Here is another sign also removed, but only more recently. Once hanging outside of the large wooden gates made out of tree trunks, it alerted guests that an unfriendly Indian attack could occur at any time and the gates may close.
Here is the actual exit from the secret tunnel.
Like any intriguing area for kids, there are other secrets as well. This sign points out one (I guess it is not that secret.) The imagineers definitely knew how to engage not only kids but also adults. How many of us want to explore secret areas? It is the lure of the abandoned building, calling to us to explore and not knowing what one would find.
The most intriguing area for me as a kid and playing on the island was behind this fence. I have always wanted to go back through this gate and look at what was hidden in the trees. Now it is used for storage for Fantasmic.
Well, I guess I'm an old fart (!), because this makes me miss Tom Sawyer's Island from my childhood... I remember wishing that I had my own island that was pretty much just like the Disneyland version (well, maybe with some other cool stuff added!).
ReplyDeleteSuper documentation shots!
ReplyDeleteAgain, the detail shots are awesome. TSI was that cool. Thanks Matterhorn
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Major. I spent many hours on the Island in the early TSI days. The cave,tunnel, fort and Indian Territory left much for the imagination of a child to play with. Almost forgot that the torches on the top of the signs were lit each night. It was an interesting sight to see the island at night from the banks of the "mainland".
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued at how even a carefully worded sign marking off an inaccessible backstage area can become a gateway to imaginative explorations. And I like the irony of a sign pointing to a secret tunnel ^_^ I tink you're dead-on about the automatic appeal of anything marked secret or hidden.
ReplyDelete