Special Guest Scans!
Today I am happy to present two fantastic scans, courtesy of our buddy David W., and his friend Tim L.! David and Tim were high school classmates, and cast members together, and have remained friends for all of these years, which is pretty neat. These scans were sent to David by Tim, and we are lucky enough to get to enjoy them here on GDB.
Let's start with this wonderful shot of five pals posing for a picture in a Peoplemover vehicle. SO FUN. David says from left to right in back- Arlene C., Jim V., Juan, Craig V., with Tim L. in the front. Tim is the photographer that took most of the other photos, but I don't know who took this one.
Next is this photo, here's David's description; Tim L. again (I don't know who took the photo, but they must be standing on the dock between the main line & the storage area). He is working the forward position at the front dock & he just removed the securing line to allow the sub to start the trip thru liquid space.
I'll bet it was hard work and Tim went home at night more than ready for a good night's rest! But I'll bet he would not have missed the opportunity to work on the Subs for anything.
THANK YOU, David W. and Tim L.!!
15 comments:
Major-
Yes - it's really a treat to see CM's in their 'native habitat' just being themselves and also bringing joy to all those guests. Especially so, as we can put names to those faces.
Thanks to David and Tim.
Thank you David and Tim for sharing photos of your time in the Park with us. I hope Tim didn't get squished by the PeopleMover door when it automatically closed. ;-)
So, we're on the PM loading platform, and we get a good look at how the roofs of the cars were tilted up and down by that center plunger mechanism.
In the second pic, there should be a sign that reads, "CAUTION: Men at work". It looks like the other CM is using a single finger to point "over there"... I thought they always used the double finger pointing method? Or maybe that only applies to Tour Guides?
Do we know what year this was? Not important, just curious. Looks like the late '70s or early '80s. Thanks again, DW and Tim L.. And thank you, too, Major.
Nanook & JB-
Thanks for the comments on the photos. These are from 1979. As I told Major, the pictures bring back a lot of memories, because I knew everyone at the time. Tim sent both prints & a disc of digital images. The pics did require a good amount of Photoshop work to get them to look like you see in the post (mostly adjusting the exposure & color- they were very reddish).
-DW
I love seeing cast member photos, and these are really good ones!
The first one was obviously taken before the second level of safety railing on the PeopleMover cars, was continued completely around the entire vehicle. I wonder if those additional rails were added after the Grad Nite tragedy, in 1980?
In the second pic, it looks like there is a hydraulic gizmo underneath the loading ramp, to assist in lowering and raising it. That's something that we don't get to see, as guests.
Thank you David and Tim, Major, too!
Was going to ask the date as I didn't recognize anyone, and thanks for the info! I wonder if that we had digital devices back in 1979 we would have zillions of great behind the scenes shots? Film was so precious back then, and every frame was considered. Developing them was also expensive. I do think that there are many more to be discovered: If I have them, everyone does. 1000's of employees, 1000's of photos. I am trying to remember how many quests I took onto the subs: not many. Generally long line and low capacity. Unless I had exit clearance or it was a super slow day, I don't think I would attempt it. Subs were the "official" back up for when Small World was in rehab, or 101. Which I kind of wonder about now with all the people "of a certain age" that joined tours and would have to traverse the tiny staircase. We certainly couldn't do America Screams twice to make up for it! Luckily, Small World RARELY went down and rehabs were quick. Those were one of those attractions where if it was in rehab people would come to City Hall to announce (loudly) that they drove 1000's of miles and we had ruined their entire vacation. Guests can be very dramatic. Which I understand NOW...that there is much to be dramatic about...but back then? They should have been grateful for a non-TRE'd experience and low attendance! OK...I'm off to have marinated and roasted dragon for breakfast! Thanks for the the photos Tim and David. How nice you have been friends for so very long.
Bu....how nice, you are going to have some Murphy brown! Uh, make that black! Or blackened! Okay, how about just a great big bowl of ashes?
These cast member photos are great! I always loved the costumes for the original grey subs of the Submarine Voyage. 1979 was peak Disneyland to me. A wonderful year at the park.
How nice to have a life-long friendship. Thanks David and Tim for these awesome photos. Thanks to you too, Major.
Thanks Major, David W, and Tim L!
What fun to not only visit Disneyland but work there too! And still be in touch so many years later.
And you’re right David, Disney should have bought the fancier self-cleaning dragon. I’ll bet the old Sea Serpent was self-extinguishing.
Someone in Dragon Maintenance made an ash of themselves.
JG
DW...and Tim. Thanks for submitting the photos to Major for posting. Yep, this was everyday life as a CM. It was work, but it also was a lot of play and good times. I am thankful though that we were there before the days of instant communication with phones and social media. So many of us would have been reprimanded (or worse) for some of the pictorial antics had they hit the Internet. Now of course we are beyond the statue of limitations. Yet, with so many of management coming up through the ranks at the time there was a certain level of camaraderie that was allowed to exist..with a smile and a wink. So long as it didn't ruin the guest experience. Now that I have reconnected with so many of my former CM friends on social media, it's like reliving it all again with them. KS
@ TM!-
1985 is the date I have for the addition of the 'second level of safety railing' on the Peoplemover vehicles.
