Yes, it's that time again - Snoozle time! You knew it when you woke up, didn't you?
Both of these are from June, 1965, but, like all of us, they have their flaws. Some say that makes them even more lovable, but I don't say that. I judge and condemn.
I've seen worse photos of Disneyland fireworks, to be honest. The photographer used their flash, which means that you get better fireworks images! A magnificent red chrysanthemum shell has just burst, I always enjoy the delay between the explosion and the BANG that echoes around the park. For some reason. I laugh and laugh! But why are tears running down my cheeks?
Next, a Snoozle that is also a Blurzle. Such a rare occurrence, like two-headed snakes. Somebody with the yips took a picture of the Tahitian Terrace dining area, and the mysterious waterfall. Did they know that a beautiful singer would emerge from behind the cascade? (Shrug). In spite of the lack of focus, it all looks very pretty, with that lush jungle in the background.
1) OK, so it's a bit blurry. And the fireworks looks like a bunch of little red wriggly worms escaping from their egg sac. But it's Disneyland fireworks! And that makes it special! This is a rare occasion when the thumbnail looks better than the full-size image. 7 points for the thumbnail, 3 points for the full-size image... A perfect 10!... if you wanna think of it that way.
ReplyDelete2) Well, that one potted plant to the right looks pretty much in focus... almost... sorta. What are the red things behind the waterfall? Flowers? Arcturian glow worms? Rigelian fire bats? And why did they put a termite mound in the background? On the left, it looks like someone gathered up a few original Disneyland oranges and placed them in that pot sitting on the carved barrel/stump. Here's your chance, Bu. Just reach into the screen and pluck one or two to start your orchard!
Snoozles, but interesting Snoozles! Thanks, Major.
That rockwork, landscaping, and waterfall are so beautiful. Who in their right mind would destroy that?
ReplyDeleteJB, that red thing behind the waterfall was an active lava flow. No, really.
The very last time I ate at The Tahitian Terrace was the very day Splash Mountain opened … July 17, 1989. What a great place that was…. We had no reservations… didn’t order anything from the AP …. Didn’t place our lunch order 4 months in advance …. And no one in my party took pictures of our food…my sister asked about the Tahitian Terrace punch and our waitress presented to her a printed card with the instructions to make the punch at home. If you told us the restaurant would be closed in a few years I would have thought you insane.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure that’s a red chrysanthemum shell bursting. Based on its location and angle, it might be Tinkerbell exploding.
ReplyDeleteThat last picture really makes me regret some of my life choices. One is that I never saw the Tahitian Terrace in person. The other is checking into GDB this morning, which forced me to regret some of my life choices.
JB & TM!, that lava vent went dormant the following year when a new one opened up east of Main Street and diverted the flow in a more primeval direction.
Mike, just because I didn’t tell you the restaurant would be closed in a few years doesn’t mean I’m not insane. Don’t crush my dreams!
I want those oranges!....Happy Snoozle(tm) Sunday. These qualify. I cannot tell you the HUNDREDS of guests that would take photos of fireworks with their flash on...every night. We all rolled our eyes (backstage). Strangely, these are not the same guests that would use their flash on Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc. Those were usually people that did not understand English, and did not understand the directions: so I forgive them. It's interesting to note, that even 40+ years later I know where this photo was taken, I know that tree..I know those twindle lights in the hub....My memory amazes me sometimes, and sometimes not. Tahitian Terrace: what a lovely spot. Disneyland's Polynesian answer to the Blue Bayou. I'm glad Walt got to see it. Why these elements were removed and not restored is beyond me...I get it, but I don't have to like it. And ....I don't like it. The Hostess' costume is lovely and bright: I like that it's on a white background. I remember these costumes to be very fitted on lovely ladies wearing their wardrobe issued leis. I went to Tahaitian Terrace a few times, as a guest and employee. We would take VIP tours there when the Blue Bayou was in rehab: either there, or sometimes Plaza Inn Solarium where there would be table service. Both were lovely subs, and it was nice to sometimes not eat your lunch in the dark (Blue Bayou). At the BB I would always get the Cobb Salad: it was a Disneyland take on the traditional...I still make it today. Some people add chicken / ham and other "Chefs Salad" things to it: which I do not like (in my Cobb salad anyway.) I ate a Cobb salad at the Brown Derby at WDW, and it was presented "deconstructed" which baffled me. I asked (nicely) that it be tossed...but it had to be "approved" by a supervisor to be tossed (?) ....and then they tossed it. Talk about being baffled. A Cobb salad MUST be tossed to fuse all the flavors. Taking another left turn, one of the interesting things about the Brown Derby (the recreation) is that it still had WDW payphones next to the lobby and going towards the bathrooms. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but I liked it. Also note if in Hollywoodland (Studios/name escapes me...) that the bathrooms were the cleanest of any Disney property I've been in. They recreated some things in that park that were part of my "architectural formative years": and did it (for the most part) pretty historically accurate...slightly on the cheap...and it get it, and don't have to like it. Not sure my $350.00 meal at the Brown Derby was worth it ($200 admission + $150 meal) but I'm really glad I went. There is a lovely museum there, that no one was in: with lots of Disney Archive treasures and that was worth the entire trip for me. I asked an employee "where are the rides"....she looked at me puzzled and couldn't articulate an answer. (?) Still baffled. I went on Star Tours because it had no line, and considered dinner in EPCOT...but my brain stimulated and body exhausted and heat stroke constitution couldn't bear it. One ride is about all I can take these days :) Thanks Major for the morning rabbit hole.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to resist taking photos of fireworks. I took a few this past Fourth of July, even though I knew they would be disappointing. I guess some phone cameras now have a “fireworks” mode, but I’m not sure what that would do. You spend so much effort trying to get a good shot that you can’t really see the show, and end up with neither. Some things are best enjoyed in the moment, which is a lesson in itself.
ReplyDeleteI like photo 2 in spite of its obvious flaws, partly because I have so many obvious flaws that I feel kinship, and mostly because it gives a feeling for the TT which I never got to see. Yet another inexplicable closure. Looks like it was a lot of fun.
Thanks Major!
JG
You-all are making me feel very lucky today. I've had Cobb salads at the Brown Derby's in Beverly Hills, Hollywood [and at WDW]. (A deconstructed Cobb salad, Bu-? What would be the point-??) More power to you for 'forcing' the staff to 'take an impromptu meeting' to correct their obvious error-!
ReplyDeleteAlso experienced the Tahitian Terrace - and very-likely the last time was in 1964 for a dinner show, discussed previously on these pages.
Thanks, Major.
The only restaurant I never experienced at Disneyland was Tahitian Terrace. Since Hawaii was such familiar territory with me having family there, I kind of thumbed my nose at this restaurant. That I do regret.
ReplyDeleteNice Blurzle. Nice Snoozle too. Thanks, Major.
The "annoy everyone around you by taking pictures of fireworks" peaked out a few years ago when the iPad was the new thing. I remember being a WDW with some guy holding his iPad above his head for the entire show. Thankfully, that seems to have dropped off in the past couple years.
ReplyDeleteJB, I do love the Disneyland fireworks, but admit that I have not watched them the last two times I went to the park. Once I just happened to be on the Disneyland Railroad when they started, and the other time I wanted to avoid the massive crowds. The way the second photo has areas in focus and areas NOT in focus makes me think that the lens was dirty - as if somebody got a greasy fingermark on it. The jungle looks nice, though! The red things are lights behind the waterfall, I believe.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, even if they decided not to pay performers, they still had a beautiful place for guests to dine. But you know how it is, some creative geniuses can’t keep their hands off of a good thing.
Mike Cozart, I’m sure that if most people knew about future attraction closings, they’d say you were crazy. The Peoplemover? Why would they close that? I would assume that in 1989, taking pictures of one’s food was not the thing that it became later. I have a friend who takes a picture of every meal she gets at a restaurant, and often takes pictures of my meal too. I’m like, WHY? Have you ever made Tahitian Terrace punch?
Chuck, poor Tink, but we all explode at some point, it’s the circle of life. Ha ha, yes, checking in to GDB might be a mistake, especially when there is so much daytime TV to watch. Nothing is better than daytime TV.
