Thursday, February 17, 2022

New Fantasyland, October 5, 1984

Lou and Sue have done it again! Here are four nice photos taken by Lou Perry back in 1984, scanned for us by Sue. Lou was visiting the "New Fantasyland", presumably for the first time. I assume that all of these were taken from a moving Skyway gondola, so there's that hurdle that added to the level of difficulty in trying to capture a clear image.

The Dumbo attraction had undergone a considerable upgrade since its opening. Wikipedia says: In 1983, as part of Fantasyland's major remodeling, the ride was moved to where Skull Rock used to be, allowing Dumbo's original location to be a shortcut to Frontierland. It was completely rebuilt with a kinetic toymaker-like design, although ten elephants were still used and Timothy still held the whip. Show those elephants who's boss, Timothy!


At some point the whip was removed from Timothy's grasp, and I'm OK with it. I think he just waves his paw around now, as if instructing the Dumbos via hand signals.


The Mad Tea Party had been moved (as had Dumbo), and the teacups were repainted with updated - dare I say, more "1970s"? - designs. They really do remind me of decorative Dixie Cups that my mom bought when I was a kid. The swirly turntable has also been repainted, now a deep pink and medium purple rather than the original red and yellow.


And finally (for today, there are more from this batch to come), a nice aerial view of It's a Small World. I never noticed that there were so many trees in the vast plaza out front, presumably those were all removed at some point. You can see just how massive that building is; all of the rooms inside have those nice high ceilings so that more visual stimuli can be crammed inside. And, given that it is essentially a large industrial shed, the Mary Blair/Rolly Crump façade hides that reality well.


 THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!

18 comments:

JB said...

Lou pic #1: I see they replaced the mirrored disco ball with a hot-air balloon. Either Timothy grew to gigantic size or that's a pretty small balloon.
And I just noticed the 'stork carrying a bundle of joy' motif below the balloon. I guess that's baby Dumbo being delivered to Mrs. Jumbo.

Lou pic #4: I spy four mouse-ear balloons here; three of them are red. That must be the most popular color. Or maybe the balloon vendor had a glut of red balloons he needed to push: "Hey kid, how about a nice red Mickey balloon? Mickey loves the color red. You don't wanna make Mickey sad, do you?" Kid: "Mommy, I wanna Mickey balloon! A red one!"
The guy at the bottom of the photo is being attacked by his red Mickey balloon. It's trying to chew his arm off!

A nice set of Lou Perry photos today. Thank you Lou, Sue, and Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

They did give Timothy a black "crow's" feather at some point, after removing the whip from his hand. I don't know if he still holds that today. In Tokyo Disneyland, he is still whipping those elephants, and still standing atop his disco ball.

In the past, I had read that info on Wikipedia, about how moving the Dumbo attraction allowed the former location to be used for a "shortcut to Frontierland." I have news for Wikipedia. There was already a shortcut from Fantasyland to Frontierland, prior to 1983. It was created when Big Thunder was built, and opened in 1979. I know it's trivial, and I still do use Wikipedia quite a bit, but it always bothers me when I come across wrong facts like that.

Major, that large/tall white building behind It's A Small World is the Global Van Lines building. I think Lou's use of a telephoto lens, makes it appear like it is practically touching the IASW facade. And it looks like that hotel on the far right of the last photo, might have scaffolding on parts of it. I believe this is about the time that hotel was built (corner of Harbor Blvd. and Ball Rd.). When I worked in the Christmas parade in Winter of '81-'82, there was a trailer park on that property. I remember it wasn't too long after that, that the property was cleared for a hotel.

TokyoMagic! said...

I forgot to thank Lou, Sue and Major, too!

Andrew said...

The swirled turntable of the Mad Tea Party (and the teacups themselves, I guess) is one of Disneyland's unsung contributions to amusement park history.

In the bottom left of the small world picture, you can see a railing left over from the old Fantasyland. That design dated back to when the Midget Autopia and the Viewliner were there, but I wonder how long it lasted.

JG said...

My goodness, these are nice. I’ll spend more time later going over them.

Good eye on the old fence, Andrew. There’s a couple of nice trash cans right there too. Those trees would be removed shortly to make way for the exit through the gift shop when the queue direction was reversed.

The blue accent looks good on IASW.

Tokyo, was that hotel the Sheraton? I remember driving by it, never stayed there. It seems like an awkward location.

Thanks Lou, Sue and Major!

JG

JG

Melissa said...

I love how everyone's being all Joel Cool and leaning back in their teacups with their arms on the rim. They won't be so casual when the spinning starts.

Thanks to L&S&TMT!

Major Pepperidge said...

JB, the old disco ball used to occasionally hypnotize random guests, making them think that they were giant chickens. I didn’t even notice Mr. Stork! I’m sure red is a very popular color for Mickey balloons, though I think that today I would want a color that was different than what everyone else had. “Please give me a puce Mickey balloon, my good sir. Here’s a shilling for you”.

