Today I am presenting a random mix of photo scans from Lou and Sue; many of the scans belong in groups, but Sue sent a few that were all by themselves. Let's put them together!
First up is this December, 1986 photo of a sign over at EPCOT. I sure haven't posted many photos from that park! This one is especially interesting because it advertises the upcoming SPAIN pavilion, which was never built. I think there have been quite a few never-realized World Showcase pavilions, but the one for Spain must have gone pretty far for them to install this sign.
Here's Sleeping Beauty Castle on a nice sunny day. The trees are practically obscuring the view! Look at all those groovy 70's people.
Now we're back in Florida for this lovely snapshot of the entrance to Tomorrowland, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun (from 1972). It looks like the fountains flanking the walkway are not on, maybe it was a windy day.
And finally, it's everybody's favorite float from "America On Parade", from October 1975. If you look in the background you can see the Global Van Lines vehicle, and in front of that, an aggressive photographer taking a picture of one of the doll-headed parade performers. Calm down, sir!
Many thanks to Lou and Sue! There's lots more to come from them.
Major-
ReplyDeleteYes, the setting sun's 'warm glow' was entirely different back in 1972. I remember how its light made the groovy fashions back then look even more-so-!
And what is wrong with that fella who absolutely, positively must get a shot of that doll-headed performer. (Perhaps he was gathering photographic research for a medical article discussing that rare condition of 'the swollen head').
Thanks to Lou and Sue for a glimpse of both coasts.
That sandwich has a stalk of celery on it! I can't say that I've ever put that large of a piece of celery on a sandwich! And I think one of those pieces of bread in the middle of the sandwich is raisin bread. Either that, or they are trying to depict how bread will grow mold, if you keep it around long enough.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to figure out what that float was in front of the Global Van Lines truck, but now I can see that it's an "iron." This was the "American Inventions" part of the parade. And that guest is being pretty obnoxious. Hopefully, the person inside that costume could see him in plenty of time, as to not knock him over. The character is in mid-step....and it can be rather difficult to see out of those character heads.
I love the "future attraction" sign for the Spain pavilion. I wonder if it was going to have some kind of a ride or a CircleVision film. Or maybe it wasn't going to have either one, just like the Japan, Italy, Morocco, Germany and United Kingdom pavilions.
P.S. Thank you Lou, Sue and the Major, too! :-)
ReplyDeleteLike TOKYO MAGIC I love those FUTURE SITES signs! My first visit to EPCOT CENTER was in 1983 and I remember seeing them but for whatever reason never took pictures of them. I specifically recall the FUTURE SITE of MOROCCO - I think because you could see construction starting . At the time, I think guests were excited to see that additions were coming. World Showcase was another thing Eisner quickly began to cancel and blame on a “lack of sponsors” Eisner just wanted to divert money into HIS hotels ( Swan and Dolphin)and HIS park (Eisner MGM Studios) THATS what killed off the original World Showcase plans . Spain , Israel , Denmark , Africa were all Eisner casualties. (Most) of the Pavilions included some kind of attraction - even if it was just a film or a stage-folk type theater. Phase two of Epcot was to include MEET THE WORLD for Japan , THE GERMAN RIVERS CRUISE ( later redesigned as a Airbaloon flight over Germany using a Airbaloon ride vehicle intended for THE LAND pavilion at EPCOT CENTER and Discovery Bay/Dumbo Circus at Disneyland. A theater planned for Italy featured AA figures and live performers held in a Roman ruin amphitheater. Denmark was going to have a Fantasyland like dark ride based on Han Christian Anderson stories ... Africa would have The Heartbeat of Africa film/live performances and Israel aslo was to have a ancient theater show. But I’m not aware of the attraction Spain was to have had.
ReplyDeleteJust seeing that single Spain Future Site picture reminds me how great Walt Disney World and EPCOT CENTER was then. Thanks for sharing these !
I would call the sign for Spain a "sigh" too because we never got our pavilion for it!
ReplyDeleteKeeping with TokyoMagic, why is there a huge hard-boiled egg slice on this sandwich? And that photographer does look like he's about to get bowled over by the character!
