Frontierland and Cascade Peak, 1960s
Here's a nice pair of pix from "sometime in the '60s". That's about as specific as I can get.
Let's begin with this shot looking east across the lower end of the Rivers of America. You know it well! The Mark Twain looks like it is slumbering. With the exception of two young men (?) to the extreme right the park appears to be completely deserted - which leads me to surmise that this was taken first thing in the morning. There are still wet spots on the walkway from its nightly scrubbing (done by spare Lincoln robots). You can almost imagine how quiet and cool it was at that moment. I kind of love this picture!
From the same batch (and presumably the same day) we get this lovely shot of Cascade Peak. The photographer waited for a yellow Mine Train to pass by, and it was worth it. The morning layer of clouds has burned off, leaving a blue sky and brilliant sunshine. The bush to our right with the red blossoms makes for a nice foreground element.
18 comments:
I know it's just an illusion, but it looks like the NWRR engineer in the second photo is wearing a crazy hat made out of twisted balloons. Maybe he and Wally Boag were pals.
Enjoying this quiet set this morning. Thanks, Major.
Chuck, it also sort of looks like the engineer is wearing a Santa hat!
Yep these are keepers, by golly (said in a crusty old prospector voice). Just imagine the rest of the day this photographer had! And I bet he didn't see a single Ewok! And he didn't care! Crazy, right?
Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve everybody!
I think he’s wearing a Dr. Seuss cat hat.
Keepers for sure! I don't know what kind of hat that is on Engineer Bill's head, but he has my dream job for sure. I like to think Walt took the Mark Twain photo. He got up early in his apartment, and is on his way for a short stack at Aunt Jemima's. Thanks Major.
Could be a wizard's hat. I'd believe anything at this point.
Do like that first pic. Looks like early morning. What a treat. Reminds me of the early magic morning we did in '95. Got a great photo of the castle with a mop bucket in front of it. Plus we were the first in line for the recently opened Indiana Jones ride. We all (about 12 people) boarded the monorail near the D-Hotel and got off in Tomorrowland. We frolicked around until my wife said we better get headed over to Indiana Jones. As we were headed over to Adventureland, we saw a horde of people literally charging up Main Street towards us. A cast member in a safari helmet was a few feet in front of us, turned and said, you'd better hurry. We did.
Nice 'wish we were there' photos. Thanks Major.
DrGoat, please share that castle mop bucket picture here!
DrGoat, did you happen to see if Sorcerer Mickey left that bucket there?
I have always loved DL in the morning. We rode in on the Monorail once and were first in line for Space Mountain.
Thanks, Major
zach
Lou & Sue, Here at Pinderest
https://www.pinterest.com/cootieaz/my-saves/
or at my attempt at a blog a long time ago.
https://drgoat.tumblr.com/page/13
zach, I think the bucket fell into the river where it still is I think.
Nothing like a sleeping steamboat to start the week.
Exceptionally fine photos today, hardly a guest to be seen.
Great story, Dr. Goat, and the mop bucket pic is a real special gift.
We have had several early morning entries over the years, but I can't recall what we ran to, probably Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Broken Ride Mechanism.
Other than that, the last one was so crowded with other "special people" like us and so many attractions and whole lands were closed for the first hour, that the privilege wasn't worth much.
Apparently, if you stay at a Disney hotel, you get entry an hour early, I'm not sure if that is separate from the "Magic Morning" that you pay extra for or not.
I do recall that on our first visit with the kids, we had a "Character Breakfast" in the Plaza Inn, on the patio, and that was pretty nice, but once is plenty.
Thanks Major.
JG
DrGoat - I LOVE your mop bucket photo - thank you for sharing it!
Major, thank you for today's terrific pictures - I especially love seeing the Mark Twain sleeping (I think he's maybe drooling, too, in his sleep here). Am enjoying the fun comments from all, as always!
Chuck, it is clear that the engineer’s hat is actually made out of assorted limbs of stuffed animals. It was all the rage in the 1960s.
TokyoMagic!, hey, for all I know that photo was taken well into December. It’s hard to tell when looking at SoCal photos! The other day it was the mid-70s here.
