Let's continue with even more Big Thunder Mountain Railroad pix, courtesy of the Mysterious Benefactor. These pick up right where the last batch (from July 28th) left off.
When your job is to capture images that might be used for Disneyland's publicity, you'll probably go bananas and take multiple pictures of basically the same thing. One might have that "special sauce" that the others lack! That explains the next three pictures, probably taken within the space of a minute or three.
Most people enjoyed their ride on the runaway mine train, but that lady to the left lost her mind. I mean her brain literally popped out of her ears! I've seen it happen. Luckily she will still live a full and happy life, and she'll even write some romance novels.
That guy with the red shirt can't fool me - he's playing it cool now, but 20 seconds ago he was shrieking like a child. His friend isn't going to let him live it down.
Big Thunder has just the right amount of thrills for families; it's not too crazy. One mother covers the mouth of her child, he has a tendency to blurt of bad words. Just like me! Perhaps he will grow up to be a powerful, influential blogger too. Dad has chosen this odd time to have "the talk" with his young son, he won't remember a word of it.
A conscientious Cast Member is making sure that a lap bar is securely lowered. The guy with the glasses is one of those people who puts his arms up for the entire ride, you know what I mean. I'm not sure what the girl to the right is up to, but she'd better sit down pronto.
This next one truly looks like could be right out of a print ad for Disneyland. Wholesome people having wholesome fun. The color and clarity is pretty nice!
Nearly everybody is looking directly at the photographer, he must have been very conspicuous. "If I take off my clothes, they'll face this direction". And it worked! You have to admire his ingenuity; Ansel Adams wouldn't have thought of it. Notice the steps, where guests could walk if (for some reason) the ride stopped partway through.
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat lady in the 1st picture didn't lose her mind, but rather her teeth. It happens sometimes.
"The talk", huh-? That activity actually worked better on The Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland, especially if 'the Dad' spoke like Dal McKennon-!
Thanks, Major.
Ha! I like your explanations of the riders expressions and body language. I was ready to start doing that myself, but now I don't have to! ;-p
ReplyDeleteIn the 3rd pic, I wonder what the real reason is why Mom is holding her hand over her son's mouth. Was he screaming non-stop? Or maybe it was "bad words", like you said.
In the fourth pic, the kid in the front seat is showing us his 'white knuckled' pose. What is that in the Standing Up girl's hand?
The 5th pic is, like you noted, the best of the bunch. Everything about it is perfect! I especially like the blue sky with puffy clouds.
Thanks to the M.B. and to Major. I'm still chuckling at your commentary. :-D
I wonder if the photographer had to mount his camera to one of the cars, in order to get that second to last pic? Otherwise, I think it would be quite difficult to turn around 180 degrees in your seat and snap that good of a pic while the train is in motion.
ReplyDelete"......her brain literally popped out of her ears!
Major, or maybe she just passed a kidney stone! There have been some studies on how Big Thunder at Disneyland has helped people pass kidney stones faster than just letting them pass on their own.. In 2016, there was even a study published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association on the subject. Researchers from Michigan State University also conducted their own study. It's too bad that Big Thunder hadn't been built yet, when "Screaming Kidney Stone Kid" visited the park.
Thank you, Major and M.B.!
You can tell how tame Big Thunder is overall by the number of in-place sunglasses at the end of the ride.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that woman has her hand over her son’s mouth to stop him from screaming throughout the ride. Or possibly regurgitating. Or maybe both.
Nature’s Wonderland would have been a great place for “The Talk,” but Dad should focus on trying to sound like Winston Hibler.
Thanks, Major and MB!
Well, guests are guests aren't they....overall I think that once you get to the loading bay: the adrenaline has settled and people...these people...start looking bored...or catatonic perhaps....except for hand over the mouth kid...who is still riding high from his dopamine hit...I can't say I know the employee though...not remotely familiar...and the "perfect" action shot is great....better when you hire people or pay them off with comp tickets I suppose...and...I speculate....as employees we would do these stunts for a ride and a button....since there are some appearance guideline violations here: maybe they are WED employees + spouses (?). Who knows....last photo: red shirt: she's having a blast. I never understood "hands in the air"....I mean: I understand it, but don't understand why. To look "brave"...to say "whee"....on Big Thunder: I dunno: seems like a pretty tame ride for hands in the air. For some reason my various feeds are thrusting roller coaster videos at me...even those give me the willies. Truly terrifying stuff out there. On Big Thunder: when employees and I were naughty we would purposely get closer to the bar: so it would look like it was snug: but it most definitely would not be: so we'd be thrown all over the place. I'm not sure I'm that brave any more. Thanks MB for the trip back to the 80's....I'm going to listen to the GoGo's now...Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteYep, all of these would have been great publicity pictures if not for one or two goofy guests! ("Goofy" as in the silliness, not the people-dog character). You can almost hear the photographer yelling, "Oh come ON, people!!!" Most goofs are easy to spot, but the "almost perfect" picture is harder. I guess it's "Mr. Cool" in the blue shirt three rows back. He just looks a little too chill for the wildest ride in the wilderness!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun series of pics for sure. First thing I notice is how many ladies have the same hairdo. The 80’s had great hair.