I'm just trying to imagine taking a bite out of that sandwich. You'd almost have to have unhinged jaws like a snake to get than sandwich into your mouth.
ReplyDeleteI can see the Skyway terminal at the end of the Tomorrowland corridor. Wonderful straight-on shot of the Tomorrowland entrance. Thanks, Sue and Lou.
Well, I guess you need all those food items when you have 9 slices of bread!
ReplyDeleteThat is a cool sign with an almost Moorish castle. Sorry Andrew. Should have been built.
Thanks Lou, Sue and Major. I've never been to Florida, but sometimes I wish I had. But usually not.
Once again, Lou and Sue deliver the good stuff. The sandwich reminds me of the Big Sandwich episode of Wings. A true classic. Thanks to Lou and Sue and Major.
ReplyDeleteWe called that a Dagwood sandwich in the day. Not sure the connection to this Disney parade.
ReplyDeleteI'm coming back later to read more comments. I learn so much from this blog.
Thanks, Lou and Sue and Major, too
dz
@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteI think that "moldy bread" - although a wonderful thought - is more-likely a slice of cheese - perhaps with its own "science experiment" under way...
I was particularly taken with the photo of the castle in the 70's because you can't even see it for the trees! I remember those trees but then back then we didn't have projections on the castle and fireworks were not all year round. So it's fun to see the people and the clothing - not the greatest time for fashion :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Lou and Sue once again. And thank you Sue for being such a great detective and finding my phone number and calling me!!!! I sure did enjoy our very long (over 1 hour!) phone call the other day. I appreciated it so much and do wish you lived closer :) Hoping that some day soon you can come west again and a bunch of us Gorilla fans that live around here can meet up.
I'm glad everyone's enjoying my dad's pictures - thanks for all the nice comments!
ReplyDeleteMike Cozart, thanks for the info regarding EPCOT! Though I loved Disney's MGM Studios - that's a shame the money was diverted from EPCOT.
Irene, I truly enjoyed our conversation, and I do wish I lived closer to you and Disneyland. I would love to meet you and all the Gorillas some day soon! I can just imaging all the laughing that would take place!
Since these are my dad's pictures, I'll add my two-cents (he doesn't mind):
The castle pic has got to be one of the worst castle pictures I've seen - the castle looks like a sloppy hippy. ;)
The WDW Tomorrowland picture has to be one of the most boring shots I've seen of the entrance. That's why I sent it to the Major. All of you commenters are being too nice. ;)
In the last shot, I love the guy who's sitting to the immediate right of the sandwich - facing us and staring up at the sandwich. Love the hairstyles, too - definitely the 70's! :)
Thanks, Major!
Sue
Nanook, ha ha, maybe that warm glow was caused by plenty o’ smog? That guy with the camera is the worst, I hope he was flattened by a passing float.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, you don’t put whole pieces of celery on your sandwiches? I mean, what in the world DO you put on them? (I can’t say I’ve ever put a hard-boiled egg on a sandwich either). A slice of raisin bread might be interesting, for the chew and sweetness along with tangy ingredients, rich ingredients, etc. Good eye on the iron, I couldn’t tell what it was at all. And yes, I think that sign for the Spain pavilion is really neat!
Mike Cozart, good grief, I had no idea that all of those pavilions that you mentioned did not get built due to Michael Eisner’s bad management. Wow. Such a shame that all of those attractions were never realized. I have an Epcot booklet that lists the German river cruise, which is pretty neat - that sounds like it would have been a pretty ride. I love hearing about proposed attractions! Thanks so much.
Andrew, ha ha, I mentioned the hard boiled egg to TokyoMagic! I’ve certainly heard of sandwiches with eggs. Even hamburgers with eggs (something I’ve never had the courage to try).
K. Martinez, are you saying that your jaws don’t unhinge? How do you ingest an entire goat? Good eye on the Skyway terminal!
DrGoat, I always think of sandwiches like that as being a “Dagwood” (as in the comic strip character), but I have no idea if anybody ever made something like that. Ha ha, “I’ve never been to Florida, but sometimes I wish I had. But usually not”. What a burn!