Bu, I’m guessing that those oranges were of the plastic variety, similar to what they sold at the Flower Market (at least they did at some point). I have definitely seen people take pictures of fireworks (or other nighttime events) with flashes, maybe they don’t know how to turn the flash off? When I was a kid I didn’t understand that my camera flash would not illuminate the entire empty sub lagoon, but hey, I was seven. Twinkle lights; Tony B. has some of the trees from the Plaza in his yard, and they still have twinkle lights in them. It’s amazing how that instantly gives an area a Disneyland vibe. With the popularity of the Blue Bayou, I’m kind of surprised that Disneyland has not built more “always night” indoor restaurants. Galaxy’s Edge could have included something amazing. But I realize that this is an expensive proposition. I still don’t know what a Cobb Salad is. Was it Ty Cobb’s favorite? I think “Fawlty Towers” had a Cobb Salad joke, but it’s been too long. Who knew that pay phones would become a mysterious artifact someday? I’ll still see the odd one here and there, and assume that they no longer work. They’ve usually been vandalized. When I saw your sentence about a $350 meal at the Brown Derby, my eyes popped out of my head. Then I realized you included park admission. Even so, $150 for a meal is insane, it better have been the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten. Or at least ever eaten at an amusement park.
JG, considering how seldom one typically sees fireworks, I’m surprised that any phone bothers with a “fireworks mode”. Why not a “volcano mode” too? I would definitely want a tripod if I was even going to attempt to take fireworks photos. I kind of agree with you, just watch and enjoy the fireworks, and replay them in your mind. That waterfall at the Tahitian Terrace would be so nice to be near on a hot day, they should add as many waterfalls as possible around the park.
K. Martinez, I guess when you’ve spent so much time in Hawaii, the idea of a Disney simulacrum does not inspire. It makes sense!
Dean Finder, oh man, I remember when iPads were new, going to a museum, and annoying people were walking around with their devices held in front of them. Going to see live music is still a bummer, you can barely see the actual performers through the forest of bright phone screens held overhead.
MIKE COZART...you must have been in a time warp as I recall the Mountain opened in 1977. I was there for the party. But that said...you hit the nail on the head about how we could enjoy the Park spontaneously, making choices on the fly going here and there and enjoying most of it as WE chose to do so. Whether enjoying a meal and entertainment in my off hours with family, or hearing the drums and the show...not to mention the dancers waiting their cue on the stepping stones behind the waterfall as I cruised past Trader Sam with my crew returning to the most dangerous part of the trip...civilization, it was indeed a special place which is now relegated to yesteryear. The pace is now frenetic...not relaxing...for the most part. KS
ReplyDeleteKen: I was at the 1989 opening of SPLASH MOUNTAIN … my friend Stacia was doing a radio remote on the deck of the Mark Twain and my sister and I were lucky to be some of the very first non-press to ride the attraction after the opening dedication. Later that day the line for splash mountain went out critter country - through New Orleans square - through the Frontierland entry stockade -and people were waiting 7 hours to ride.
ReplyDeleteMAJOR: funny thing you should ask: I have never made Tahitian Terrace punch , but a friend of mine who has sone pretty big party’s does … for his Labor Day part - coming up!! He worked for Disneyland for years in entertainment and later was a manager of the Pleasure Island in Walt Disney World. He was also used as a “Groom” model for the brochures and planning packets in the late 1980’s for The Disneyland Hotel Wedding packages !! I joke he’s been “married” more times than anyone I know!!! His Labor Day party is unofficial Disneyland themed .. most of the guests once worked with Disney and many still do. I’ll be bringing the “el dorado shrimp from the Disneyland hotel 1970’s room service menus . Most guest at these partys drink the Tahitian Terrace Punch with gin or vodka!
With the selective blurriness in the second picture, it almost has a miniature, tilt-shifted look. The lady in the babushka seems to be wiping the table with a napkin in each hand. Thanks for the pics on a snoozy, blurzy day, Major.
ReplyDeleteAm reading an amazing history of the the Tahitian Terrace…it’s actually supposed to be about the Enchanted Tiki Room, but it backs up and wanders all over the place, as the best conversations do. It all evolved in ways I could not have surmised.
ReplyDeleteA real tree and flimsy background were not cutting it for the little Polynesian show back there behind the Plaza Inn, so a fake tree with sound and light equipment was built along with these fabulous parting waterfalls, but then the tiny snack-stand got so popular, that a full scale separate restaurant was quickly installed around the stage. The TT was done way before the Tiki, and the new side Room stuck onto the west side (to hide sight lines into Adventureland) was going to be Lillian’s tea house…long ‘Before The Birds Sang Words’ inside there.
MS