Stu29573, I thought crusty old prospectors said “dad gummit”, whatever that means. But they say it a lot! Imagine a world before Ewoks existed… what a paradise. I can’t believe in just a few days Santa will bring me that pony I’ve always wanted.
Lou and Sue, he was on his way to a rave right after his shift at the park.
Jonathan, it would be interesting to imagine what Walt would photograph if he brought his camera to the park. Would he take pictures of the usual stuff? Or would he find unusual details that most people didn’t notice?
DrGoat, definitely early morning; like I said, the cement is still wet from the scrubbing that it got each night (wonder if they continued to do that?). I was going to say that I was surprised that you got a photo of the castle with a mop and a bucket in front of it, but that was right around the time that the folks in charge were getting pretty lax about things. Gosh, first in line for Indy! It’s a miracle that you got there before everybody else, especially when it was newly-opened.
Lou and Sue, good idea!
zach, that must be it! Maybe the broom walked away by itself. I like getting to the park first thing. Sadly, the girl I usually go with is more of a “Let’s get there around 11 o’clock” kind of person. By then we’ve lost hours!
DrGoat, I didn’t know you used to have a blog! It looks like fun.
JG, I don’t think I would have ever run to Indy first, even though I think that ride is excellent. Maybe “Space Mountain”? Or the Haunted Mansion? I’ve always loved the idea of the early admittance (I think they called them?), maybe an enterprising person could get three or four rides done before the rest of the rabble was let in. But I didn’t know that much of the park was unavailable, that’s not cool! A character breakfast does not appeal to me, but I guess if I had young kids I might feel differently.
Lou and Sue, the Mark Twain is too dignified to drool! And he’s doing that kind of sleep where if you ask him if he was sleeping, he’ll get all indignant and insist that he’d just closed his eye for a few seconds.
Major, on those early trips, I-J was the latest thing, and the kids loved it, so off we go. even 30 years later, they enjoy it more than I do.
They called it "magic morning" then, and it had a cost premium, but included breakfast and provided some other benefits, I think a dinner discount at the DH.
My first run is either Pirates or Bobsleds. Maybe Space Mountain.
JG
Wait, you're trying to tell me you don't all talk in crusty old prospector voices all the time? Well, there's all my illusions shattered, consarn it.
Well, I sure do! And laugh in that crazy ol'prospector way...A-Heeheeeheee!
(It scares my dog)
JG, We stayed at the D-Land Hotel on that trip in '95 and it was a magic morning. We had a great time with the breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen. At 5 days, it was the longest stay in the park for us. Sure wish I could replay that one.
JG, oops, I edited my comment to you, but left the “early admission” line in. My mistake. But yes, “Magic Morning” or “Magic Hours” sounds right. I sure wouldn’t use my early time to sit down to breakfast! But maybe if I had an annual pass and went to the park three times a month, I’d feel different about it.
Melissa, I speak with a deep, comforting basso profundo voice, but also like a hillbilly. It’s hard to describe until you hear it.
Stu29573, I can see you kind of hopping around and slapping your knee as you laugh!
DrGoat, yeah, I believe that folks who stay at a Disney hotel get those extra goodies like early admittance. Maybe that helps take the sting out of the $600+ per night?
Dr. Goat, I'm glad you had such a nice visit in '95. I think our longest stay was in 2015, I think we did 4 days in the Parks, stayed in the DH, and felt pretty posh.
Major, apart from proximity and the early entrance, there isn't much other benefit to that high room rate. DH is basically just a nice corporate hotel like a Hilton or a Hyatt. I've spent that much (or even less) on rooms in other places and gotten far more amenities.
But in the 90's we couldn't afford the DH for even one night, we got the Magic Morning as a package promotion with a room at the Grand Hotel (formerly the Crest). I thought the Grand would be an upgrade from the motels where we stayed when I was a kid, but the Grand had seen better days by then. Although another Junior Gorilla (Zach or Jonathan?) mentioned they had a nice stay there in that era, so maybe we hit them on an off week.
JG
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