It seems like March, 1962 would have been a wonderful time to visit Disneyland. March was probably the "off-season" (remember those?), with cooler weather and shorter days, but that just means you got more "Disneyland After Dark".
We'll start with this view of the Autopia as seen from the Monorail platform... just look at all those Mark III cars! Dozens are parked off to the side, waiting for busier days. We can also see the Richfield Eagle, bravely guarding the Autopia from mountain lions and wild boars. In the background, the Space Bar, where guests ate in zero gravity, and also zero oxygen. And there's the Skyway!
In this photo, I have the feeling that "Gramps" walked right in front of our photographer just as he/she was about to snap the shutter. Gramps, if you weren't so adorable, I'd give you a piece of my mind! Lucky for you, I don't have any pieces to spare. The other gramps (to the right) has figure out that from his vantage point, he will be able to get a dynamic shot of a bobsled as it splashes down through that icy Alpine stream.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI think you're right - 'Gramps #1' ended up photo bombing an otherwise great image of the Matterhorn. Ahhh - what can you do-?
Thanks, Major.
While we're at the zero oxygen Space Bar, I'll take the Smothering Pillow Burger.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Grandpa was the subject of the photo, and just before the picture was taken, he quickly turned around because of the screams coming from a bobsled that was splashing down.....or from someone jumping out of their Skyway gondola.
Major, the guests also ate in zero time. They were in and out again at the same moment. Which also explains the zero oxygen. The Richfield eagle (is his name "Ritchie"?) is staring at us. He's daring us to mess with his precious Autopia cars so he can swoop down, carry us off to the Castle moat, drop us in front of the killer swans, and watch gleefully as the swans do their thing.
ReplyDeleteThat orange Skyway bucket looks especially nice here.
Nanook and Tokyo! both have plausible explanations for "Gramps" being in the picture. Here's mine:
It truly is unfortunate that "Gramps" ambled by at just this moment. Behind him, the two Walters, plus Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and all seven Dwarfs were having a 'knock-down-drag-out' fight over who got to sit in the Bobsled with Marilyn Monroe. The shot of the century... missed.
Oh, and "Gramps" got his blurry appearance from exposure to mustard gas in WWI. (Or maybe it was helium gas; not sure.)
Thanks for the sunny '62 scenes, Major.
There are two sailors in their winter “crackerjack” uniforms driving Autopia cars - proof that that ride is fun for both kids and adults. Or possibly that these guys spent enough time at sea that they would jump at any opportunity to drive a car.
ReplyDelete”…The other gramps has figured out that from his vantage point, he will be able to get a dynamic shot of a bobsled as it splashes down through that icy Alpine stream.” Not with his camera in his armpit, he isn’t.
“Astronaut” trash can sighting to the left of Grampa Photobomber.
Also note the light blue popcorn carton carried by the woman in the queue wearing a salmon-covered outfit. Which brings up a question I think most of us have - why isn’t there salmon-flavored popcorn?
Is the bell in the Matterhorn queue belfry real?
Is the bell in the Matterhorn queue belfry real?
ReplyDeleteChuck, no...but the bats that live in it are.
Let's start with the great photo of the men's locker room...er...I mean the Space Bar and Autopia. The go away green does not do the glamour of the locker room justice...or did we call them "dressing rooms"? I don't remember as no matter what the company called them in "magic talk", we all called them locker rooms. Hence the high windows. This building is the back side of the Grand Canyon, and the downstairs: a host of other offices, including the real Bank of Disneyland. Let us remember that Disneyland was a "cash only" destination for many locations (tickets) until up through the 80's when the tekkies invented credit cards and such. That we accepted checks kind of blows my mind today prior to things like "veri-check". We would write down credit card numbers on the check in case it bounced. We would not accept check guarantees from the Banco del Commercio, as it was all soft currency and suspect to non payment. All completely illegal today. Not only do we have cracker jacks, we also have NASA workers, and also very patient and polite suited gents in their Sunday best waiting to get on mini cars. Looks like the employees are "riding" the outside rails...which they did in my day...there is some pedal on the outside of the car to take control of the car...don't know if that existed back in '62...but someone does know. A panoply of car colors there, and I would like one of those Disneyland license plates. We had a employee license plate holder in my day...maybe "I'd rather be at Disneyland" or something like that? Someone knows, I will have to dig deep to remember. It was not "font branded"... very discrete. I remember in the 2nd "Deathwish" movie released in the 80's, Charles Bronson drives a car, and the close up of the windscreen and him clearly show a Disneyland employee parking sticker on the back of the rear view mirror dead center on the screen...which is where we were compelled to stick them. "trivia". Matterhorn gramps is amazing. Doesn't everyone's Grandpa suddenly stroll into photos at the wrong time? The bullet trashcan is cool...on that side of the track it's probably for employees taking popcorn boxes away from guests. The Matterhorn costume is also super cool...kind of a "ski" look rather than "lederhosen" look...and I like the ski look much better actually. The female looks like she is wearing some kind of Maria Von Trapp cape over the white turtleneck. That part of the Matterhorn track is my favorite: kind of coming in on a bank before splashing down...the end was so pretty with flowers and other landscaping...I also like the "rapids" underneath the track. The last time I was on the Matterhorn I practically needed a shoe horn...back in the day of double riders in the same seat, I don't think I could have done it with my current developing physique. Thanks for the photos this am Major!
