A Couple of Views Of It's A Small World

Two views of It's A Small World from the 1970's. The first is a birds eye (or at least Skyway rider's view) of the Small World promenade. Some details include a food seating area where the current Storybook line is now located, the end of the promenade is a road to a large cast member gate and the brightly colored souvenir stands. Also check out the boys in their suits and ties in the lower right hand corner.

The second view is a you are there shot with Alice and her friends meeting her fans. Alice is even waving to you.

T-I-Double-Grrrrr Tigger Day

A slew of images of Tigger posing on Main Street in front of the Hills Brother Coffee House and the Opera House. My favorite two are number 1 with Tigger giving thumbs up to the harem girl in yellow and number 4 where the characters and cast members are planning a big party after work! Oh and check out the op art print shorts on the little girl holding the doll. I wonder if she became a punk rocker? The seventies were so groovy!!

Crowded Days at Disneyland

Three views from different parts of Disneyland showing some of the crowds seen in the park in the 1970s. The first is of the Opera House with Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. I like the Lincoln profile architectural piece that looks like a penny.

The second is of the Monorail station with the scarce green monorail in station. As I look at this photo, I am nostalgic for and miss the old Monorail sign.

Finally the last shot is of the It's A Small World walkway filled with people. The brightly colored souvenir kiosk is a nice touch. The facade of Small World really works as a good "weenie" drawing people towards it.

Souvenir Friday- Town Square Cafe Menu

Although fairly modern this menu is one I treasure. The Town Square Cafe was the succesor to the Hills Brothers Coffe House and American Egg House on Main Street. This menu is from 1987, not that long ago when Disneyland had more full service restaurants and was more of a dining experience than it is now. The menu has a nice history and philosophy statement for Main Street as well as a diverse selection of food which could be ordered. I think I want the Ortega Cheese Burger with Hot Chocolate topped with whipped cream and a Cinema Sundae. What would you like to order?

Busy Day at the Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion was only about a year old when these photographs were taken. It appears there is quite a long line to experience the attraction. I like the clothing styles seen in the visitors, especially some of the bright colored pants, shirts and hats.

Rivers of America 1970

One of my favorite rides is the relaxing cruise aboard the Mark Twain on the Rivers of America. The first image captures the majestic steam boat coming into dock. I like the color of this slide and the early morning feel as well as the blankness in the background.

Of course on the trip you will see the old flour mill with the water wheel and grinder (this photo is taken from New Orleans Square.)

If you are quick enough, you may be able to snap a picture of the friendly Indian Village. (This one is a little blurry so I think the camera moved.)

Or you can see other guests enjoying the pontoon bridge on Tom Sawyers Island. Notice the amount of tree growth on the island. Now this section is the site for some interactive Pirate play.

Santa At Disneyland

A tradition is for the big guy Santa Claus to end the Holiday parade at Disneyland. This image is from 1976.

I want to wish every one a happy holiday and I hope you received all the gifts you wanted and hoped for. Also, I want to wish every one Peace on Earth. Now to get back to watching the 24 hour Christmas Story marathon!

Time Machine- The Submarine Voyage

Borrowing from Daveland's blog is this time machine to take you back to the original Submarine Voyage with gray submarines and true to life animals under the sea. The first image is of the Submarine Patrick Henry in the lagoon. The submarines were all named after SSBN nuclear ballistic submarines constructed by General Dynamics during the cold war rush to beat the Soviet Union in weapons.

The next three show some of the various animated sea life found in the lagoon.

A Couple of Views from the Peoplemover

Two views of Tomorrowland from the Peoplemover circa 1973. The first shows the sweeping building and sign from the long gone but not forgotten Adventure Through Inner Space. Star Tours is now housed in the building, but the sweeping building still stands.

The second is the across the street neighbor, which is also long gone and fondly remembered, the Circlevision theater featuring America the Beautiful sponsored by AT&T.

And as a bonus, a night shot of the illuminated sign for the Fantasyland Autopia.

The Matterhorn From the Inside

Today's post was an exciting find in the collection of circa 1970s's slides. The first shows the view of the Matterhorn and Eastern Fantasyland.

Then I saw this slide and yelled. The interior of the lift hill in the Matterhorn. Off to the left can be seen another single sled.

Finally another slide I have included because it is a cool double exposure. The red monorail coming into station and also the dock area for the submarines. Don't stare at it too long as it may make you dizzy, you will fall and injure your head.

