Daveland Goes Atomic, Pt. 2

Janey from Atomic Redhead takes us aboard the Big Thunder Mountain Mine Trains for the thrill ride of our lives!



Time to exit the attraction for a spin around the Rivers of America.



This particular view looks as if it were taken from the top of the Mark Twain, or it might have been taken from the Treehouse on Tom Sawyer's Island.



Here's a great shot of the entrance to Fort Wilderness. I'll let Janey take over the storytelling from here.



Here we have Fort Wilderness, located on Tom Sawyer’s Island. Originally, Fort Wilderness (built out of real hand-hewn logs!) was home to a rifle roost where you could pretend to shoot as well as museum-style set ups of what a military outpost would have looked like, including a dummy of Andrew Jackson. However, over the years, Fort Wilderness became more and more dilapidated. The wood needed constant maintenance, a girl lost part of her finger in an accident, and in 2003 the large gates shut for good. In 2007, Tom Sawyer’s Island was taken over by pirates, and many changes were underway, which included tearing down the original Fort Wilderness that stood since 1956. A new Fort Wilderness was erected, however it was no longer open to the public. Instead, Fort Wilderness is now home to a cast member break area as well as serves as storage for the nighttime show Fantasmic.



A few more shots taken from the Island:



Here you can see kids who have found the joys of the Suspension Bridge:



This image appears to have been taken from one of the rafts:



Looking back over to Frontierland you can see the Golden Horseshoe in the background:



These last two shots were most likely taken from the Mark Twain or the Columbia:



Looks like the Burning Cabin had ceased burning by the time Janey's family photographed it:



The last two for today's installment showcase New Orleans Square, starting with an exterior shot of The Haunted Mansion.



From Janey: Original entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean. This changed in 1997 when they also altered portions of the inside to be less suggestive.



For Part 3, we'll visit Fantasyland, courtesy of Atomic Redhead.

See more vintage & current Disneyland Frontierland photos on my Frontierland web pages.