It's hard to believe that anything as beautiful, eye-catching, and elaborate as the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship was just a restaurant; it looks as if it had somehow transported off the pages of Howard Pyle's "Book of Pirates", and plopped right down into Fantasyland. The details are incredible, from the rigging to the sculpted/carved ornamentation, and even the open gun ports with cannons at the ready.
The port (or larboard) side looked just like the starboard side, only less crowded. Granted there wasn't as much for folks to see if they looked to the north. Meanwhile, there was all kinds of amazing stuff to look at in the other direction!
Major-
ReplyDeleteI would think what [clearly] appears to be a screen door, would be just the ticket to drive plenty of crowds towards the 'off side'. I don't know of too many ships - pirate, with or without tuna - which sport that particular little feature.
Thanks, Major.
It's also hard to believe that "anything as beautiful, eye-catching, and elaborate as the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship" was torn down. :-(
ReplyDeleteI wonder what was being kept in that storage bin on the port side of the ship? Could it have been filled with extra cases of Chicken of the Sea tuna? Or was it just a trash dumpster?
Finding photos of the port side of the ship is like trying to find photos of TokyoMagic's family with facial features, but it appears that there were two doors on the port side, the plain, screened variety shown here and a more ornate one just aft of amidshios that matched the oft-photographed one on the starboard. I'm guessing today's photo shows the kitchen door, which would put the galley in the bow, just like on a traditional sailing ship.
ReplyDeleteMy "discovery" is probably not news to any of you, but for some reason I was remembering the service counter towards the stern. I have a memory of walking in and looking left towards the counter, and I'd assumed we were walking in at ground level from the high-traffic areas of Fantasyland. But now that I think about it, we probably climbed up and over the deck, then backtracked.
Chuck, your comment about photos of my family is too funny....and accurate! However, if you entered from the south side of the Captain Hook's Pirate Ship (the Mad Tea Party side), then the service counter would have been to your right (towards the bow) and down a few steps.
ReplyDeleteFunny, but like Chuck I had the serving counter in the aft in my mind. Of course, I only saw it once in person but memory is a weird thing...For example, I just now remembered that I have to take out the trash. Crud....
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! is correct about the service counter location. I've eaten there many times. It's still my most missed Disneyland restaurant because the back dining area (Skull Rock Cove).
ReplyDeleteThose original Imagineers did some amazing and creative things with not only cool structures and architecture, but with the use of space and the small nooks and crannies in between. Thanks, Major.
Thanks for the confirmation, guys. I guess we must have come in from the Skull Rock side. Or maybe I'm remembering us coming back for something from the seating area.
ReplyDeleteChuck, Whatever way we came in, it sure was a wonderful and magical little place, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteThis place was the best.
ReplyDeleteJG
An animated ship come to life. With a restaurant inside. And Skull Rock at night. Total genius. Thanks Major for the great scans.
ReplyDeleteNanook, the screen door is on the submarines, silly.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I am still very skeptical about the story that they intended to move the pirate ship. That seems like one of those fibs that they tell you after the fact to prevent a mutiny. The storage bin held pre-made tuna salad. It needs to age in the sun for several hours.
Chuck, I did know about the two doors on that side of the ship, though it did not occur to me that the forward door could be for the kitchen/service staff. And since I somehow never wound up going inside the ship, I have nothing of value to offer in that regard!
TokyoMagic!, you had to go down steps to get to the service counter? That seems odd.
stu29573, why don’t you just have your servant take out the trash? That’s what I do!
K. Martinez, I don’t know how any Imagineers could get away with a restaurant/kitchen area as cramped as the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship was. Today they’d have to make it much larger in anticipation of huge crowds.
Chuck, maybe you walked into the pirate ship backwards?
K. Martinez, now you’re just rubbing it in.
JG, E tu?
Jonathan, the ship and the skull are two of the most vivid memories from my young childhood.
Chuck, there was another entrance through the roof/ceiling of the restaurant, down a set of stairs from the upper deck of the ship. If I am remembering correctly, those stairs had guests facing aft as they descended, so they would have to make a U-turn at the bottom in order to get to the service counter.
ReplyDeleteMajor, yes...the service counter was down at least a couple of steps. I have an interior pic that I took with my back to the service counter and you can see the railing between the two interior levels and only the top step is visible. Also visible in the pic, is the main entrance door that faced south. It is NOT a very good photo and I really wish I had taken more of the interior! I plan to post the pic eventually, with all my other photos of the ship, including some of it in a half-demolished state. Personally, they are painful to look at, plus they are also not the best quality, having been taken with a 110 Kodak Instamatic. However, they don't have family or friends in them, so they will be white oval-less!
