After scanning a fairly large batch of slides from the '50s, I found a number that were very dark for some reason. Others turned out to be blurry, though not so blurry as to be without merit. Rather than delete those blurry scans, I figured I'd share them today. Because, you know... Snoozer Sundays!
I've made an executive decision - that our Skyway gondola was heading toward the Fantasyland chalet terminal. Since most people sit facing in the direction that they are traveling, I'm probably wrong, but I'm afraid that there will be no refunds.
Say, there's a big ol' whale down there. And he's hungry! Sure, Monstro likes the steady meals, but maybe just once he'd like some spaghetti and meatballs, or maybe taco. While it's too bad about the blurriness, we can still see things like the Midget Autopia and the little yellow garage; above that, the blue Viewliner can be seen leaving the station (with its pink arched sign). And let's not forget the Fantasyland train depot.
Man, I hope that's not smog reducing our visibility - but it probably is. Yuck. To the right of Cinderella Castle in Storybook Land we can see what I believe is the red barn that was part of the Pony Farm. Notice the train tunnel just to the right of the Pirate Ship.
Well, we've come to the end of our journey (or is it the beginning?), this would be the view right outside the Skyway Chalet, with Cinderella Castle again. I wonder why those eucalyptus trees to the left have been so drastically pruned? Tree Talk, every Sunday here on GDB.
I'll be home soon, but for now I am still out of town!
WOW(!), Major. I bet you cried a little, after you gasped when you saw that Viewliner. I know I did.
ReplyDeleteAm looking forward to everyone's comments today. Especially the Tree Talk.
Happy Sunday!
@ Sue-
ReplyDelete"Tree Talk"-?? Hmmm...
"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree". etc.
(I like Cinderella's Castle).
Thanks, Major.
In the first pic, we can see the entirety of Monstro's body. Well, the part that was built anyway. He doesn't have any stomach or intestines. That's why he has to constantly eat all those boatloads of guests... they go right through him.
ReplyDeleteIn the second pic, Monstro is gnawing at the bars of our Skyway gondola. I can't imagine how he managed to get all the way up there... or how he managed to shrink himself to such a small size.
In the third pic, this one is in focus, more or less. Except for that huge stone shark fin sticking up in front. We don't often see Cinderella Castle from this angle, with the train tunnel going through.
Sue, here's my contribution to Tree Talk: "Thiiiis is the forest of no returrrrn!"
Thanks, Major. If not for the blurriness, these would definitely NOT be snoozers. But as they are... well, maybe a little snoozy.
Hey, Nanook and JB, am I seeing the pumpkin in the last pic, near the bottom of the picture?
ReplyDeleteI think [our missing] Major definitely started something...with Tree Talk [Snoozer] Sunday. I can see it already caught on.
I'll check back later, I have to leaf now.
Sue, it sure looks like the Pumpkin Coach. Or maybe it's just a stray orange.
ReplyDeleteOnly one canal boat visible, and it looks like it’s crewed by a boatstess. Since this photo was taken in ‘57 or ‘58, we can see that men dressed like aerospace engineers weren’t skippering these babies for more than a couple of years.
ReplyDelete(Ha! My iPad has finally accepted the cromulence of the word boatstess. Take that, Autocorrect!)
Note the low structure painted go-away green just behind the hill on Casey Jr. Was that related to maintenance of the canal boats?
You can really see the gold leaf paint on Cinderella’s Castle in the last picture. Those eucalyptus trees may have been severely pruned and then left in place as a warning to the others.
Seeing the Casey Jr. tunnel portal under Cinderella’s Castle in photos always amazes me. The scene is so skillfully designed with the viewing angle from the boats in mind that I never even noticed the tunnel there until I started reading GDB. And I know I rode through that tunnel at least 10 times!
Sue & JB, that sure looks like the coach punkin’ to me. I wonder if that’s why we don’t see the punkin’ in earlier photos of Cinderella’s Castle - it was originally placed lower on the “road” to the castle, and we are always looking in the wrong place?
Blurry or no, that's a great angle on Monstro. I wonder if Monstro and Fudgie ever had a good whale-to-whale talk after all the guest left the park at night. It would have sounded like that alien transmission from Star Trek IV.
