The Columbia, 1979
Today I have another selection of images from the Mysterious Benefactor - from Frontierland, as usual. It's more photos of the Columbia!
Thar she goes, somehow moving forward with no apparent means of propulsion. I think it is being pulled by six manatees, because it makes sense. And I am all about making sense, as you know.
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One of the things I particularly love about today's photos is the way that Frontierland looks. Admittedly, it's mostly just stands of trees along the shore. What's so exciting about that? But it just looks beautiful, and suitably frontier-y. Hey, I think I can see one of the manatees! Or is it a dugong?
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When you are piloting a sailing vessel pulled by mammals, you have to apply the drum brakes just so. It takes years of practice; sometimes it helps to make a skidding sound with your mouth. Scrrrrrrrrtch! Come on, just try it. Don't mind the funny looks of those near you, they have no idea of the pressure you are under!
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Gosh, the Columbia sure looks great against that lush forest that goes on and on for hundreds of miles.
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And... it's gone! Maybe it was never really there. I'm not crazy!
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Thank you as always to our friend, the Mysterious Benefactor.
26 comments:
Major-
And if you didn't know where you were... Sigh. What a place it was-!
Thanks to the M B, and you.
Old enough that I still think of the Columbia as The New Boat.
#1: Major, the Columbia gets its propulsion from Cast members dumping Fizzies into the River behind the ship. This photo captures the bubbly disturbance in the water as the tablets foam and fizz. Although I suppose the six manatees would work, too.
Seems unusual to see both ships so close to each other. Wouldn't they wait till the other was halfway around the loop?
I like the blooming magnolia tree in the foreground.
#2: Hmm, there does seem to be something under the water in front of the ship (boat?). But it's just a reflection of that bright green tree on the shore.
#3: Judging by the churning in the water, a CM must have just dumped a load of Fizzies behind the Columbia. This is putting a damper on your manatee propulsion theory, Major. But facts is facts.
Last photo: We know the Columbia was indeed here because the water is still fizzing. Or maybe it's Nessie.
So much lush greenery in these photos! Thanks MB and Major.
JB, the Mark Twain is docked in Fowler's Harbor, in that first pic. Unfortunately, someone forgot to switch the track back and the Columbia is about to ram into the back of the Mark Twain. ;-)
In that last photo, we can see the Chief and his horse...well, at least his horse, just a little bit to the left of the dead center of the pic.
Manatees, why did it have to be manatees?
Major, you’re on to something here. Manatees work cheap, don’t complain, are readily available, and double as mermaids in the submarine. Lagoon.
Look at all the happy crowds above decks, as opposed to the smaller happy crowds below decks.
Hard to believe this was Frontierland then, not an IP in sight.
Thanks Major and MB!
JG
So much goodness, vegetation and just plain beauty. What a place it was indeed. This is the way I always picture the Columbia and it's grandeur. But as you say, the way it used to be. A little bit of heaven. Big sigh.
Thanks MB and Major.
Hey Klondyke, send down another bag of Fizzies!
Nanook, you said it!
DBenson, amazing!
JB, ah, Fizzies… I loved them as a kid, but mostly because of the fizzing, and not so much because of the flavor. Every time I made some I was disappointed with the taste. The root beer? Blah! The lemon-lime? Yarg. I think during a busy period they would almost have to have the Columbia and Mark Twain pretty close to one another. I don’t see any problem with both Fizzies and manatees, since it is well known that manatees enjoy carbonated beverages. Wouldn’t it be cool if they put a “monster” in the Rivers of America, but didn’t announce it, and it only showed itself for mere seconds each day? “What? That’s ridiculous. You must have had too many Fizzies”.
TokyoMagic!, it would not surprise me at all to learn that the Twain and Columbia collided at some point, especially during the Pressler years. “If we don’t train the cast members, we will save thousands of dollars!”. I didn’t notice the Chief, somehow I thought that he and his horse were usually on a hillside/bank, and not on the flat part of the river’s edge. But I also know that he has moved around over the years.
