More "Spirit of America" Parade, 1988

It's been almost three months since I posted the first batch of Lou Perry's photos of the "Spirit of America" parade from the Magic Kingdom, circa 1988. Why has so much time elapsed? It's just one of those things. 

As you can see, this float celebrates the American southwest (Utah?), with red rock formations and saguaro cacti, along with saloon dancers, cowboys, and Chip and Dale in Native American costumes. Dancing around on a moving float must have its challenges.

Hello Dale!

Next is this lookout tower, the kind you might see in the Pacific Northwest. I guess? Looks like one of the Country Bears up up top, waving to guests. I like that the Star Jets tower is visible in the distance.

Lumberjacks are wielding axes, but they only cut down bad trees, not the good ones. I thought for a moment that the mill might represent Sutter's Mill and the Gold Rush, but now I'm not so sure. There's Br'er Fox, but Br'er Bear is nowhere to be seen. Baloo is filling in. Notice Pooh Bear just behind the mill.

Next, sandy beaches and surf music. Hawaii? California? The parade performers on skates and bicycles make me think of the Venice Beach boardwalk. A place where no weirdos reside. Well, maybe a few.

Ahoy, Pluto! I assume he would occasionally go down that spiral slide. Looks like fun!

Judging from the size of that wave, we are definitely in Hawaii now. Waimea Bay? Sunset Beach? Tigger can handle them all, but just in case he wipes out, he just bounces.

If only I could be as cool as Tigger.

Out in the Pacific Ocean, you might see some pirates. Maybe even Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, though they are not in their magnificent galleon, but instead have a little sailboat ("S.S. Miss Hap", har har), but I'm sure they'll work their way up to a fancier vessel after they take all of our gold doubloons.

That's it for part two! But never fear, there are lots more photos from this parade to come, thanks to Lou Perry, and Sue B. (who scanned them all for us)!

The Disneyland Hotel, November 1974

It's always nice to find some views of the Disneyland Hotel - and here are two that a guest took from their room in the Sierra Tower, perhaps five or six stories up. They had a now-coveted room facing toward the park. Well, the parking lot, but if you swiveled your head  to the left (I just found out I can turn my neck! You guys should try it, it's amazing!) you would see a few bits of the park poking up above the trees. 

Meanwhile, below us is an inviting blue pool, and I think that bit of grass just beneath it was a putting green.Why go to the park when you can putt until midnight? The buildings between the pool and the parking lot might be part of "restaurant row", or it might be the Embassy Center". You guys will know! 

The circular planter is where I have hidden a golden treasure. But be careful! It's booby-trapped. I believe that the building behind the palm tree fronds is the Plaza Building, with shops and a broom closet that nobody talks about. The yellow Monorail is speeding away from us (was it something I said?), while the snow-capped Matterhorn looms on the horizon.

Views From the Entrance

Usually my first look at any slide involves either holding it up to a nearby light source, or putting it on a light box to evaluate the quality (or lack thereof). I was pretty happy with these, until I actually scanned them, and found that they suffered from the common malady of BLURSITIS. It's not an advanced case, but it's still noticeable. 

I almost always like photographs showing the ticket booths and train station. And I do like this one, in spite of the blursitis. Two nice ladies (mother and daughter, presumably) pose in the late-afternoon sunshine. Were they really just arriving as the sun was going down? Granted, it was December, when it gets dark at something like 4:30 PM. Maybe they'd spent the morning at Knott's Berry Farm, and then headed over to do Disneyland. It happened. If you thought you were going to bring your picnic lunch into the park... think again! The trashcan just behind that one woman has something painted on the sign, but it wasn't decipherable, even when I zoomed in. Notice the poster for the Mickey Mouse Club 3D Jamboree to the left.

This next one is from a different lot, but suffers from the same soft-focus issue. I like the relatively humble Christmas decorations on the Train Station. I never get tired of the old yellow DLRR passenger cars. And of course there are the POSTERS!

Scenes From Florida

Folks, I will be away from my computer today, on a secret mission! I probably won't be home until the wee hours. But it should be a fun day!

