Sometimes a lot of slides might consist of 15 or 20 individual images. Or there can be only two! This was one of those two-slide lots, but they are both pretty darn nice.
The Pack Mules have been gone for over 50 years... I'm sure there are many younger Disneyland fans who would be surprised to learn that such an attraction ever existed! The idea of being able to ride a real pack mule definitely seems like a concept from another era; I can't imagine that the ride capacity was that high, and the cost of caring for the mules (all those apples and sugar cubes!) would be prohibitive. And so... I'm always happy to find any good photos of it.
In a nice contrast, we now see the same boy aboard a Mark VI Autopia vehicle, in cool turquoise. The NASA guys are making sure that the kid is strapped in and knows all of the safety protocols, just like they would do for the astronauts of Apollo 10 in just a few months (it seems crazy that they were allowed to work at Disneyland sometimes, but that's just how it was). You could tell the real NASA guys because they used words like "nominal" and "outstanding" a lot.
Major-
ReplyDeleteAll the barnyard goodness of those pack mules has been upstaged by the last 'gal' we can see at the end of the mule line, with her black, bouffant hairdo, dark glasses and scowl.
Three cheers for the Mod Hatter-!
Thanks, Major.
I wonder what the ratio of kids to adult mule riders was? I would guess more kids than adults, like we see here. There are more mule riders up on the hill. Are they at the end of their ride, or the beginning? (Or somewhere in between?) I think they should replace the saddle horn with a steering wheel!
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that these Autopis cars don't have any headlights under their 'eyebrows'. Does anybody know what is written/depicted on the circular emblem where the hood ornament would go? On the loading area, a mom and her daughter both have their sweaters buttoned around their necks like a cape. It looks like the boy to the right of the Sweater Gals is getting words of encouragement from his dad in the red t-shirt.
Looks like it was a fun day in vintage Disneyland! Thanks, Major.
@ JB-
ReplyDelete"Does anybody know what is written/depicted on the circular emblem where the hood ornament would go?"
Would you believe THIS - except it says "MARK VI"-?
These are both very nice pics, Major. I like the first one because it captures the mules in both the loading area, and up on the ridge above, showing us the bi-levelness of the attraction.
ReplyDeleteI really like the vertical striped shirt in the second image (far right). Wasn't there a Disneyland paper bag that had those colors?
Thanks, Major!
"......with her black, bouffant hairdo, dark glasses and scowl."
ReplyDeleteNanook, Elvira would call that hairdo a "Knowledge Bump." :-)
The Autopia picture is likely 1968 as by 1969 all the MARK 7’s had been integrated into both Tomorrowland & Fantasyland AUTOPIA’s . The introduction of the Mark 7’s started in Tomorrowland A track then B track …then Fantasyland. Even during this time Tomorrowland has a quality that exceeds today.
ReplyDeleteI may not have noticed those mules on the ridge, JB, but I did notice the two skyway buckets hovering above.
ReplyDeleteThanks, major, for the stroll through the past and future.
Zach
Nanook, ha, the bouffant is great, but it’s the scowl that sells it.
ReplyDeleteJB, I know there was a weight limit for the pack mules, but back then it probably wasn’t as much of an issue as it would be now. If I could, I sure would want to ride through Nature’s Wonderland on a mule! I think the riders up on the hill are just getting underway, but I’m not totally sure. As far as I know, the Mark VI Autopia cars are the first to omit headlights. I’ve seen those round emblems before, but see (reading ahead) that Nanook has a link to a good photo. I like the mom and dad talking to their son, with smiles on their faces!
Nanook, thank you for finding a good photo so that I don’t have to!
TokyoMagic!, I don’t remember a Disneyland bag with those colors. I am reminded of the famous nightclub on Sunset, “Pandora’s Box”, which made an appearance in “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood”.
TokyoMagic!, Elvira Magilicutty said that?
Mike Cozart, you are right, of course, the Mark VI cars should not be in a 1969 photo. I don’t know if I typed the wrong date (likely) or if these were extreme examples of slides that weren’t developed until LONG after they were taken. The photos look more like 1965 or ’66 to me.
zach, I’m not the first to observe this, but the Skyway buckets looked so fun going back and forth, even if you weren’t on the ride. I’m still disappointed that they were removed!
The pack mules were the inspiration to Bob Gurr to invent the Omnimover. The first versions ran on hay, then steam, and finally electricity.
ReplyDeleteI don’t remember riding the mules at all. I think maybe they were too much like KBF and so I stuck with the Mine Train. I don’t know.
