Melinda Goes To Disneyland, Pt. 3!

Melinda is back again with photos from Frontierland, taken during her family’s 1980 trip to Disneyland. As she recalls:

Most of our meals were eaten from the cooler in the back of the car. The show and meal at the Golden Horseshoe Revue (shown above) would have been a big splurge. I remember sitting close to the stage and being awed by the high kicks of the can-can dancers. My own daughters spent years taking dance classes and I have a huge appreciation for the skills the dancers show in the videos of the Golden Horseshoe Revue and the birthday parade when I see them now. 



The cast of the Golden Horseshoe Revue, circa 1979 (above). Back to Melinda’s collection with two images of the mighty Mark Twain riverboat at the dock:



The family leaning over the railing:



The Indian Settlement they saw during their journey on the Twain:



If this waterfall captured by Melinda’s family doesn’t look familiar, that’s because it’s no longer there. It was the once mighty Cascade Peak:



Which was still around in 1984 (shown below) but torn down in 1998:



This shot of Tom Sawyer’s Island was also taken from the Mark Twain:



We don’t have many pictures of our time on Tom Sawyer’s Island, but I do remember having lots of fun running around the island, climbing over, under, and through it all. It was a welcome break to standing still for a little while. I also loved the Swiss Family Treehouse as the movie was a favorite of mine and it was just like being there.







Melinda’s family captured this shot of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was less than a year old:



Melinda only had this one photo from Adventureland, taken from the Jungle Cruise attraction:



I remember being on the side of the boat where the hippo jumps out and it startled me.

This 1978 image from my collection will have to suffice - I hope it doesn’t bring back painful memories, Melinda!



More Melinda at Disneyland to come! See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: August 1955—The Gardner Collection

Dick Gardner was stationed in San Diego with the Navy back in 1955; fortunately, he took a lot of BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL color photos of Disneyland while he was in Southern California. He has graciously allowed me to post his images for all of you to drool over. Here are three from the Jungle Cruise, beginning with the lanai near the dock area. Shot #2 of the ancient shrine gives a great view of the long-gone monkeys:



Last but not least is the semi-charging Rhino:



Thanks a million to Mr. Gardner for sharing these great images!

See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: Skippers I Have “Known”

Thought it might be fun to post together all the skippers that I have been on the JC with; I have recently started a tradition of photographing the skipper each time I ride on this attraction. Here is my collection so far.















Daveland reader Evan writes: “Before the new costumes started up, Skippers were able to make theirs unique; one had a pithe helmet, another wore WWI spats, Brittany's thing was a flower in her hat; mine was camo netting (jungle moss) in each epilate of the jacket (signifying the 2 times i have fallen into the river)..."no matter how many times I shower it keeps growing back"





See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The Jungle Cruise:Trader Sam Loves Hats

Photo #1 for today shows our buddy Trader Sam, everyone’s favorite Head Salesman. This is how he looked in 2007. Imagine my horror when I saw a change (gasp!) on the Jungle Cruise a few months ago; poor Sam had lost his headdress!



On my most recent visit, Sam’s “hat” was restored, and looked like it had grown a foot or two during its hiatus.



AMAZON BELLE: "All joking aside, Sam was the smartest one in his tribe. He was the only one to go to college. Unfortunately, he was kicked out two weeks before graduation (pause). He was caught buttering up his professor."

Not a great photo, but the oldest one I have showing Trader Sam, circa 1960’s. 



See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at regular my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The Jungle Cruise: Elephant Pool, October 1966

This shot is from May 1959, and it appears that two cast members have taken their motorboat out to the Ancient Shrine to do some repair work.



On another note…I was just sent a few interesting pictures documenting the changes/growth of Tinker Bell from conception to present day. Check it out!













You can see Tinker Bell’s new movie on Blu-ray/DVD beginning this Tuesday.

See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The Jungle Cruise: Mekong Maiden

The Mekong Maiden is now "enjoying" retirement. Both of the Maidens were removed and scrapped after the redesign of the JC due to Indy. The subsequent redesign of the boats themselves(making them longer) also contributed to their removal; the spacing of the boats during the tour could not support the Maidens.

And while we are at the dock, I am going to throw in 2 from March 1962 showing the Zambesi Miss and the dock signage.





See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: Elephant Pool, October 1966

Here are a few Elephant Pool shots from October 1966.





See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The Jungle Cruise: Schweitzer Falls

Jokes seem to change all the time on the JC, but the ones about the back side of water, aka Schweitzer Falls, rarely seem to change. Here are some vintage views of this beloved area of the JC. Shot #1 is from December 1955, and #2 is April 1958.



An undated 1950’s view:



September 1961:



Daveland blog reader Thufer pointed out the difference in the amount of water pumped over Schweitzer Falls. Check out these recent images and compare:









And 2 from just last weekend:





Some Skippers have commented that the water change has killed the joke; others have argued that it makes the joke more funny as the water is more akin to “a trickle.” See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.