The Last of the September 1979 Aerials

I realized that I'd never finished sharing the last of those 1979 aerial photos of the Disneyland Hotel; so today I am bringing peace and joy to all nations by posting the 3 remaining photos in one amazing extravaganza that will blow your minds and empty your wallets. 

Our pilot/photographer circled the hotel, lower and lower. Like a drowsy bumblebee. Even though you can only see a small portion of Disneyland's parking lot, it looks like it was a busy day. Looking at the size of other nearby motels, the Disneyland Hotel was (is) a massive property. The old garden rooms were still there at this point.

Nowadays I suppose you could get photos like this with a good-quality drone - unless there are regulations preventing their use over the park and hotel.  I like to use my mecha-suit to fly around it.

And here it is, our closest view yet, looking remarkably crisp. The turquoise marina is full of little paddle boats. The lawn in the lower right almost looks like a baseball field, but... it's not of course.

Just for fun I decided to zoom in a bit more. I am wondering why the water to the right looks like the muddy runoff of a river into a lake. Maybe that's where the Hotel's effluent went! I had to go there. To the extreme right is the locatioin of the old "Dancing Waters" area; a little to the left of that you can see the lovely waterfalls that were removed a few years ago.

I hope you have enjoyed this set of 37 year-old aerial photos!

Vintage Postcards - More Florida Attractions

Can you believe that today marks the 30th post featuring Ken Martinez's collection of vintage amusement park postcards? Wow! That's a lot of time and effort, and I am very appreciative. 

Let's get on to the cards and Ken's commentary:

More Florida Attractions

Last postcard article we visited Busch Gardens in Florida. This week's postcards will focus on the smaller and defunct parks from the Sunshine State.

Here we have the entrance to the world famous Gatorland in Orlando. It's fared much better than the Alligator Farm in Buena Park and it now has its own website and YouTube channel. It's also home of the Gator Gauntlet Zip Line in which you glide over alligator breeding pools. Yee-haw!

Marco Polo Park located near Daytona Beach opened at the end of 1970 with four theme areas related to Marco Polo's Travels; Turkey, India, China, Japan and Venice. Apparently tourists/travelers bypassed the park as they were more interested in continuing on to Walt Disney World which opened less than a year later. Marco Polo Park closed in 1976 for good. I assume that's Marco Polo in the sky gondola.

Pictured here is the amusement pier located on the Daytona Broadwalk. Nowadays it's called the Boardwalk, but I originally knew it as the Broadwalk when I was there in the late 1970's. Featured on the postcard are the Sky Lift and Space Needle. Talk about original ride names. The park management must've thought really hard on those.

Petticoat Junction was an amusement park located in Panama City Beach, Florida and it operated from 1968-1970. The main attraction was a steam locomotive that took passengers to a Ghost Town. The park also featured classic amusement park rides like the Tornado wooden roller caoster shown here. The park operated from 1973 to 1984.

Featured here is the Zoomerang Arrow loop coaster in which riders travel the loop of steel forwards and backwards. Located at Cirucs World in Haines City Florida, the site was originally the property of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus and was intended to be the circus's winter headquarters. The park also featured an IMAX theater featuring the film "Circus in America". Circus World closed in 1990.

So through the years only Gatorland and the Daytona Beach Boardwalk have survived. I hope you've enjoyed your vintage visit to Florida minus the Mouse.

Information Source material:

Funland U.S.A. copyright 1978 by Tim Onosko

Well, this was a fun one for me... I'd never heard of Petticoat Junction, or Marco Polo Park, and was unuaware of he amusement pier in Daytona Beach. It always makes me sad when I learn that some of these places only managed to survive a few years - think of the hopes and dreams and work that went into building them. Anyway, thanks as always to Ken Martinez for today's excellent post!

Devlin Family Photos - Part 15

We're getting down to the last of the Devlin Family Disneyland photos - there are just a few left from the 1980's. But never fear, there are more photos from other parks to keep us going for a while.

Meanwhile here are the final few from January 1965 (probably mis-dated as I believe that they are earlier than that). This first one is unusual in that it shows one of the Frontierland Indians (in a rather spectacular costume) hanging out in Town Square! Truthfully he might have been standing right beneath the Frontierland sign, but still, it looks a little anachronistic. 

