The Queen Mary in Long Beach - Special Guest Post!

A few months ago, I was contacted by Gorillas Don't Blog and Meet The World follower, commenter, and special guest blogger, "JG." He had seen my post from June 2018, which included some vintage pics of the Queen Mary, and was wondering if I would be interested in seeing some of his personal (and more recent) Queen Mary photos. He thought they might make a good addition to my post. However, I thought the photos and information that he provided, were worthy of their very own post. So here is "JG," in his own words, accompanied by his own personal photos:

My wife and I visited the Queen Mary in 1983 for a conference, but we couldn’t afford to stay on board then. When we had a chance to return to Long Beach for another conference, we decided to stay one night on the Queen Mary before moving to the Convention Center hotel, since 34 years later, we could afford a nice room.

Since we were only staying one night, we chose one of the fancier suites, which was comparable in price to our room at the Convention hotel.

We got the Queen Elizabeth Suite, which was quite a large suite of rooms. There were two bedrooms, one large and elegant, the other small and humble, for one’s valet or maid. There was a foyer off the main corridor, which opened into the trunk room (!) to store one’s empty luggage, the bath, a large elegant sitting room, the big bedroom and the servant’s room. (I took a picture of the servant’s room, but only after I unpacked my suitcase and had clothes scattered all over it, so I didn’t include that photo.)

The large bedroom:

(JG has informed me, that the round items on the wall on either side of the bed and also the dressing table, are the original ventilation outlets. However, they have now been disconnected.)

The sitting room had a built-in dresser/make up table and a built-in writing desk. It was updated with a large screen TV. The original furniture was changed out to modern pieces, somewhat the worse for wear, but compatible with the original style.

The sitting room:

The large bedroom had similar built-in dressers, desks, and closets as the sitting room. Many old original light fixtures. The information guide said that these rooms were set up so that several could be connected together to make very large connecting suites of up to 10 bedrooms if desired. Hard to imagine that kind of entourage.

The bath was modern for 1930’s standards, but far from today’s norms. The old tub still had the original valves for hot and cold, fresh and salt water, but had been refitted with a modern shower valve. It was all set up in separate rooms so multiple people could use at once.

Our suite was on the west-facing or port side of the ship and was quite warm, even in October. The rooms were re-fitted with air conditioning as part of the Long Beach remodeling, but the AC didn’t work. We asked for a fan, but none were to be had. We decided that the heat was part of the experience that Clark Gable or Myrna Loy might have had, and so we sweated while pretending we were film stars of the 1930’s silver screen. Fortunately, the amusement park setup was not yet running, this would be a reason to avoid staying during mid to late October as the suite would be quite noisy with the rides running right outside.

We ordered a bottle of wine and read quietly, did not turn on the television at all, as this would spoil the cinematic mood.

The next day, we took the Steam and Steel tour, which was interesting and somewhat disappointing. I had remembered so much of the old engine room and equipment remaining, but a lot has been removed. I’m not sure when or how this was done, but I think the stories of the ship no longer being seaworthy are probably accurate since a lot of structure seems to be taken out.

The interior public rooms on the upper decks are still in good repair, but the exterior areas are suffering.

I remember being able to walk out on the side bridge walkways (not sure what these are called), but now they are boarded off, probably because the wood decks are rotten.

We had a drink in the Observation Bar, (the old First Class Lounge) which I vividly remembered for the beautiful Art Deco design and red enameled lighting. Most of this was unchanged, but again, run down and shabby feeling. There are a lot of TV’s now, like a sports bar, and a lot of loud people. No longer the quiet elegant experience I remembered. The drinks were not exceptional either.

Staying in the Queen Mary now is like staying in an 80 year hotel, it’s genteel but shabby. If you want a first class lodging experience, go elsewhere. But, if you can overlook the broken AC and the loud people in the bar, you can still hear the echo of the old days.

(I hope everyone enjoyed this tour of the Queen Mary! And a great big "THANK YOU," to JG, for sharing your photos and memories of your experience aboard the ship!)

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***Editor's Notes & Additions:***

I thought I would include some interesting "odds and ends" bits of information about the Queen Mary, here:

The Queen Mary has had a long and fascinating history, since her maiden voyage in 1936. In 1967, she was retired from service and sold to the City of Long Beach (for $3.45 million!). Unfortunately, after she arrived in Long Beach, many areas of the ship were severely altered or completely gutted and removed (as JG mentioned above, about the engine room.)

