I have a pair of very nice views of Disneyland, circa 1974... a very good time to go to the park. They aren't spectacular, but they give me the "warm fuzzies".
This view (from the Skyway) of Tomorrowland and the Rocket Jets is a great example of how the Imagineers managed to squeeze so much into a relatively small space. Not only did we have the Rocket Jets up top, but the Peoplemover station below it, and then below that (not really visible), a restaurant where you could get lobster on a stick. We can also see "Flight to the Moon" to the left, and in the distance, the Anaheim Convention Center.
Next is another Skyway view, this time from the Fantasyland side of the Matterhorn. We're heading right toward the nostrils! But don't worry, it'll be OK. The colorful Skyway gondolas are right above the Mark III yellow Monorail. One Matterhorn bobsled is visible, which means that we will all have good luck for the rest of the day.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI love the somewhat exaggerated curvature of the Monorail train as it circumnavigates the Matterhorn.
Thanks, Major.
When you see Tomorrowland panoramas that show the Anaheim Convention Center “turtle shell” or the Howard Johnson’s tower with its vaulted roof tops ( not visible in these views) , made Tomorrowland look as if it extended for miles! Imagineer Clem Hall used these features in many of his Space Mountain concept overview paintings .
ReplyDeleteSuch a vibrant, exciting, and inspirational sight. Who could possibly think that this Tomorrowland would be better without all this? Sky-high Rocket Jets... gone. PeopleMover... gone. Skyway... gone.
ReplyDeleteNice, warm lighting in this photo. What are the white domes on the roof in front of us? Skylights? Random futuristic decorations? Covers for air vents and such?
As Nanook mentioned, the Monorail looks like it's twisted out of shape, going 'round the Mountain. With my X-Ray Spex, I can see Fudgie on the other side of the Matterhorn, just to the right of the nostrils.... OK, I can't really. But it's been so long since we've seen the frisky whale!
Thanks for letting us see what Tomorrowland was always supposed to look like, Major.
JB, those white domes are skylights over the seating area for the Tomorrowland Terrace.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a minute to find the bobsled in the second pic. It's sitting on the roof of the Monorail!
Thanks for the great Skyway views, Major!
Those seemingly random domes on the roof of the Tomorrowland Terrace remind me of a story.
ReplyDeleteMajor, when you say “we will all have good luck for the rest of the day,” do you mean today or the day that you wrote this post? Just trying to decide whether to spend my life savings on lottery tickets or not. Also - how many lottery tickets can I get for $23.57?
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteYou only need one lottery ticket to win.
Good luck everyone on your lottery tickets today. There’s the backside of Admin Bldg. and the backside of Opera House, also known as the real Disneyland FD. Awesome pics. The Monorail perfectly timed- and a yellow one to boot. There is an interesting piano shaped “awning” jutting out from Coke Terrace. Looks purposeful, probably was: nothing should be by accident. All great…that’s all I have time for this am :). Gotta go get my lotto on…
ReplyDeleteMay Day! May Day!
ReplyDeleteNothing's wrong, it just happens to be May Day.
These are great! I had a little trouble spotting the bobsled as well, but when I blew up the picture (no, not with explosives...or ducks...) I saw it trying to act all Monoraily and stuff. Sheesh! These are great- and very peaceful! This was clearly the best Tomorrowland.
Thanks, Major!
Rocket Jets in both images!
ReplyDeleteSue
The composition of that first picture is just about perfect. And how lucky to be in just the right place to catch Old Yeller AND Bobby the Bobsled!
ReplyDeleteAnd out of view to the left in the first pic would be the brand new "America Sings". I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair...
ReplyDelete"Two beauties" is an understatement. Thanks, Major.
Nanook, and the best thing is that the flexible gaskets between the Monorail cars acted like an accordion, making beautiful music!
ReplyDeleteMike Cozart, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any of the Clem Hall artwork you mentioned, but I’d love to!
JB, I agree, it’s so unbelievable to think that the changes made to Tomorrowland in the mid-1990s were seen as improvements by some people. We’re still trying to get back to the 1967 ideal! Yes, those domes are skylights. I imagine that Bob Gurr had to figure out how far apart to space the Monorail cars to allow them to navigate the tight turns without grinding against each other. “They need to be 15 Oreo cookies apart”, he exclaimed, waving his glass of milk.
