I love Randos! Today's first example is date-stamped "June 1971"' we're in New Orleans Square, there's the Creole Cafe right in front of us. Disneyland can't serve spicy food, so they just add a lot of salt. Works for me! I like the mother and daughter in matching polka-dot dresses - they aren't twins, but they still make me think of Melissa. I'd love to sit on that balcony above the restaurant, except that the chair is tiny, and the balcony is probably not even 2' deep.
Next is this very nice view from Main Street, dated July, 1963, which probably explains the patriotic bunting. An Omnibus is heading up to the Plaza, the Castle is mostly obscured here. I don't have a lot to say about this photo, but I find it to be very pleasing.
I'm happy to say that I will be back with you REAL SOON!
Major-
ReplyDeleteI think we can safely say Mother and Daughter are wearing matching sun dresses - perfect for a summer's day at Disneyland.
Thanks, Major.
Yep. You know it's the seventies when you see the blue-shirted guy on the left: Long balding hair, and those questionable plaid pants. I like the blooming tree in the foreground.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is a pleasant pic. But I was immediately struck by the emptiness of the skyline. Like you said, the Castle is mostly behind the trees. And I think there's a smackerel of the Matterhorn peeking above the buildings on the right. But then there's all that empty space in between. It looks like a Midwest prairie town. Weird, but pleasant.
Thanks for the Randos, Major.
In that first pic, the Club 33 fireplace used to be on the other side of that smaller balcony and those fake doors. They ripped out the fireplace and replaced it with a window a few years back. This is what the exterior of the building looks like looks today:
ReplyDeleteClub 33 Window
And here is what the fireplace on the other side looked like, before they ripped it out:
Club 33 Fireplace
Funny....I have a pic that my dad took in 1967, just a few yards away from the spot that first pic was taken. There are a mother and daughter in my dad's photo, who are also dressed in matching dresses, very similar in style to the mother and daughter in today's photo!
Thanks, Major!
I located my dad's photo....so just for fun, here it is. It was taken 4 years earlier and just several yards to the left/east of Major's pic, and it also includes a mother and daughter in matching dresses of a similar style. I wonder why the daughter wasn't wearing a matching babushka?
ReplyDeleteSeptember 1967 - New Orleans Square's Creole Cafe
Oh, the Creole Cafe. Our first trip to the Park with our tiny kids, our son was so tired from his long day. We had a late lunch here and he fell asleep on my lap. We sat for quite a while, letting him rest.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that Main Street pic is very satisfying, and there are four trash cans in view so we don’t have to go far to waste paper.
Thanks Major! Travel safe. We are on the road today too, wave on your way past!
JG
What nice rando's. Thanks TM for the 33 shot: I'm not sure the window is "off putting"....but I like the balcony and the trellis's much better. I suppose those people want to see the melting dragon in full gory detail! The best table in the joint is in that corner. "Where the Elite Meet"...kind of like the "Cub Room"....and if you get that reference: you get a gold star today. It's a lovely day outside, I suppose I should be enjoying it with a "Hostess Punch". A waitress thought she was being appropriate and asked me if I wanted a "Host Punch", which I thought was odd sounding...like she was going to slug me. In any case, those were the days of short French maid skirts and waitresses only. And the "Disney Look" at the Club included a lot of make up if I recall. I think a supervisor told me that "no one ever see's them...because they walk backstage" get real: if you were pretty, and didn't look too all "dolled up" ...you could wear whatever make up you wanted. Onto Main St. in the 60's: Another lovely Anaheim day and more Elms that have no scale. And...an unbuttoned vest, but I think that ship has sailed for me. I like all the accent colors, and not everything needs to be shiny and purple. Just saying. Thanks Major for a trip to the Midwest, and New Orleans!
ReplyDeleteNanook, do you mean those dresses are made from actual pieces of the sun??
ReplyDeleteJB, just so you know, I look just like that guy with the blue shirt. And I’m proud of it! Somehow “a Midwest prairie town” is apt, considering that’s where Walt was from. No Swiss mountains to be seen there!
TokyoMagic!, thank you for the links, I knew that Club 33 had undergone many big changes, which I guess were unpopular with Disney history fans, but popular with the rich people who want to belong to the club. And hey, Disney gets to make a LOT more money! Interesting that you have a photo that is so simillar to the one in today’s post.