ReplyDeleteThis angle in photo 1 is a good vantage for trash spotting, the varmint kid is sitting on no. 7.
ReplyDeleteI remember those CM override pedals on the left side, cars probably still have them.
Chuck that can in photo 2 is on the CM operation side of the sled track, in place for a quick sweep of the car interior before the next load. Wonder how many “Code V” were called in a day?
Bu, as always, thanks for the inside news. I will probably not ride the bobsleds again since last time I could barely get in or out and the violent turns hurt my old bones, but the modern lighting of the Mountain is recompense. The gardens at the end are something no other coaster had at that time, truly lovely.
Thank you Major.
JG
Nanook, these days I would yell and humiliate the old man, because that sort of behavior is totally OK now!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, would you prefer your Smothering Pillow Burger with cheese? I mean, maybe Gramps was the subject of the photo, but I kind of doubt it. See my comment to Nanook!
JB, wow, that’s impressive. And yet possible when you pass through the black hole that Walt had installed in the back. I’d explain it, but it is very complicated. The Richfield Eagle over by the Fantasyland Autopia is “Richie”, this one is “Screechy”. Your “Gramps” story has everything: action, romance, intrigue, and even a wisecracking robot.
Chuck, I love that you can even tell that those are the winter uniforms. I guess the summer version had little trees and bears on them. Amazing that they got their outfits from boxes of Cracker Jacks, but from what I understand, the prizes were much fancier in the old days. Hey, the Gramps who will take the most famous photo in the history of photography needs to analyze the scene before he takes a picture. He’s not some crazy college kid who is into that awful rock and roll! There was no need for salmon-flavored popcorn, you just chewed Wrigley’s Salmon Gum for that “fresh from the Columbia River” taste. As for the bell being real… am I real?
TokyoMagic!, bats are cool. I wonder if there actually is a place where they like to sleep within the park’s borders?
Bu, I think everything should be painted go-away green, including the Castle. Think of the savings when they only buy one color. Yes, I think my buddy Mr. X calls them “locker rooms”, not “dressing rooms”. Somehow “dressing room” implies soft lighting and a full-length mirror, and maybe some soothing Muzak. The Disneyland Bank of America had their own custom checks, I’d sure love to find some of those (preferably unused) for my collection. I have heard of some sort of exterior pedal that Autopia employees could stand on to stop the vehicles, it’s kind of brilliant. I assume that Disneyland was not the first place to have that feature? Wow, Charles Bronson has a Disneyland employee sticker on his vehicle in “Deathwish 2”?? That’s a great piece of trivia! Was it supposed to be funny? Or did they think that nobody would notice? I’ve seen plenty of people walk into other people’s photos at Disneyland, it’s easy to do. Lots of distractions, and lots of folks blocking busy sidewalks while they take way too long to take their pictures. I rode the Matterhorn on my last visit, and my complaint was less about the comfort (or lack thereof) of the bobsleds and more about how the track jolts the rider around so roughly. Mr. X says it used to be smoother, I believe him.
JG, wow, there really are a lot of trashcans in that first shot. not sure I’d want to sit on one (even when I was a lot smaller), I mean, they’re crawling with germs. Spirochetes. That sort of thing. The thought of having a job that involved cleaning up… er… “Code Vs”… is not inspiring. “I knew I should have accepted that job at NASA”. Of course there might have been some Code V’s there too. And YES, my gosh that Matterhorn was a rough ride. You’d think that with computers they could have smoothed that track out and made it glide as softly as a cloud.
while I doubt the track has been altered from it's original state, the bobsled have. From two to a seat to one. When there were two, one cushioned the other through those twists and turns. Now you are on your own being thrashed around. And they call that a safety feature?
