Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: October 1970 & JC Souvenir

These aren’t the best quality photos, but still they are a wonderful shot (presented in chronological order of course!) of what this beloved attraction looked like in October 1970.













A reader sent me these photos which Patrick/Matterhorn helped identify. The boat is a souvenir item that was made for Disneyland by an import company and sold at the park. Not many were sold.





See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Scholarly Saturdays: Encyclopaedia Britannica & Frontierland, Pt. 2

Back to school, kids, as Scholarly Saturdays have just been reinstated! Joining Bobby & Susie in Frontierland, they are waiting to see some rootin'-tootin' entertainment at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon, proudly sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. Something tells me that the copy for this slide would have to be changed for modern-day audiences:



If you don’t like the Mark Twain, then you might as well just close the browser window now; Encyclopaedia Britannica saw fit to include 4 views of the Mighty Mark!









See more Disneyland Frontierland photos at my website.

Freaky Fridays @ The Haunted Mansion: Madame Leota

This vintage promotional shot of the Seance Room totally blows out the cool video of Madame Leota, and all that we are able to see in the crystal are the fright wig and the bust that the film is projected onto; definitely not as cool looking without the effect. NOW you see why they say, “No Flash Photography, Please!”



A few “lights on” shots:





I really do enjoy this scene; Leota’s whiskey-soaked voice and corny warnings are fantastic. What a great prelude to the ballroom scene. Here are a few frames from the original film shot for Madame Leota:



A few years ago, a projection semi-resembling the Hatbox Ghost was added to The Seance Room; in addition, a blue orb circled the head. This is a tough one to photograph, and even if it weren’t, I don’t know that I would spend much time trying. The green wall projection on the right with the blue orb that circles it adds nothing to this vignette, and in my humble opinion, actually detracts from it. This photo is pretty blurry, but you get the idea.



As Daveland reader Gavin Elster commented: I think the projection takes the focus away from Leota. The green projection looks exactly like what it is... A projection on a flat surface. While other effects in the room were painstakingly created to take advantage of projected effects this simple projection looks like no creative thought was used. Its as if they saw a blank space in the mansion and needed to fill it. Honestly the area behind Leota should be kept dark to keep the focus on the new(ish) floating ball effect.





I have mixed feelings about the addition of the floating effect for Madame Leota. Even though it is dark, the wires are still visible. Just seeing this headless woman talking in the crystal ball is all I really need to see to be impressed. Adding a cheap parlour trick to the show only detracts. On top of that, it makes her more difficult to photograph. This is one of the reasons that I can still stand to go through this attraction when it has the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay: Leota stays still. MUCH easier to photograph!











Anybody care to see the spellbook on her table?



See more Disneyland Haunted Mansion photos at my website.

Tell-No-Tales Thursdays: Exterior Queue

If I’ve been on a ride at DLand before, it is a rare occasion that I will stand in line for more than 15 minutes to wait for it. However, when I have guests in from out of town, waiting in line is just a fact of life. Can’t have them missing POTC, right? So, the occasion that I took this photo was the first time I had ever seen this Lion statue to the left of the building as you wind around it in the queue. Just another cool detail to help you pass the time. I love the details; some don’t notice them, some don’t care, but these details are what keep the line queue from being a bore.



Here are shots of the themed wait sign and the fountain at the base of the stairway.



And a close-up of the attraction sign you see as you enter under the crossover bridge in New Orleans Square.



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

Wednesday WOW: The Viewliner

It’s sleek, it’s silver, and it’s shortlived! Yes folks, it’s Disneyland’s Viewliner, originally the transportation of tomorrow, it was quickly switched out for the much larger (and sexier!) Monorail. You’ll note in this closeup that the lettering on the side says "Santa Fe and Disneyland RY." Anyone know what the RY stands for?



Here’s a 1957 photo of its inspiration, the Aerotrain, which was also short-lived:



On another note, saw the "new" Pee Wee Herman show the other night at Club Nokia—it was out of this world, Globey! For the full write-up, go to my Pee Wee Herman web page.



See more Disneyland Viewliner photos at my website.

Mickey & Minnie Mouse: Evolution of a Costume

Many have noted how off-model and scary looking the original Disneyland costumes were for the animated characters. Shot #1 shows where they came from: The Ice Capades. For opening day, these were the costumes seen in the park and on TV sets all across the country. Yes...somewhat unsettling!



Here, comedian Jerry Colonna attempts to make a connection between Bob Hope's children, Tony & Linda and Scary Minnie!



This undated shot shows some progress (the slats above the mouth are gone), but Minnie still looks extremely freakish!



By 1960, even more improvement is visible, despite the fact that Minnie appears to have had an overly agressive eye-brow lift!



This February 1962 shot of Mickey is really odd; looks like the California heat may have melted the poor guy’s face:



Minnie looks more like she stepped out of Munchkinland in this 1962 photo:



UPDATE: I saw a comment over on reddit.com by Vertical Event about how he "hated" that this post jumped from 1962 to 2010. Stupidity like that makes me wonder why I bother doing this. However, for every moron, there are at least a few hundred cool peeps that I hear from. And yet, I took the moron's comment to heart and improved this post. Hopefully it will help purge the hate from his heart.

July 1964:



December 1967:



From my first visit in 1970:



From August 1977:



The Fab Four in 1988:



By 2010, the characters added the ability to blink (well, in Florida at least; compared to these vintage shots, you can see just how far they have come.



See more Disneyland character photos on my main website.