TokyoMagic!, I love the bright clothing on the ladies in your dad’s photo! And yes, there’s the mom and daughter, in identical dresses. Maybe women burned their babushkas to protest the Vietnam war?
JG, it is pretty common to see kids in strollers completely conked out, and it’s no surprise, that’s a lot of stimuli and expended energy for a small child. I confess to being a bit jealous, I wouldn’t mind a little nap too! Thanks for the good wishes, obviously I am finally home. It was a great trip.
Bu, it took me a second to get the “melting dragon” reference. Yes, I am slow. So… they don’t have a dragon at all anymore? Seems like a shame, since that really was the grand finale for decades. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Fantasmic!, you couldn’t help but be impressed by the dragon, and by seeing the river erupt in flames. Wait, what the heck is a “hostess (or host) punch”?? Short French maid skirts, oh boy! I guess those are not a thing anymore, not at Disneyland. I get it. Ooops, sorry Bu, I have to run out the door! I’ll check in a bit later.
What they did to NEW ORLEANS SQUARE to make big FANTASMIC viewing windows for club 33 members is devastating! So much effort was put into that land to make it look authentic and ideally realistic by Walt and the WED imagineers !!! Now it looks like NEW ORLEANS SQUARE was on a HGTV 3 day remodel using supplies by LOWES and 2- DAY window repair!!!
ReplyDeleteThey REALLY DO RUIN EVERYTHING!!
I put a WED curse on those buildings : “everyone who views Fantasmic from those New Orleans Square - Cafe Orleans windows will develop bunions with Paul
Bunyan’s face on them!! : UNTIL THE BUILDINGS AND WINDOWS ARE RESTORED!!!! ( exits here in a burst of green smoke)
Thanks TM for the 33 shot: I'm not sure the window is "off putting"....but I like the balcony and the trellis's much better.
ReplyDeleteBu, I agree with you about which version looks better. The window looks just a little bit better now, as opposed to when it was first put in. Originally it was just a plain window without any detailing or highlights. Everything was painted one color....gray. Even those two vents/shutters above the window didn't have the flower boxes that they have today. It remained plain and ugly for quite a while. A lot of people were complaining online and posting photos of it. I wonder if that's what pushed Disney to eventually give the wall and the window some more detailing.
TokyoMagic!, I love the bright clothing on the ladies in your dad’s photo! And yes, there’s the mom and daughter, in identical dresses.
Major, my mom is the "other lady" in a bright dress (the blue, green and yellow one). Again, her style dress is the same as the other ladies' dresses....in your pic and my dad's. My aunt is standing to the left of my mom with her head turned, but we didn't know that lady and her daughter. I do wonder why everyone seemed to be standing around and what they were looking at. Oh, and I meant to point out on the far left of the photo, there is a kid walking with a tomahawk in his hand! I'm guessing that was purchased in the Indian Village, perhaps at the Indian Trading Post? After that area became Bear Country, the Trading Post still sold "spears" with rubber tips, because my brother got one during one of our trips!
@ Bu-
ReplyDelete""Where the Elite Meet"...kind of like the "Cub Room"".
Not only do I get it but, prior to becoming VP, Creative Affairs at Fox, I asked a good friend to send me a copy of the 'Revised Final Script', from April 5, 1950 of All About Eve, and as such have a copy from the Story Dept. (I believe it's been widely-circulated these days) - although I wonder how many folks have sat down with it along with an "encore du champagne" while comparing that revised final script with the actual dialogue... There are numerous places where a word was changed, a number of words or an entire phrase was dropped.
As Mark Twain says about writing: Writing is easy. Just cross out all the words you don't need.
It remains Joe Mankiewicz's crowning achievement and arguably the most-erudite use of sarcasm ever committed to a screenplay.
So much effort was put into that land to make it look authentic and ideally realistic by Walt and the WED imagineers !!! Now it looks like NEW ORLEANS SQUARE was on a HGTV 3 day remodel using supplies by LOWES and 2- DAY window repair!!!
ReplyDeleteThey REALLY DO RUIN EVERYTHING!!
Mike, even though that window looks a smidgen better now than it used to, I agree with you, too. And I know that you are an expert on what is architecturally authentic for a particular period, and what isn't. It is a shame that the designers and the management of today, don't care about such detailing and authenticity. But unfortunately, this is where we are now. And yes, they truly do ruin everything!