Frontierland, July 1958
Here's a pair of perfectly good photos from July, 1958. They're fine! If I hear one word, I will turn this blog around and head home.
The man to the right wanted his photo taken with the magnificent Mark Twain. This batch of pictures has a number of images of him and his wife having a swell time, so he's OK in my book. You'll see his wife in future posts! Do they still adorn the Twain with patriotic bunting around the 4th of July these days? It seems like they always did, long ago. I was trying to make out the design of that banner between the stacks of the steamboat, but the angle is all wrong. It might have a castle on it?
Here's a pretty pic from Tom Sawyer Island, guests are climbing and exploring; you can see a line of people going up the right side of Castle Rock, and coming down the left side. After visiting Fort Wilderness, they can walk along the trails and cross the Supension Bridge and the Pontoon Bridge, and then go spelunking in the system of caves.
13 comments:
"If I hear one word, I will turn this blog around and head home." [JB, in the back seat, looks all sullen] "Oookaaaaay", he says, dejectedly, "Geez".
Anytime there is decorative fencing in the foreground of a photo, that automatically makes it better than most. I think we've seen that flag before; atop the pirate ship maybe? And it does look like a castle.
A nice pic of Castle Rock. Except... it's infested with humans! Lotsandlots of humans! (Lotsandlots was one of the knights of the Round Table... or maybe it was the Algonquin Round Table... and 'knights' is pronounced 'kinnn-ig-its').
The little boy in the stripy shirt has something in his sticky little hands (he's a little boy, so chances are, his hands are sticky). A red and white cylinder of some sort? I wonder if anyone has climbed all the way up to where the flagpole is?
Stu(numbers) will be disappointed; no AEDs in either of these pics, just like the other day.
Thanks for the perfectly good and fine Frontierland pics, Major.
That flag design on the MARK TWAIN is still used today . It’s a pennant style banner with a dark blue header with castle silhouette , a light blue body . With Disneyland in white …..sometimes yellow lettering. The flags are handmade by the Disneyland decorating department. They also make the Disneyland flags on the Main Street train depot , the fire house , the Frontierland “landing” pavilion. There used to be a Disneyland flag on the carousel theater prior to 1998.
Odd to see deck chairs on the upper “TEXAS” deck ..
Major, JB is poking me again. Make him stop!
These are perfectly good photos. They don’t even need salt.
Thanks for the info about the flag, Mike. At first I thought it was the flag of Ruritania, but then I remembered that has a white waffle iron on it instead of a castle.
A visit to TSI was an absolute highlight of any trip to Disneyland for me. I could spend hours there.
These photos are wonderful. I especially like the Castle Rock pic. As a kid, once I spotted Castle Rock, I just knew I had to climb it.
This morning, I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the Liberty Belle Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island at the Magic Kingdom, in Walt DIsney World. Sad that it will soon be gone forever.
The Rivers of America provides something special to the castle parks. A sense of nature and the opportunity to decompress from the usual intensity of the Magic Kingdom. Water, whether rivers, lagoons or waterfalls definitely up the level of the Disney parks.
Thanks, Major.
“HE’S LOOKING AT MEEEEEE!!!!
STOP LOOKING AT MEEEEEE!!!!!!”
Ah, the Mark Twain….a peaceful respite from the crazy crowds.
Thanks, Major.
“ARE WE THERE YET?!?!?!?!”
I never tire of looking at the Mark Twain, so I’m happy. Chuff-Chuff. Disney has always had excellent flag hygiene.
Fancy fences increase photo quality by 37%, analysts have proven.
This is Peak TSI, I can feel heat rising from those dirt paths. Like Steve, I could spend all day out there, and probably with sticky hands, at least part of the time.
Yes JB, some people have climbed to the flagpole, I saw a guy do it on one of my visits. He might have been high school age, not a kid, but not adult either. And on the Hippie Takeover day, the bandanna flag was briefly replaced with a flag sporting a marijuana leaf.
That might be the first time the word “marijuana” was typed on GDB.
Thanks Major, now I’ll remember TSI all day long.
JG
I enjoy fancy fencing too, and enjoy even more that there is a bank with vegetation between the fancyfence and the water...making it look a wee more authentic. A happy lad with a happy ship and Disneyland flag. I should have a couple of Disneyland flags flying as well. While doing sundry cleaning this morning I realized that I need a motorized boat to play with....and perhaps this could be a model of a Mark Twain...and perhaps it could be powered by a steam engine? And have tiny Disneyland flags. I feel for those on the East coast who will never have a Tom Sawyer Island again. They are actually paving paradise and putting up a parking lot...maybe it's a fancy one, but a parking lot all the same. No more quiet respite ANYWHERE in the Magic Kingdom. EPCOT still has a few places to hide...the English garden...and some other little gems in World Showcase, or whatever they are calling it now. Attention those at WDI who troll this blog: there needs to be somewhere quiet and cool to recharge! Especially in Florida. Also, bring back "If you had wings"...never much of a line, and so very cool inside..."had wings, had wings, had wingsssss". If you had wings was a silly little "ad ride" for Eastern Airlines...I don't really want it back, but I would like a cool quiet place to sit in when I want to get away from the hoards and have a cup of coffee. There's not even a quiet hotel lobby anymore...for those looking for an electrical plug for charging your phone, and cool for recharging yourself, and no humans.....the area in the "convention center" of the Contemporary near the entrance to the California Grill has served me well. The lobby on the ground level is total chaos, but since there isn't anything worthy in this area: it doesn't get much action- in fact it has been pretty much empty, unless there are meetings going on. As a former meeting planner I would be scared of the cost of holding a meeting at the Contemporary. Seems like such an indulgence, I'm not sure any public company would dare given a board of directors saying "uh...."no". Thanks Major for a fun Frontierland!
