More Casa Mexicana
Here are three more nice photos of Casa Mexicana - formerly "Casa de Fritos", and now Rancho Del Zocalo.
Rustic touches such as that wooden cart, crumbling faux adobe, and thatched umbrellas transport us back to Old Mexico (or early California when it was still under Mexican rule?). Notice the bottles of hot sauce on the cart, for those who needed to add some zip to the un-spicy Disney cuisine.
Must be early, with those long shadows, and no people. Looks like a lovely place to relax and refuel. The stacks of the Mark Twain peek up in the distance.
The hot pink blossoms on the bougainvillea vines adds some dazzling color to the scene, as well as some welcome shade. So pretty.
Thank you, Mr. X!
26 comments:
Major-
Boy, the lack of crowds sure makes me want to 'come on down'. Too bad I can't, as I need a time machine. Drat-!
Thanks to Mr. X.
I always love Mr. X's pictures - thank you for sharing these! That bougainvillea is gorgeous, and everything looks so peaceful . . . what a wonderful day to be at Disneyland.
In that first picture, the bottles of hot sauce are sitting on top of a "Refill" dispenser for what?? Can anyone tell us what was in those 3 dispensers. What's in the middle one, with the red handle? - decaf?? ketchup??
@ Sue-
Undoubtedly it's decaffeinated ketchup-!
Nanook, :o)
If these photos were like Bert's sidewalk chalk art in "Mary Poppins" we could leap into the images and have a jolly holiday at Disneyland.
Love any pics of Disneyland restaurants. They're not that common and when they show up it's a delight. Thanks Mr. X and Major.
I the last picture, the Mark Twain is sneaking up, almost ready to pounce! See this and more on tonight's episide of: When Riverboats Attack!
Mr. X takes the best pix, with a great appreciation for the details. I like the building's crumbling 2nd story, like Knott's. They should make all buildings, in Disneyland and otherwise, like that. It would be super cool!
Here's a rough Google Street View guess of what that area in the last shot looks like today.
I'm back after wandering around DL, thanks Andrew for the link. Along with the Mark Twain stacks I see spires! Eek!
We do eat at RDZ. It ain't bad as Mexican restaurants go.
These scans are just more evidence of the Disneyland magic. I'd comment about the impact of the flowers but bougainvillea is too hard to spell in the morning. (did it!)
Thanks Major and Mr X for preserving this view.
Dz
Oh, I forgot... May the forth be with you!
My first enchilada was at Casa de Fritos. Why I remember that, I don't know.
Those arbors with the bougainvillea vines are among the best features of Frontierland, I am glad those are still there. The re-theming of this area for Big Thunder is very successful, IMHO. Thanks Andrew for the link.
Thanks Major for the pics. Very fine start to the week.
JG
Nanook, I thought you had a sweet 1962 time machine, in turquoise and cream with plenty of chrome.
Lou and Sue, I think it helps that Mr. X was there before things got too busy, but I agree, it looks super inviting. I thought those dispensers might have been for soda, though I guess that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Nanook, I like half caffeine, half decaf.
Lou and Sue, it’s probably DEL MONTE, and not Heinz, the King of Ketchups.
K. Martinez, I often wish I could jump into these old pictures! Speaking of which, I never did watch the “Mary Poppins” movie from last year, was it any good?
stu29573, it is not easy for a 150-ton steamboat to sneak up on anyone. But when it happens… WATCH OUT.
Andrew, I have to admit that the slightly-crumbling upper part of that building did make me think of the even MORE crumbling buildings at Knott’s. Thanks for the link to Google Street View, I didn’t know you could go inside the park with that!
dzacher, did you buy any souvenirs? Or maybe you have a smoked turkey leg? I guess I have a low bar when it comes to Mexican cuisine. I’ve had very good, very authentic Mexican food, it’s awesome of course. But I’m OK with El Torito and that sort of place too. Shameful. It’s like enjoying The Olive Garden’s fine Italian food.
dzacher, you’d think that by now I would be conditioned to the fact that May 4th is a special day… but no such luck.
MRaymond, wow! Just out of curiosity, how old were you (roughly)? My great aunt ate at Rancho Del Zocalo, and her enchilada couldn’t have been milder, but it was too much for her Wisconsin tastes.
JG, bougainvillea can be pretty prickly in my experience, but maybe there is a version without long, sharp thorns? Or maybe they just train it to always be out of reach. I was glad to see that it was still there, just like you!
I had to switch to decaf ketchup when my hands got too shaky to get any on my burger. Sad, really.
Major, Are you referring to "Mary Poppins Returns"? It was okay. It was entertaining on a technical level and the story was serviceable, but nothing compared to the original Mary Poppins. But hey! It does have Walt Disney-basher Meryl Streep in it. To answer your question, I think you can skip it.
There used to be a gazebo/bandstand type of structure in the center of that area where the bougainvilleas are. It looked like it was made of the same wood as those arbors that hold up the bougainvilleas, so everything kind of matched. Does anyone know when it was removed and replaced with that brick planter? I always think of that planter as being "new" but that tree is pretty large, even in this older photo.