ReplyDeleteMom is helping little Willie hold in his chow. He shouldn’t have had three enchiritos and five cokes before getting on this ride. A Technicolor Yawn is forthcoming.
I’m with Bu, I’ve never understood “hands in the air”. I did it once and felt no different than “hands in my lap or gripping the lap bar…”. I guess I’ve read too much Sartre.
Thanks Major!
JG
Holy crud, I had the exact same shirt as the girl in the fourth picture who's half sanding up! This whole post is a walk down Memory Lane of early 80s fashion, but I certainly never expected to see that particular piece again!
ReplyDelete"Nearly everybody is looking directly at the photographer, he must have been very conspicuous. "If I take off my clothes, they'll face this direction". And it worked! You have to admire his ingenuity; Ansel Adams wouldn't have thought of it. Notice the steps, where guests could walk if (for some reason) the ride stopped partway through."
Some reason, like a crazy naked guy with a camera jumping out in front of the train.
It really is amazing how much Whee! Big Thunder manages to pack into a family coaster, and how much these pictures make you feel it. Thanks MB and Maj!
Nanook, hearing Dal McKennon’s voice doing “the talk” would prevent all sorts of pregnancies.
ReplyDeleteJB, that kid is actually 28 years old (he looks younger, I know) and he’s served 9 years in the Navy, so he knows ALL of the bad words. And uses them liberally. Just like my dad! I think standing girl has a tightly-rolled brochure in her hand, but it’s hard to be sure. The fifth photo is a little too professional, I like the pictures that have a bit more character. Just me!
TokyoMagic!, I’ve seen videos of people on new Disney rides where you can see that they have a camera somehow mounted (no idea how they do that) facing back toward the passengers. I wonder if they have a special vehicle with built-in camera mounts? I would be grateful to Big Thunder if it helped a kidney stone pass - I’ve never had one, but they sound awful. I once dated a nurse who had stories about patients passing stones, YIKES. I can understand how that movement and vibration might be helpful.
Chuck, you’re right about the glasses, the way Big Thunder moves, the forces don’t whip glasses off. The wind might grab a hat or two though. If I had a kid who was going to barf the last thing I’d want to do is put my hand over his mouth. Winston Hibler would be the PERFECT person to do “the talk”!
Bu, ha ha, I guess there could be some post-adrenaline effect, most of the time (when I’m paying attention) it seems like riders are all-smiles. I’ve never really understood the “hands in the air” thing; seeing others do it, I thought, “I guess I need to try it too”. You know what? It doesn’t add much to the experience. In my opinion. Everyone has those lap bars, so it’s not like anyone is going to go flying out of the train - so the “hands off” approach is pointless. POINTLESS, do you hear? I have been on some of the coasters at Magic Mountain that are truly intense, however, I remember one in which I could feel my car keys slowly trying to work their way out of my pocket. I think the coaster was called “X-1”?
Stu29573, ha, it’s like when my brother in law (a professional photographer) would take family photos, and there was always one person (not me!) who ruined the shot. Sometimes he would take four or five photos in quick succession, and then take a head from one picture, Photoshop it into another, and wind up with something “perfect”.
JG, at some point I know a lot of ladies want hairdos that are sensible. Easy to maintain, etc. I once dated a girl with beautiful long hair, and after dating her for a few weeks, she cut it short. It was still cute, but I missed the long hair!
Melissa, that shirt does look very “80’s”, somehow. That and the pastel colors on some, and the hairstyles. Is it just me, or does the woman in photo $5 look 20 years younger than the man who is hanging on to her? Weird. Maybe she just has an effective nighttime regimen. I’ve said this before, but I wish there was some way they could have kept some of the slower parts of “Nature’s Wonderland” along with the fun coaster parts of “Big Thunder”.
