Disney parks are famous for their mountains, though most people think about the roller coaster variety. You know, the Matterhorn mountain, or Big Thunder Mountain, or Space Mountain. But there are others! Over in Storybook Land - about as "classic Fantasyland" as you can get - is the magnificent stony peak where Cinderella's Dream Castle (as it is referred to on an old postcard) is perched. Nobody is taking that place by surprise. Unless they have flying monkeys. It looks very pretty set in that sea of greenery.
Of course I am happiest when we can see the tangerine-sized pumpkin coach on the zig-zag roadway.
Another mountain, beloved by many, missed by oodles - it's Cascade Peak. Although it was only 8 years old at this point, the trees surrounding it are already getting a bit large to maintain the illusion that CP is more than about 40 feet high. Trees do have scale, Walt!
safasdfasdfasdfas
"Trees do have scale, Walt!"
ReplyDeleteI never understood Walt supposedly saying that trees have no scale. They do when they get too large. Maybe Marty Sklar made that up.
Nice pics today! Thanks, Major.
Cinderella's Castle: My, it does look very nice here. And yes, the greenery ups the score. It also makes the castle look smaller than usual, for some reason. Even smaller than it really is; why is that? Or maybe it's just me.
ReplyDeleteCascade Peak: Having it partly obscured adds mystery and interest but it's too bad we can't see a bit more of it.
"safasdfasdfasdfas"... I don't get it. I tried Googling it and the closest thing I found was: Drumming ones fingers on the table (or keyboard) when one can't think of anything to say. I bet that's it, right?
tmfatyd (Thanks Major, for all that you do.)
I have to agree with Walt. Trees don’t have scales - they have bark.
ReplyDeleteFirst, to JB from yesterday; did you really work in a "Murder By Death" reference??? Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why they didn't try to keep all the different Cindy's Castles (Castli?) closer to each other in style. Not that I don't like the variety...
Cascade Peak is a study in forced perspective. I remember being amazed at how huge it looked sans foliage, and how small it looked behind those scale-less trees! Of course now it looks much much smaller.... It's rumored that they actually tore it down because Becky Thatcher had a hideout there. She was using it as a base to train attack ducks and Ninja Swans. ...or so they say...
Two mountains, both alike in dignity
ReplyDeleteIn fair Fantasyland, where we lay our scenery,
Where ancient trees maintain the scale quite dismally,
And mini castles call for tiny greenery
@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteAnd remember... their bark is worse than their bite-!
Indeed, Nanook. The best policy is to just leaf them alone.
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, yes, when trees grow taller than the “mountain” that they are next to, it completely spoils the forced perspective. I’m kind of surprised that they didn’t plant conifers that tend to stay smaller (if there is such a thing. Bristlecone pines!). Yeah, maybe that was a Marty gem.
ReplyDeleteJB, I think that the greenery around Cinderella Castle is having the same effect as the trees near Cascade Peak, except that Cinderella Castle is supposed to be a miniature. Even if it’s a BIG miniature! Partly obscuring Cascade Peak is fine, but not with giant trees! Sorry about my “placeholder” text, it’s my version of “lorem ipsum”.
Chuck, maybe THAT’S what he was talking about!
Stu29573, I feel like the Storybook Land version of Cindy’s castle is more like the one in the animated movie, but they were going for BIG and IMPRESSIVE for the one at WDW. It’s true about Becky Thatcher’s hideout, she used to make Injun Joe cry there because she was so mean.
Melissa, “mini castles call for tiny greenery”. AMEN!
Nanook, I’ve never been bitten by a tree, but I’ll take your word for it.
Chuck, I think it’s time for another sailboat trip in Florida! ;-)
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorite mountains!
ReplyDeleteStory Book Land is just the best, and I sure miss Cascade Peak. These are great views of each.
Was it perspective or mechanical issue that caused the mountain sheep to be removed from CP?
Since all those castles are imaginary, it’s expected that they will differ slightly from one another, or even from themselves, depending on when or where they are seen, even if they are identical. No two people ever hear quite the same version of a tale, even on the fiftieth re-telling, and so here…
JG
Major-
ReplyDelete"I’ve never been bitten by a tree, but I’ll take your word for it". Check out The Wizard of Oz - it comes pretty close.
I think I might have mentioned this here before, but when I was little we had a Peanuts wastebasket with the Kite-Eating Tree on one side, and I would always insist on that side facing the wall because the idea of being eaten by a tree was so terrifying. I was such a sap.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we're probably going out on a limb with all this tree humor.
