Blurzles, January, 1974
I often can't tell if a slide is blurry until I've scanned it and viewed it on my computer. Then I'll see the flaw, and as you can imagine, I spend at least two full days crying loudly. I get looks at the grocery store! "Man, you'd think he had a blurry slide or something", women whisper to each other.
Both of today's slides were date-stamped "January, 1974". If you were like me, you had SKYLAB FEVER! What are they doing up in that lab, anyway? Making Mega-Tang (only possible in micro gravity)? But I digress. Here we see some Dizzy Dumbi flying around and around. They never get anywhere! There is one empty elephant - why? Granted, crowds are low on this day, I guess it wasn't super-essential that they maximized capacity.
This one was especially disappointing to me, since I only have one or two photos of the Disneyland Railroad as seen from "the other side of the track" in Bear Country (this was pre-"Critter Country"). It just feels wrong to see the E.P. Ripley going from right to left! In the distance we can see the sod-roofed Indian Trading Post, and to the right, a little ticket booth.
13 comments:
Major-
The only time you'll find me in a supermarket in a state of uncontrollable crying is when the store has run out of 'half-cut' spaghetti. I'm incapable of the required 'skills' necessary to perform the job at home with the necessary precision needed for such a delicate and exacting task. (sob, sob).
That second image is kinda unique - certainly on these pages.
Thanks, Major.
Yes, women can spot a guy with "Blurry Slide Syndrome" quicker than a cat can reject its food.
The blurriness gives the Dumbi a dream-like quality. Perhaps that one Dumbo is empty because the rider accidentally stepped in the wrong direction and fell out... because of the blurriness, you understand. I don't remember seeing that pink and white whatever-it-is behind the Casey Jr. train before. Are they (blurry) rocks?
It's still a nice bright, blue sky picture of the E.P. Ripley, even with the slight blur. Hmm, all the people are wearing blurry clothes. How did that happen??? Did we ever decide if the sod roof on the Trading Post was real or fake? Seems like, if it was real, it would present all sorts of maintenance problems.
Nanook, I break my spaghetti up in thirds; easier to eat! Don't even bother looking for third-cut spaghetti in the stores. You can get that inch-long spaghetti, which doesn't appeal to me. Maybe you throw a handful into a pot of soup, but that's about it.
Nice bright pics, even with the blur. Thanks, Major.
JB, those pink and white things are indeed rocks. The canal runs between the tracks and the rocks, and the dark opening behind the train to the left is where the boats in 1974 veered into the Seven Dwarfs’ (they weren’t Tolkienesque “dwarves”) uranium mine. The last time I rode the canal boats, this had been converted to Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders. It’s probably Bruno’s Gap Between the Walls now, although nobody talks about it.
I think the sod roof on the Indian Trading Post was indeed real, although it obviously had to have a truly watertight roof underneath the sod. They must have used the dwarfs’ mine tailings as fertilizer; you should see the size of the kerits that grow through the roof of the Briar Patch (its Critter Country makeover) today (assuming it’s survived the Tiana retheme).
Chuck, the hostesses used to say that cave was "the very same cave that the Wicked Witch traveled through in her boat, to bring Snow White the poisoned apple." Yeah, and then suddenly it was the Cave of Wonders. Sorry, the Cave of Wonders had an entrance shaped like a tiger's head. You can't fool me, Disney! But maybe the kids of today just believe whatever they are told, or whatever they read online. Yeah, that's probably it.
I think there could easily be a one or two year-old riding alone in that Dumbo vehicle, making it just look like it's empty.
Centrifugal force is worse on a spinning elephant, tossed those riders right out. Wear those seatbelts, kids! . It’s just physics. Yes, as Chuck points out, the pink ripples are rocks, concealing a cave that has changed hands over the years.
I thought the second slide was reversed for a moment, but now it’s fine. I think the old Trading Post log building is a 1955 Opening Day building, and yes, that is a real sod roof. This was converted to a more diverse planting when it was the Briar Patch, and alas, Chuck, the carats have been removed (Bugs Bunny was low bidder) and the whole thing re-themed to Tiana’s Bayou’s Edge and the original turf appearance has been restored. The waterproof “real” roof under the sod is likely to be a hot-applied, rubberized asphalt multiple layer membrane (made from recycled tires) with a robust root barrier. Roofs like this have lasted up to a century without significant decay, so we should have the old sod around for some time to come, unless the Suits decide to replace it with a pre-fab Wal-Mart garden shed.
Thanks Major! Some rare sights today!
