I am semi-obsessed with the Disneyland Pack Mule attraction. To think that “live” animals and an unpredictable element were ever at the Park is difficult to comprehend now. This little girl from June 1961 must have been obsessed with carrots, and she was not afraid to let the world know. A carrot on her shirt, and a pair of capri pants LOADED with carrots. I bet she had good teeth and vision.
This previously posted July 1962 image shows the same area, but from a wide-angle. I like covering all the angles.
You can see that the obscured sign in today’s first image is for wagon repair. Better go there quick; I hear parts are taking a long time to ship these days.
See more Disneyland Pack Mule photos at my main website.
7 comments:
I suppose if those wagon wheels are in container ships off the coast then yes, they could be in trouble. That's neat to see that they would actually have a business about wagon repairing when you consider Tony Baxter once gave a D23 presentation where he talked about the Achilles heel of this attraction being how often those Wheels absorbed water and would swell up. That last shot is intriguing. It looks like they added a portrait of Cascade Peak on the front as an afterthought. If so, I highly approve.
As a kid, I had the unshakable notion that the storefronts of Rainbow Ridge were once open to the public. Also that the rocket standing in Tomorrowland could be explored (a comic book story had Big Bad Wolf flying in it). And that the Golden Horseshoe Revue might sometime feature the impressive barroom brawl that climaxed a World of Color episode.
I grew out of those delusions, but I remain disappointed that I never found sodas being served on the Mark Twain, much less with live entertainment as shown on Disneyland After Dark.
When they introduced Pirates of the Caribbean on World of Color, they showed the ride ending with an explosion. I really wanted to believe they found a way to do that for real, but all you got was drunk pirates almost setting off powder kegs.
Hmmm...Carrots?...Mules? Hope that little girl made it back okay. Funny to imagine those poor mule skinners applying for a job with Walt Disney!? At Disneyland!? Handling mules!? Then the fine print..."Must also assist wiggly, snot-nosed, pee-smelling kids onto mules for hours on end."
How cool is that? The storefront sports a portrait of Cascade Mountain with one of the bears from Rainbow Ridge getting a tree back scratch. Guess the artist painted that landscape after seeing that activity from the Mine Train!
Thsnks Dave for your many zoom in shots from your slides. Indeed, it’s all about the details snd there is so much to see when one puts the focus on the background rather than the foreground!
Grateful to hear someone else like DBenson say that too. As a kid you were just SURE it was one way or another, and those World of Color episodes cemented that fantasy as reality. I was convinced Walt was candidly walking the park and signing autographs as a kid, as well as all that you mentioned, and more.
DBenson, I think I had that same comic book with the Wolf in the Rocket.
Dave, you are right, I have been waiting weeks for parts for my mules.
Thanks for the great pictures.
JG
DBenson - Def a missed opportunity of selling food/drink on the Twain!
PWover50 - I'd never noticed the Cascade Peak detail; I'll need to see if I have other shots of that!
JG - I hope your parts come in soon!
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