September 21 Disneyland Trip Report

As promised, photos and observations from my Sunday, September 21 visit:

This facade, next to the entrance to the Main Street Lockers on E. Center Street, is rather interesting. Stuff from the Park shared a photo of it during Park construction sitting outside the current New Century Jewelry. Go ahead and take a look at my large image here. Note that the side closest to the locker entrance has smooth bricks, and the other side has rough, textured bricks. I had this pointed out to me several months back, but didn't have a good photograph of it. It certainly seems that this little facade may have been moved around Main Street and used as a template for brick design. In any event, it's clearly the architectural piece in Matterhorn's post!

I didn't know about the Wish Lounge. Its location is what used to be Lost Children. Lost Children shifts were usually covered by ladies who also worked at the Baby Center, but occasionally other Guest Relations Cast Members could be pulled in to cover. My first shift there wasn't too long after I started at the Park. I don't have a lot of experience with kids, so I was expecting a nightmare scenario of hungry, screaming kids and frantic parents, but the day was pretty calm. By my second shift, I had come to appreciate the refuge Lost Children provided. I was pulled there for a few hours on a busy December day, but my stint there was all-too-short and I soon had to return to the disgruntled Guests awaiting me at City Hall.

Kevin Yee and I got FASTPASSes to the Indiana Jones Adventure. It broke down as we neared the film room. We got more FASTPASSes. It remained broken down.

Think what this would look like with some water animation in the background! The abandoned Nature's Wonderland Mine Train is pretty sad. I posted some photos of it from back in June, but a trip on the Mark Twain provided a new perspective on how tattered the engine is.

The first ore car looks particularly sad.

Defying gravity, the rocks piled up in the car don't fall through the hole in the far side.

Have you ever stopped to examine the underside of the sidewalk roof outside the Westward Ho Trading Co.? Now you don't need to.

I thought it was interesting that the Wishing Star store in Fantasyland made use of the old Geppetto's Toys & Gifts sign. The first image is the current sign; the second is what it looked like in 1999.

There sure is a lot of junk on top of the Matterhorn! And what's with the camera pointed at the Submarine Lagoon? Or maybe it's pointed at Cash Control Backstage?

Old Fence #1: Wheelhouse fence in the New Orleans Street area of Frontierland.

As I sat there with Kevin, I thought the fence looked rather old. I was able to visually confirm the age via a photo over at Daveland:

I took a few close-ups of the fence:

We also took time to look at the old Space Place area (now Space Mountain FASTPASS). The boards overhead used to display the restaurant's menu; the blue wall covers up the serving windows. Some day I'll find and scan in my photos of the restaurant area at the end of its days--it was very dusty!

This, um, thing protrudes from the wall behind the FASTPASS machines. It obviously serves no purpose now, but I'm hoping somebody can shed some light on what its former purpose was. (Westcot?)

I don't want to alarm anyone, but... there's nobody in the Moonliner cabin! Is Disneyland really going to shoot off an uncontrolled rocket?

Old Fence #2: Carousel Theater emergency exit.

I remembered that this stairway had not changed when the building was renovated for the 1998 New Tomorrowland. I don't know why that's the case--probably money, and the fact that at that time they didn't change anything over by the Submarine Voyage or Tomorrowland Autopia. This is what the stairs looked like in 1998:

The Imagineers did, however, change the stairs on the southern side of the building, as seen in this 1997 photo:

I wasn't sure if the railing panels dated from the Carousel of Progress or America Sings days, but this photo from Daveland makes me believe they are 1967 New Tomorrowland originals:

On W. Center Street, I noticed these windows advertising "Fine Chinese Food Restaurant." Now, Chinatown had been proposed for E. Center Street in the 1960s. Does anybody know if these are directly related to that? I'm kind of doubting it, myself, and think its sort of a coincidence. That is, the windows might have been put up in 1955 for the same reason that they would later consider a Chinatown attraction on Main Street. But I'd be interested if anybody has concrete knowledge on the subject!

Finally, a photo from Disney's California Adventure. (Yes, DCA!) Despite the fact that I worked right there at the main entrance, I never took time to study the entrance murals. I had a chance to do so a little bit on Sunday evening, and saw the LAX Theme Building integrated in the design:

Architect William Pereira contributed to its design, part of an overall renovation of the airport in the late 1950s. Pereira also designed the original Disneyland Hotel. He wanted to design Disneyland, and became so enamored of the "Hub" concept that he integrated it into his designs for the University of California, Irvine, and Newport Center. Pereira also designed what became the Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel, which houses a regional branch of the National Archives, so you can see how Pereira has affected my life!

So, that's all I've got. I have a thesis defense in about two months, so my postings between now and the beginning of the year will probably remain on an infrequent basis. In scattered free time I hope to continue doing my Disneyland research, and may post small bits of strange, arcane, totally irrelevant information for your consumption.