Here are the last two Instamatic scans, photos that were taken by Mr. X when he was a mere teenager. I'm sad that this is the last of the square-formatted Kodak images; so many of them are really nice.
We'll start with this beautiful photo of the Monorail, Skyway, Yacht Bar, Sub Lagoon, and Matterhorn. The red really pops, and the blue sky and warm, sunlit Swiss mountain really look incredible. The bubbles in the lagoon are likely from a volcanic vent, and they help hide some of the wonders below the water.
How about a closeup? Just for fun. It's interesting to see how the rocks were applied to that concrete wall. There's just something about the park at this time!
And finally, here's a lovely twilight shot of the blue Monorail as it passed above the queue structure for the Motor Boat Cruise (which would place this in Fantasyland, I suppose). The open windows on the Monorail allow us to see the lucky passengers. It's sort of fun to observe the guests milling around, relaxing, and enjoying a perfect evening in Disneyland.
Many, many thanks to Mr. X for so generously giving me these incredible photos. I still have more non-Instamatic photos from him, coming up.
Major-
ReplyDelete'A vision in red'. More lovelies from Mr. X. Truly beautiful.
Thanks, Major - & Mr. X.
Great pictures! Lots of fun things happening - and so much color! Feels like you're there.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mr. X & Major!
Sue
For some reason, I love seeing the brand new Skyway gondolas, going over the "old" Tomorrowland.
ReplyDeleteIn the second pic, it looks like the girl in the pink shorts has a "face-hugger" from Alien attached to her face!
Either that, or she has a Bob Hope nose! (I do realize that it's just the hand of the lady behind her.)
ReplyDeleteTM! That poor girl sure does look strange! I still can't see where her nose is . . . and that hand(?) is partially covering her face?!
ReplyDeleteSue
In the first car of the blue monorail, there's a lady in a white pill-box hat - or maybe it's a nurse (coming to the rescue of that poor girl with the missing nose)?!
ReplyDeleteSue
Sad to see the last of Mr X's Instamatics, but so glad we got to see them here.
ReplyDeleteI love that signage for the Motor Boat Cruise: "Pilot your boat down the Fantasyland River" and "Navigate the hazardous whitewater rapids." Still kicking myself I never rode this attraction, and it's getting tiresome. Would somebody else like to take over for awhile?
Sue, the word pillbox always makes me smile. As a boy, I grew up on books and shows and movies about WWII, so I learned early that a pillbox was a concrete fighting position. When I first encountered the term pillbox hat, I assumed that the hat got its name from the fact that it looked like a round machine gun nest.
That first one has got to qualify as "postcard worthy."
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice it at first, but once you pointed it out, I think that those "rocks" on the wall look pretty bad. They look like they were stuck on in a very fake way. I mean, did the Imagineers want you to think that the perfectly-curved wall was millions of years old and there before the rocks or something?!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Mr. X and Major for these very nice pictures! The red Monorail and Skyway buckets correlate wonderfully.
In regards to the sleek walls blended between the rock formations around Submarine Lagoon:
ReplyDelete........in the world of Tomorrow engineers will be capable of constructing fantastic forms and shapes with the use of high strength ceramics and Ferro-Cement...... in surroundings Mother Nature once made impossible!! This IS TOMORROWLAND!
“Anything’s possible at Disneyland” - Walt Disney
What a great day! Excellent (agree with Steve G) postcard worthy photos from Mr X. And news (Thursday) they are taking down the "French fry" rocks at the entrance to tomorrowland!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, how else would you attach rocks to a concrete wall?? Round' here.....Gorilla Glue. Would also work for that poor little girl's nose if they ever find it.
Thanks to X and Major again. Another home run, as usual.
Nanook, glad you liked these!
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I saved some of the best for last - on purpose of course.
TokyoMagic!, I’ll bet those rectangular Skyway gondolas really were brand new at that point. And all I can see on that girl with the pink shorts is that her hair is partly in front of her face. Even though a face hugger would be more fun!
TokyoMagic!, she really does have Bob Hope’s nose! I remember it was in all the news.
Lou and Sue, I assume the pink shorts girl just turned her head, and a whisp of hair is out of place.
Lou and Sue, the lady with the hat is staring right at us. It’s creeping me out.
Chuck, I doubt too many people know that the Motorboat Cruise waterway was called the “Fantasyland River”. I understand you regret at not riding the Motorboats, but it wasn’t the most incredible ride in the world. I still miss it though!
Steve DeGaetano, I agree, though it would be a shame to crop any of it to fit on a standard sized postcard.