Ken, it was awesome, the likes of which we'll never see again. I really pity those who never got to experience it - particularly those who had an opportunity but never took it. Their wretched lives are that much poorer for the omission. I don't know how they can stand to look themselves in the mirror every morning. Pathetic, really.
ReplyDeleteOh - um, hey, Major. Didn't see you standing there.
Courtesy of Daveland, HERE'S one interior image, but it doesn't show any changes in elevation or direction
ReplyDeleteNanook, I was looking at that pic earlier today. I believe it was taken from the upper level of the interior. If you look at the floor in that pic, it doesn't appear that the photographer was on the same level. I only remember a couple steps, so it was more of a "split-level" interior. Here's a pic that kind of shows how high up that slightly higher level was. It was just the distance from the floor behind Walt to the bottom of those posts holding up the railing in the background. Also, the south entrance door into the restaurant would be just out of the frame of the pic in the upper right corner of the photo. And the two or three steps down to the service counter would also be just out of frame and to the right: Chicken of the Sea interior
ReplyDeleteDid you know that you can buy a model of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship? You can! You see, when Disneyland was young, Revell Models brought out a kit of our favorite tuna stop! It was discontinued not long after, but an open secret with plastic model buffs is that those molds are expensive, so they often show up years later. So, if you happen to buy the Revell Caribbean Pirate Ship and think you've seen it before.... I'm in the process of building mine even as I type (well, not literally). Someday soon, my mantle will be a bit more Disney...
ReplyDeleteHoly cats, Stu! I knew that thing looked familiar, but I never understood why before.
ReplyDeleteTM!, thanks for your description of the interior staircase. That may explain why I remember seeing the counter to the left - that's probably the direction I turned when stepping off the stairs. I know I was up on deck on more than one visit, and we probably went up there first before getting lunch.
Oh, and Stu - looking forward to seeing your model one of these days at Stu's Attic.
ReplyDeleteThanks!It'll be there! I'm probably doing a Hot Wheel one tomorrow...
Delete@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteI saw that image with Walt, too, but failed to notice the floor in the background. Thanks for including it.
TokyoMagic!, wow, more crazy info. An entrance from above? Who knew? You did! The steps seems so weird, wouldn’t it have just been easier to build it with a flat floor, not to mention that unexpected steps might result in tripping and accidental beheadings? I don’t understand why you didn’t own a Hasselblad camera like the ones they took to the moon. Those would have taken great pictures of the inside of the Pirate Ship.
ReplyDeleteChuck, don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here at this table eating gruel all by myself.
Nanook, what I wouldn’t give for one of those tuna-shaped signs!
TokyoMagic!, the photographer of that Daveland photo definitely seems to be a head or two above the level of the ladies. Maybe the steps kind of prevented crowding or surging toward the counter? They wanted to prevent a disaster like that Who concert in Cincinnati.
stu29573, I did know about the Revell models - I believe that there were at least two different boxes, one that was more about the Disneyland/Chicken of the Sea tie-in, and the other more aligned with Captain Hook’s ship from the film “Peter Pan”. I’ve never owned any of them though - they can go for a lot if you want one in good shape with the box! There was also a Revell model of the Disneyland Stagecoach.
Chuck, this gruel could really use some sugar, or a pat of butter.
stu29573, you need to build a model of the “Seaview”, and the Flying Sub from “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”! And the “Spindrift” from “Land of the Giants”. And those Aurora monster models. On second thought, I need to build those!
Nanook, Mr. Van Camp is handing Walt that plate of food while apologizing because he coughed all over it.
Nanook, you're welcome!
ReplyDeleteMajor, if the Pirate Ship had managed to survive until today, not only would it probably be Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Ship, but I bet they would have filled in that lower part of the interior with concrete, just like they did with Center St. on Main Street and the other cross street that led to First Aid and past Coke Corner. In my pic, only the top step inside the Pirate Ship is visible, but it is painted yellow. Isn't yellow the universal color for "Hey, there's a step here!" I don't think the general public made as many stupid mistakes like falling off steps and curbs, as they do today. I also think that they weren't as quick to sue back then. Today, that same ship would probably need to be flat, and covered entirely in cork.
Howard Pyle! I read my copy of The Merry Adventures if Robin Hood to shreds!
ReplyDeleteThe "Shoe Me America" flier is the winner today. Love the graphics on it.
ReplyDeleteI remember Buck Owen and the Buckaroos! All we gotta do is "Act Naturally". Sometimes Lawrence Welk would be on our TV (thanks to grandma), but it was "HEE HAW" that our family loved and watched regularly. A lot of country stars played on that show back in the day. It was sort of the country version of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". Corny, but a lot of fun with some great country music.
Great collection of ephemera and paper souvenirs today! Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic! Only if Kurt Russell is singing with them.