He and "Mama" appear to be having a friendly conversation, probably about cookie recipes. That's what grandmas always talk about, right? Or he is telling her that he has a Master's degree in Business Administration.

We're still in Town Square, and the Disneyland Band has made a surprise appearance. You probably know them by now, but from left to right we have Devlin family members Mary Jo, "Ama", Mama, and Grandad. The bag that Grandad is holding is suspiciously "souvenir guide book" sized!

Thanks as always to the Devlin Family for sharing these great photos.

Hey, GDB readers... once again, I will be going out of town for a few days. As always I will check in as often as I can, to respond to comments and generally make a nuisance of myself. I'll return on Sunday!

More Snapshots from 1974

I've got two vintage snapshots for you today... one goodie, and one oogie.

This first one is neat - a great closeup shot of the nose of the red Monorail. I can't decide if I'd rather have one of those seats right in front, or if I'd rather be up in the bubble dome with the driver. Maybe I'll take two trips and do both! But I'll have to wait until the next Monorail. Notice the Peoplemover in the background, on a downhill grade; the Magic Kingdom version of the Peoplemover is cool (and still exists), but I did like the way the Anaheim version was able to traverse track that was not dead flat.

OK, this one's not really "oogie", but it's not very exciting either. The Mickey Mouse flower portrait has been replanted recently and still needs to fill in. Notice the Santa Fe sign... they halted their sponsorship of the Disneyland Railroad sometime this year (1974). Boo.

More Magic Kingdom, November 1971

Here are a couple of Fantasyland views from the brand-new Magic Kingdom!

Let's start with this Skyway view of the Mad Tea Party, looking very much like it's Anaheim counterpart. Even the ticket booth looks like the kind used in the 1950's. I assume that this was taken in the late afternoon, but I don't really know the "lay of the land", so perhaps it is early morning. At some point a tentlike structure was built to protect this ride from the frequent afternoon rain showers.

Crowds are milling about near the entrance to the Mickey Mouse Revue. Bask in the glory of those 1971 fashions and hairstyles! The Mickey Mouse Review starred Audio Animatronic versions of many of the most popular Disney cartoon stars performing famous Disney songs. I never saw it, but to be honest it sounds like it was a kind of a snooze!

Wikipedia says that the theater was built to hold 500 people, but the pre-show area only held 300. D'oh! This was an "E-Ticket" attraction. It closed in 1980 and was moved to Tokyo Disneyland, where it ran from 1983 to 2009.

The Living Desert, September 1972

Today I have a few images of the old "Living Desert" area within Nature's Wonderland. They're not that great, I know, but they're better than a fork in your eye.

Rocks. Big rocks. Big funny looking rocks! Some say that these strange formations were created by aliens as landmarks for a landing strip. We welcome you, oh alien Overlords! 

Saguaro cactus were voted "Most Popular Cacti" in a 1968 issue of LOOK magazine. The competition was fierce, let me tell you. Barrel cactus, pipe organ cactus, and screaming cactus were all in the running. But they are all losers! Let's laugh at them! Or we can just appreciate the beauty of this scene. The desert is looking very lush in this photo, there must have been some recent rains.

Palm Springs in the 50's

On this "Anything Goes Saturday" we return to Palm Springs in the 1950's! I have a small group of nice Kodachrome slides that I'll be doling out over the next few months.

Palm Springs has been a popular vacation spot for those who love golf, tennis, horseback riding,  lounging by a swimming pool, enjoying the view of the nearby mountains and the clean desert air... it's quite a place, as long as you don't mind the heat. 

 What was I saying about heat? Judging from the coats (and even a scarf), this must be a relatively cool winter day. But look at that brilliant sunshine and vivid blue sky! The ladies like a little color in their wardrobe, while the guys prefer grays, browns, and a little blue if they're feeling adventurous. I wish I knew what the buildings were in the background - I'm guessing it's their hotel. Chances are this is long-gone.

The photographer clearly found the local shops very appealing, as he snapped more than a couple of photos of various establishments. Here's the "Cork and Bottle", in a style I like to call "Mini-Art Deco". Next door is a bar with a TV! Why would anybody want a TV in a bar?! In my day we had puppet shows, and it was good enough for us.

