Thursday, November 07, 2019

Tomorrowland Stuff, July 1972

I think I only have two more photos from Fun Dad after today (and I'm saving one of those for a special occasion), so it's almost time to say "au revoir" to the man who has provided so many wonderful Disneyland photos from the late 1960's into the early 1970's. Nothing lasts forever!

First up is this nice view from the top level of the Carousel of Progress building - we've seen similar images before, but this is a good one. As I've mentioned in the past, we get the interesting perspective of being above the Skyway. You can see the Rollie Crump-designed Tomorrowland ticket booth, and many of the "usual suspects".


And speaking of interesting perspectives...! Well, "different" anyway - here's a side view of the famous Tomorrowland Terrace stage; if you look at THIS POST from February of 2018, you can see that the band is "The Better Half". The Peoplemover and Skyway sneak in for special guest appearances!

15 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
What a great angle, looking down on the Skyway. Suddenly I feel so tall. 'Tomorrowland IS a carousel of color'.

Thanks, Major.

Graffer said...

NORA was a fun ride back in '72.

TokyoMagic! said...

And there are two more of those cream-colored, off-white, or ecru-colored Skyway gondolas that we saw in your previous post! How odd!

Is that rickrack on the bottom of the band member's shirt?

TokyoMagic! said...

By the way, where is Melissa? She didn't comment on the twins in yesterday's post, or the lack of "twins" in the merged panorama photo from Monday's post.

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM! I was wondering about Melissa, too. Hope she's okay . . . I know she sometimes skips a couple days here and there. "Melissa -- call home!"

I see at least 11 Skyway gondolas in that 1st picture. Is that a record?

Sue

Chuck said...

That first one is a beaut! I think it was taken from the PeopleMover rather than the CoP.

The PM track passed over the Skyway cables just north of the CoP. If we were on the second deck of the CoP, that would put the Tomorrowland Skyway station inside the CoP. See this photo for reference.

Andrew said...

Standing above the Skyway makes it look small. I also like how it almost perfectly bisects the mountain at this angle. The PeopleMover train just completes the package.

Thanks Fun Dad and Major - so many great photos are posted here every day!

Anonymous said...

That first picture really throws off the forced perspective of the mighty mountain! It looks a bit less mighty from that angle, I think.
As a long time musician (part time) I would have loved to rise up on that stage while playing! Talk about a great entrance! Much better than my typical "walk up there and futz around until it's time to start" move!

DrGoat said...

Melissa's probably on hiatus or something else hopefully fun, like a mid week vacation.
As far as the Better Half, I slightly remember sitting there and enjoying their poppy music. They weren't Steppenwolf, but they fit the bill nicely, in that Disney kind of way. Totally appropriate for a day in the Park.

JG said...

Big thanks to Fun Dad, the man is a legend.

I never tire of that perspective of the Horn That Matters.

The stage view is unusual, too. That colored plastic glazing was so characteristic of the era. Good stuff.

Thanks Major.

JG

JG said...

@Tokyo, check out the other stage picture in the link in the post, and the other stage photo linked from that post

Both linked photos have an ecru bucket. This can't be a color correction issue, and all 3 pics are dated from 1972. Conclusion must be that there were at least two odd ecru Skyway Buckets for at least some time in that era, since we see two at once in today's post.

JG

Clyde Hughes said...

Love these photos!
For people-watching, alone, these are real gems... That morning sunshine warmth is effectively transmitted by the first shot. I wonder how many different hairdo's there are down there?

In the second photo, the view of the audience is a neat perspective, with the Coke cups on the tables and the Mickey balloon in the distance. The stained glass backdrop and stage lights really make this one pop! Coke=pop, geddit? Oh well... :)

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I miss that view, with the Skyway moving to and fro; and there was a Peoplemover too!

Graffer, what’s “NORA”?

TokyoMagic!, that color makes me think of these powdered “vanilla shake” mixes my mom used to buy when I was a kid. Just add milk and stir! Not really a milkshake, but still tasted strangely good.

TokyoMagic, happily, Melissa contacted me via email to let everyone know that she is OK, just temporarily without Internet access at home. I was in the same boat just a week or so ago, it’s not fun. She’ll be back soon!

Lou and Sue, see my comment to TokyoMagic. I’m sure I must have photos with more than 11 gondolas, but to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever counted them.

Chuck, double checking another photo, you are clearly correct about the photo being taken from the Peoplemover.

Andrew, yes, it’s such an unexpected perspective; I once posted another “above the Skyway” photo taken from the Matterhorn that was one of my favorites.

Stu29573, I suppose there was only so much they could do about some of the forced perspective illusions, what with other rides passing through and around the mountain. And now there are crows that perch on the darn thing. Either that’s a small mountain, or those are some gigantic crows! And yes, it would have been very cool to be on that rising stage.

DrGoat, Melissa is at Lake Havasu, for Spring Break. You save lots of money by doing Spring Break in November. I have the feeling that the various Tomorrowland bands were pretty interchangeable, but have no evidence for or against.

JG, some say that Fun Dad was a myth, but I believe in him! I want those colored acrylic panels everywhere I go.

JG, yes, I am convinced that the pale cream (?) color was accurate, though it really is odd. I think they had some of the old round gondolas that color as well.

Clyde Hughes, I thought the first shot was taken in the afternoon? I never thought about the variety of hairdos, but I’ll bet there was some “greasy kid stuff” still being used. I wonder if any of those old Disneyland musicians ever went on to bigger and better things?

Graffer said...

Look at the Monorail sign in the 2nd pic.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Speaking of Skyway gondola colors - I really like that "light cornflower blue" or "periwinkle" shade. I never noticed that color on those, before.

Graffer, I'll always think of NORA when I look at the monorail, from now on! Glad you explained that one. :)

Melissa, I'm looking forward to your comments for the posts you've missed. You must be chompin at the bit, with all the raw material the Major's posted lately! :)

Thanks, Major!

Sue