King Arthur Carrousel: Part 2 - Relocation & New Fantasyland Construction

This is Part 2 of my Disneyland's King Arthur Carrousel posts. For Part 1, Click Here.

Today, we will be looking at the relocation of King Arthur Carrousel as well as some "New Fantasyland" construction. These first three photos show the "holes" in the ground that were left after the removal of The Mad Tea Party and Dumbo's Flying Elephants attractions from their original locations in 1982. Note the Big Thunder Trail from Frontierland to Fantasyland in the distance. It was closed to guests at this time.



These photos were taken from the Skyway, which at the time, due to construction, was a "round trip" ride only. During this time, guests could only board the Skyway in Tomorrowland and were not allowed to disembark when they got to Fantasyland. Instead, as the vehicles arrived at the Fantasyland Skyway station, they were greeted by cast members that pushed them through the station and back onto the cable to be sent back over to Tomorrowland.



Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was temporarily closed during this preliminary construction period, but would later reopen for a short time before being shut down once again for it's New Fantasyland rehab. Peter Pan's Flight continued to operate at this time, but Snow White's Adventures had already closed for it's rehab and The Fantasyland Theater had closed permanently to be replaced by Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



From this angle we get a better view of Dumbo's former location which was eventually replaced in part by the Village Inn (later Village Haus) restaurant. King Arthur Carrousel can be seen beyond the construction wall in the distance. It was still operating in it's original location.



Now in this next shot, the Carrousel has been moved and the spot where it had originally sat has been paved over.



The Snow White attraction was gutted leaving only it's roof and two walls. The Fantasyland Theater was completely bulldozed. What we cannot see in this photo is that the Carrousel has been moved to the former location of the Mad Tea Party and is just out of frame on the right.  Note the camera mounted on the roof to record the construction progress in these next two photos.



The sign on the construction wall reads, "Wish Upon A Brighter Star - A New Fantasyland Coming True in 1983.  This version of the sign did not remain for very long.  It was replaced by a much more colorful and detailed sign which can be seen here over at Gorillas Don't Blog.



And here we see just a corner of the relocated Carrousel on the far left.  We can also see what looks like a basement for what will become Pinocchio's Daring Journey.



This view was taken from the upper deck of Captain Hook's Pirate Ship.



And this was taken through a peep hole in the construction wall surrounding the Carrousel.  The view is looking west towards what's left of the original Snow White attraction.



The Los Angeles Times ran this photo in early 1982.  There was no accompanying article, just the caption beneath it, which mentions a reopening date of April 1st.



Here, we see three Disneyland icons that would not coexist in this close proximity for very long....Captain Hook's Pirate Ship, Skull Rock, and the Carrousel.



I wish this next photo had turned out better. It's a view of the Carrousel as seen from the cove behind Captain Hook's Pirate Ship. At the bottom of the photo is one of the many barrel-shaped stools that could be found in the cove's dining area.



Here's one of the versions of the guidebook that was available during the time that Fantasyland was under consctruction.



The Fantasyland pages of the guidebooks would change throughout the year as the various attractions would shut down for remodeling. This version shows that the Carrousel had already been relocated and reopened.



By the time this photo had been taken, the Carrousel had been shut down again. The planter around it had already been added, and workers were just beginning to paint a new design and color scheme on the roof. Note also, that the new facade on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is nearing completion.



This last photo shows the Carrousel on the official opening day of the New Fantasyland. The "Sword In The Stone" ceremony is taking place in the foreground with Merlin being assisted by one of the "Make Believe Brass" band members. The band was also making their park debut that summer along with the New Fantasyland.



I hope everyone enjoyed this trip back in time, to the transitioning Fantasyland of 1982 and 1983!

Father's Day In The Parks

It's time for another Father's Day In The Parks post! Once again, the photos here were all taken by my dad at various tourist spots throughout Southern California.

First up, we have Disneyland in the Summer of 1967. Here we see my aunt standing in front of Captain Hook's Pirate Ship.



This next one was taken the same day in front of the Global Van Lines truck that used to be parked in Town Square.



Next we have Knott's Berry Farm in the Summer of 1966. Here we see my uncle standing in front of the Calico Railroad, while some kid wearing mouse ears (hey kid, you're in the wrong park!) is trying to levitate the train with his special powers. We first saw my uncle inside Disneyland's Fort Wilderness in my Then and Now/Here and There post.



Below, is a shot of the "Ghost Town Express" wagon. Doc Walker's cabin from the Ozarks can be seen in the upper left. This is before it was moved near the Church of Reflections (it has since been demolished).



Now we are back in 1967 and with my aunt at Marineland of the Pacific. The structure behind her was the park's Oceanarium which consisted of two huge steel salt-water tanks.



This is Bubbles the pilot whale, performing in the Oceanarium. She was Marineland's most famous whale until Orky and Corky came along. Bubbles is actually still alive and residing at Sea World in San Diego. The owners of Sea World purchased Marineland back in 1987 because they needed a pair of breeding killer whales (Orky and Corky). They bought the park with the ruse that they would keep it open, but after the sale went through, they quickly shut it down and moved all the animals to Sea World. Note the two-level Sky Tower observation car in the background.



Last up for today, we have two photos taken at Universal Studios in the Summer of 1967. This first shot is of a western set on the backlot. The train station sign reads "Medicine Bow, WYO." Medicine Bow was the location of the television show, The Virginian, which was a Universal production and ran from 1962-1971. Train tracks can be seen alongside the depot, but they seem to disappear into the dirt as they come towards us.



This last photo shows some movie miniatures that were once on display in the "upper lot" portion of the studio. A rain special effect (translation - "sprinklers") can be seen on the roof of the structure on the right.



Just for kicks, I've included two scans from a 1977 Universal Studios souvenir book. Compare these with the two Universal shots above. The caption for this first photo reads, "New York right next to the Old West! Turn a corner in Hollywood's biggest backlot and suddenly you're in a different world." The Smith and Aagy Photographic Studio sign is still on the roof of the building on the left, but the train station sign appears to be missing.



The guidebook gives the following description for the scene below, "A "movie miniature" destroyer fires at a "movie miniature" submarine....and always misses!"



I'd like to wish my dad a very happy Father's Day and thank him for taking me to all of these cool places many times throughout my childhood. I love you, Dad!

And a Happy Father's Day to ALL dads out there!

Disneyland Train and Monorail SOLD! (& Mickey Too!)

Today, we have another vintage newspaper clipping. This is among one of the oldest in my collection. I don't have an exact date, but I think I cut this out of the newspaper sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. I remember being confused at the time about why the family owned only the train and monorail and not the rest of the park and also why they were willing to sell them and Mickey Mouse. Perhaps after reading this, someone out there will be able to pinpoint the exact year this all took place.

Just in case anyone is curious, here is the back of the clipping. I did a little research using just the names "Dood and Elrod" that appear in the middle of the artwork, and it appears that this is a piece of the "Mark Trail" comic strip. A bit of trivia: Mark Trail began in 1946 and is still in syndication today.


Since my last post included a personal Disneyland souvenir, I thought I would include another one from my collection. This book of Disneyland "Hi-Lites" measures approximately 4" by 3" and was purchased for me during an early childhood visit to the park.....probably around 1969 or 1970.

I always loved the way the pages in this book were glossy and trimmed with a white border as if they were actual snapshots that you had taken yourself.