Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: Boat Names

Just a little interlude from the regular posts; thought I’d do a quickie showing the current names of the boats, minus a few that have been camera-shy so far...
















The names of the original ten JC boats are: Amazon Belle (Green), Congo Queen (Red), Ganges Gal (Green), Irrawaddy Woman (Blue), Mekong Maiden (Blue), Nile Princess (Green), Orinoco Adventuress (Red), Suwannee Lady (Red), Yangtze Lotus (Red), Zambezi Miss (Blue).

The additional four are: Hondo Hattie (Green), Kissimmee Kate (Blue), Magdalena Maiden (Green), and Ucayali Una (Blue).

Amazon Belle’s fave boat to drive was the Hondo Hattie. It was the first one while he was there to receive an overhaul. And haul it could! Stopped on a dime, too!

Any other skippers that would like to contribute material can email me at dvdpicasso@aol.com. See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my website.

25th Anniversary Photo

Daveland reader Sheryl kindly allowed me to post this photo from her father: a 1980 25th Anniversary Cast Member photo. Anybody care to start identifying the people in the shot? I’ll start off with one of the easiest: Bob Gurr, 3rd from the left in the front row. And of course, Mickey, front and center!

See more Disneyland photos at my website.

July 1960 Trip to Disneyland, Pt. 3

We’ll finish this series by spending the day in Fantasyland. Naturally, you’ll want to enter through the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Over at the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant, the women folk are ignoring the man, who appears to be stuck with a squirming toddler which can only mean one thing—let’s hope that gent’s pants are washable!



Not quite as stomach-wrenching as the teacups, Dumbo probably has done its fair share of churning up a few churros in its day.



The Pinocchio attraction was light years away when this Fantasyland photo featuring the Mickey Mouse Theater was taken:



Last one is one of my faves, showing the Skyway floating over Fantasyland. I really love the whimsical design of the Casey Junior Ticket Booth:





See more Disneyland photos at my website.

Tell-No-Tales Thursdays: Pirate Ship Attack on a Spanish Town

Originally, the stretch between the skeleton-pirate-treasure room and the Wicked Wench room was a somewhat boring, quiet, and dark ride. This all changed with the Jack Sparrow/movie-inspired additions that occurred a few years ago. This Davy Jones projection on the mist effect was a way cool addition, and a nice intro to the Pirate Ship Attack on a Spanish Town Scene.

This shot is from a vintage viewmaster reel, showing the Pirate Ship attacking a Spanish Town. You can almost smell the smoke effects!



Here’s what the Wicked Wench is shooting at. I have always loved coming out of the dark tunnel into this huge set area of the ship, the canon fire, and the dueling shadows on the wall.



Here is what the Pirate Ship looks like now, with the exchange of Blackbeard for Geoffrey Rush’s character, Barbossa, from the “Pirates” movie.







Apparently, Producer Jerry Bruckheimer would not give permission to refurbish the attraction’s ship into the Black Pearl. Since it is a Disney-owned movie, I have my doubts to this story. Anyone in the know care to comment?

This poor pirate has lost his sight. Back in July of 2006 he was 20/20, now he’s wearing a patch. Poor varmint. It was pointed out to me by a reader that all the figures on the Wicked Wench are from the same facial mold. Check it out!





See more Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean photos at my website.

July 1960 Trip to Disneyland, Pt. 2

All aboard the Monorail for a trip around the park! The Matterhorn still bears its darker color scheme and the Monorail is enough of a novelty that guests stop to gawk. The original Monorail Red sure is a beauty.



Only one Frontierland image from this batch, showing the Columbia rounding the bend, about to unload another group of satisfied guests that have toured the Rivers of America and Cascade Peak.



See more Disneyland photos at my website.

July 1960 Trip to Disneyland, Pt. 1

In July 1960, the park was only 5 years old. The Monorail, Matterhorn, and Submarine Voyage had just celebrated their first anniversary, and The Haunted Mansion was still almost a decade away. Shot #1 shows a foolish group of guests leaving the park. What were they thinking?!? Go back! Take more photos! Closeup of the E.P. Ripley included.



