Just on the other side of the drawbridge is Fantasyland. As this slightly dark image shows, the Medieval Tent theme wasn't carried out through all of Fantasyland. Most of the area surrounding the Castle had the European Tudor theme that was added to the rest of Fantasyland during the 1983 remodel.
Looking center, you can see the Carrousel straight ahead (before it was moved farther back in 1983) and Merlin's Magic Shop on the right.
A closer look at the Fantasy of Disneyland shop. Military on the right or costumed characters? I can't tell.
Zooming in to see what's in the window of this shop (I am so damn nosy).
Looking back at the Castle, it appears today very much like it did almost 60 years ago.
A change in color scheme and the addition of some gilded ornamentations and decorative shutters can be seen in this contemporary view:
This shot must have been captured in between teacup spins:
And here you can see the crowds of guests that can't wait to give them a whirl. You can almost feel the excitement in the air!
The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant still had quite a bit of work to be done; many of the decorative elements were missing on day one. Even the paint scheme would change significantly.
Here it is just one month later:
This dapper gent is standing in front of Casey Junior. After a number of malfunctions on Opening Day, poor little Casey had to be closed down until July 31st.
Last shot of the Fantasyland bunch is this one of Dumbo, back when his ears were hinged and they could fly up and down.
See more vintage and current Fantasyland photos on my Fantasyland web pages.
I notice in the 2 teacup shots that the first one does not seem to have the red and yellow spiral swirl of the main platform, whereas the 2nd one does. Are the pictures from the same day?
ReplyDeleteWonderful, wonderful, wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI love the vintage back-of-the-castle shot. Awesome post!
ReplyDeleteWhat are those wires in the first teacup shot, I wonder? They're not in the second shot...
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures!
I've only been to Disneyland once Dave, but having looked at your pics I feel like a "park veteran!" The second pic of the teacups with the people looks like it was taken today.
ReplyDeleteNice! I did not know about the original Dumbos' ears!
ReplyDeleteI was noticing those wires too. Also, the turntable is painted with the "swirl" in the second pic, but not in the first. I see toolboxes on the ground around Dumbo, a man in overalls working on one of the elephants and a wooden board in the seat of the vehicle closest to us. I'm assuming Dumbo also wasn't open on the 18th? I can't remember if they show it operating in the Dateline Disneyland telecast on the 17th. I've also been confused about seeing Casey Jr. running in that opening day telecast, but then heard about it not opening until later. Thanks for clearing up the reason why, Dave! This is such an incredible collection of photos!
ReplyDeleteOn the turntable issue, it had 3 spinners that were a solid color, as you can see in this overhead shot:
ReplyDeletehttp://davelandweb.com/alice/images/teacups/50s/DrewryLg_Pre65_Teacups.jpg
The one shot just happened to capture the solid colored spinner. I don't believe the teacups were repainted for quite awhile.
As for the wires, I am sure they were left over from the TV/Radio Coverage of the 7/17 Grand Opening, but eventually came down as time permitted.
I think I remember Dumbo's moving ears, but it's been so long.
ReplyDeleteAmazing to see these opening shots.
Thank you Dave.
JG