Just a bit further up the street (past Matthew's - whatever that was) we have Dorothy Gray, where (apparently) ladies could buy fashionable clothes for all occasions. I wish I knew where this was exactly, but the town seemed to have a very cute small town vibe.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos of Palm Springs!

Parking Lot & Town Square, July 1958

Today's photos are not the most amazing things in the world, but they have some interesting details. 

This first one is just odd; I'm not sure what possessed the photographer to want to capture the scene for posterity, and yet... I'm glad he did. It looks like we're looking East across South Walnut Street, with Disneyland's vast parking lot just beyond those scraggly trees. 

Zooming in, we can see the entrance to Holidayland to the left. Near the center of the photo you can just see the top of the Moonliner, while the Opera House is visible next to the telephone pole. Oh, and there is a tram in the parking lot too.

Next is this shot of Town Square; did any real town square ever look so neat and tidy? 

I wanted to get a better look at the people. My god, that woman to the left is wearing pants! What is this country coming to? Behind the flagpole is the mostly-obscured "Liberty Street" façade. Notice the banner spanning Main Street, advertising the Grand Canyon Diorama, the new Alice in Wonderland attraction, and the Columbia.

Vintage Postcards - Busch Gardens, Tampa

Hey hey, it's time for another look at Ken Martinez's collection of vintage amusement park postcards! All commentary is provided (as usual) by Ken:

Busch Gardens, Florida

Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida (which is themed to Africa) was one of several hospitality/animal theme parks that existed at one time across the United States, the others being in Van Nuys, California, Houston, Texeas (Asian theme), and Williamsburg, Virginia (European theme). Today there are only two Busch Gardens parks still operating, one in Tampa and the toher in Williamsburg, and they are now part of a larger group known as SeaWorld Entertainment. The Florida park, which was also known at one time as "Busch Gardens Africa" and "Busch Gardens - The Dark Continent", opened in 1959 and started life as an admission-free hospitality center for the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

This early bird show was part of the original section of the animal park known as the Bird Gardens which opened in 1959. The bird trainer looks small next to the large birds.

Here's an unusual postcard featuring two females of the human species posing with elephant tusks framing a waterfall. I have no idea where this location existed in the park and if it still exists there today. It's a strange card.

The barrel flume ride pictured here is known as Stanley Falls and features a 43 foot drop. It opened along with the new Stanleyville theme area in 1973. The attraction still operates and thrills riders today. I can just feel the cool water in this postcard. Especially on one of those hot humid summer days in Florida.

The Python corkscrew, which opened in 1976, was the first roller coaster for the animal park and was located in the Congo section. In 2006 the Congo section went under a major renovation and the removal of the classicl Python corkscrew coaster was part of that plan. Unlike the other original corkscrew coasters of this time, this one was dismantled and not relocated. I always got a chuckle how the non-Disney theme parks themed their roller coasters simply by giving it a name and painting it the colors that imply the name.

Hope you enjoyed this early visit to Busch Gardens in Florida

Information Source material:

Funland U.S.A. copyright 1978 by Tim Onosko

THANK YOU, Ken Martinez!!

Devlin Family Photos - Part 14

Hooray, it's time for more Devlin family photos! Let's start with this colorful beauty showing the Sunkist Citrus House on good old Main Street U.S.A. 

Fresh squeezed orange juice is one of my favorite things ever, and it sounds mighty good to me right now.

We can only see a tiny bit of the Penny Arcade to the right, but I absolutely love the hues used - slate blue, soft green, raw sienna, and cream... it is colorful while maintaining the antique feel.

I zoomed in to try to get a look at the window display, but it's hard to see. There's Grandad in his gray sport coat and orange-checked shirt (and let's not forget the hat); he's empty-handed, so I guess he didn't just exit the Sunkist shop. It's fun to look at the other guests, such as the boy with the feathered cap, and the little girl with her mouse ears.

Over on the Jungle Cruise, Mama, Ama and Grandad glide past the Sacred Indian Elephant Bathing Pool - note the spray of water sparkling in the sunlight. One of the things that has always appealed to me about this ride is the ties to the old "True Life Adventure" series of films.