Tell-No-Tales Thursdays: Original Front Façade

Here are 2 shots of the front of the building before the bridge and stairs were put in front to help alleviate foot traffic. That’s a lot of digging! #1 is from May 1967, and #2 is from 1969.



The 1993 shot below (taken by yours truly) shows the underpass/bridge that was constructed to alleviate the foot traffic for Fantasmic. Tony Baxter recently explained that the original directive to accomplish this was to simply remove all the trees/landscaping. His solution to build the underpass and footbridge allowed even more plants and trees to be installed, thus preserving the charm of the park. Just shows what a little bit of visionary thinking and good design can do.



See more Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean attraction photos at my website.

Wednesday WOW: The Creation of a Post

Recently, I purchased a small batch of photos from July 1961; naturally, not too long after that, the negatives also went up for grabs. And, naturally, I went for those too. Some of you might wonder why I would bother buying the negs after I’d already gotten the photos themselves. Hopefully this post will show why and also give you a little glimpse of what goes into creating each blog entry. First up is the photo itself. What about this photo made me interested enough to collect it in the first place? Mainly the Mickey Figure; it’s an early incarnation of Mickey before he became the slick character that he is today. The early figures that walked around the park were often a little more on the scary/crazy side and not quite as accurate as the ones guests see today. The location of the photo is the second reason; just dig that Art of Animation attraction poster on the Monorail pylon! Third reason: the RETLAW Combine Car in the background. Currently in the process of being restored, photos of the Combine are somewhat rare. As you’ll note, the quality of this photo isn’t too bad...but at Daveland, I believe there’s always room for improvement!

Here’s an unretouched view of the negative scan for the same photo; scratched, somewhat faded/color shifted...not real pretty!



With a little help from Photoshop (and some knowledge gleaned from years of experience) this negative gleams like new! Having the negative also gives more image area as well; typically photo prints will cut out about 5% of the image area that was actually shot.



Because of the clarity that I can pick up from a negative, closeup detail shots are now possible, showing little things that you might not notice from just scanning a regular vintage photo print. F’rinstance...the ticket book in the little girl’s hand:



The banner hung above the underpass as well as the writing on the combine and the ticketbooth at right:



Hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak-peak of what goes on behind-the-scenes before these photos reach your home! See more Disneyland entrance photos at my website.

Aunt Jemima Ephemera

As I continue to enjoy my time off, the posts might be a little slow! Today I present a number of paper items that a reader was kind enough to send to me so that I could share them with everyone. If you were a traveler back in the day, then this handy-dandy Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen Restaurant Locator/Brochure would be a must for you!



A meal at the kitchen would not be complete without this colorful paper placemat:



And last but not least, to wipe up the syrup you'll need a napkin!



Many thanks to the generous reader who sent in these items. See more Disneyland Aunt Jemima restaurant photos at my website.

1979 Closeups, Pt. 3 & Mr. Lincoln

Time to wrap up this 70’s series; first we have a shot of the horse pulling the Horse-Drawn Streetcar as it goes by the Tobacco Shop. Two views of what occurs AFTER the horse goes down Main Street...talk about job security!





At the end of Main Street, our photographer took this exterior view of the Plaza Inn:



The rest of the views in this series show Snow White and some of her Dwarf Entourage:











Yesterday, I had my first opportunity to see the new “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show—and yes, it was worth the wait. Unlike the previous incarnation that attempted a few cutesie technological tricks (the buzzing fly in your ear), this one stays right on target as a tribute to Lincoln’s fight for freedom for all. The new animatronic is very smooth, and garnered a number of wows from the audience (it was interesting to hear the comments from guests as to whether it was real or not). Just to see him get up out of his chair is pretty damn impressive. Get your booty over to the park and check it out at the Opera House!



















See more Disneyland photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: The Devlin Collection

The Devlin family visited Disneyland frequently, and was gracious enough to let me post some of the images from their many trips of yore. Here are some of their JC shots, featuring the African Veldt. I believe these are circa 1969.









Photographs of the Jungle Cruise Hippos are like opinions...everyone’s got one, and the Devlin Family has 3. Here they are:







Here are a few other animals, thrown in for good measure:





See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Scholarly Saturdays: Encyclopaedia Britannica & Tomorrowland, Pt. 5

Get ready to board your Skyway bucket as the Encyclopaedia Britannica takes us on a cruise high above Tomorrowland.



In the background of this shot, we can see the circus tent left over from the short-lived Mickey Mouse Club Circus:





The Flight Circle is shown here; too early for Cox Pilot!





See more Encyclopaedia Britannica photos at my website.

Freaky Fridays @ The Haunted Mansion: Eerie Hallway Busts & Gargoyle

At the end of the portrait hallway are 2 eerie busts whose gaze seems to follow you as you walk on by.





Although this corridor’s main purpose is a walkway to the Doombuggies, as you’ve often heard, it’s all about the journey. Along the way you might also see a few menacing gargoyles and plenty of lightning!







For those of you that celebrate Christmas, may your day be spectacular and full of cheer!



But if you’ve been naughty, don’t expect anything under the tree:



Santa always knows...





See more Disneyland Haunted Mansion photos at my website.