What can I say homies? Today's photos are perfectly OK! Your blood pressure will remain within nominal parameters, and brain activity will show no unusual spikes on my patented "Brain-O-Meter™". Yessiree, these are suitable for grandmas and grandpas everywhere.
Here's a familiar view, as seen from the "Sky Cars" (written on the slide); all of the usual stuff is in evidence, from the gray nuclear submarines (some with popped hatches to allow the smell of Old Spice to dissipate) to the Monorail station, to the Peoplemover (FOUR trains). Beyond is the Howard Johnson's, I need an upper-floor room so that I can see into the park. I'll just slip a crisp dollar bill (maybe two!) to the person at the check-in counter. Money talks!
There's lots of rich, chunky smog in the air, just what every growing boy and girl needs. You can barely see the Anaheim Convention Center in the distance (behind that spotlight). The slides are dated "October 1967", so the New Tomorrowland had only been open 3+ months, which is pretty neat. Hey, bring those Rocket Jets back, Disney! You can paint them purple if you really need to.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat's a rare sighting... only one follow spot on the platform. (I wonder if a 'skyhook' was employed to remove the missing follow spot-?)
Thanks, Major.
In the first pic, it's sort of thrilling to see New Tomorrowland so fresh and... well, new. The paint has barely had time to dry. Think how excited the guests must be, seeing the best Tomorrowland the park has ever had, and all that it has to offer, for the first time! I'm kinda jealous... and wistful.
ReplyDeleteIn the second pic, the chunky smog hides most of Anaheim, making the scene look like it could actually be some futuristic view on a distant planet.
Thanks for the nostalgic view of 'our' Tomorrowland, Major.
It looks like the PeopleMover is closed. There are no passengers in any of the cars and nobody in the station.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the man at the Space Bar counter (second pic) is ordering a "Space Mist"?
Nanook, I'd like to think that a disgruntled cast member pushed the second spotlight off of the platform, in a fit of rage. He was disgruntled because Disney had gotten rid of his all-time favorite park icon.....the Moonliner Rocket.
All shiny new. Like JB I am also jealous. How calm but exciting everything looks. The first photo is very HOJO forward. There is legend stories about the design and how it was purposeful that it's "modern design" would fit as a backdrop to Tomorrowland if seen through the berm. Maybe the same was true for the convention center spaceship? If the rocket jets were built today would there be plastic bubbles on them for the insurance companies? A plastic bubble might actually be cool. The best part of the ride was the elevator up...don't ask me why...just my POV. Felt like you were going up for miles. I worked at the Space Bar infrequently. Since it was "Tomorrowland Foods" (like ODV) we were put places where they needed us at times. Like the Space Place and Coke Terrace. Jump suits for everyone! The Space bar had a very limited menu: this was the "Popcorn Wagon" of Tomorrowland as Tomorrowland did not have a popcorn wagon. Ice cream wagons, yes. Popcorn: no. Don't know why that was, but it was. We also had another popcorn machine in the garage behind America Sings. It was pretty giant size, and we used it for "pre-pop" when the park was so busy the machines on stage could not keep up. When we brought the bag to the popcorn wagons on stage guest would melt down..."NOOOOOO!!!!" Me: "I just popped this minutes ago" (literally I did). The popcorn was still warm. They still touched the bag to make sure I wasn't fibbing, and then they stopped melting. You can see the Ad bldg. there where a Space Mountain should be. This building was painted the Disneyland Gold and Blue...I'm wondering why it wasn't go away green...someone knows. It's not that noticeable, really. Thanks for the morning photos Major.
ReplyDeleteAh, 1967. A good year for a walk in the park. Especially Tomorrowland.
ReplyDeleteThanks Major. Precious photos, as Roy Batty would say.
These really are very calming for some reason. Of course, it could be due to the dearth of Exploding Animatronic Ducks. Meanwhile on iasw, all heck was breaking loose!
ReplyDeleteI'm still surprised when I see stuff "beyond the berm." At my "home park," The Magic Kingdom, real life is literally miles away. Still, the intrusions don't seem to hurt the atmosphere (except for the smog).
Hi everybody, I’m back, and sassier than ever. The cosmetic surgery was a success! I had lots of fun over the last few days, but I missed each of you, even more than I missed my robot children. Thanks again for your paitence.
ReplyDeleteNanook, believe it or not, I was thinking, “Aren’t there usually two of those thingamabobs that Nanook knows so much about on top of the Rocket Jets whatchamagizzy?”. Then I thought about a BLT, they are delicious.
JB, I do sometimes try to imagine what it would be like for a guest to first experience the “New Tomorrowland”, since it was so grand, and so unlike anything else *anywhere*. I’m jealous of the people who did that too! It’s a known fact that Anaheim smog was actually good for you, which is why everyone who lives there is eight feet tall.