TokyoMagic!, I wish they still put bobsleds on top of the Monorail, but sadly they stopped that back in the late 1970s.
Chuck, I meant that you would have good luck the rest of Frank Sinatra’s birthday. Which should be a national holiday. Lottery tickets are how I invest all of my money! I have three words for you: ANY DAY NOW.
Budblade, you’re not wrong!
Bu, wait, the Disneyland Fire Department is (or was) in the Opera House?? I’ve wondered about that piano-shaped awning many times - I like the shape, but am unsure as to why they went to the extra expense and effort. Maybe Walt just wanted it to look cool!
Stu29573, hard to believe that we are already into May. Slow down, year! “Monoraily”, hooray. I like the way the Peoplemover cars are huddled around the rocket like piglets around their mother.
Sue, boy do I miss the Rocket Jets! It baffles me as to why they thought it would be better to move them, but I ain’t so smart.
Melissa, I hope Old Yeller doesn’t have rabies, because… well, you know.
K. Martinez, I forgot that America Sings started in 1974. Did that ride have huge lines when it debuted?
Major, I seem to remember reading somewhere (maybe here in the comments) that the company that built the Astro Orbiter for WDW wouldn’t sell Disney just one, it had to be multiple copies and they all had to be identical. While the larger platform at the MK was engineered to handle the weight of the larger Star Jets and could accommodate the.Astro Orbiter, the Rocket Jets platform at DL was not, so they had to relocate it somewhere, and the somewhere that got picked was the Tomorrowland entrance plaza. I’m probably misremembering details, but hopefully somebody (Mike Cozart?) will correct me where I have gone astray (which probably begins with where I started writing this comment).
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stuff today Major. Surprised you didn’t save for a Friday!
ReplyDeleteJG
Chuck, I’d never heard that about the weight of the Astro Orbiter being too much for the platform at Disneyland! It’s probably true. Why couldn’t that company build the Disneyland version out of Nerf foam? I’m waiting for your call, Disney! It also seems hard for me to believe that the company that built the Astro Orbiter had more weight to throw around than a client that was about to give them many millions of dollars. (Shrug)
ReplyDeleteJG, hopefully you’ll rate Friday’s photos even higher than todays!
I am not aware that the manufacturer of the Astro-orbiter (Le oribiton) in Italy requires that Disney purchase 2 of an item … but the weight part was a factor. The 1967 rocket jets ( 1974 Star Jets - WDW and TDL’s 1983) rocket tower and rotary engine did not set on the platform … the whole mechanism sat atop a pole. You could completely have removed the PeopleMover station building and the rocket jets could still sit atop the massive pole that went deep into the ground. The Disney
ReplyDeleteLabs pole is still there. Only the exterior ring satellites and orbs of the 90’s versions are attached to the platform and gantry structures. In 1998 the Astro ORBITOR could have been placed on top of the pole but modifications to accommodate the heavier weight would have had to have been made and there was no budget for that …. So it was placed ground level. There was also a concern with the maintenance of the system being up so high. The extra decorative orbs that could not fit the space at Tomorrowland entrance were used over at the Tomorrowland Railroad station .
I always figured that the relocation of the orbitor was due to structural reasons in the original structure, but I guessed that it was related to lateral (seismic) load resistance increases in the building codes for earthquakes (Northridge, Loma Prieta etc.), not just an overweight gravity load.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the refusal to pay to increase the structure was a given.
JG
Well, I remembered that wrong. Or maybe I read it on a less-than-reputable website and remembered it perfectly. Only my hairdresser knows for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mike, for coming to the rescue.
Mike Cozart, it was more a case of “Buy one, get one free”! It was an offer Disney couldn’t resist. Thanks as always for all of the great insider info. I’ll have to look at photos of Tomorrowland Station post-1998, I just don’t remember extra “orbs” over there, even though I probably looked right at them more than a few times.
ReplyDeleteJG, so (unlike me) you ruled out witchcraft from the very beginning? Because I always consider it. In fact if they tore out Storybook Land and said that “witchcraft” was why, I would shrug and say, “Well, they had too. Because of the witches”.
Chuck, I mean, you had the essential facts right!