The buildings of Rainbow Ridge in Disneyland’s Frontierland have always fascinated me. Built to a smaller scale to give the illusion of depth for the Nature’s Wonderland attraction (and now Big Thunder Mountain), the amount of detail each one has is truly impressive. This image from May 1967 shows a unique view of the Rainbow Ridge Hotel:
It is interesting to compare the “set” decoration from the 1967 image with this previously posted shot from 1960. Chairs removed, a blanket on the railing added...always something different to see!
Rainbow Ridge must have been a hot spot for tourists (or perhaps the miners), as there were three additional hotels, including the Pioneer:
The El Dorado:
…and the Panhandle:
If you’ve ever wondered why these cute little hotels were never available to Park guests, this 1957 publicity still supplies the reason:
Because of their smaller scale, the average sized guest would have to spend their stay stooped over!
See more photos at my main website.
Feelin' O'Irish ... there is Mother Murphy's Chop House on the left in the last picture, shamrock and all. Her sister-in-law Mrs. Murphy ran the boarding house at Knott's ("Fish on Fridays"), and begorrah peek in the window and you'd see quite the family dinner.
ReplyDeleteIs the woman in the last photo wearing a freaky straw hat? Not much protection from the sun with that thing.
Whenever I'm treated to hearing younger generations blame the older generations for the cost of living and buying a house today, I like to remind them the homes were a lot smaller back then. Then, I immediately look up Rainbow Ridge on my phone and show them pictures. "See? Even the chairs were smaller. Quit complaining."
ReplyDeleteI've often wanted to stay in one of the cabins up higher on the hill, but I would be like Alice in the White Rabbit's house, with arms out the windows, and feet out the door.
ReplyDeleteSome of these may now be Air BnB's.
I won't do any of the "small hotel room" jokes, but I have stayed in some that could have been modeled on RR.
Thank you, Dave.
JG
One of the benefits or working the MT was grabbing lunch out the back door of Carnation Gardens and heading up to a park bench hidden amongst the trees above Rainbow Ridge. KS
ReplyDelete