Wow, they hired Meryl to be in a Disney movie, even after she said those horrible things about Walt?
@Lou and Sue - The dispenser is for coffee (both regular and decaf) and hot water (red tap). Back in those days Guests were trusted to refill their own coffee and tea beverages. Can you believe it? God, how I long for responsibility again. You can also see the little water spigot closes too us on the cart and what appears to be a little flower along the side of the coffee dispenser.
What catches my eye are two things. In both the first and second photo you can see a Mexican blanket covering the top of the Busser's tray stand. Nice little detail. The second detail is in the third photo... those gorgeous flowers surrounding the tree in the third photo. This is the Disneyland I remember.
From an operations standpoint... it is early morning and the Mark Twain is starting to open up. Trashcans are still blocking the turnstile, but the front window on the Wheelhouse is open so the Opening Cast Member is there somewhere.
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
Matthew, thank you for answering my question. I always enjoy the info you share, too.
Last night, when I was scrolling through older GDB posts, I came across the one where the monorail was "sleeping" inside the Contemporary at WDW. And someone, maybe it was Stu, commented something about not waking it up and startling it, especially if it has a baby monorail close by. I laughed then, and I did today, too, regarding the Mark Twain. I'm glad there are folks like you, Stu, to warn us of these dangers! :oD
Melissa, hahahaha! My girlfriend just told me that, in the past, her doctor told her to eat ketchup packets because her salt level was too low.
Dz, thanks to Andrew, I went on that DL link and was looking for you, but couldn't find you. Andrew, that is so cool - I'm glad you told us about that link. BTW, I had planned to go to California/Disneyland this month but, obviously, my plans got trashed . . . so the link will have to do, for now.
Major, thanks for hosting today's fun party blog! (Speak about 'social distancing' - we're all AT LEAST 6 feet apart, that's for sure.)
Thanks @Lou and Sue. Love that Monorail story! :D
Always your pal,
Melissa, this is why Nancy Reagan wanted us to “just say no” to condiments.
K. Martinez, yeah that’s the one. Other than the fact that I like Emily Blunt, I wasn’t super motivated to see this movie (obviously). That whole Meryl Street thing was so weird, I wonder if her own parents or grandparents could stand up to the ill-informed scrutiny she directed at Walt?
TokyoMagic!, I am surprised that you don’t have a link to one of your own photos showing that bandstand! That’s the sort of thing you captured back in those days. If YOU don’t know when those things were removed, who would?!
Matthew, aha, coffee and hot water makes sense. I can only assume that too many people abused the park’s trust; probably 95% of folks did as they were expected, but there’s always that small group that ruins things for the rest of us. That’s why we can’t have nice things! Thanks for pointing out those fun details, I hope that these days they aren’t just saving nice details for Galaxy’s Edge - I read so much about how planters, benches, and other things were removed to make way for the expected huge crowds.
Lou and Sue, your friend’s doctor told her to eat ketchup packets?! Of all things. Why not salted nuts? Maybe she has a nut allergy. How about some nice Saltines or Ritz crackers? I dunno, ketchup packets is weird. I knew a person who ate marinara sauce from the jar, that was weird too. Your comment about looking for dzacher reminded me of when I first showed a friend a satellite view on Google Maps, she thought it was a live video feed, and if I went outside and waved at the sky, she would see me on her computer! Never mind that none of the cars were moving.
Matthew, now I want to see an animated film about the lives of the Disney Monorails.
I don't think I made the monorail comment, but I like it!
Major, if you like Emily Blunt, she will be in next year's Jungle Cruise movie. Then you could look forward to the Emily Blunt makeover of the Jungle Cruise attraction. ;-)
Stu29573, I think that Monorail quote is from Mary Poppins.
K. Martinez, who knows, maybe the Jungle Cruise movie will be fun, but the trailer does it no favors. And while great strides have been made with audio-animatronics, they still can’t seem to nail a likeness at all, so I can only imagine what an Emily Blunt robot would look like.
I'm back to give credit, where credit is due . . .
I did some searching and found that sleeping monorail picture; it's from Major's GDB 11/28/18 post, and it was JG who commented with the following:
Also, very important not to disturb sleeping monorails, they can be quite violent when alarmed. Never get between a monorail and it's cub.
Thank you, JG, and everyone today, for all the laughs and fun!
Major, Mary Poppins Returns is a perfectly okay, nearly-scene-by-scene thematic remake of the original. It's a nice pastiche of the 1964 classic; there are some heartfelt, spirited performances (you can tell Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Dick Van Dyke are having a blast), and there's a clever cameo by Karen Dotrice, the actress who played Jane Banks in the original, but, as can be expected, it pales in comparison to a film that is practically perfect in every way.
The animatronic Dwayne Johnson in the Jungle Cruise will be good practice in preparation for putting one into the Hall of Presidents in a few years.
"Stu29573, I think that Monorail quote is from Mary Poppins."
Yeah, but they re-used it in The Happiest Millionaire.
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