ReplyDeleteMajor-
ReplyDeleteThe "hands-in-the-air thing" (besides the 'feeling of weightlessness' or 'adding more thrills' to the experience) - all pretty silly - is a [poor] attempt to raise your center of gravity, thus actually increasing the 'ride excitement'. (There's no substitute for actually standing up as far as possible to achieve greater thrills). Just ask 'in a former lifetime' me-!
You know, the more I look at the second-to-last photo, the more I think that it was taken by a traditional camera and a traditional photographer on a stopped train. There’s no motion blur in the background and everyone’s hair is in place. While I can accept that a sufficient amount of Aquanet could glue the hair down, strong as it is I’m not sure it would do the same for an 18,000-pound, fully loaded train.
ReplyDeleteHeck, in 1989 you could take your kids to EPCOT Center and have Disney give them The Talk for you! (In the form of "The Making of Me," narrated by Martin Short. I don't know if that's a huge improvement over Dal McKennon or not.)
ReplyDeleteNanook, I remember riding the big pirate ship swing ride at our home park, Six Flags Darien Lake (well, it wasn't always a Six Flags park, but that's a long story). We'd always try to sit in the back and stand up when the swing was at its highest point, but I never really understood it. It just felt more Whee! Like your innards were being pushed a little further up as you descended.
Major, in pic 5, you may be looking at professional models not a real couple (supported by Chuck's comment about the train not moving) or just the difference between smoking/not smoking and using sunbluck. People today look a decade or 2 younger than their equivalents 30 or 40 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine those emergency steps pass muster now - they'd need handrails and caution tape.
Nanook, don’t tell me you believe in gravity??
ReplyDeleteChuck, interesting thought, it sure would make things easier if the runaway mine train wasn’t running away. I wonder how they would stop it on an incline? My guess: hot glue. Aquanet helped to get the Apollo 13 astronauts home safely, though that detail did not make it into the movie.
Melissa, I wonder how many visitors to EPCOT were aghast at having Martin Short tell their kids about the birds and the bees? “That’s MY job!”. Well, you’re fired! Not “you” as in Melissa, the royal “you”. I don’t want my innards pushed up, down, or any other direction!
Dean Finder, oh I have no doubt that those folks were hired for the photo shoot. “We need a couple who is attractive, not too young, not too old - think ‘Sears catalog’ types”. And they did it! You are so right about the smoking/not smoking thing. A 60 year-old smoker can look like Mother Theresa and a non-smoker can look like Marissa Tomei!
Major, it's great seeing the reactions on everyone's faces at the end of the ride! It makes me think about how cool it was when Big Thunder opened at Disneyland. Everything seemed to come together quickly with the opening of Space Mountain, and then not long after the opening of Big thunder. Suddenly there were three very awesome and interesting roller coasters at Disneyland, and me at the right early-teen age to really enjoy all of them! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteRecall a long-ago visit when it was under construction, the peak resting atop bare metal framework, like they were starting from the top and working down. It was and is a favorite, a classic Disney ride that makes you feel like you've been somewhere. Contrast to other parks' coasters with heavily themed queues and loading areas, then bare tracks delivering impressive but generic thrills, usually with views of traffic outside the park.
ReplyDeleteQuick realization on last visit a few years back: Both BTM and the Matterhorn are far more pleasant if you brace yourself against horizontal movement instead of the bar in front of you.
Heck, in 1989 you could take your kids to EPCOT Center and have Disney give them The Talk for you! (In the form of "The Making of Me," narrated by Martin Short.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I was only able to see the Wonders of Life pavilion on my first visit, and it was closed by the time I got back to EPCOT. But I did see that "Making of Me" film, and thought it was an odd thing for a Disney park. Actually, it would have been better if they had explained everything using audio-anmatronic figures! Hee, hee!
That 5th photo appears to be Walt Disney World’s Big Thunder Mt.
ReplyDelete^ Mike, the ‘staged’ photo? Or do you mean the last one (6th photo) with the steps? Please explain how you can tell…I’m curious.
ReplyDeleteMB and MP, thanks for sharing and posting these fun pics.
#5 ( man in red shirt hold woman’s shoulders) WDW’s Big Thunder rockwork is very different in sculpt and color - Floridas is also more straight slab/cut and angular . And the couple appear in Florida vacation Kingdom marketing brochures. Also Disneyland’s BTM doesn’t make that turn ( unless the image is reversed - and it doesn’t appear to be)
ReplyDelete