ReplyDeleteMy few months on the Autopia, I rode those side rails frequently. And the pedal was a brake/accelerator. The first two cars in a pack were ridden by CMs taking control to the unload locations where we then applied the break. With two cars stopped up front we hoped that the others following would get the hint to stop, but I couldn't count the number of rear-enders each day. This pic shows cars being loaded. Brakes were applied to the first two to make sure that the drivers were belted in and hadn't left on their own. Each subsequent car was checked for the seat belt as we then walked toward the last car in position. There would usually be others behind lined up to take the unload positions after this group cleared out. And there was always a CM or two on the brake pedal of the those lead cars to repeat the process. KS
@ KS-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation on the brake/accelerator pedal.
Evidently 'in the early days', as described in The "E" Ticket ... "The first cars had a "parental hand brake" under the dash, and a trip device under the chassis helped to brake the car when it entered the loading area. In addition, a long braking lever extended up outside the car (on the driver's side, opposite the loading side), for use by ride operators... "Those brake handles disappeared as outside foot pedals were added to the cars". HERE's an image of that 'brake handle'.
Prior to 1978, the Matterhorn’s general theming was actually “Modern Euro-Sport” ….. it became more classic Apline Gothic later. 1959 attraction poster says “fantasyland” but most of you know on maps and guidebooks it was often listed as Tomorrowland.
ReplyDeleteThe current Bobsleds are terrible!! No longer can you “lean into the curves” to accelerate faster and race against the other bobsled. There is no room for sway or lean , pitch or yaw. Today the psssengers are slid into a narrow corpse holster!
The new bobsleds ( third generation) were created with the idea of not holding more passengers ( the 1978 sleds had higher capacity) but were created to speed up the loading process … the previous sleds often went under loaded as Strangers and even friends and family requested to sit alone reducing the capacity from 8 to 4. Also because of the seating arrangements the seatbelts were fussy and the attraction’s load dispatch times were low. NOW it’s worse! As guests have problems getting into the cramped seats and even worse is trying to get out!!
Remember : “ Gentleman please enter first Slide to the rear of the seat “ and the Silhouetted figures showed males taller , and skirted females as shorter passengers. In the early 1990’s the figures in dresses were removed from signage and eventually “ladies” and “gentleman” followed.
Also remember the current Disneyland AUTOPIA cars are new shells riding on Autopia mark 7’s chassis and motors ( reconditioned) only the body shells were replaced in the 2000’s.
At the last Disney OFFICIAL DISNEYANNA CONVENTION held at the Disneyland Hotel after the Autopia update , the old 1968-1969 and 1971 added Autopia body shells were sold off in MICKEY’S ATTIC sales room : they were $1,000 a each … your choice of colors available ! ……. Nobody bit. The price was lowered to $450.00 each …. Not enough people bought as shipping them was EXPENSIVE… or if you were local , you could take them with you. The manager says “get them outta here before Sunday!!!” And the Autopia’s were marked down to $150.00 each ( and Disney employees got their 35% off too!!) I bought 3 - green , blue and yellow … I would have bought more . But getting them outta the hotel by Sunday night wasn’t easy. A man from riverside bought 25 of them!!! I still have the blue and yellow but I sold off the green was several years ago.
Major, "...I knew I should have accepted that job at NASA. Of course there might have been some Code V’s there too..." Indeed...
ReplyDeleteKS, somehow I thought that I’d remembered that the Matterhorn’s track had been redone during one of its lengthy rehabs, but I’m not certain. I was never that crazy about either sitting in somebody’s lap, or somebody sitting in MY lap, at least when I went with guy friends. Of course it was different with girls. Thank you for the operations info on the Autopia!
ReplyDeleteNanook, I never noticed those levers before!
Mike Cozart, I’m afraid that my memories of the old bobsleds is not vivid enough for me to make a personal observation about how they used to be. All I know is that my last ride, while fun, did rattle my teeth. I totally understand why people would want to ride alone! I definitely requested that for myself. The seats really are very cramped, but I had that thought on a lot of rides, they just didn’t build them for people over 6 feet tall. It’s OK, but sometimes I really did have to sort of fold myself up to get in, and then “unfold” to get back out. I’m sure not crazy about the current Autopia shells, they just didn’t surpass the sporty look of the Mark 7s. Gosh, can you imagine getting a classic Autopia shell for $150?? Holy moly. I wonder if some of the examples that I’ve seen that have been put on chassis with electric motors are the bargain versions?
Chuck, in the early days it seems like so many astronauts were test pilots, but I guess some of the more science-minded astronauts were no accustomed to the extremes of that kind of flight. I admit that I’d love to experience it, though I’d worry that I’d embarrass myself.