JB, I am tough but fair! That decorative fencing is long gone, sadly; it’s pretty nice for fencing! Castle Rock was made to be infested by humans, so it would look pretty weird without them. At least they are all in one place so we can keep an eye on them. No idea what the boy is holding in his sticky hands, maybe if I have time to look at the high-res scan it’ll become clearer. Maybe a Yippee climbed the flagpole?
Mike Cozart, thank you, I think I know the design you mean, I’ve seen them in Van Eaton auctions. (Thank you for the email pic too!). Very cool that you have one in your collection. Maybe someday Van Eaton will auction your collection for millions! We’ve seen deck chairs on the top deck before, but not very often. The railing up there is conducive for looking through!
Chuck, you two stop it right now, or we won’t go to McDonald’s! “Ruritania”, I feel bad that I don’t get the reference…
Steve DeGaetano, I would wear camouflage and hide in the bushes so that I could spend the night on the island!
K. Martinez, kids are like King Kong, if they see a tall tree or rock, they have to climb it! I agree with you about the Liberty Belle, etc… just tragic. An inside person said that Universal wants to destroy Disney, and based on “Epic Universe”, they are on their way. Like you, I love water features of all kinds, and the loss of that beautiful river is unfathomable.
Lou and Sue, ha ha, it’s like you had an older brother who tortured you! Luckily, I got to be the older brother/torturer. We probably said “Are we there yet?” a lot, but we also drove each other crazy by reading the road signs out loud. “Taco Bell, two miles!”.
JG, I had the chance to ride the Columbia or the Mark Twain, and I always choose the Mark Twain. For one thing, you can stand in the shade, for another, I just love it more. Sorry, Columbia. Being July, I’ll bet the Island was plenty warm, but it didn’t keep the spirits of those kids down. Hmmm, now I wonder about the word “marijuana”, is this really the first time it has been used on GDB? HISTORIC.
Bu, I’m sure that fancy fencing cost a lot more than other “plain” wrought iron fencing, but Walt wanted things to look RIGHT. I remember seeing a Disneyland flag at the Reagan Library (for an Imagineering exhibit), and they said it was the one that was used on opening day. Call be skeptical, they fibbed about some other items too. I might be mistaken, but I think they did sell a model Mark Twain that was powered by some kind of fuel. LONG ago. The Magic Kingdom had that two-island setup that was cool, it just kills me that they are tearing it out. On a property that has hundreds of square miles. WHY? I just talked to somebody who said that the removal of the river was totally unnecessary, they just decided to do it anyway. I think it was hinted that it was Iger’s decision. So funny about needing rides that are air-conditioned - last weekend I went on rides and it felt SO GOOD to have that cool air blowing. Even in the short “dark rides”. I can only imagine what it would cost to have an event at the Contemporary Hotel, but they also need to be somewhat competitive, or else nobody would do it. I guess.
Is that a gas torch lamp in the forground of the Castle Rock picture?
Bu, if you need a quiet corner at Epcot, take the path to the restrooms for the Imagination pavilion. You'll be in a dead-end path with views of the largely unaltered Imagination, Land, and Spaceship Earth pavilions, and the original background music loop.
I'm always impressed by the stuff Universal builds, but I like Disney more. The Harry potter areas are immense and deep with minute details from the moves, but it's not lovable the way classic Disney attractions are. Too bad Disney can't be a better Disney instead of a Universal imitator.
Thanks, Godwin, Major is sure to turn around now. Jeez.
TSI is a favorite of mine too, and I have the bumped head to prove it.
Thanks, Major
Zach
[Poke, poke, poke, poke.]
"I'm NOT looking at you!", JB says while giving Sue a side-eyed sneaky glare.
JG, I'm shocked... SHOCKED, that you mentioned marijuana here! I almost pooped my pants!
Major, JG said "marijuana"!!! (Are we still going to McDonald's?)
Mazel tov to Cold Sore Guy for getting rid of his herpes simplex... TWICE! Like Zach said, we'll never get to Disneyland now. (That IS where we were going, right?)
Dean Finder, yes, I’ve seen photos with the torches lit - it’s quite a look. It seems sad that one has to take a dead-end path to restrooms to find a peaceful spot in Epcot! I am of course a Disney person, but it is pretty impressive at just how fast Universal creates these incredible “lands”, and builds them, compared to Disney. How do they manage to do it?
zach, Godwin was flooding my blog with hundreds (yes hundreds) of those stupid comments, so I deleted the ones that made it through the filtering process. I know that this means that your comment appears to be about something mysterious, but I don’t want Godwin’s message through!
JB, there’s nothing wrong with the word “marijuana”. Especially if you follow it with “cha cha cha”. Cold Sore Guy was annoying the hell out of me. He can take a long walk off a short pier!
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