Sunday, April 25, 2021

Sunday Snoozers

I hope you will be able to keep your eyelids open long enough to "enjoy" today's snoozers. Scotch Tape will help. Both of today's photos are date-stamped "July 1964".

Well. There it is. The floral portrait of Mickey Mouse. I notice that nobody has made a floral portrait of ME. Is that too much to ask? But I'm not angry; just disappointed. I would expect to see the framed posters that lined the wrought iron fence, but I guess they are just out of frame here. 


Against all reason, I often find myself liking photos of the Jungle Cruise that have guests silhouetted against the lush Anaheim jungle. Don't ask me to explain it; might as well ask somebody why the sun goes up and down every day. NOBODY KNOWS! Normally a photographer might be compelled to take a picture of ear-wigglin' hippos, or bathing elephants, or dancing headhunters. Not this time! I do like that we can see some of the stairs from the Swiss Family Treehouse in the distance.


27 comments:

"Lou and Sue" said...

Great grate!

Leafy leaves!

TokyoMagic! said...

Alluring alyssum!

Jubilant jungle!

JC Shannon said...

I bet Major would look very dapper as a floral arrangement. He cuts a striking figure in a variety Disneyland costumes. Peter Pan is my personal favorite, not all of us can pull off green tights. I think there are so many pictures of the Jungle Cruise, cause it's a great illusion and folks like to share. Hey Major, can I borrow your Spaceman suit, I have a wedding to attend and I don't want to clash with the bride? Thanks buddy.

zach said...

Why use Scotch Tape around your eyes when you can use Duct Tape? It only hurts when you rip it off.

Always liked the floral Mickey and probably have lots of photos of floral Mickey and silhouettes on the Jungle Cruise. None good enough for GDB and packed away who knows exactly where. I may fish them out someday.

Happy Sunday all. Thanks, Major

Zach

Bu said...

These are not snoozers...I immediately smelled the alyssum from the Floral Mickey- it was very fragrant and as you past through the main gate it was a very familiar "I am in Disneyland" smell. When it's available around here I try to plant it around my yard to have that Main Gate scent in my own yard. When I was first employed I made it a mission to be in one of the yearly photos they took of an assortment of employees standing around the floral Mickey. They had the old photos in the halls of the old Admin bldg. Even though I am kind of a "micro dot" in the 1980 photo it was one of the very few photos of me in my Outdoor Vending "Yellows". I don't think you even had to sign up or be "approved" for these photos in those days- I remember just showing up and standing where the photographer indicated. I did a lot of those photos, including my "famous" (or rather infamous) 30th Anniversary photo in front of the castle that was used for the cover of the guidebook all that year. There were a couple of shots taken- I was in a good spot on the "3" of the human "30". Unfortunately, the one that was eventually chosen shows everyone looking straight at the camera smiling....and then there's me...looking BEHIND me at the balloon release that they had just did seconds before clicking the camera. I am the ONLY one not looking at the camera. I was mortified. Decades later, they did another birthday celebration marketing/show thing inside of the waiting area of Mr. Lincoln...and there was that photo...blown up into GIANT size and plastered on the wall...I suppose it was my claim to fame, but blown up it's even MORE obvious that I was clearly more fascinated by the balloon release than doing my job. A great profile photo of me nonetheless. Onto the Jungle Cruise- the vegetation on the left looks like one of the legendary upside down root systems of an orange tree with some bromeliads or something wedged into it. How quickly in the Southern California sun things turn from sand to jungle! I'm jealous on this particularly dreary North Eastern rainy Sunday.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Zach, you know the routine - please get those photos to the Major ASAP - especially if you’re in any of them!

Bu, I LOVE your photo story! You HAVE to find a shot of it for us to see!

TokyoMagic! —
Crazy Concrete!
Jungle Joy!
(your turn)

Fun Sunday, thanks Major!

JG said...

Floral Mickey is the best Mickey.