Some of you may be surrounded by snow and sleet at this time of year, so let's go to vintage Florida! We'll start back in June of 1966, at The Castaways - a tiki themed ("Oriental Modern/Neo-Chinese" pastiche)  hotel in Miami Beach that opened in 1958. One article stated that The motel boasted 540 rooms, 5 swimming pools, tennis courts, and a putting green all on 10 acres of land with access to 1000 feet of emerald coast. 

But the feature that cemented the hotel's reputation was the Wreck Bar; open daily from 11 AM to 5 AM, the sunken galleon themed bar had porthole windows which provided an underwater view into the pool and drowned its patrons with live rock and roll and bikini wearing go go table dancers; while in true Miami spirit, also providing maracas, tambourines and mallets for added ridiculousness. The Wreck, always a celebrity hotspot, hosted the likes of The Beatles, The Monkees, and Jimmy Hendrix. 

The Castaways closed in 1981 due to dwindling tourist visits, and the building was razed in 1985.

I love vintage postcards!

Next are two scans of slides from Ben B. Gaines' "Sahara" hotel, also in Miami Beach - "Where the world relaxes in luxurious surroundings". Some fun-lovin' tourists are frolicking next to a tableau featuring life-sized camels and some non-PC "Arabs" in their traditional desert garb.

For many this would be as close as they would ever get to riding a camel. Hey, did I ever tell you that I rode a camel? In Egypt? It's true! You may have my autograph for $5.

More vintage postcards!

Beauties From November 1957

I just scanned a lot of slides hand-dated "November 1957". A very good year! Let's start with this oddly-shaped example, it was the first one on the roll, and there was only half an image. Bummer! Still, the park looks great with the brilliant sunshine and blue sky. Sweaters and coats were needed in November.

Next is this real beauty ("Postcard Worthy"™?) from Frontierland, a nicely-composed shot with that little area of greenery, and that wonderful sign pointing guests in the direction of some attractions. Meanwhile, Rainbow Ridge beckons.

I zoomed in a bit and cropped it to a more standard "landscape" format. Too bad the Gonzalez Trio is not performing in that little bandstand. Man, this makes me wish I could step into the photo!

Over in Tomorrowland, mom smiles as Junior learns how to handle a genuine (if diminutive) sports cars along the Disneyland highway. 

Extra! Extra! GDB pal Nanook sent this photo of himself, wearing a genuine vintage reversible jacket, it probably dates from around the same time as today's photos (he estimates it could be from 1956). I hardly have ANY clothing from 1956! His jacket really does resemble the one that the boy in the yellow car is wearing. Thanks, Nanook! (Also, his brows don't look that bad).

The Souvenir Dungeon

It's been a while since we've visited the souvenir dungeon, so let's take the industrial elevator down to level 6 and take a look at a few vintage Disneyland souvenirs.

First up is this fairly rare Art Corner item - "Magic Mirror Movies", which is actually one of the early devices (known as a phenakistascope) that achieved the illusion of moving drawings (I wonder if this was from around the time Disneyland had the "Art of Animation" exhibit?). From Wikipedia: Arrayed radially around the disc's center is a series of pictures showing sequential phases of the animation. Small rectangular apertures are spaced evenly around the rim of the disc. The user would spin the disc and look through the moving slits at the images reflected in a mirror. The scanning of the slits across the reflected images keeps them from simply blurring together so that the user can see a rapid succession of images that appear to be a single moving picture.

This one features a loop of Pecos Bill from the 1948 animated feature, "Melody Time". The disk itself is just a bit smaller than a 33 1/3 LP; I know that there are other "Magic Mirror Movies" from the Art Corner. But I only have this one!

With Photoshop, I was able to make an animated gif so that you can see what the loop looked like! Pecos Bill is rootin' and tootin'. 

Next is an adult ticket to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which was the first Audio-Animatronic attraction, debuting on June 23, 1963. The Tiki Room was owned and operated by WED Enterprises, and required a separate admission (in other words, your regular ticket book would not get you in). A mere 75 cents, no big deal - though it is the equivalent of over $7 in today's space bucks. I'm sure some people grumbled!