Bu, I have also heard the theory that HoJo’s was purposely built to look like it could be a part of Tomorrowland, but that story has the musty aroma of so many other Disney park related stories (sort of like old socks and fried fish). I have personally witnessed friends and/or relatives who thought that the convention center (and the old “Melodyland” theater) were a part of Disneyland. I loved the Rocket Jets when they were up so high, but if there was a plastic bubble, I would not be able to spit on the guests below, so… what’s the point of even riding it? I never thought about the fact that Tomorrowland did not have a popcorn wagon, but I assume that Walt (and others following in his footsteps) decreed that the Land of Tomorrow would not have an 1890s popcorn cart. Why not just paint it silver and put a few antennae on it? That’s what I did to my mom’s car, and you’d be surprised at the response. And now I also wonder why the Administration building was painted gold and blue. Is there such a thing as “go away brown”?
DrGoat, while I can’t say that I personally remember 1967 in the park, I agree with you in spirit! Plus I have all these darn slides too, photographic evidence of how great it was.
Stu29573, maybe it is calming to be up in the air like that, where you can look down on the people below dispassionately, like a scientist studying termite behavior. I recently had some close encounters with ducks that did not explode but I believe that they were considering doing so as I got closer and closer. Luckily, I can speak fluent Mallard-ese, and they let me live.
Major-
ReplyDelete"...that Nanook knows so much about..." Well, if Nanook knew "so much" about them, he would've figured out by now if they were Strong 'Super Troupers' or 'Gladiators'. Owing to the distance to the stage and that it's Disneyland, I presume they are Gladiators - but you never know; and I can't discern enough of the shape as it's being shrouded underneath those fabulous covers.
Welcome home, weary traveler! The skies may be gloomy in these pictures, but we all know the sun'll come out in Tomorrowland.
ReplyDeleteBet your bottom dollar!
DeleteMajor- Thanks for the pictures today. Other than the smog in the background, they are pretty clear in the foreground. I keep wanting to tilt photo #2 about 4° to the right, though.
ReplyDeleteLooking at photo #1, reminds me that in the late 1970s, during orientation/training for the Subs, I was told that the deepest part of the lagoon is where the subs exit the falls (about 11-12' deep). This is where lost items, sunglasses, etc. usually ended up. The park had a diver on call & periodically they would be tasked with clearing out these things. If there was something more urgent, then the the diver would be needed ASAP.
-DW
Major-
ReplyDelete"The cosmetic surgery was a success!"
So... are you now walking around with a 'permanent grin'; or was "the work" involving a 'body lift'-?? Following my cosmetic surgery, I was able to easily pass for Tom Cruise. The problem: I was supposed to look like a young Brad Pitt... So happy to hear that yours was 'a success'-!
Nanook, I BELIEVE IN YOU!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, thank you! I sure had tons o’ fun.
DW, I kind of agree with you re: photo #1, I’d like it if it showed a bit more of the area to the right, and YET… based on recent experience, I can say that it is sometimes hard to get your camera ready fast enough to get the perfect shot. At least it is for me, because I am lame. I’d never heard that part about the deepest part of the lagoon, and that being where all the stuff was dropped (from the Peoplemover, I presume?). Can you imagine dropping something important, and asking the park to provide a diver??
Nanook, if you remember what I looked like when I met you, I now look a lot more like late-stage Michael Jackson, or at least my nose does. I still think it’s a little bit too big, so I might have it reduced some more. I’m sorry you wound up looking like Tom Cruise, but can you run like him too?
Stu29573, OK I will!!
FYI: at Lost and Found we REGULARLY received requests for items lost in the many bodies of water in the park. Items retrieved (still in fair shape) were deposited at Lost and Found where everything was catalouged, etc. Sunglasses were not cataloged. If you said "I lost my sunglasses" one of the ladies would produce a box of HUNDREDS of sunglasses and you would just pick one. I never had to buy sunglasses ever. Fancy sunglasses were catalouged. It was quite the operation.
ReplyDeleteThat "Go away green" paint job BU was referring to when addressing the Admin Building is a mystery...especially when the Locker Room building was indeed, green. As for missing cash, no one asked for it back when they threw it into the small pool in front of the Gods at the Tiki Room waiting area. And we CMs were happy to collect in the evening for the upcoming Banana Ball! KS
ReplyDeleteWow, these photos still have New Tomorrowland smell!
ReplyDeleteShortly after this, William Pereira would pick up his pencil and draw the Transamerica Pyramid, which everyone hated at first, and is now a symbol of the San Francisco skyline. Busy guy. I’d share the Tower nickname but this is a family blog.
Mmmm, tasty nutritious smog.
Thanks Major!
JG