I’m always struck by the blunt look of that little wall with the weep hole drains. Maybe imagineers didn’t realize what a popular scene this would become. I don’t have any recent pics of this area and the Street View doesn’t start until inside the portals, but I bet it’s been spruced up at some point.

I always love the Jungle Cruise, the silhouette photos make the you-are-there feeling.

Thanks Major, much appreciated.

JG

Nanook said...

Major-
That's the secret of the JC image - the photographer was going for the Swiss Family Treehouse stairs... they're so under-appreciated-!

@ Sue-
Do I spy some Begonia's in Mickey, along with California poppies surrounding him-?

@ JC-
Let's hear it for the weep hole-! Clearly, the architects 'friend'.

Thanks, Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, er, um… Fancy flowers?

TokyoMagic!, Alyssum Milano?

Jonathan, I would look good in a flower portrait, especially with my trademark beret. The key to looking good in green tights is to think like a tree. I agree, I do think people were enjoying the illusion of being in a real tropical jungle! You can borrow my spaceman suit, but I need it back by next weekend because I am going to the ISS.

zach, I like the transparent quality of Scotch Tape, but duct tape will definitely work. Glue sticks do NOT work. Super glue, best of all, but perhaps a little but “much”. Definitely fish for those photos!

Bu, I wouldn’t know alyssum if it walked up and bit me. And I don’t think that I associate many plant smells with Disneyland, though I’m sure you do because you worked there for years. The “Main Gate Scent”, Disney needs to make candles or a room spray. $$$! You’ll have to show us where you were in those big group shots (assuming you have copies of them), ha ha. That would be fun. Bummer that you are the only person looking away from the camera, that would have probably been my fate as well. Like you said, it is now your claim to fame. That definitely looks like one of those upside-down trees, I have always wondered how long they lasted - you’d think that the water would make them decay in a hurry.

Lou and Sue, yes, I said the same thing! And I also encouraged Bu to look for those photos! Great minds think alike.

JG, if nothing else, you’d think that the concrete wall could have been painted (or dyed) a shade of “go away green”. The off-white really shows stains and things, but maybe painting the wall would have required too much maintenance. Peeling paint would look even worse. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Nanook, I assume that the Jungle Cruise photo was taken shortly after the boat got underway - if I recall, there were no other JC photos in the batch! So maybe they DID want the Swiss Family Treehouse stairs. Looking at the thumbnail view of photo #2, it almost looks like someone outlined the path of water from the weep hole with chalk. It’s those darn mineral salts!

"Lou and Sue" said...

Nanook, Mickey’s mouth looks like begonias, or maybe even those miniature roses(?), but I don’t know what the darker plants are... (I truly DO have a smartphone—‘cause when I typed in “nan”—“Nanook” instantly popped up.)

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue,

Mirthful Mickey!

Tall treehouse!

Bu, I had scanned of one of my 30th guide books a while ago, so I pulled up the scan. If you are the only one who is seen in profile, then I spotted you! Were you wearing a red vest?

Major, I don't ever remember that wall in front of Mickey being plain concrete, like in many of your early photos. I always remember it being painted. And if I'm not mistaken, I think they then put the tiny little dots of paint over the base color, to make it look like some type of stone. I could be wrong about the dots, but I do always remember it being painted. It has since been replaced with a brick wall. Oh, and poor Alyssa Milano! She had COVID last year, and has revealed that she has been suffering with the effects of "Long COVID," ever since then. :-(

TokyoMagic! said...

Bu, you might not be alone! I just spotted someone else who's head is turned to the side, on the cover of that 30th guidebook! Both of you are in the "30." One is in the bottom portion of the "3" and looking to the east, and the other is in the middle part of the right side of the "0" and looking to the west.

Bu said...

