| Ghoulish Delight |
03-27-2006 09:43 AM |
Holy crap, thank you LSPE for alerting us to this!
We went on Saturday, ran into Boss Radio and wife (who we hadn't seen in close to 4 years!!) and it was an absolute treat. It was at the Egyptian, but what we didn't realize is that it was not in the main theater, rather a small theater off to the side with only 60 or so seats. Which was great, a nice intimate setting. The crowd ranged everywhere from the lady who say the slide of a 1974 park map and said, "That must be from the last 10 year" to, well, us.
Charles Phoenix, the host and collector of the slides, was an interesting character. Native Southern Californian who loves the city and Disneyland. He's definitely a fan, not a geek. His facts weren't always accurate, and he had just discovered The Nickel Tour that morning. But his love for the park and his memories was crystal clear.
And the slides were phenominal. Scavanged from yard sales, estate sales, thrift shops, family, and friends, it was a magical window into a Disneyland I never knew. And from the perspective of guests, which are always the best photos, imo.
Some highlights of the evening:
* In a short video advertising his "Disneyland tour of Downtown Los Angels", we saw the Bob Baker Marionette Theater...which gave me instant, vivid flashbacks to 1st grade where my class won a trip there in a candy sales drive! That was awesome
* In attendance...legendary Disneyland designer, Bob Gerr. He was responsible for designs of The Monorail, The Sky Buckets, Autopia cars, the Viewliner, and much more I'm sure. He was able to point out the Oldsmobile bits he used fo the Viewliner's engine design, the Ford tail lights in back, the Buick headlamp covers on the Autopia cars (made the Buick dealer's day when they went in to order 80 or so of those things), etc.
* Slides of "Freedomland USA", a short lived Disneyland ripoff (designed by ex-Disney designer Cornelius Wood, rumored to perhaps have been embezzling from Disney, or just taking too much credit for himself in choosing the orange grove location for Disneyland) in the Bronx that cost $60 million to build in 1959 (closed in 1964, not coincidentally the same year as the NY World's Fair) The Nara Dreamland of its time, eerily similar to Disneyland in design, but with some odd attraction choices...like the Chicago area that periodically caught fire, the SF area that had earthquakes, and Louissiana dark ride called "Tornado Adventure".
Once my dad's further on the road to recovery, I'm going to have to have him dig up the old slide boxes...
|