Jonathan, gosh, I used to watch “Wings”, but I don’t remember the Big Sandwich episode.
dzacher, yes! A Dagwood! Our paper still carries the “Blondie” strip, but I never read it because it is (like most comics) not funny anymore. I miss Calvin and Hobbes.
Nanook, there is a piece of what looks like pimento loaf, but I do see some crusts of bread that may (or may not) have raisins in it. Just above a couple of red tomato slices.
Irene, isn’t it funny how they sometimes let the trees get so big that guests couldn’t even see the castle? Or the buildings on Main Street? As I’ve often said, I love big trees in general, but they make things tough on Main Street. Sue told me about your phone conversation, what a fun idea! I would have never thought of it. Just hearing about it brightened my day.
A fun post of an odd lot. Thanks Major, L + S.
ReplyDeleteI do love the Dagwood sandwich, first thing I thought of when I saw it. Certainly a strange thing to make of a parade float. That guy staring at it must be hungry.
Major, raisin bread makes a fine ham sandwich. The Hills Brothers Coffee Garden on Main Street used to have a raisin bread sandwich with cream cheese spread and sweet pickles. I thought it sounded awful as a kid, and I would eat it in a heartbeat today.
The red-haired girl in yellow in the castle picture really looks familiar, but I don't think she is anyone I knew. We would have been in the Park together in 1976.
As much as I like big trees, I like seeing the castle better, especially with the original color scheme and shingles.
JG
Lou and Sue, gosh I don’t think that photo of the Tomorrowland entrance is boring at all. I like the warm sunlight and the slightly empty feeling of that early part of the park just because it FEELS early. Yeah that guy with the purple shirt staring at the sandwich looks like he’s very respectful, like at a performance of the national anthem.
ReplyDeleteJG, ha ha, yes, or maybe that guy is thinking, “A stalk of celery on a sandwich?”. I can totally see using raisin bread for a ham sandwich - the sweet raisins would make a nice counterpart to salty ham. I’ve been adding dried cranberries to chicken salad, and it’s so good. I wish that red-haired girl was somebody you could identify!
*sigh* Another great photo of the dear departed Tomorrowland entrance. And yes, EPCOT has been the abandoned stepchild of WDW since the 1990's. It was dating and ambitious and I doubt we'll ever see anything like it again. The renovations currently underway to turn it into another fantasy/IP/merch-selling park are such a double-edged sword.
ReplyDeleteSAMMICH FLOAT 4EVA
Major and Lou and Sue,
ReplyDeleteNothing against WDW. Actually wish I could visit. Got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, plus Christmas has got me on the run.
Begging your pardon. I guess sometimes I feel like an old Anaheim Disney snob.
Major, the red-haired girl looks a lot like my sort-of girlfriend Julie, we went around Disneyland together on a couple of high school trips.
ReplyDeleteWe lost track of one another after graduating, and I have no idea what happened to her. I hope she has had a good life.
JG
Thanks for the info from the crew. I knew about the attractions proposed for Germany and Japan, but not the others. I understand that Eisner wanted to keep Tischman from building some generic hotels as part of their contract to build EPCOT Center, but they sure dumped a lot of money into the Swan and Dolphin.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Melissa, I'm happy that Epcot is getting some consistent style and, but it's not going to be as unique as what was there in the early days.
DrGoat, you truly do not have to apologize to me. I don't think you offended anyone - you were just sharing your thoughts, like everyone else on this blog. Anyway, one cannot really compare Disneyland to Disney World (or California to Florida), as they are so very different - like comparing apples to oranges. They are BOTH wonderful! (Though Disneyland is extra wonderful, in my opinion.) :)
ReplyDeleteSue
I'm an East Coaster who's only been to Disneyland once, but I still think I prefer it to WDW, even though they both have a lot going for them. Maybe it's a case of the grass being greener? Who knows.
ReplyDeleteIf they were going to put Frozen in EPCOT's World Showcase, I think it would have been kind of clever to build a whole Rivendelle pavilion instead of having it take over Norway. There'd have been room.