This Summer of 56 batch has yielded some amazing vintage views of the Park, including this journey on the Skyway attraction. For all you newbies, the original attraction had buckets that carried you from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland (and vice versa!).
At first glance, this just looks like an unfortunate composition of the buckets.
This zoom in view provides a glimpse of one of the Mickey Mouse Club Circus wagons.
I also did a close-up of this guest with his camera. Where's that footage now?!?
Sailing over the Storybook Land attraction:
Looks like maintenance is doing some landscape work:
And here we are at our final destination, the Fantasyland Skyway Station:
This gorgeous little structure had a long life, even lasting many years after the attraction had shut down.
Thanks to Ken at Stack's Liberty Ranch, we have this additional view of Robin Hood (this time without Will Scarlet). Looks like they posed with guests for $$. I wonder if they gave the proceeds to the poor?
See more vintage Disneyland Skyway photos at my main website.
5 comments:
Always great to see the chalet in it's heyday. It's too good of a structure to be left to rot. I'm still surprised with all of Disney's know-how that they found it too hard to figure out how to build new ramps or stairs ( or a lift for those who need it ) to make it up there for a meet-n-greet or something. All of their know-how and they were bested by a 120-foot long piece of angled land?
that circus wagon is intriguing. All of the video and footage I've seen put that circus about where the Haunted Mansion is today, on the other side of the berm. Despite that I find on occasion some reference ( like the huge topographical wall-map/model next to Mr. Lincoln ) that shows little models of a circus over by Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Did it exist in both areas over time?
These are good reminder of how much the Park has changed since then. I love the simplicity of it all and how revolutionary it was to those back in 1956. KS
@Fithrider - Wow! That is a great comment about be bested by a 120-foot piece of angled land. I was always told that the Skyway closed due to decay/rust of the support towers in the planters and perhaps along with that unfortunate lucky Guest who fell out of their gondola at the closest point to a tree on April 18, 1994. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-04-18/local/me-47374_1_ride-operator
I guess you couple that accident with the ADA issue and over protective of Disney lawyers at the time... and you got a perfect storm. UGH!
I may have mentioned it here before but I loved many things about the Skyway but three things I remember clearly. First is the little "barn scene" complete with hay and a milking stool in the back of Fantasyland Skyway Station/Chalet. Second, was that pine tree that split the difference between the exiting and arriving gondolas visible in the seventh and eighth photo. The tree grew over time but had to be carefully maintained. finally, I loved that feeling of sitting in your bucket... then being pushed out slowly rolling forward until you felt the moment of "catch" as you moved, and bounced, onto the cable that would take you to Tomorrowland!
And thanks to @Ken at Stack's Liberty Ranch for giving us more info on Robin Hood and Will Scarlet.
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
@Fifthrider - You may be confusing the Mickey Mouse Club Circus with Holidayland?
Thank you Amazon Belle! I didn't know about the rusting support pylons. Okay, well, that does shed a bit more light on the "why."
Anonymous - Looks like the circus was at BOTH Holidayland and Fantasyland. I knew I wasn't wrong about it being over by the (now) Haunted Mansion but I had no idea it moved to Fantasyland.
http://duchessofdisneyland.com/park-history/mickey-mouse-club-circus/
"The tent moved from Fantasyland to Holidayland in January 1956, just six weeks after the first show. "
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