Tokyo: yes that's me :( I'm wondering how many millions of those guidebooks are floating around...not my best work! I am forgetting the BEST (sic) smell at the Mickey Floral- it came out of that drain! It was by far the worst foul smelling sewer smell ever...and when it smelled...it smelled bad. "Welcome to the Magic Kingdom of farts!" The sweepers put some sort of orange scented perfumey kind of stuff down the drain...so then it smelled like sewage + barf dust (a dust that was placed on "V" if there was a "code V" ...do the math.) The smell was not all the time and I am sure it had something to do with the rain, the river, or the effect of gamma rays on man in the mood marigolds...I'm not sure- but we were all glad when it passed.

"Lou and Sue" said...

TokyoMagic!--
Weeping wall!
Swiss stairs!
(inspired by Nanook's comments above)

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, I would have to ask my mom about anything flower-related, she is the expert. Funny that your phone “knows” Nanook!

TokyoMagic!, I’m not surprised that they eventually did paint over the concrete wall - maybe paint technology had advanced to the point where they didn’t have to fix it every month. The spatter dots sound like a good way to disguise any beginnings of peeling. And yes, poor Alyssa Milano! I sure loved her back in the day. I hope she improves.

TokyoMagic!, fun that you found Bu (and somebody else)!

Bu, I would think that the “sewer” was just a drain for water, and not actual sewage?? They could have put some chlorine down there to mitigate any unpleasant smells. Orange-scented perfumey stuff - now you have TWO bad smells mixed together!

Lou and Sue, you aren’t that far from making a haiku.

Dean Finder said...

I'd guess that the intense plantings of the floral Mickey requires them to fertilize that planter frequently. That would lead to the sewerage smell if they added manure or too-wet mulch. Fertilizer runoff might also explain those salt-like traces below the weep holes.

Believe it or not, there are several companies selling Disney ride scented candles. See here and here

Anonymous said...

I love the ride-scented candles idea. I've heard a lot of people craving the scent of Pirates of the Caribbean water, and I can't recall it having any smell at all.

Bu, I agree, alyssum have a concentrated sweet smell that is memorable. What a nice thing to associate with your time at Disney.

Agreed with Dean Finder, natural fertilizers add a lot of aroma, chemical ones also, but different. I remember winters in West LA/Brentwood when all the big houses had their lawns mowed super-short, aerated and treated with manure. The whole west side smelled like a dairy.

I've worked with several large hotel chains that install machinery to disperse the "brand scent" in the public spaces of the hotels. It's a big part of the luxury brand marketing; Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt all have high end brand names (Ritz Carlton, Waldorf Astoria, etc.) with their own associated scents. There are special mechanisms in the ventilation to add these scents to the air circulation in the lobby and public areas. You can buy the scented oils for use at home too.

JG

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue,

Sublime station!

Radiant river!

Major Pepperidge said...

Dean Finder, good work, Sherlock! I’m sure they did have to fertilize that flower bed often. Why, I can almost smell it! I’ve heard of companies selling Disney ride scented candles. Some of the examples on Amazon are very loosely associated with rides and/or films. “I Lava You”? “Foolish Mortal”? By next year I expect “Floral Portrait Sewer”.

JG, I seem to remember a podcast saying that the candles were a fun idea, but didn’t really evoke the specific attractions that much. I can’t say, personally. You can always tell when a neighbor has decided to sprinkle natural fertilizer on their lawn, luckily the smell doesn’t last too long. I’m not surprised that those big hotel chains have their own particular scents - veteran travelers can probably tell you which hotel they’re in even blindfolded! I want my bedroom to smell like the Waldorf Astoria.

TokyoMagic!, I feel like something is going on that I am missing.

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM!
Pitifully posterless!
Exotic Excursion!

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, but, but...Sue started it! Blame Sue! ;-)

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue,

Fine fencing!

Rounded railing!

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM!
Enticing entrance!
Lush landscape!

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue,

Dirty drain!

Shadowy silhouette!

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM!
People-less picture!
Overgrowth overabundance!

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue,

Abandoning alliterations! :-)

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM!
Oh, OK!