One of the areas that was altered was the Observation Bar, seen in that last photo taken by JG. This vintage image shows the Observation Bar, before an expansion that took place in 1967. Here, the seating area ends with that drapery, which was covering up a long curved wall and a row of windows.

The other side of that wall and it's row of windows can be seen here, in this photo of Walt Disney, standing on a covered walkway just outside of the bar. When the Observation Bar was expanded, that wall and those windows were removed and the interior space of the bar was bumped out, towards the row of windows seen on the far right.

If we go back and take another look at JG's photo of the bar, we can see a wooden support column on the far right. That was originally part of the back wall of the bar (behind Walt Disney). When JG took his pic, he was actually standing in what used to be the covered walkway seen above!

We'll end today with this photo from 1945, showing the Queen Mary arriving in New York Harbor. During World War II, the Queen Mary and her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, were both converted into troop transport ships and their exteriors were painted battleship grey. According to Wikipedia, the two ships were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war. Because of her new color and her speed, the Queen Mary was given the nickname, "The Grey Ghost."

And with that, I would like to wish everyone, a Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Birthday, Walt Disney!

"Lost" Lincoln / I See Dead People....

Well, I saw the new Lincoln show for the first time last week. Fellow bloggers have posted plenty of photos of the pre-show, so I'll include just a few of my own shots here. I think this part of the attraction was very well done. I really liked the pre-show film and all of the displays.

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This bust of Lincoln was created by Blaine Gibson back in 1965. Blaine Gibson sculpted most (all?) of the pirates for Pirates of the Caribbean, the Abominable Snowman for the Matterhorn, and the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse "Partners" statue in the Plaza....just to name a few pieces of his work.

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This painting is displayed on a small screen before the pre-show film starts.

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Here's a scene from the pre-show film that features Walt and Blaine Gibson. Walt is holding a copy of an actual Lincoln "life mask."

As for the actual theater show....it was wonderful hearing Paul Frees' original narration, as well as the return of Royal Dano as the voice of Lincoln. I was also glad to see that the gimmicky "surround sound" headphones had been abandoned. I thought the Lincoln figure itself was pretty incredible. All of the Audio-Animatronic figures in all of the Disney parks should be that advanced! Since photography is not allowed inside the theater, we only have this vintage pic for today.

Unfortunately, I do have to say that I found two things about the new show very disappointing. First of all, Lincoln's speech had been shortened back in the eighties and I was very surprised to see that it had not been restored this time around. This shortening of his speech occurred at the same time that the "Two Brothers" segment had been added to the show.

This leads me to my second complaint.....that addition has ALWAYS bothered me. It doesn't fit with the rest of the show. That song and those photos were borrowed from the American Adventure at EPCOT. There are even Audio-Animatronics of that family, that appear in the EPCOT show. Okay, so EPCOT was fairly new back then and they wanted to bring parts of it to Anaheim....Wonders of China was shown in the Circle Vision Theater.....Magic Journeys was even shown at night, on the Space Stage in Tomorrowland, but why did they feel the need to shoehorn this segment into the Lincoln attraction in the first place? And even more important, why has it been left in twenty five years later, when every other part of the show appears to be a return to the original version? The song is just horrible. Am I the only one that thinks this sticks out like a sore thumb? The real corker for me is the photo of the dead body at the end of the "Two Brothers" segment. I realize that this was the cold harsh reality of the Civil War, but I don't go to Disneyland to see the corpses of people that have been killed in war. If this part of the show had been left out, then perhaps Lincoln's speech could have been restored to it's original length. I would have much rather spent more time watching and listening to the Lincoln Animatronic.

As for the missing portion of Lincoln's speech, I am guessing that most people don't even notice it (just like one of the Enchanted Tiki Room songs, which was cut from that attraction years ago), but I will include the missing lines here to see if they jog anyone's memory:
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"Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in the schools, in the seminaries and in the colleges. Let it be written in primers, in spelling books and almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice. And in short, let it become the political religion of the nation. And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly at it's alters. And let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of divine providence trusting that in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security."

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The scan below shows the front and back cover of a brochure that was available in the Opera House in the nineties.