Souvenir Friday- Santa Claus Glasses

In the spirit of the Holiday come these two vintage souvenir glasses. The first is from the North Pole located near Colorado Springs, Colorado. A classic park still in the time warp of the 1960s, the park has similar rides to the now long departed Santa's Villages.

The second glass is from Santa Claus Land in Indiana. Now the home of the themed amusement park Holiday World, the park opened on August 3, 1946. The glass appears to be from the 1950s.

Skull Rock Disneyland 1975

Three nice views of Skull Rock and the Captain Hook pirate ship in 1975. The first view is a nice moody sunset shot with the lights just starting to come on.

The second is a great ariel image from the Skyway. I was just watching the Disneyland Secrets DVD the Disneyland USA segment with the voiceover of Leonard Maltin and Tony Baxter and Tony dropped some hints of maybe something similar to the Skyway being constructed allowing people to go up in the air....

Finally a night shot of the front of the boat with the last name, Captain Hook's painted on the bow.

Pirates of the Caribbean Old School Style

Continuing the deep dive into the collection of 1970s slides are these two slides from Pirates of the Caribbean. The first shows the outside of the building prior to construction of the walkway and the stairs up the Disney Gallery. (I will not acknowledge the thing Disneyland is putting in that location!)

The second shot is a little blurry, but I love the sense of action. It is one of my favorite scenes in the ride. I also like the stuffed toy dog they sell now holding the keys. I am happy to say they have not changed this section of the ride much.

Two More Backstage Images

Two more images from the backstage Christmas Parade preparations. The first shows a turtle character getting ready. In the background, the dancers are donning the various parts of their costumes.

The second image was really, really dark and I tried lightening it up without it going too far to pixelation. It is an amazing image of a very tired Winnie the Pooh after his Presidential bid. I love how the costume is just laid down on a big sheet of plastic, the only rigid part is his head.

Getting Ready for the Christmas Parade

In the early 1970s the photographer of these slides was invited backstage to see the preparations for the Christmas Parade. For those who do not want the magic ruined, please read another blog. For those who love backstage shots including character costumes hanging and people getting into costumes, come along and take a look. The first image is of a dancing broom although it looks like Cousin It from Addam's Family.

The second image is of King Louie in costume. In the background is a Datsun truck with the Smoke Tree Ranch logo on the door. Oops actually anonymous is correct, it is the Retlaw logo.

The third image is of Hop Low from Fantasia in front of chiller plant.

The next image shows the Seven Dwarves float with the carved animal organ and lots of activity.

Next up is Baby Hiathi from Jungle Book with the Nissan truck parked in the background.

Finally two images of Owl from Winnie the Pooh standing in front of the circus elephants from Dumbo.

Carousel of Progress

Well today is my 2 year anniversary of posting images to the blog. And I wanted to showcase an amazing set of images from Carousel of Progress. All the images are from the early 1970s. Now lets relive the GE Carousel of Progress. I know you all know the words..There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining through at the end of every day. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow...

Characters at Disneyland 1972

Out of all the theme parks in the world, Disneyland does best with walk around characters. The costumes are very nice and look like the chatacters. It seems there is always a line for the characters. The demand is so great, Disneyland finally created special lines and attractions for the most popular. If your young daughter is into the Princesses, you can take them to the Princess Fair in Fantasyland. If your young children are into Winnie the Pooh, the characters can be found in Critter Country. And of course Mickey's Toontown is a whole land devoted to the classic cartoon characters with Mickey's house a way to guarantee a good photo and meet and greet with Mickey. In 1972, the characters were not as popular and could be found on Main Street. The costumes do not appear to have changed much from this time period. I know there are still characters that come out on Main Street, in fact on my last trip I watched Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Pluto playing charades with a group of kids.

Souvenir Friday- Wacky Saying Plaque from the Art Corner

I have a small collection of these wacky saying plaques from the Art Corner at Disneyland. These were all sold at the Tomorrowland store and feature various characters and sayings. During the 1950s these types of plaques were very popular showing up as signs, postcards and even gum cards. The material is a nice particle board with the design silk screened on the front. On the reverse is the mailing label with the great Mickey Mouse in his artist outfit. A while ago I posted the original art to one of the designs.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Mural

One of the hardest views to find are of the murals for the load area at the various Fantasyland dark rides. This one is from my favorite Fantasyland ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I vividly remember this mural and the sign posts in anticipation of riding the vintage vehicles and laughing at the devils.