JG, now I’m thinking they might be dugongs. I always confuse them! One way to tell them apart is that manatees like digital music, while dugongs are old-school and like vinyl. And yes, it’s so great to see no IP, somehow it makes the land seem more “pure”. It’s also fun to see how crowded the Columbia was, folks loved those river craft.
DrGoat, I’m sure that my friend Mr. X is going to love these, he always enjoys old photos where Frontierland really looks like a frontier, with big beautiful trees, and no “Mickey and Friends” parking lot poking up over the berm (that always drives him crazy). Maybe the trees that are there now will keep growing and will eventually hid the parking garage and “Galaxy’s Edge”. I hope Klondike doesn’t accidentally send a bag of Fritos, those won’t make the Columbia go at ALL.
Major, nice photos and you've provided informative comments.
The fourth pic I really like because, even in 1979, the reaction could be "This is the middle of Anaheim?!"
Nice pics of the Columbia Sailing Ship, but especially wonderful for the lush forests along the Rivers of America. And to think that steps away just past the Plaza Hub, the hustle and bustle of urban futurism was happening in Tomorrowland. Disneyland sure was the land of contrasts.
Thanks M.B. and Major. Today's pics are extra lovely.
Ah, beautiful pictures of the Bounty! ...er...Columbia!
It actually IS in that last picture. The cloaking device was working well that day!
Major, are you calling me a dugong? If so, my name is now "Doug" because...well... it just seems to fit.
Thanks MB too!
@ Ken-
"Disneyland sure was the land of contrasts". It sure was. (And in the pre show for America the Beautiful, the state of confusion-!)
Tokyo!, Ah, Fowler's Harbor. That makes more sense.
Major, I think grape Fizzies were my 'favorite'. Well, the least offensive anyway. I agree, it was the idea of Fizzies that I liked best; instant pop! I thought the root beer tasted 'OK', but the cola was abominable. The orange tasted like "baby aspirin". You had to use ice water, or put ice cubes in your glass to even come close to real pop. I still like the idea of it, today.
I know ALL of my manatees go crazy when I put Fizzies in their pool. The prefer the water hyacinth flavored tablets. Which is fine with me; those are my least favorite.
Major, they could fire bags of Fritos out of a cannon from the stern of the Columbia. Jet propulsion!
These are nice! I bet Ken M. is hiding somewhere in these. I’m hoping he shows up, again.
JG, I see that TokyoMagic dedicated a cartoon to you, on his current post. I’m curious as to what that’s about...just being nosey.
Thanks, MB and MP!
—Sue
Sue (and Tokyo) Thanks for tipping me off to that post. I am honored to be cited on Meet the World!
Sue, Tokyo is making fun of my habit of counting the trash cans in all the Disney photos. The cartoon of the little kid pushing on the whole can because the lid says "PUSH" is pretty funny. And the can in the cartoon is recognizably a Disneyland can design.
I don't know exactly when I got started doing that, but it began with one of Lou's pics of Main Street looking up from Town Square to the Hub that struck me with how SO many of the green and gold cans were placed so regularly, I just had to count them. I remember my family commenting on the frequency of the trash cans, and the number of sweepers and general attention to cleanliness too.
Then, after finding out from Major that Walt decreed that the cans must be placed no further apart that it took to walk while eating a hot dog, and then discovering the wonderful blog "Magical Trash", I was off.
https://www.magicaltrash.com/tagged/Anaheim
I left a comment on Tokyo's post with some more info. Thank you both, made my day.
JG
LTL, I do like these photos a lot, though I will be a bit relieved to move away from the Columbia. Eventually! One of the 10 folders that the Mysterious Benefactor shared is 90% photos of the Columbia!
K. Martinez, when you really think about it like that, it really is kind of a miracle what the Imagineers managed to create in what is a relatively small footprint. You could walk five minutes (or less?) and be standing right in the Plaza!
Stu29573, er, um, I don’t think I called you a “dugong”!! But if I did, I was probably hopped up on PCP, as is often the case.
Nanook, oy vey, another one of those Wally Boag-esque jokes (though he probably had nothing to do with that line).
