high looking down on the entire length of the Skyway. The rotation is Clockwise. So, if the photographer IS located on the side towards Storybook Land, we are entering the Matterhorn, essentially confirming Patrick Devlin's initial comment and TokyoMagic!'s final one.

Chuck said...

Thanks, Nanook! I think I've finally got it straight now.

Unknown said...

Well I don't know what exactly happened to my slides, but I can tell you either mine or my brother Mike's ended up, courtesy of my brother Tom, at Daveland (3/24/2008 et seq.). Tom has managed to avoid losing lots of stuff from the old days by NOT MOVING! He's been at his address for almost 40 years...

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, I actually remember being excited at the prospect of the upcooming 1998 Tomorrowland. Ay-yo-yi! What a disappointment. Also, I think that the wire is probably the biggest clue that the Skyway gondola is probably heading toward Tomorrowland.

Nanook, “clockwise” is a good way to describe it! I always fumble around trying to describe it. “When you’re heading toward Fantasyland, your gondola is on the left…” etc. “Clockwise is way more efficient”.

Chuck, I guess we’ll forgive you. THiS time.

Patrick Devlin, ah well, at least they were shared! Those Devlin boys are always gettin’ into a pickle (cue “Dukes of Hazzard” theme).