Nanook, working at the park back then, and when a guy or girl was a certain age, looks like the perfect melding of hard work and good fun!
JB, there is nothing more painful than a Peoplemover squish. Won’t you please give money today? I always wondered about the angled shapes of the PPLMVR roofs. Why not just a curved top? Maybe Bob Gurr just liked the way it looked? I’m going to get him on the phone. “Operator? Give me KLondike 67344!”. (It always has to be KLondike). Hey, you’re right, that guy isn’t using the double point. I hope he was assigned to work “It’s a Small World” for a month!
DW, thanks so much for sharing these, I’m sure everyone is enjoying them as much as I do!!
TokyoMagic!, good point about the safety railing. I didn’t even notice! I’ll bet you are right about those being added after the 1980 tragedy (I know I’ve mentioned it before, I was there for Grad Nite that night, though I had no idea anything had happened until the next day). I am jealous of your technical terms such as “hydraulic gizmo”! ;-)
Bu, yeah, I think these were just a little bit before your time, but as you know, some cast members are there for a long time, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that you would see someone you knew. As for film and the cost of developing, Sue B. once told me what Lou had spent on a particular trip; adjusted for inflation, he’d spent a TON! I’m super glad that we still have a Submarine ride, even though I feel like the Nemo version is weak. The lagoon looks nice from inside the Sub, but a lot of the rest of it is just not as intriguing as the original version. I can understand how guests might be disappointed if they’d driven across country with the hope of riding their favorite attraction, but they should also be aware that… s*** happens, and sometimes breakdowns can’t be helped. It’s a big bad world out there. They are doing the best they can. Yum, save me an end piece of dragon!
TokyoMagic!, I like it “extra crispy”!
K. Martinez, I knew you’d like these! I’m trying to think of what “peak Disneyland” was to me; it might have been a few years earlier, but the park was not drastically different. It was just a time when I had a lot of fun there!
JG, my oldest friend is from college, which I guess might be about as long as David and Tim have known each other. But my mom still has friends she has known since they were toddlers! Incredible. Instead of self-cleaning dragons, how about single-use disposable dragons??
KS, you can tell that the CMs did not stand around all day doing nothing. I’ve always thought that some of the jobs, like working the Skyway, must have truly been physically grueling. Only fit for 20+ year olds! I love that the employees could have a little fun and get away with it, as long as it wasn’t anything too outrageous. I’m sure that added so much to the esprit de corps.
Nanook, ah, ’85, later than I thought.
DW & Tim, thanks so much for sharing. This looks like it was a blast. Way more fun than my time at McDonald’s.
Major, the word “stuff” actually has five letters. You’re one asterisk short.
The PeopleMover “coral” safety cage started to replace the 1968 2 level safety bars with trains # 1- # 12 in winter of 1983. The change was completed in phases and was complete by end of 1984. The next phases don’t list the train numbers and only list them as “grouping 2” …”grouping 3 “ etc. the new coral safety bars were included on all operating PM cars ( 3 train sets were sent to MAPO and removed permanently from park service during development of the Florida WEDWAY system) the new bars wre present on all original numbering systems and car colors. All the PeopleMover cars were renumber during the PeopleMover cars repainting that took place between 1987 and 1988. For whatever reason the new PeopleMover train numbering system has no correlation to the original numbering system. It appears they were re-numbered as they were pulled off the line for the new re-paint. This makes me wonder if this caused any confusion during maintenance as the chassis and inner body shells were still marked with the old numbering system …. And only the exterior end cars of the new color schemes feature the NEW numbers …. The two center cars appear to have no number designation at all (??)
The costumes in these photos show the “jumpsuits” first introduced in 1974 designed by Tom Pierce . Until the early 80’s a blue shirt was used - long sleeve for winter , shirt sleeve for summer …by the mid 80’s they switched to a white shirt replaced many of the Tomorrowland multi color costume shirts …. This was to ease the inventory storage and create a more modular Tomorrowland costumes ( price cuts) if you look at my avatar you will see the original 1974 PeopleMover costume concept sketch for the costumes in todays photo.
Major & everyone- Thanks for the additional comments.
TokyoMagic!- As I recall, the loading ramp was mostly aluminum & did have some weight to it, but with the hydraulic cylinder & how it pivoted, it was fairly easy to move. The cylinder also allowed the ramp to land lightly on the top of the sub.
JG- Yes, the fact that the Sea Serpent was completely submerged underwater, greatly reduced the chance of it bursting into flames.
KS- I agree that it is good that after all this time, things are beyond the statute of limitations...
;)
I still reside in Southern California, but Tim moved up to Oregon many years ago. In these photos, Tim has the standard "Disney Look", so I find it amusing that in a fairly recent picture, he has a beard that would not look out of place in the band ZZ Top.
-DW
David W. and Tim, thank you for sharing these fun pictures from your Disneyland working days. I love all the beautiful smiles on everyone's faces...I can only imagine all the good times you had.
David W., I hope your friends also chime-in sometime and share stories. We always enjoy hearing more.
Thanks, David W., Tim, and Major!
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