Penna. Andrew, those rocks almost appear to be an afterthought - I wonder if there was a good reason why there were large spaces with no rocks? Maybe it had something to do with maintenance, who knows. Or they just realized that most people wouldn’t notice the wall anyway, with so much other stuff going on around it.
Mike Cozart, interesting, even back then they were talking about “high strength ceramics”, I thought that came along much later. “Ferro-Cement”… looking up the definition, the fancy term sounds like an old practice; using steel mesh combined with cement. Still, it is a versatile and strong way to make things like fake Swiss mountains.
Alonzo, I hadn’t heard that they were taking down those rocks in Tomorrowland. They always baffled me, I have to admit - there seemed to be no good reason for them to be there. And I never use Gorilla Glue, since it is made from the squeezed remains of endangered gorillas. Monstrous!
What Steve De Gaetano Said.
ReplyDeleteFirst picture is stunning.
Major, I'm hoping you are right about the volcanic vents, since other potential sources of bubbles in the bathtub are less scientifically edifying.
I guess if I thought about it at all, I would have thought that the gradual transition from wall to rocks was theming from the Tomorrowland world of technological mastery to the wilder world of the Alps. I have been a little surprised that the wall wasn't a smoother curve. It's hard to see in this picture, the "facets" are more noticeable from the other side looking back.
The second picture is just fine too, people having fun. This is a good photo of a part of the old Park that is mostly "invisible". There are photos taken all around, and from within it looking out, but few capture details of this little triangular area between Alice, Motorboats and Canal Boats. With the New Fantasyland, this area mostly disappeared, but back before, there were planters, trees, benches and picnic tables in a little "eddy" in the crowd.
JG
Chuck, that's funny! You taught me something new.
ReplyDeleteAlonzo, did you see their reason for removing those french fry rocks? I read: To widen walkways and make more room for strollers and scooters. I'm not attached to those rocks, but when will they stop doing that?! Maybe they should remove all of Main Street so that people can get directly to the rides more quickly?!?!
Sue
So much motion in that first picture! Vrrooom! Zzzooom! Pshoooo! Wish I could think of more motion words.
ReplyDeleteAwesome variety of prints on that family group in picture number two! I wonder what has them paying such close attention? (Zooming in, it looks to me like the hair of the girl in pink is blowing in her face, but then again, my vision's far from perfect.)
Gorilla Glue, hehe.
"Ferro-cement...a versatile and strong way to make things like fake Swiss mountains." As we discovered last week, maybe not strong enough...
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay @Lou and Sue.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the article in the OC Register.
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/08/15/disneyland-is-removing-the-french-fry-rocks-in-front-of-tomorrowland/
It's basically to increase traffic flow that was caused by putting ugly things in 20 years ago.
Thanks, Alonzo! I'll read it next. (Glad they're getting rid of ugly things.)
ReplyDeleteChuck, thanks for sharing about the Matterhorn - that's the first I've heard of that! (I'd like to own a small piece of what fell off!) Let's hope the Disney folks are telling us the truth and are not really tearing IT down, to make room for more walkways, strollers, etc.
Sue
JG, “bubbles in the bathtub”… I’m glad you went there so I don’t have to! I really do think that the rocks on the inside edge of the lagoon were not given as much attention as one might expect because the lagoon itself (and the subs, and the Monorail and Skyway overhead, etc) was so dazzling that nobody paid any attention. I sure am grateful to Mr. X for giving me (not loaning, giving!!) so many wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, like Chuck, I watched plenty of WWII movies, and the word “pillbox” evoked concrete bunkers more than little round hats. I am not surprised at all at the reason the rocks are being removed. Long ago I thought they would have been more loved if they glowed at night, even softly. Hire me, Disney!
Melissa, motion words are always useful, but feel free to make some up. How about “Fooooooop”? Something must make that noise, I just know it. Maybe those canisters at the banks that went through a pneumatic tube (I miss those).
Chuck, wow, what the heck! Hey, that ferro-cement lasted for 60 years, at some point it’s gonna need some TLC.
Alonzo, thank you for the link. Until today I had never heard the term “french fry rocks” before!
Lou and Sue, I kind of wonder if any pieces wound up in the hands of guests? Not sure when the breakage happened. Keep your eyes on eBay!
@ Lou and Sue-
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should remove all of Main Street so that people can get directly to the rides more quickly?!?! (Don't give them any ideas-!!)
@ JG & The Major-
"...bubbles in the bathtub..." That reminds me of the line from The Bank Dick: "Og Oggilby... sounds like a bubble in a bathtub!"
beautiful Monorails :)
ReplyDeletethanks to the Major and Mr. X