WDW Scrapbook – 13 (the end)

Merry Crimble!! Here’s the last of my Walt Disney World scrapbook from 1975.

First up… the POLYNESIAN VILLAGE

This cute little collage gal dancer probably now has umpteen grandchildren.

Next, it’s TOMORROWLAND!

G.E. ??? That was a while ago!

Extra stuff – These were found on the back of some of the other postcards.

Thanks for stopping in!

WDW Scrapbook – 12

Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me!  Today we visit one of my ab-fab attractions, the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. As a kid growing up in Michigan, I always wanted to visit Disneyland, but I never got there when it opened in 1955. My family did, however, visit California in 1967. Okay, so I missed the opening by a dozen years, but fortunately I was there when the Pirates ride first opened in California. (It didn’t open in WDW until 1973.) Years later, I had the pleasure of actually working on the ride at a Disney Christmas party, so I got to don a pirate outfit and wander around the attraction with a cast member. (I remember crossing a bridge, and someone in a passing boat looked at me and commented that I looked very realistic. Hah!) So draw your cutlass and join me as we plunder this Spanish town!

Yes, the wine guzzling skeletons are fun, but the real attraction here is Marc Davis’ paining of a red-haired pirate wench in the background. Supposedly, the original hung there for years, but was eventually removed and replaced with a copy.

This is an interesting old postcard. Woo-woo! Originally, the horny pirates chased woman around the set, looking for a ‘good time.’ Eventually there were complaints of sexism. So the Disney Imagineers changed the attraction so that the pirates now chase women who are carrying  platters of food. Yeah, that makes sense!

I’m not sure this set-up still exists. As many of you know, the ride was altered after the Pirates films came out, and Johnny Depp’s ‘Jack Sparrow’ character was placed in different areas of the ride. I seem to remember Sparrow sitting inside this alcove on a throne. (see art below).

Is it just me, or does this dude’s hairy legs and face not really match his hair color?

Revisionist history: This was the original Auction sequence, where ladies were gathered up like livestock and auctioned off the richest pirate. Naturally, this practice came under social scrutiny, and the scene has since been altered. Now the red-haired hottie (Redd) is the gun-toting auctioneer, selling off a supply of rum she pillaged from the village. Sanitized rum to go with the sanitized history, no doubt.

I realize that this is supposed to be a Walt Disney World scrapbook, but since this ride is almost an exact replica of the Disneyland version, I feel it’s alright to include this original D/L flyer. Note: PotC was an “E” coupon back in 1967. (Remember those coupons???) Adults were 75 cents, and kids were only 65 pennies.

All right, I admit it… this is an article from a 1967 Life magazine about the Disneyland attraction. But I still thought you’d get a kick out of it.

Yeah, pirates chasing women is very wrong… but drowning the mayor is totally fine.

All right, just one more addition to this blog, and I’ll be finished with WDW. Check back soon!

MAN from U.N.C.L.E. – 3

I don’t really have anything of substance to add here other than some scans I did months ago.

WDW Scrapbook – 11

OK, here’s the Country Bear Jamboree. This attraction is still as WDW, but it closed at Disneyland in 2001. Enjoy this furry feature!

This here is hairy host Henry Bear. He (and Mooshead Max) are voiced by my friend Pete Renoudet. Pete played Mickey Mouse on several of my records. 

Yee-haw!  Take care now, y’hear?

WDW Scrapbook – 10

A short post today. Just off the Rivers of America is the HAUNTED MANSION. Boogie-boogie-boogie.

This was from a Life magazine article, methinks.

That’s all for today, kiddies. Country Bear Jamboree is next!