On my last visit a few years hence, Sleeping Beauty's Castle was wrapped in illustrated tarps. I was still surprised at how the surrounding trees dwarfed it.
ReplyDeleteDisneyland is weirdly big and small at the same time. I remember sitting at a table on Main Street, looking at the Astro Orbiters across the hub and hearing the Mark Twain's whistle.
I was trying to think of a tree joke, but I’m stumped.
ReplyDeleteJG
Leave it to Chuck to settle the trees/scale dispute once and for all.
ReplyDeleteStu, Yep! It's not the first time a GDBer referenced Murder By Death, though. I seem to recall someone, maybe Melissa, using the two-two- Twain thing before. But thanks, I'll take the credit!
And bravo to you, Stu. For working in all those GDB memes in one paragraph! Including the newly coined Ms. Thatcher reference.
Melissa, Deep!
Major, Great, now you made me look up "lorem ipsum". I looked it up once before after another GDB reference, but I forgot what it meant. This site hands out too much homework! i.e. It makes you think!
Melissa again, it's those 'sappy' things that made you who you are today; for better or for worse. ;-)
And I agree about the tree humor, we need to branch out to other things.
DBenson, It's like being in Alice's Wonderland!
JG, I think it's time we got to the root of all this tree humor.
Enough of this silliness, oak-K?!
ReplyDeleteYew have to admit, this crowd never leaves us in the larch when it comes to puns. Whenever I find myself pining for a good tree joke, i just remember: alder good ones are going to be right here.
ReplyDeleteWooden you know it?! Tom won’t leave it alone.
ReplyDelete(Hi, Tom!)
JG, I’m feeling guilty because these are yet more “so-so” scans. Not bad, just not especially exciting. Still, maybe being OK is enough! I’ve heard that the pack mules were startled by the mechanical goats, but who knows if that is true. “Sleeping Beauty” hadn’t even come out by the time Disneyland opened, so our castle looks nothing like the ones pictured in that movie. But I don’t care!
ReplyDeleteNanook, “The Wizard… of… OZ”? Is this a movie? Never heard of it!
Melissa, Charles Shultz could be pretty weird, and the kite-eating tree was right up there for weird ideas. I can still picture it, with its big toothy grin. I can’t remember it scaring me, but I wasn’t OK with it either.
DBenson… wrapped in illustrated tarps? Is that because they were doing maintenance on the castle? I sort of love hearing the Mark Twain’s whistle in other “lands”.
JG, all I can think of is something using the word “sap”, and that’s just plain rude.
JB, I remember seeing “Murder By Death” in the theater, it was a double feature with… well, I forget. Maybe “Big Jake” with John Wayne? That doesn’t make much sense, but it’s so fuzzy now. Knowing “lorem ipsum” is a big part of the graphic designer’s life, you have become more enlightened.
Lou and Sue, I don’t feel so good…
Tom, the pain! The pain!
Lou and Sue, OUCH.
Major, I use "lorem ipsum" as placeholder text in "format" documents that I distribute. I use it just as it is done in graphics work, to demonstrate the appearance and style of a finished document, without having any identifiable content.
ReplyDeleteI constantly encounter team members who think we want them to prepare their documents in Latin, even though I have big disclaimers in the MSWord "hidden text" that the Latin is just the placeholder.
There is a very useful "Lorem Ipsum Generator" https://loremipsum.io/generator/ that will produce chunks in the quantity you specify so you don't have guess. Need a thousand words of Latin gibberish, just hit a button. the Internet is wonderful.
Here is an explanation, for everyone who thinks we are crazy. (we are crazy, but not about this...)
https://learn.g2.com/what-is-lorem-ipsum
I wonder what Cicero would have thought about this...
JG
JG, I have used that lorem ipsum generator many times doing layouts!
ReplyDeleteFor the record, my last visit was shortly before Galaxy's Edge opened. The castle was being painted and the canal boats/Casey Junior area was having work done so both were wrapped up. Slight bummer, but manageable crowds.
ReplyDeleteOther fragments of memory from that trip:
-- A lot of adult men walking around with Infinity Gauntlets, which turned out to be glorified sippy cups.
-- A rack of free park guides in several languages. Resisted the impulse to grab; just took a picture.
-- Five and Dime was a great act, but was disappointed that they played the exact same set every appearance. They're all outrageously good; you want to hear them do more.
-- Books, CDs, and DVDs were shockingly scarce within the parks. You'd think with all the park-related titles, let alone Disney titles in general, they could fill a few shelves.
-- Favorite false front in Carsland: Mr. Curb Feeler.