JG
The fun part was watching them mow the sod roof!! Imagine that! Nah, I'm just kidding. Bear Country was always the charming 'cul-de-sac' of the park. I wear my Bear Country belt on special occasions but no one notices, and even fewer remember it as it was. KS
The Dumbi look very pink, or as Hayley Mills sang in Summer Magic: "The Pink of Perfection"....it's a great movie to watch when you want to visit Walt's Disney. I'm not really understanding the short line OR the odd hat on the person in line....or the height of that person...those stanchions are not that tall. Is this an optical illusion? There is a pant suit back there for Casey Jr. in search of the PeopleMover...or is she one of the Bell hostesses? I thought it was always kind of fun that the employees in America the Beautiful were actual operators on a fun hiatus in Disneyland. I wonder if it was indeed fun? The EP Ripley and that walk is a familiar sight for me as I traveled it every day: and you can see a TG there on the right doing the same thing. I might even know her...I do still stay in contact with a TG with that hair who was a TG from 73 through decades later...I concur that the sod is real, and want a sod roof myself in some sort of log cabin in my yard. Sod roofs are typical in Norway, and my family had, and still has one: they provide excellent insulation and are very pretty along the fjords of course. Why has it been OK to change the name of this area of the park four times? Indian Village to Bear Country to Critter Country to Bayou Country....I always thought that Bear Country was just an extension of Frontierland...as was the Indian Village. Critter sounds low brow, and I get Bayou....with it's adjacency to New Orleans Square....but it's really not fashioned as a Bayou...in total...I think everything should be changed to a pre-fab kit land...then it's easy to change! Cheap and cheery! "ouch" : sorry Madame Leota....TRE at it's worst...Thanks Major for blurzles and the trip to the 70's!
Nanook, do stores actually sell “half cut” spaghetti???
JB, women like to see me cry, they think I’m “sensitive”. Little do they know that I am crazy! I wonder if there has ever been an injury on the Dumbo ride? After 60+ years, it wouldn’t surprise me, even though it seems very safe. Those pink and white things are not rocks, they are salmon and cream cheese, provided at no extra cost to guests. I’m pretty sure that sod is real, in fact until now I’ve never heard a theory that it was fake. As for spaghetti, if you puree it, it’s easier to get onto a spoon, and it looks good too.
Chuck, oh, I thought for sure that the “rocks” were salmon and cream cheese. But I stand corrected! I’ve always thought that “dwarfs” was odd, but (like you) it might be due to my love of Tolkien. “Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders” is now “Aladdin’s Cave of Bargains”. I’m glad they used the Dwarf’s mine tailings as fertilizer, and not other Dwarf… stuff. Speaking of the Tiana re-theme, I’ve watched videos. Folks seem to love it, but it looks pretty bland to me. It’s better than nothing, but I am not enthused.
TokyoMagic!, I didn’t remember that the Wicked Witch took her boat through a cave, but it has been a while since I watched “Snow White”. I believe whatever I am told at Disneyland, my brain shuts off when I walk through the turnstiles.
TokyoMagic!, ha ha, I guess that two year old might enjoy the inside view of that vehicle!
JG, I think that they should increase the RPMs on the Dumbo ride now that people want thrills. Let those kids experience 8 Gs! It is kind of weird to see the train going from right to left (even though we see that out at the front of the park)… I suppose I’ve looked at way too many vintage photos and expect to see it going left to right. I have to admit that I wondered how they kept that sod roof from dripping down below. “They must use Flex Seal. As seen on TV!”. Does somebody water the sod with a hose after hours? Or is there a drip irrigation system? Much of the grass around the park has been replaced with artificial turf, so it would not surprise me that much if the sod became “astro sod”.
KS, so… you joke, but does the sod just stop at a certain height? Do they use trained goats to trim it? Now I need to know! What does your Bear Country belt look like? Does it have Big Al on the buckle?
Bu, hey, there you are! I’m curious about “Summer Magic”, it’s one of those mostly-forgotten Disney films. But it has Hayley Mills, so that’s something. The hat on that person watching the Dumbi is a mystery, but everything is just too blurry. The lady in the red outfit is probably Sandy Duncan! I’m sure the person in line is a child, maybe five or six years old. Not an adult! We need GDB friend Huck to tell us if that is a cast member in line, but my guess is that it is merely a guest. Thank you for pointing out the Tour Guide, I didn’t notice her! Sod roofs look neat, but seem like a lot of bother. I understand the renaming of that area from the Indian Village (which was removed) to “Bear Country”. The change to “Critter Country” seemed unnecessary to me, but I get that there were other animals. Geese! Pigs! Buzzards! Bunnies! Etc. If I loved “The Princess and the Frog” as a movie, maybe I’d be more forgiving about the rename. Again, Tiana is a nice character, there’s just something about that film. Several characters grate on me (“Charlotte” for instance). I wanted to love it.
Oh that would be a hoot if the buckle was just that Major. No, it's just a wide belt with the words BEAR COUNTRY embossed in it. It has outlasted both my coonskin (canoes) and straw (JC) hats. KS
I LOVE today's comments. :o)
".....ha ha, I guess that two year old might enjoy the inside view of that vehicle!"
LOL
Those rocks look more like slabs of bacon, to me.
Major, many sod or green roofs do have irrigation to keep the plants green. Now, some new advanced roof systems have specially selected plantings for the climate that don’t require irrigation, and yes, the grass does need trimming periodically. I don’t know how it was done at Disneyland, but green roofs I have designed could be mowed with conventional equipment. The roofs last a long time because the waterproof part is protected by the plants and soil.
Disneyland has a tremendous amount of green or vegetated roofs, notable example in the previous picture, where trees grow over the Cave of Wonders, Injun Joe’s Cave on TSI, parts of the Haunted Mansion that are under the berm, Splash Mountain, Autopia over the Sub cavern, and many others. The Trading Post is just a more obvious example.
Sue, now I want bacon.
JG
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