Thursday, September 22, 2022

February 1970 at Disneyland, Pt. 2



It’s back to February 1970, starting with a shot from the Pack Mule attraction at Disneyland. That’s right folks…real live animals were part of an attraction at the Park. This image gives a nice back view of Rainbow Ridge. I believe that’s a Kodak picture spot sign visible in the detailed view below:



The family must have taken a raft to Tom Sawyer Island; here’s a very Brady shot with a Cindy wannabe on the far right:



Over in Town Square, the kids got to meet Eeyore in front of the Opera House:



Just in case you want to see the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln poster in the background:



Tigger! It was a Winnie the Pooh kind of day, apparently. I assume (which can be dangerous) that this is also in Town Square since sequentially that would make sense.



Both Tigger and Eyeore in one shot:



I had to zoom in for a detail of the “hunny” pot; what’s sticking out of the tree? Is that another critter?



Mickey without the cane that we saw on Monday:



I hope he picked a good one.



Look into my eyes if you dare…



The moms wanted their chance with Winnie:



Another closeup of the “hunny” pot:



A better overall detailed view of the Lincoln poster:



Here’s a non-related shot from April 1970 at the entrance featuring poor Eyeore:



By 1970, the Skyway buckets had gone from round to semi-square:



Bucket number one on the left; anyone care to ride 23? That’s the one with our February 1970 family:



The last one to share was from the same batch; again, I “assume” it’s along the Rivers of America, but I couldn’t quite place it. Bueller? Bueller?



See more vintage and (semi) contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

5 comments:

Chuck said...

The Tigger with kids and Pooh and Tigger with kids photos were taken at the north end of the Bank of America "building" just south of where the facade changes into the Main Street Opera House. Basically, the photographer pivoted to the right from the first Eeyore shot.

For context, the whole bank facade can be seen here: https://davelandweb.com/townsquare/images/50s/KTPBK_Summer55_N18B.jpg .

Another angle of that window display can be seen here: https://davelandweb.com/townsquare/images/70s/EkTPBKBC_10_70_N01R.jpg .

I think the critter in the tree in the display window behind Pooh is supposed to be an owl.

If you track down the tree in the wider-angle picture, you come to a partially-obscured, black-and-white plush that looks an awful lot like Snoopy. I seem to remember reading somewhere recently (although of course I can't find it right now) someone's recollection of seeing a Snoopy plush in a window on Main Street around this time period. This could be documentation of that unexpected non-Disney IP encounter.

I think that last picture shows actual wild birds on a genuine rocky shoreline; it's not tracking with any Disneyland location I am familiar with.

Fifthrider said...

It just blows me away that you could ride up on the mountain behind Rainbow Ridge. I keep forgetting the scenery didn't end at the fronts of the buildings, they built out all sides.

Chuck has a good eye! I was trying to figure out where that Tigger/Winnie pic was until I saw the reflection of the Main Street Depot in the glass. That window display looks to be for Bambi but behind Bambi and Flower I see something that could be Gus the mouse from Cinderella. Snoopy is of course from the great Disney movie "Snoopy versus the Red Baro..." Wait a minute... I love that this pic may validate a story about Snoopy being in a Main Street window display. That's a riot.

The best part of that Mickey head is that it hides the horror of seeing that snotgobbler digging for treasure.

I know exactly where that final pic is. The Mark Twain has just turned the corner from the Indian village and is headed back to the dock. Cascade Peak would be around the corner and on the left. The flowers at the base of the rocks is definitely an arrangement of Disney, not nature. It almost looks more like something Ruth Patricia Shellhorn would have done more than Bill Evans. The only thing I'm not sure of is that guano. Did Disney paint it white and decorate it with condors? ( I assume? ) ...or did ducks and seagulls hop up there and go to town on those rocks. Yuck.

That opening at the bottom may be the start of the tunnel for the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. The tracks would be concealed below the rocks.

Stefano said...

I think the last photo is of Busch Gardens. We are on a leisurely cruise through waterways past real birds and genuine droppings. When BG ceased operation as a theme park, it was known as the Busch Bird Sanctuary. Thanks for the photos Dave, these earthier aspects of SoCal attractions are missed.

Daveland said...

As always, kudos to my faithful readers for solving mysteries and pointing out details that I would have otherwise missed!

Fifthrider said...

Stefano could be right. While a lot of this does line up with the trackline of MTTNW and a possible tunnel opening, I couldn't see Walt saying "...and guano everywhere! As far as the eye can see!" This may be somewhere else.