The photographer might have had a little too much drink when he shot this Town Square slide, or perhaps he was just trying to be creative.



See more Disneyland photos at my website.

Rainbow Ridge, 1970’s: Pt. 4

Last batch of this series. Don’t miss out on the Wanted Poster for Red Jenkins; could be worth $300!



Or the Rip Van Winkle card in the window.





See more Disneyland Nature’s Wonderland Mine Train photos at my website.

Sailing Through Sundays on The JC: Setting Sail/The Rainforest

The boat departs and we head towards the tropical rain forest, home to some of the coolest last-minute landscaping ever documented! TECH SKIP: Ummm burn please, no more floating twinkie. But I think I know that Skip…I've heard he's afraid of Hippos and instead of firing two shots at them he throws the whole ammo box at them…poor guy.USC TUBA: It was Kevin's unfortunate habit of “raising the roof” that forced people to tell him he was Asian. AMAZON BELLE: “Raise Your Right Hand and Repeat After Me. I Hope…” The Skipper sets the tone of the cruise. You know within 5 seconds of a Load spiel what you’re in for. If the Skipper is chattering constantly without taking a break on the mic... get off the boat immediately. This is an 18 year old Cast Member with a “Mr. Microphone” toy. But if the Skipper looks at you when giving his spiel, pauses between his sentences, you can hear his voice clearly through the speakers and asks for your participation (as visible in this photograph). You are about to experience what Walt intended…8.5 minutes of pure escapism. When rookies start working the cruise they talk a lot. Why? We were scared to death and talking wouldn’t allow you to see how nervous we really were. The veterans learned that less was more.



TECH SKIP: This scene, while nice, pales in comparison to the winter morning when there is a bit of a mist floating on the water. Also notice the trunk of the “fern tree”; from what I have been told they are original and they are HUGE now. AMAZON BELLE: We enter the Tropical Rain Forest by way of the Irrawaddy River of Burma. Burma is a small country in south/east Asia named after its chief export (pause)…a type of shaving cream.” The original Jungle Cruise started with a natural looking rain forest. I don’t know when they switched to the all plastic rain forest, but I believe they changed it back in 1976 to the all nat-u-ral we see today. Beautiful bromeliads line the trees just beyond the misters. Yes, we are ready now for your non-approved SOP jokes about mist from the trees. Let’s hear it.



Kevin Kidney has done it again with some great contributions; today, he has shared 3 1960’s photos of the ticket booth/windows. Interesting to see Pirates of the Caribbean lumped with the other Adventureland attractions.







Last pic is from a current JC trip; shout out to Skipper Nick—nice job!



Any other skippers that would like to contribute material can email me at dvdpicasso@aol.com.

See more vintage (and current) Jungle Cruise photos on my regular my website.

Rainbow Ridge, 1970’s: Pt. 3

Hope you are all still enjoying this series!





The El Dorado Hotel is still there today:



See more Disneyland Nature’s Wonderland Mine Train photos at my regular website.

Rainbow Ridge, 1970’s: Pt. 2

3 more views of my Rainbow Ridge set. Oh to be able to get this close to my favorite “western” town!





See more Disneyland Nature’s Wonderland Mine Train photos at my website.

Tell-No-Tales Thursdays: Captain’s Quarters

Here’s the Captain himself, inspecting a treasure map with a looking glass, in this early publicity image. So much stuff to look at, it hardly gets boring; always something new to discover with each ride.



Even after 20 trips you could still find treasures unseen, such as the bedwarmer propped up next to the bed.



The eyes really ARE the first thing to go!






The first treasure room that you see on POTC is guarded by a skeleton. How many have attempted (or wanted) to get out of their boat and get a souvenir? Aaaaargh those hidden cameras! Here’s how the treasure room looked when the ride first opened. This is from a vintage Viewmaster slide.





Here are some recent shots taken on the POTC WITHOUT a flash; my new camera is definitely earning its price tag! Notice how the original lighting of the attraction is retained, and the atmosphere is captured much closer to the actual experience as opposed to using the harsh light of a camera flash.









See more Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean photos at my website.