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Here is the inside of that brochure. The text on the left side shows the shortened version of Lincoln's speech. The missing portion was originally included between parts "3" and "4."

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Maybe on this attraction's next redo, Lincoln's speech can be returned to it's full and original glory. Oh, and the new song at the very end of the show is called "Golden Dream" and it is also from EPCOT's American Adventure, but since the show is over at that point, it doesn't seem to stand out quite as much as:

♪ ♫ "Two brothers on their way (repeat two more times)...one wore blue and one wore gray (repeat)....the fife and drum began to play as they marched along their way.....one was gentle one was kind (repeat)....one came home one stayed behind....a cannon ball don't pay no mind (repeat)....if your gentle or if your kind....it don't think of the folks behind.....all on a beautiful morning (repeat)." ♫ ♪

UGH! SO PAINFUL!!!!

Happy Birthday, Walt Disney!

Heritage

"I hope we don't lose sight of one thing - it was all started by a mouse." - Walt Disney

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Vision
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney
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Magic
"All it takes is faith and trust....and a little bit of pixie dust."

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These images are from postcards that were purchased last April at Tokyo Disneyland. Even though all three are marked "Tokyo Disneyland" on the back, the last postcard displays a photo from Walt Disney World (both parks have a Cinderella Castle.) I believe the second postcard might show WDW as well.

Happy Birthday, Walt!

Walt Disney Sat Here!

Today we will be visiting the Main St. Opera House at Disneyland. All of the photos from today's post were taken over the recent Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend.

Notice how The Walt Disney Story/Steve Martin film marquee is now missing from the facade of the Opera House.


Posters on either side of the doorway announce that Lincoln is coming!


Inside there is more Lincoln artwork. The sign says "Opening Later This Year - In Celebration Of His 200th Birthday," but a cast member informed us that Lincoln would be ready HOPEFULLY by the end of the year.....and if not, then hopefully by February (in time for his 201st birthday.)

The film, "Disneyland, The First 50 Magical Years" still plays inside, but on a smaller screen.

I asked the cast member if he thought this film would ever be released on DVD and he said they get plenty of requests for it and that they do pass that information on to management. I'd buy a copy!

The large glass case in the main room that had previously been covered up, now has a new display. There is a sign above it that reads, "Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow."

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Let's work our way backwards here, shall we. First let's look at "Tomorrow." A new Star Tours? That's it??? Why do I find it hard to get excited about this? Maybe it's because we've been hearing about it for years now and it should have happened already! And what about the rest of Tomorrowland.....Honey I Shrunk The Audience, Innoventions, an abandoned PeopleMover track? Need I say more?

Next we have "Today." Hey, didn't the Pooh ride open like back in 2003? Isn't it now almost 2010? And they want to BRAG about this attraction? Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through....EXCELLENT!!! And I do enjoy the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (maybe not as much as the original subs), but I don't like the way they crammed more seats into the subs. If you're 6 ft. or taller, you better just hope that they don't stick you in one of the new seats that hangs over the bottom of the stairway.....NOT FUN!

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Last up, we have "Yesterday." It's very sad looking at these photos and realizing just how many wonderful attractions have been destroyed over the years. The ones that I miss most are The Carousel of Progress, Adventure Thru Inner Space, Country Bear Jamboree, and Nature's Wonderland Mine Train. Which attractions pictured do you miss the most? Oh well, I guess we will have a new Star Tours sometime in the future....and we'll always have the newly painted swings and ferris wheel to ride across the Esplanade.

Well, I'm going to end this post with something positive! Here are a couple items that are currently on display in the foyer of the Opera House.

This first one is a bench from Griffith Park and it is THE bench that Walt Disney sat on and dreamed about a place where "parents and children could have fun together" while his daughters were riding the merry-go-round.

And here is an actual horse from that merry-go-round. It is currently on loan to Disneyland from Griffith Park.

There wasn't a plaque for this peanut cart, so I don't know if it is just there for atmosphere, or if it is the actual cart that Walt bought peanuts from back in the day. It's even filled with bags of peanuts!

Well, 2010 is almost here and that means the park will soon be celebrating it's 55th birthday. Here's to hoping that there's more in store for Disneyland in the near future than just an updated Star Tours attraction. And here's to a brand new Abraham Lincoln....one that hopefully won't require "surround sound" headphones or 3-D glasses to enjoy!