ReplyDeleteI would like to subtitle this photo essay "Disneyland With Your Glasses Off." A good friend of mine once told me about only trip to Florida, when her glasses got completely smashed somehow on the way down. She had resigned herself to only seeing a blurry version of their one day at the Magic Kingdom, but on the day before they went to WDW they were wading at the beach and a pair of sunglasses with one bow washed up at her feet. She tried them on, and they turned out to be prescription sunglasses, close enough to her own prescription that they got her through the rest of the trip (as long as she held them on).
Well, I got home a bit earlier than expected. It’s all good though!
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I cry a lot anyway, so you are right! Actually, seeing that blurry Viewliner load area was OK, I do have some better photos of it so it’s all good. Today’s “Tree Talk” subject: “Bristlecone Pines: Ancient? Or LAME?”.
Nanook, what? A tree isn’t a poem! It’s a tree! Come on Nanook, don’t be silly! Not long ago I exchanged a few emails with Nicholas Kilmer, grandson of Joyce Kilmer. Long story.
JB, Monstro had a very special surgery to prevent him from gaining too much weight. After all, he doesn’t get a lot of cardio at Disneyland, so it’s easy to pack on the pounds. I wish Storybook Land had giant stone sharks, that would be so cool. Also killer robots who say “Resistance is futile”, and “Crush, kill, destroy”. I like your contribution to Tree Talk, though it doesn’t have a lot to do with the Bristlecone Pines. Don’t worry, there are photos in this large lot of 50s scans that are NOT blurry!
Lou and Sue, gosh IS that the pumpkin coach? I don’t know what else it would be, but I didn’t think that the coach was there that early. Maybe I just looked in the wrong place every time. “Tree Talk” will soon be as popular as those shows about the Kardashians!
Chuck, speaking of not looking in the right place, I’m not seeing anything that I can positively ID as a boatstess. It’s just too blurry. I’m glad you taught your iPad how to finally behave, now we need to submit the word to the Oxford English Dictionary so that they can add it to the lexicon (it is already in the Oxnard English Dictionary). I can only assume that the green building has to do with maintenance; either that or it is Walt’s Fifth Apartment. I’m glad that those dumb eucalyptus trees have been disciplined properly, instead of being allowed to run wild. Now they probably won’t join a gang and wear leather jackets. I agree with you about the tunnel beneath Cinderella Castle, although they produced a postcard early on that featured the tunnel rather prominently; before I’d seen that postcard, I just thought that Casey Jr. went past the castle, not underneath it. And yes, I think you are right about the pumpkin coach, it must have been placed much lower. Now I’ll have to pay more attention when I see early photos of Storybook Land.
Melissa, Monstro and Fudgie had a rivarly of sorts, each one had kind of a big ego; personality clashes were bound to happen. Wow, as a person who wears glasses, I would be very upset if I didn’t have my peepers to help during a visit to the park. The fact that your friend found a pair of random prescription sunglasses tells me that she must have wished upon a star!
Even blurry photos have things to teach me about the layout of Disneyland. I wasn't aware how close the Midget Autopia was to the Storybook Land boats.
ReplyDeleteSeven hours later, I'm still giggling over the Oxnard English Dictionary.
ReplyDeleteBlurry is fine, I like Disneyland with my glasses off, thanks Melissa. Perfect simile.
ReplyDeleteI spend more and more time with my glasses off. I do so much close work on the PC that having a rest feels good.
That is the little known Tangerine Coach, which was sponsored by the band Tangerine Dream, before they were assimilated into the Sunkist Cooperative, forerunner of the Borg Collective.
Chuck, you are right, the green roof is related to backstage for the boats and possibly also for Casey. There must be some kind of siding to take the trains on and off the track, but I don't know where it is.
I'm fascinated by the layout of the Viewliner and the water feature under it. Did the Phantom Boats go all the way over north of the future Matterhorn site? It feels like there is only a narrow promenade up to the DLRR station. A lot of clearing out and re-grading before the advent of IASW.
Thank you Major, I hope you had a good trip.
JG
Little Orange Borg, in the Sunshine Tree,
ReplyDeleteDon't you think about assimilating mee-ee!
Meaner than a Targ, cuter than a Porg,
He won't make you happy, Little Orange Borg!
Yay, Major's back! And early, too. (Quick everybody, get rid of all the empty beer bottles and cigarette butts!)
