Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Disneyland, March 1957, Pt. 3



The first photo of today is not from the March 1957 batch, but rather another 1957 set of images. Why is it here? Because I want to set the scene for you, faithful readers. Imagine boarding your 1957 Skyway bucket and soaring high over the park. Below you see a silver-suited spaceman from the future. And in image #2 (where we transition back to the March 1957 grouping), you float by the iconic Moonliner, sponsored by TWA.



Quickly passing through the Matterhorn into Fantasyland, we fly over the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant:



So close you can almost reach out and touch the Crow's Nest!



Once out of the Skyway Bucket, we leave the Fantasyland Skyway Station (shown here in this August 1958 image)...



and our March 1957 photographer begins to explore Fantasyland from the ground. It appears he wanted to hide behind the landscaping for this Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship shot:



And then wanted to get as close as possible to Monstro's eyeball in this Storybook Land shot, capturing the area that would soon be home to Skull Rock (note Cinderella's Castle towering in the background of Storybook Land):



So many details on Toad Hall! I love riding Storybook Land; sooooo much to observe.



To wrap up this series, I'm going to yank you back over to Frontierland with two shots of the Mighty Mark Twain:





I hope you enjoyed our journey through time to explore March 1957 at Disneyland!

See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

8 comments:

  1. What a wonderful trip. What a wonderful time to get a glimpse of the easterly portion of the parking lot and then out onto a really 'barren' S. Harbor Blvd.
    At the Fantasyland terminus, how nice to see children. Usually nothing but adults in the park, however; here we have proof that Walt actually tolerated children in his magical little playground.
    I really love seeing these pictures from the 'golden' period prior to the 59' expansion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WAAAAAAAAAAAA I miss the Skyway!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so glad that these images are joining all your other great images. It must be like a family reunion in your computer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Momma Nic - That's a great way to put it! Connie - can you imagine the amount of photos we'd be taking from the Skyway if it was still running? I "shutter" at the amount (oh, what a bad pun). Thufer - I think children were much better behaved back in 1957...and the same for their parents!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeesh, I'm having trouble leaving comments for some reason.

    Anyway, these are beauties! You make me feel like a miser, since I dole out my pictures 2 at a time...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dave, I don't see a Tomorrowland train station in that first pic. I guess I'm not that familiar with the history of the DL trains and stations...did the trains not stop in TL in those early years?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chris - I believe it's just farther off-camera to the left. In the early years, I don't think it was much more than a few benches and an awning. My earliest shot of the TL stop are from 1958 though...so who knows.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Toad Hall is very cool, is that me I see walking in the first picture?

    JG

    ReplyDelete