TokyoMagic!, they should have replace the whip with a gun, in my opinion. A nice shiny Colt revolver. And every few seconds, it could fire! That’ll teach those darn elephants to fly, damn them. Yeah, that whole “shortcut to Fantasyland” thing sounds like BS, but I don’t know whether to blame Wikipedia, or if that was an actual “factoid” released by Disney, since we all know their tendency to stretch the truth. And you must be right about the Global Van Lines building, I feel silly that I didn’t even consider it! Good eye on the scaffolding on the distant hotel!

Andrew, I prefer the old yellow and red swirl on the turntable, but I guess I just have to deal with purple and dark pink. Interesting about that old railing; Mr. Vintage Disneyland Tickets used to visit an area in Tomorrowland (or was in Fantasyland?) where you could see three types of fence styles all together, including the old style you point out. I can only assume it is long gone…

JG, I have to be honest, I still don’t quite get WHY they changed the direction of the queue for IASW. Was there any real gain, or was it strictly to funnel guests through the gift shop? I sometimes read about how the Merchandise department will have their greasy thumbprints on an attraction, and I suspect that’s what happened here. “It’s dumb, but think of the sales!”.

Melissa, I’m always the poor fool who is spinning that wheel in the teacup, though perhaps someday I’ll just sit back and be “Major Cool” and enjoy the ride with no nausea!

TokyoMagic! said...

Andrew, that's a good question about how long that fencing lasted. I wish I could remember. Here's a pic from Ken Martinez, showing a ground view of that fence, and what was just to the left of that one trash can. It's the ticket booth that we saw in Major's post from February 7th. I meant to share the link to this photo on that day.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/bananaphone5000/Gorillamydreams/KM-DLFall81SmallWorldPlaza.jpg

You can't really see it, but there was a small gate in that fencing, just to the left of the ticket booth. Beyond the gate, there was a little path that went around to a door in the back of the ticket booth.

JG, that hotel is now a "Four Points by Sheraton," but it wasn't always a Sheraton Hotel. I just can't remember what it used to be. I think the name and ownership has changed at least a couple times, over the decades.

Melissa, I forgot to say thank you for sharing your personal photos with us, yesterday. That is always appreciated! Oh, and Major....the first photo in yesterday's post, was taken in front of the Crystal Palace! ;-)



TokyoMagic! said...

Major, that area that VDT used to call "Three Fences," is still there, at least it was the last time I was at the park. Here's a Google street view of it. Unfortunately, we can't zoom in, but the convergence of the three fences is just above the heads of the people sitting on those benches:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8132362,-117.9174101,3a,27.5y,88.23h,86.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf7uL7ZOpaVhCu3OnBtEvvA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

And here is a pic from VDT (taken in 2008). They have since removed that woody grape vine from the fence:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_3jV5FcVqpE8/SAVtrFR97bI/AAAAAAAABPE/t45FcDJye3g/s1600-h/P4150058.JPG



Melissa said...

I just saw an episode of The Magician with some scenes filmed at the Pike in Long Beach. (I know, lots of 1970s TV shows filmed there, but I still get excited when I spot it "in the wild.") We get glimpses of the Sky Ride, the Rotor, the Scrambler, the Super Trooper, and some other miscellaneous flat rides. There's a scene in a house of mirrors, but I can't say whether it was filmed in the park or in a studio set.

(The Mickey balloon I saved for years was a lovely bright pink.)

Nanook said...

@ Melissa-
Thanks to L&S&TMT! Hmmm... Is that the same as "L.S./M.F.T."-?

Major-
You haven't lived until you've allowed yourself to 'luxuriate' in a "still" Teacup. One of the benefits is being able to point and laugh at other guests, as their faces begin to turn many shades of purple-!

Chuck said...

Major, you can never go wrong with puce. Still irritated the Air Force turned down my Form 1000 suggestion to change the uniform to that shade.

I think the color of the turntable swirl is actually dependent on what the riders ate last.

Nanook, excellent question. We certainly had a lucky strike again today with these photos from Lou & Sue!

Anonymous said...

Melissa, back when every serious movie had to have a hall of mirrors scene.

TM, thanks for the hotel tip, the Sheraton I was thinking of is now the Anaheim Majestic. It is west of the freeway on Ball Road and is a combination of Tudor half-timber and Windsor Castle motifs. Built in the 70's I think. I've never stayed there as it was too far away.

The Four Points was built during the dark years when I couldn't visit.

Also thanks for the three fences references, I've visited that several times, and it seems like it was harder to get to on the last visit. Not sure what changed.

JG

MIKE COZART said...

Those gold leafed lamppost finals around DUMBO are a group of balancing elephants. The finals were made by making castings from a maquette for a Audio Animatronics scene designed for the big “E” Ticket ( coupon) attraction THE BIG TOP. This was to be the star attraction of the unbuilt DUMBO CIRCUS land ...... of course the elevated Dumbo attraction was to be the new land’s centerpiece. In the early Disney Gallery exhibit THE DISNEYLAND THAT NEVER WAS, the Eddie Martinez concept rendering of “ Balancing Elephants” was displayed next to the Blaine Gibson painted maquette of the same subject. And next to those design pieces was a finished sample of one the current Balancing Elephants Dumbo lampost finals. A exhibit poster of the concept rendering was made available for sale as well ...... mainly because guests requested it!