I spent 10 minutes looking for the Skyway buckets in photo 1, and there they are in photo 2. Oh well, this is going to be quite a day. Notice the tire filler down the line. Might be water, but I’m guessing the vehicles are air-cooled engines. I think this pic is taken in the fall season, judging by all the knobby-kneed little kids in shorts while Mom has a sweater.
Two great pics, Major. Thank you!
JG
In the first pic, the cowboy castmember is explaining how the Pack Mules are among the safest attractions at Disneyland, with only 12 kids being eaten by crazed mules in all of 1968!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little confused about how the leg by the railing connects to the guy that it apparently belongs to. Maybe he's from the future and he's still a little out of phase after teleporting.
In the second pic, if the NASA guys turned around, you'd see their government issued super skinny ties that give them superpowers.
Haha! JG. Sorry,I forgot to mention in the second photo!
ReplyDeleteNanook, thanks for the Autopia emblem link. Here at GDB, ask and you shall receive!
ReplyDeleteMajor, “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood” is another film I really liked! Kinda creepy and angsty though, with the Manson 'family' running around doing 'stuff'.
JG, Ha! After reading Zach's comment, I too went back and studied photo 1 for a couple of minutes, only to realize that he meant photo 2. Zach owes us 12 minutes! :-p
Stu, Compared to the 23 kids who became victims of the Killer Swans in 1968, and the 26 kids who 'encountered' the AEDs, 12 mule-eaten kids does seem like a pretty good safety record.
Zach, too late. You owe us 12 minutes. :-p (But I'll accept cash... fifties and hundreds preferably.)
Well definitely between 1967-1968 …. As The Carousel Theater and MOD HATER are there and operating …. The AUTOPIA MARK 7 emblems are pretty common … in fact they sold them to DL cast members for 5 dollars each ( limit of 5 per cast member ) some were in poor condition ….
ReplyDeleteBut I’ve never seen any for pre Mark 7 Autopia cars ! If I’m wrong I’ll eat my hat!! …. Please have me my lamb crown roast hat please …
I've got an old mule, and her name is Midge,
ReplyDeleteFifteen years outta Rainbow Ridge.
I'd marry her, but it's a sacrilege,
Fifteen years outta Rainbow Ridge.
We've hauled some tourists in our day,
From Idaho and Io-way,
And every inch of the way I knowed,
From hee to haw, and from load to unload.
Load up, everybody on,
Load up, don't forget your "E" coupon.
You can always tell your neighbor;
You know he ain't no fool,
If he ever navigated on a Disneyland mule.
@JG: That's why the working title was "Omnimulever!" It's a fact!
These are especially nice pictures today; thanks, Maj!
JB, don't forget you still owe all of us a bunch of hyphens.
ReplyDeleteJG, wow, that Bob Gurr really did it all. There is a slight chance that I didn’t *want* to ride the mules when I was a kid, because I didn’t particularly enjoy the few horse rides I’d done. But I don’t actually remember seeing those critters at the park. Good eye on the tire/air hose, that’s a fun detail! Moms ALWAYS bring a sweater, you know that!
ReplyDeleteStu29573, I admit I did wonder what the cowboy was saying to the folks in line. It never occurred to me that he would tell the truth about the carnivorous mules. Ha, I see the disconnected leg, it is kind of strange! Wow, I want to see a superhero movie about a NASA guy with a magical tie. I hope a slide-rule factors in somehow.
zach, JG figured it out!
JB, I’m very curious about the Cliff Booth movie coming up, directed by David Fincher. It could be good! I feel sorry for Zach, he’s too young to be in so much debt. How does Disney cover up all those deaths and maulings? Free churros?
Mike Cozart, good point about the Carousel Theater, and I sure had no idea when the Mod Hatter was doing its thing. I am not sure any older Autopia cars had any sort of insignia, but I could be wrong.
Melissa, wow, the Erie Canal somehow indirectly appears on GDB again! Who knew that this song was so influential. I always appreciate the use of “knowed”, a word first used by King Tut.
zach, once again I have forgotten whatever this refers to!
Why, Major Peppahridge, I do declare I don't know what you mean! This here ditty is no Erie Canal, Empire State barge-mule ballad; this here ditty is a Nature's Wonderland, Golden State pack-mule ballad! Now, if you'll be so kind as to pardon me, I hear tell one of the music theory professors in our barnyard has been discovered eatin' salsa made in New York City, and I must deal with the scallywag forthwith. Or at least before the roosters are distracted from their bar exams.
ReplyDelete@ Melissa-
ReplyDeleteAnother factoid I know about thanks to How the West Was Won.
Major, "How does Disney cover up all those deaths and maulings? Free churros?"
ReplyDeleteJedi mind trick. "These aren't the carnivorous mules you're looking for." That, and the free churros.