ReplyDeleteMore Tree Talk: Eucalyptus tree, "Man, I need to get out of all this damp foggy/smoggy air; my branches are getting all pruned."
Major, I've never seen any of those Kardashian shows, so Tree Talk is already more popular than that, with me anyway.
JG, Tangerine Coach/Tangerine Dream/Sunkist Cooperative/Borg Collective: That's quite a chain you forged there!
Melissa, Ha! One of your better efforts, I think. I heard Anita Bryant's voice singing that little ditty.
JB, that's 6 degrees of Citrus...
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I snorted orange juice out my nose reading that.
JG
Trees seem to have some scale. Everything backstage MUST be go away green- except barns. Barns are always red. No matter what. Cinderellas coach is now officially fudgie and dent and boatstess. Can’t see it, can’t find it. I think it’s me. Monstro seems to have some sort of skin affliction- he’s there dreaming of being blue and shiny. You can never miss those NASA guys- those guys I can see fine. Maybe that’s why they all dressed like that- you can see them…food for thought. Welcome back Major.
ReplyDeleteSunday Night, it’s nice to know that these were not a waste of time!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, :-)
JG, I go crazy if I am not wearing my corrective lenses, even though my drawing teachers claimed that I could use the soft focus as a tool of sorts… don’t get hung up on the details, just draw the large masses and the details will take care of themselves. That sort of thing! I think this is the first mention of Tangerine Dream on GDB, so that is a milestone! I don’t believe that the Phantom Boats went north of the Matterhorn, as far as I am aware that ride was mostly east of “Holiday Hill”. But I am always ready to be corrected! I had a nice (short) trip, spent a day at Avila Beach, eating seafood and watching the sea lions frolicking.
Melissa, now I am picturing the Orange Bird, with white pancake makeup and black leather “goth” clothing. Let’s make this a movie.
JB, just by osmosis I have seen about five minutes of a Kardashians show, it was awful. But then again, I generally dislike “reality” shows anyway, they’re all garbage. Just my opinion!
JG, ouch, orange juice in the nasal passages sounds painful.
Bu, up near the Madonna Inn, there is a pink barn. Barbie-pink. It’s hilarious. But you’re right, driving through the midwest, almost every barn is red - with the occasional white barn, probably belonging to degenerates. If you look at the last photo, down at the very bottom of the image, just to the left of the foreground rock, you can see a little bright orange blur that is probably the pumpkin coach!
Maybe the eucalyptus trees were damaged by an infestation of koalas.
ReplyDeleteDean, I love it! You're the first to discover that Disneyland also had killer koalas.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone notice the eucalyptus tree - third from the left (last image)? It's wearing an alpine hat.
Welcome home, Major.
Hey, Major, if THESE had Disneyland maps on them, I'd buy these for you, as I know how you feel about these.
ReplyDeleteNote: Look closely, as there are tiny removable Monorails attached. Am serious.
;oP
I forgot to welcome the Major back home! Through pleasures and palaces, etc.
ReplyDeleteBu, our barns were always painted green. Dad was a John Deere enthusiast.
Sue, those Crocs are almost as... um... 'good' as the blinged-out Mouse ears.
ReplyDeleteDean Finder, Anaheim used to be overrun by koalas, they were a real problem. That’s why they introduced giant pythons into the city.
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, er… I’m not seeing the Alpine hat. Maybe it is an invisible Alpine hat?
Lou and Sue, I have never worn Crocs in my life (have you?); of course I would have to wear them with knee-length black socks, as is my way. It is very sweet of you to think about buying a pair for me (not exactly cheap). By the way, look at you making clickable links with the text!
Melissa, thanks! Hmm, now that you mention it, maybe I have seen one or two green barns. There’s always somebody who’s going to be different!
JB, I have certainly never been tempted by blinged-out mouse ears, but hey, if somebody wants to show their love of Disneyland with sparkly, foofy ears, good on them!
Major, can't you see the ostrich feather on top of that tree? ;oD
ReplyDeleteNope, I've never worn crocs. Make sure you add rubber-bands to the tops of the socks - to keep them up.
Regarding the severe pruning on the trees - it's possible these were either recently moved or about to be moved. Not only less weight to schlepp, but the trees might be more easily able to handle the shock of replanting.
ReplyDelete