Picking up where we left off, today’s part 2 begins in Town Square, with a view of the Matterhorn decorated for Christmas. The closeup shot shows what’s playing at the Main Street Cinema: Buster Keaton in “Allez Oop.” Sorry Bill...that 10 years you lost yesterday has gone right back on your time clock!
My old friend the Tobacco Shop Indian looks a little lonely in this shot:
2 more Main Street shots as we head down towards the Castle:
At Central Plaza, we get a much better view of the Matterhorn Christmas Star; that sucker is humongous!
And the castle, before it became littered with bling:
This view of the castle also affords a glimpse of the Snow White Wishing Well, which was only 8 months old at the time:
One of my favorite “quiet” spots of the park.
For our next post (be patient!), I’ll cover Tomorrowland. See more Disneyland photos at my website.
I wonder if it was Walt's idea to put a star on the Matterhorn? I wish they still did that!
ReplyDeleteWow! I forgot about the star on the Matterhorn...do they still do it? When I was very young there was also a zip line from the top of the mountain to somewhere on the other side of the park that Tinkerbell would fly down at dusk every night in the summer. It must have been terrifying for the actor!
ReplyDeleteThat tobacco store Indian sure was a popular photo subject...
ReplyDeleteNice picture of the Matterhorn with the star!
Tinker Bell began her flights over the Disneyland castle from the top of the matterhorn in 1961. It's almost always been a real person up there (although they tried a dummy for a short while). The first Tink was a former circus performer in her 70s named Tiny Kline, who originally wanted to hang from her teeth as she did in the circus (Disney would have none of that). The only way to stop her at the end was for her to crash into a mattress behind the birm!
ReplyDeleteKline retired in 1964 due to health problems and was replaced by Judy Kaye who was Tinker Bell for another decade. There was even a Mary Poppins for a while.
Tinker Bell began her flights over the Disneyland castle from the top of the matterhorn in 1961. It's almost always been a real person up there (although they tried a dummy for a short while). The first Tink was a former circus performer in her 70s named Tiny Kline, who originally wanted to hang from her teeth as she did in the circus (Disney would have none of that). The only way to stop her at the end was for her to crash into a mattress behind the birm!
ReplyDeleteKline retired in 1964 due to health problems and was replaced by Judy Kaye who was Tinker Bell for another decade. There was even a Mary Poppins for a while.
Opps! Must have hit it twice. ;(
ReplyDeleteCastle & Matterhorn with star photo is post card worthy!
ReplyDeleteIn the first photo, was the Emporium roof top always that GREEN??? Its barely green at all now...
I miss the Christmas star too. It was just too mid-century for its own good I guess.
ReplyDeleteSomebody asked about Christmas trees in the moat flanking the drawbridge... well picture number 8 shows it, but the base is covered by foreground plantings.
When I was young (6 years old), the Snow White Grotto really was magic with the way Snow's voice would first come out of the well, then come from the embankment. So casually done and impressive. But my favorite was how the carousel of fish would break the surface of the water, spin a few times, then submerge again.
CoxPilot wins yesterday's pop quiz: the windows, doors, and dormers all line up, but because the doors are slightly wider, they needed finials on either side of the dormer to keep the spacing from looking irregular.
I'd like to see the moat trees and the Matterhorn star back in energy saving LED lights. C'mon, Disneyland, you're the gold standard in theme park Christmas cheer!
ReplyDeleteDave, thanks for sharing another wonderful post, my friend. LOVE the Christmas theme!
Cox & Katella - Thanks for all the great extra info. Really love seeing that stuff!
ReplyDelete