The Big Thunder Trail was one of the first things completed during the construction of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as the whole reason for the Big Thunder project go ahead was to provide a inner access corridor for the DISCOVERY BAY project that was to proceed after Big Thunder and eventually New Fantasyland. When Michael Eisner came into position he put a hold on all park projects including greenlighted ones like Discovery Bay and a mid 1980’s New Tomorrowland ( nick-named EPCOT Tomorrowland by WED imagineers) this would be one of 4 different New Tomorrowland’s Eisner would cancel.

JB said...

Chuck, haha! I've heard that the combination of churros and turkey legs makes a nice warm shade of brown.

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, I think it’s kind of awesome that some of our Disneyland bloggers used to (and maybe still do?) keep such thorough track of tiny details like the fencing around the park. Was the “small gate” where the CM would access the ticket booth for work? And yes, Melissa’s photos were very cute and fun!

TokyoMagic!, NEAT, I am stunned that the “Three Fences” is still there. You can zoom in on that first link, but it’s blurry. Still, you can still see the three kinds of fencing! I don’t mind the grape vine in the VDT photo, except that it might have damaged the fence.

Melissa, “The Magician”? Is that the one with Bill Bixby? I barely remember that show, but I pretty much liked anything with Bixby. And of course half the fun of watching old shows is seeing L.A. in the background as they drove around town. When everything was shot here!

Nanook, I don’t know why I always feel the need to spin my teacup, especially since I have made my fellow passenger (aka “my date”) angry at how fast we were going. Live and learn, theoretically at least.

Chuck, don’t give up the good fight, perhaps someday we can all enjoy seeing our military in puce uniforms! “I think the color of the turntable swirl is actually dependent on what the riders ate last.” OOG.

JG, I thought every movie had to have a pie fight, but I guess a hall of mirrors worked too. Combine the two, and it would be SHEER GENIUS. I’m wondering if my family stayed at the Anaheim Majestic the one time we did a two-day visit to the park? It was not a great place, but the kids loved the hot tub.

Mike Cozart, thanks for pointing out the finials, that’s a fun detail. It reminds me of a scene from the film where all of the elephants for a pyramid, only for Dumbo to cause it to collapse. Hey, he’s just a baby! I wish they’d do a new version of that “The Disneyland That Never Was” exhibit, it sounds like it was a really good one. Considering just how successful Eisner’s early tenure was with Disney, I’m surprised that he did not go ahead with “Discovery Bay”. But then again, I’m not sure I actually wanted Discovery Bay either. From your descriptions in the past, I gather that you thought it would be pretty neat?

JB, OOG!

Bu said...

No one has mentioned the sweeper in front of the queue talking to a few guests. That guys name I think was Nick P. He was a well known sweeper. The “new” Fantasyland was rather hyped, and was all about details…kind of low on the tech, and big on things like Dumbo- that was very ornate, with so much detail work, gold plated fountains, etc etc. the storks were such a nice addition, and I think if they recreated the ride today it would be left out- unless perhaps they were for sale. Many many things that generally went unoticed that we would point out- along with the high tech fiber optics in rides, etc. I think I’ve written about when Fantasyland was not open yet and we had to tell every phone caller “and Fantasyland is closed”. Tickets are $12 and Fantasyland is closed. Yes we have a baby feeding center and Fantasyland is closed. Get off on Harbor Blvd from the 5 and Fantasyland is closed. For kicks now 40 years later when I am answering a question at work I say “yes, I can hear you on Zoom and Fantasyland is closed” LOL! Thanks for the memories Lou and Sue and Fantasyland is closed.

"Lou and Sue" said...

JB, I wonder if Bu can tell us what was the most-popular Mickey Mouse balloon color, back in his day? Bu, are you still there??

TM, I tried Google map but couldn't get near Dumbo to see if Timothy has a feather.??

Andrew, are you maybe going to DL, this year? The last time I was at DL, I didn't know about the 3 fences - but I plan to look for them, IF they're still there, the next time I go.

JG, I like the blue on IASW, too, but I know most of the Jr. Gorillas prefer the white. I even liked the multi-pastel version - I guess because it was different. I still haven't seen the Christmas version, as I've never been to DL at Christmastime. Some day...

Melissa, I agree with everyone - thank you(!) for sharing your photos. Your beautiful smile is contagious.

Nanook, I would prefer to ride in a teacup with you, and NOT with the Major. Please!

Chuck, did you know that "puce" is the French word for flea, and it is used to describe several totally-different colors? Thank you, internet, for that useless info.

Mike, thanks for pointing-out the balancing elephants. I want that/them!

Bu, I love when you (or the others) recognize someone in my dad's pictures. Hopefully soon, the Major will be posting a story about one of the "famous" DL guests who appeared in one of my dad's past-posted photos - who was recognized by one of our readers.
And, Bu, your "Fantasyland is closed" line and story are FUNNY!

Thank you, Major and everyone, for all the nice comments (that I'll share with my dad).