And finally, here's a neat "water-slide" decal that pre-dated the opening of Walt Disney World. The Walt Disney Archives posted something on Twitter a few months ago:  This sticker is among the earliest examples of Walt Disney World merchandise sold to guests. It was available for purchase at the Walt Disney World Preview Center beginning in 1970. Pretty cool!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the Souvenir Dungeon.

Knott's Berry Farm, November 1972

I decided to take a break from Disneyland, and head just a few minutes northwest, to beautiful Buena Park and Knott's Berry Farm. 

These are from November, 1972; some of you long-time Junior Gorillas might recognize the woman in some of the photos, a sometimes-unsmiling gal dubbed "Linda". See her HERE! Hard to believe that I posted those nine-plus years ago. 

There she is, Linda herself, at the end of Main Street, with Stage Road and the Livery Stable behind her. Note the sign directing guests to the Bird Cage Theatre. Love the windmill. Goldie's Place would be to our right. Linda doesn't look exactly happy, but she doesn't look angry either. That's a good thing.

Well well well, it looks like Linda bought something, and it's big. What in the world could it be? Looks like a framed painting. Anyway, she and her husband walked through the Livery Stable in the first photo, where Boot Hill (to our right) is located, and where that painted backdrop attempted to hide the John Wayne Theatre. If you look closely you can see the "Night Watch" family sitting atop that little rise.

And finally, here's one of my favorites, a rare shot of a hearse with an eerie green light inside. Hey, there's a body inside... and it's sitting up! Oh wait, it's laying back down. No, it's sitting up again! He needs to make up his mind. While I remember seeing this feature fairly vividly, I am not entirely positive as to where this scene was. Inside the Livery Stable? That sounds about right, but I'm sure I'll be notified in the comments.

Of course I will have more Knott's Berry Farm pix for you!

Randos From April 1975

Many Junior Gorillas remember 1975 - a pretty good time to visit Disneyland, all in all. Except for the Great Rat Infestation, that was bad. The rats were nice, but they made the lines really long.

One thing rats did not enjoy was the Global Van Lines storage lockers, where you could keep your set of Allen wrenches and your Hummel figurines, instead of carrying them around with you the whole day. Convenient! It was also the location of the "Lost and Found". "I lost a tooth four years ago". And guess what? They would have it, right there!  Meanwhile, dig that crazy van.

Next is this rather unremarkable shot, unless you like green benches next to blue umbrellas. And somebody wearing a poncho. In which case this is a great shot!

In Tomorrowland, March 1962

Cute Gal is back! And she's no longer in Frontierland; instead she has moved on to Tomorrowland. Hooray!

"Honey, I want to take another photo of you!", her husband said. She sighed patiently and smiled for the birdie. If she wore Air Jordans, she could have leapt up and touched that Skyway gondola overhead - but her sensible flats won't help her in that regard. The Autopia is to our right, but I somehow find it hard to picture her driving one of the little sports cars. I could be wrong though.

"Honey? Honey? I need to take another photo of you!". We see the Clock of the World (flanked by the Avenue of Flags). She stood on the curb because she's self-conscious about her height, but her hubby thinks she's just perfect.

Mickey and Minnie Step Out

Happy New Year! Gosh, 2023, who woulda thunk it. Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin', into the future, to quote a great philosopher. What do today's scans have to do with the new year? Nothing at all. But I didn't want to share the usual Sunday Snoozers, so instead I picked some fun pictures of Mickey Mouse and his gal Minnie as they met fans in Town Square (circa September, 1961).

Mickey is going formal, with his top hat and waistcoat. Sometimes you just want to dress up, right? The kid to our left looks like he's at that age where he's a head taller than he was a year ago. I wish we could see the design on his shirt. I think everyone is standing in front of the Wonderland Music Store (more or less), with the Opera House to our right. Notice the Hills Bros. Coffee Garden in the distance.

Minnie had three espressos this morning, and she's got so much energy she doesn't know what to do with herself. "I'll stand over here and stare at these empty chairs!". Obviously some group performed here during the day, maybe it was the Disneyland Band.