JB, I think I remember the orange flavor reminding me of some medicine that I had to take for earaches, a vile artificial orange that was more effective as an emetic than anything else. For some reason, thinking of Fizzies makes me think of another thing we had when we were kids, these little packets of dye so that you could make your kiddie pool all sorts of crazy colors. Does anybody else remember that? Even today I would like to see them put random things (including bags of Fritos) in the cannon of the Columbia!
Sue, I would love to see Ken M. or anybody else from our group, in these photos! I’m still amazed at that whole thing, what an amazing coincidence!
JG, oh man, I’ve been neglectful, I STILL need to go to TokyoMagics blog and get caught up. I’ve just had a lot to do over the past few weeks. But I will do it!
The Columbia was actually towed by Fiji mermaids.
"...the Columbia is about to ram into the back of the Mark Twain"
OH, THE HUMANATEE!
Sorry Major, packets of pool dye wasn't/isn't part of my universe. Maybe it's the PCP talking again? ;-)
Chuck, sooo, part fish, part monkey?... Finkey?
Melissa, thanks for that laugh. :-D
JB, pool dye wasn't part of my universe, either. But I see that the Major wasn't joking....see HERE.
Fun day on the river, thank you, all!
It doesn't look like this any more? Well...that's a shame. Things poking over the berm is no bueno. I don't care who's friend you are. I know Hotl Disneyland would poke too...but we are better than that now. Hotl Howard Johnsons also poked, but it was DESIGNED to poke...and STILL be OK. Anyway...we best get over ourselves and be grateful that the River...which is prime real estate...has not become a something else...oh wait...it DID become a something else...OK! Continue moaning and groaning. TRE is REAL. I LOVVEEE Fizzies . Fizzies were magical. Baby Aspirin was my favorite flavor! There is no other taste that compares with Fizzies- except experimental chems and red dye #2. Thanks to MB for Monopoly, and these photos.
JB, they prefer “mish.”
That pool dye makes me think of those toilet bowl night lights they were selling on TV a few years ago, that made your john look like a portal to Hell. Those kids in Sue's link look like they're bathing in the blood of their victims.
Chuck, that’s impressive, I’ve only seen three of four Fiji mermaids in my lifetime.
Melissa, so THAT’S what that Hindenberg guy was crying about!
JB, I feel sorry for you, with your regular clear pool water. You haven’t lived until you’ve had yellow pool water. ?!?
Lou and Sue, the stuff we had came in packets, sort of like Kool-Aid, only the packets dissolved when you dropped them into the pool. I think I liked the red most of all because blue and green were too “normal” for pool colors.
Bu, well, you know there has been a lot of development along the banks of the River. I don’t like the things poking over the berm either, but want to believe that the trees will eventually grow to hide all of that. I think you could mostly only see Howard Johnson’s from the Skyway, not from ground-level, so that wasn’t so bad. They brought back Fizzies a while ago, I remember buying them for stocking stuffers, but I don’t think I had any for myself. You know that store “Rocket Fizz”? They might carry some of those crazy old candies.
Chuck, the day I take orders from a Fiji Mermaid is the day they pry a churro from my cold dead hand.
Melissa, I haven’t seen those lights, but yikes. I don’t need a light IN the toilet, EVER. That photo from Sue’s link reminds me of the recent photos of the Jungle Cruise river when it had that sewage leak (for some reason the water was red/pink).
Sue, Oh dear gawd. But thanks for the link anyway.
Chuck, "mish" will never catch on; too obscure. I thought about monkfish, but that's already a thing.
Melissa must be feeling sepulchral today. "Portal to Hell" and "bathing in the blood of their victims". ;-)
Bu, I have to admit that I had a fondness for baby aspirin when I was a kid. So when I said orange Fizzies taste like baby aspirin, it wasn't really a put down. Just a statement of fact. I'm all about the facts.
Major, I praise the Pool Gods everyday that I DON'T have yellow pool water. Well, I would, if I had a pool.
Well, I just went down a rabbit hole and decided to share it with you...
It started with Melissa's hilarious toilet bowl night lights [that I had never heard of - and decided to Google]...and I eventually ended up HERE! Enjoy!
OMG, Sue, I had completely forgotten about those flying outhouses. Thanks for the blast (or gust, rather) from the past!
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