Tomorrowland- 1970!

Some more views of what I remember Disneyland being. The first is the McDonnel Douglas vibrating seat ride of Flight to the Moon. The sweeping wing on the front of the building is nice, I wonder where that McDonnel Douglas sign is at now?

The second is the Mary Blair mural World of Transportation. This mural was on the building housing Adventure Through Inner Space and is now covered up with the Star Tours mural.

Two Obscure Views

I just got a nice large collection of slides from 1970. The photographer definitely had an eye for some obscure shots. The first is a slide of the old entrance/exit vignette for Pirates. This is the scene from my childhood without the squawking parrot and the led lit map, or the new Isle of Tortuga set piece.

The second image is from the entrance area to the Opera House featuring Mr. Lincoln and a quote from Gettysburg. I do not think very many people snapped an image of this piece.

Christmas Time at Disneyland

Well we got back from spending a long weekend in California. We went to Disneyland every day and it was very crowded, even the threat of torrential rain did not stop the crowds from showing up. Several of the days we were there at opening at 8 AM and the lines were across the esplanade to California Adventure. And opening was never truly at 8 AM, but rather 8:10 AM. The park was nicely decorated for Christmas. There was the usual Christmas Tree and decorations on Main Street. We did ride It's A Small World Holiday and it was very festive (we were the only ones on our boat and probably only one of about 5 people in the entire ride.) The castle effect was pretty interesting by day, but night definitely was a let down. From what I had read and heard it was supposed to be spectacular, but it fell flat. It looked like the icicle lights you can purchase at your local Home Depot. Maybe with some tweaking, the park will get it better. In order to start the Christmas season, here are some vintage images of Disneyland at Christmas. The first is a shot of the Main Street Christmas tree from the Emporium. The images are all circa 1965.

Of course Christmas is not Christmas without Santa Claus. Here he is in the finale of the parade.

An image of my favorite part of the parade, the march of the toy soldiers.

And finally a shot of a strange creature (dragon?) being beat by a lady weilding a rolling pin! I don't think they have this character interaction any more.

Chicken of Sea Pirate Ship Signs 1961

A nice image of the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship at anchor at Skull Rock Cove. From late 1955 until 1961, the Pirate Ship was docked at a small pond with just some trees. Then in 1961, a brand new scene was created. The skull rock from the movie was added along with a landside dining area which was themed to a pirate beach. Due to increased crowds of hungry guests, the construction in this area expanded the dining capacity. And made one of the coolest spots in Disneyland. Of course both the ship and skull rock are gone. But there is a homage at the Disneyland Hotel pool.

On a side note, the blog updating may be a bit sporadic as I am off to visit Disneyland.

Berry Farm Slides for the Knott's Fans

Some interesting Knott's Berry Farm views for those who love the vintage Knott's items. The first is of the Totem Pole which sat on one of the islands in Knott's rustic version of the Indian Village.

The second image is of the loading area for the steam train. It appears this was loading line number 3. I like the gate and the signage on the lantern.

The third image is of the horse drawn carousel. The slide is a bit funky looking, but it does give that effect of you are on the ride.

The final image is of the exit area for the Stagecoach ride. The Knott's stagecoach ride always appeared to be more authentic, using antique coaches.

1973 It's A Small World

A selection of slides taken in 1973 showing the old It's A Small World prior to the pastelization and then whitewashing of the facade. It is interesting to note that the ride was loaded reverse to the loading method of now. I am sure this was done to funnel all the crowds through the Mattel store. The first slide is a little funky and I do not know why. I do enjoy the tie die pants on the lady in the foreground. Enjoy!

Disneyland After Dark

I usually do not find night photographs of Disneyland. And when I do find them, the shots are usually unusable. But here are two nice images of Disneyland after dark. The first is of Main Street Station from the parking lot. The slide is 1959 by the new attractions banner over the tunnel as well as on the station itself.

The second photograph is of the castle all lit up. I always felt that night time was a magical time at Disneyland with all the lights and the dark shadows some how making the park seem even more real, especially in Fantasyland and Main Street.

I do want to let everyone know that a great friend of mine has started his own blog on Vintage Disneyland Paper. Check it out for some great vintage goodies.

Two Views of Fantasyland

Today's post shows two unique views of Fantasyland. The first is of the photographic icon the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant. The uniqueness of the view is of the intricately carved stern of the boat with the famous Mermaid logo.

The second view is a you are there on King Arthur's Carrousel.