Today's photos are "leftuggies" - scans left over from other past lots, that somehow didn't get posted before.
This first one (from 1966) is kind of interesting taken along a walkway leading to the front gates - eventually! Darn, that is a long walk. Couldn't they have waited for a tram somewhere?
Even this far out, flowering shrubs have been planted (deadly oleander!) to soften the appearance of the parking lot and those huge electrical towers. From this great distance, only the Matterhorn, the Douglas Moonliner, and the Monorail tracks are visible.
Next we are aboard the Skyway in 1969, heading toward Tomorrowland. Those tunnels were carved by years of alpine winds and water, along with an abominable snowman or two. Notice the little conifers, placed in built-in planters up to the snow line.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat walkway certainly does look like it's a good distance from where all the fun is contained.
I do think, however, with all the 'bad publicity' the oleander shrub seems to be receiving in these pages, it really would prove useful for it to hire a good marketing team to provide a positive spin and play-down the "poisonous aspects" of the otherwise showy colorfully-flowered, dogbane family evergreen.
Thanks, Major.
Was this roadway from the Katella Rd entrance? I actually entered through that gate once in the 90's on a fluke...it didn't seem to be open much.
ReplyDeleteI used to walk this route all the time when staying at one of the motels along Harbor Blvd. It's a good long walk but I always walked it every visit to Disneyland. From where these people are walking you'd turn west then go back southward walk the curved sidewalk to the auto entrance gate. From the auto entrance gate, you'd walk the sidewalk portion on the side and enter the actual parking lot then walk all the way to the Disneyland Main Gate.
ReplyDeleteI used to get to Disneyland at 7:00 a.m. and wait for the park to open at 8:00 a.m. this way and was one of only a few at the gate when I did this in the old days (late 70's/early 80's). The only thing was leaving the park and walking this route late at night was kind of creepy. I still walk the same distance but now from the Anabella Hotel to the Grand Californian Resort then Downtown Disney and on to the Disneyand/DCA Plaza. At least it's a more pleasant walk now.
I love the Matterhorn/Skyway image and still miss the Skyway to this day. Thanks, Major.
Everyone here in Tucson Has Oleanders in their yard. Just
ReplyDeletedon't eat them or make a fire out of the branches and
grill your dinner over them. Walked that walk a few times
in the 60s. We used to stay at the Peter Pan motel, and
my Dad would mercifully drive us in to the parking lot
and park.
Actually, if I remember right, the Peter Pan was on Harbor,
ReplyDeletea little closer than from the other direction.
One man’s leftiggies are another man’s gold!
ReplyDeleteFunny how nostalgia is such a powerful force. That first pic is so mundane and yet instantly I found myself overwhelmingly jarred by some obscure but delightful memory of that oleander hedge.
I always took special note of those little miniature pines growing on the face of the Matterhorn. It’s a nice touch that they actually went to all the trouble of putting built-in planters throughout the steep cliffs of the mountain, and growing real trees when they could so easily have used artificial ones at that distance. They were particularly visible as you passed through the Skyway tunnels.
I guess “foliage” is the word for the day.
Many thanks Major!
For some reason I feel compelled to point out that I should’ve put quotes around “cliffs” and “mountain”.
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, it might be best to stick to mesquite chips when barbecuing. Hope you didn’t get too loopy from the oleander buzz. I hear they are trying to legalize it in some states now.
ReplyDeleteNanook, since Disneyland is at 1313 Harbor Blvd, they decided to take a page from The Munster’s (1313 Mockingbird Lane) and plant as many poisonous plants as possible.
ReplyDeletewalterworld… read ahead to K. Martinez’s comment!
K. Martinez, your description sounds like even more walking than I imagined. I can only imagine how empty the park must have been at opening back in the 70’s and 80’s. Not the craziness that you see now!
DrGoat, I agree with you, though some will argue that they must be banished. Think of the children! Apparently the sap is toxic too, and don’t burn trimmed branches and then inhale the smoke. I do think they’re very pretty!
DrGoat again, I kind of wish I had a map to show where all of those classic motels were in relation to each other and the park.
Monkey Cage Kirt, that kind of unexpected nostalgia is the best. The “big” things tickle everybody’s memories. But it’s the little things that are a real blast to the past. And yes, I love that they designed built-in planters to hold the little pine trees.
Monkey Cage Kurt again, no need for quotation marks, we all knew what you meant!
Monkey Cage Kurt #3, I assume that people really do occasionally burn their oleander branches, though hopefully not for the old BBQ.
Always a pre-work treat, Major. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI love the few shots you find from further out in the parking lot. I'm always reminded of the thrill of getting out of the car and seeing the Park in the distance, filled with anticipation. And since it's 1966 and the new administration building looks like it's up I wonder if Primeval World is a going concern?
The Sun's angle is just right in that second pic to make those Skyway openings look so rectangular: definitely some structural steel not too far beneath the surface. And that little peek of Bobsled track...
I always loved it when the timing was right and you zipped past a bucket on your sled or caught a sled zipping by from a bucket. It was fun when that happened on the Matterhorn, too.
ReplyDeleteI've made that trek a few times, it's much better nowadays, but still a long walk in the morning and even longer at night with tired feet.
ReplyDeleteFor a number of years, oleanders seemed like the California state plant, found in every parking lot and highway divider median. Some stretches of Hwy 99 in the SJ Valley run for miles in length, Hwy 80 to Sacramento also.
JG