Tomorrowland On The Move

Disneyland’s Tomorrowland was once a land on the move. This September 1967 image in both static and Genuine FauxD© mode showcase the land shortly after its rechristening as “New” Tomorrowland on July 2, 1967. In one image, you can see the Skyway buckets, the PeopleMover, the Matterhorn, and the Monorail. All were attractions that guests could see moving by as they walked underneath on the pavement below.



Get up close and personal on the PeopleMover tracks:



…and in Genuine FauxD© mode. It’s the next best thing to being there!



This January 1968 shot shows an empty PeopleMover train. While they were not the most thrilling attraction (they did move fairly slowly), it was wonderful to get off your feet for a bit and see Tomorrowland from the comfort of your PeopleMover car.



There is a lot to see in this July 1968 shot. The Rocket Jets soar over Tomorrowland, the Skyway is floating overhead back and forth from Tomorrowland, the Carousel of Progress is still rotating, a yellow Monorail is visible below, and the PeopleMover cars flow along at a leisurely pace giving guests an opportunity to peek at some of the land’s attractions.



A closeup view of the Rocket Jets perched atop the platform:



…and the Yellow Monorail with the GE Carousel of Progress in the background:



From the same batch you can see the Ethan Allen submarine:



How the “New” Tomorrowland entrance looked; the floral is reminiscent of the Yellow Brick Road from “The Wizard of Oz” in Munchkinland!



Zooming in you can see the Disneyland Hotel in the background, the roof of the Enchanted Tiki Room, and in the foreground, the Plaza Pavillion.



More from July 1968:



The distinctive roofline of the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge can be seen at right:



Moving ahead to August 1969, this shot was taken from a Skyway bucket in Fantasyland:



When you look closely, you can see the PeopleMover on the left and a Matterhorn bobsled whizzing by the falls while the Skyway buckets float THROUGH the Matterhorn!



Taken from the PeopleMover, August 1969, with the Mary Blair tile mural at right:



Oh, to have the Jets back up on the platform again, AND something moving on the PeopleMover tracks!



A semi ho-hum shot from August 1969:



…except when you get closer you see ANOTHER attraction that moved that is no longer: The Motor Boat Cruise.



LOVE this shot of the Tomorrowland Skyway station:



…with The Mod Hatter below. Take some time to check out the selection of hats! You just know that sewing machine was moving faster than the PeopleMover to keep up with all the embroidery orders from guests.



I hope you enjoyed this vintage view of Tomorrowland when it was once vibrant and full of movement!

See more Disneyland Tomorrowland photos at my main website.

You say Pavillion, I say Pavilion…

This undated 1950s image shows the sign for The Pavillion off of Central Plaza at Disneyland. Note the spelling.

Here’s the actual building, circa August 1959:

A cozy undated shot of two guests sitting on a Central Plaza bench with The Pavillion behind them.

Just in case anyone wanted to see what was happening up on the porch…

By the time this September 1963 image was taken, Disney had seen the error of their ways and corrected the spelling of Pavilion.

Four Fiddlers and an Accordion; I wonder what kind of gigs they got besides this one?

One more shot of The Plaza Pavilion, circa September 1965:

A detailed view for all you signage geeks (like me):

In 2012, this location was renamed Jolly Holiday. I wonder if they considered “Holliday”?

See more Disneyland Plaza Pavilion photos at my main website.

Trinidad's Hat

The White Wings was Disneyland’s name for the cast members who wheeled around the Sanitation Department (SD to keep it clean!) carts and swept up the poo from the horses on Main Street. One of the best known White Wings was Trinidad Ruiz, who had a distinctive large mustache. How many Sanitation workers do YOU photograph when you got to the Park today? I rest my case. This guy must have been pretty nice. In this 1957 black and white image, he is not wearing the usual white pith helmet that he sported. I wonder what happened?



This October 1956 Town Square image shows you what I'm talking about.



He looks like he’s ready for a break.



Another 1956 shot of Trinidad, back in Central Plaza.



Just a reminder....“S.D.” does not stand for San Diego.



See more Disneyland Central Plaza photos at my main website.

More Rita at Disneyland

Previously, I had posted a photo of actress Rita Hayworth at Disneyland with husband/singer Dick Haymes. Now my collection has two more shots from that very same July 25, 1955 visit. Here's the accompanying publicity blurb:

DICK HAYMES CELEBRATES VERDICT
Singer Dick Haymes, who was notified July 25 that the government had abandoned its long legal fight to deport him, celebrates the occasion by taking his family for an outing to Disneyland near Anaheim, Cal. Left to right: Haymes, Rebecca Welles, Rita Hayworth, his actress wife, Yasmin Kahn and an unidentified nurse. Rebecca and Yasmin are daughters of Miss Hayworth.



A very sad quote came from the provocative mouth of this legendary beauty:

Men fell in love with Gilda, but they wake up with me.

Married five times, they all ended in divorce; the Haymes marriage barely lasted two years.

See more Daveland King Arthur Carrousel photos at my main website.

1950's Disneyland Gems, Pt. 3

Traveling down Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland we come to the Silent Screen Cinema, with headliners Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle.



The two featured shorts are "The Speed Kings," a 1913 Mack Sennett comedy starring Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand:



and "The Great Train Robbery," the 1903 Edwin S. Porter ten minute short that is considered a milestone in filmmaking for its cross cutting, composite editing, hand tinting, and location shooting.



Today, memories of Normand and Arbuckle are tainted by the scandals that they were involved in. Normand had an addiction to drugs and was also a suspect (later cleared) in the still unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Arbuckle was accused of raping a young girl in a San Francisco hotel. Although he was cleared of all charges, his career never recovered from the headlines.

A little further down Main Street, we see a White Wing sweeping up the horse poop. Not an enviable job, but somebody's got to do it.



Zooming in for a closer look at East Center Street, with the Gibson Greeting Card Shop on the corner.



Yesterday, I received this sad email from Daveland reader Peter B.:

Last night I was informed that Disneyland removed the large tree that has been sitting on the Plaza Pavilion/Coke Corner for must be 50 plus years.

You can see the tree in this December 1968 image:



And how it looked recently, providing lots of shade to this little area of the park:



Last bit for today is on yesterday's news of the passing of comedienne Joan Rivers.



I discovered her back in the 80's when my dad took me to see her at the Valley Forge Music Fair. I thought she was one of the funniest people I had ever seen. She was brutal to a number of celebrities (Elizabeth Taylor, the Royal Family,…) but most of all, her humor poked fun at herself. Her timing and delivery were impeccable. I wore out my vinyl version of “What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most” until I could practically recite the whole album myself. She rarely (if ever) apologized for her somewhat offensive jokes which touched on such subjects as weight, religion, and the Holocaust. As she stated herself, "I've learned to have absolutely no regrets about any jokes I've ever done ... You can tune me out, you can click me off, it's OK. I am not going to bow to political correctness. But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party."

Whether you liked her or not, you could never say the woman was lazy. Even at the age of 81, she worked endlessly, rarely turning down a gig no matter where it was. RIP, Joan. You were a true trailblazer.

See more Daveland Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos at my main website.

Trip to Central Plaza

What better way to get from Town Square to Central Plaza than the Omnibus? This double-decker bus is a very nearly authentic reproduction of Fifth Avenue busses which were the main mode of transportation in turn-of-the-century New York. Only one authentic part, an old electric klaxon horn, is used. The drop frame chassis is from a modern-day truck, and the bus has both power steering and power brakes. Studio designers took a few liberties with the height and seating to provide greater comfort, safety, and convenience for the guests. In photo one, you can see the Omnibus parked in Town Square, circa July 1958, with an ad for the new Grand Canyon Diorama on the light post in the background.



At our destination, The Omnibus parks in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in this 1950's image.



Zooming in to see the details:



Perhaps you'd like to stop at the Plaza Pavillion for a bite to eat?



Or to enjoy these three ladies on their fiddles with an accordion accompaniment?



All good things must come to an end, and it is now time to take our Omnibus back to Town Square, as seen in this July 1964 photo:



See more vintage Disneyland Central Plaza photos on my Central Plaza web pages.