Wednesday, September 30, 2009

YesterEars

YesterEars was a shop on Pleasure Island. According to the Directory below "A nostalgic mix of Disney products includes character merchandise reproductions of the 30's and 40's". I remember the first time I went into this store right after it opened in 1989 and was so excited by the merchandise because it was so different from the stuff that one normally found. I never purchased as much as I would have liked, but I did buy the five black & white characters pictured below.


July 1990 Pleasure Island and Disney Village Marketplace Directory.

YesterEars during the day.
YesterEars at night.


Daisy, Donald, Mickey, Minnie, & Scrooge from YesterEars.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Columbia Harbour House

The Columbia Harbour House is a nice quick service restaurant in Liberty Square. They serve chicken and fish baskets. The interior is decorated in a nautical motif. This is usually a slightly less busy restaurant than many others. This may be due to its unimposing facade and small entrances. Often times a host of hostess will be posted out front to draw people in.




Looking out the window in the second floor dining area.




Monday, September 28, 2009

Keystone Clothiers

One of the many facades that make up the Keystone Clothiers shop on Hollywood Boulevard is this Streamline Moderne gem. This facade like the others on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards were inspired by real buildings in Los Angeles. See the inspiration for this one
here http://placestogobuildingstosee.blogspot.com/2009/09/jullian-medical-building-hollywood.html.




Sunday, September 27, 2009

Gran Fiesta Tour

To talk about the Gran Fiesta Tour one must begin with the original attraction in this location, El Rio Del Tiempo (The River Of Time). El Rio Del Tiempo took us through the history of Mexico into modern times. The ride was part history, part travelogue, part kid's ride. Kind of a combination of If You Had Wings and It's A Small World. The Gran Fiesta Tour is essentially the same attraction with minor modifications adding Panchito, Jose Carioca, and Donald Duck from The Three Caballeros into the scenes.


Approaching the entrance across the Plaza De Los Amigos.


Entrance sign.


In the queue.


In the queue.


In the queue approaching the dock.


An ancient temple rises along the banks of the river.


Entering the temple.


There's a Fiesta today.

Asia

I think Asia may be the most beautiful "land" at the Animal Kingdom. Of course, it wasn't always so. When the park first opened there was virtually nothing there.


Entrance to Asia from Safari Village.


Views along Discovery River.




Shrines.
Idol.
View from Expedition Everest.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Grand Canyon Concourse Mural

The beautiful Mary Blair murals in the Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary Resort. I love these murals and I would hate to see them ever go away but they really don't fit into the overall theme of the Contemporary anymore (though neither does that new shop you can catch a glimpse of in the last picture). The mural covers the sides of the elevator shaft rising through the middle of the Concourse.



Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Golden Girls House

The beige Hawaiian style house on your left was the home for seven seasons of the Emmy Award winning Golden Girls.

The Golden Girls house was on the Residential Street portion of the Backstage Studio Tour back in the days when the Studio was at least occasionally was utilized for film and television production. The show was never actually filmed here. I worked at the Disney-MGM Studios from 1993 to 1996 and these shots (and many other Residential Street pictures) were taken one morning before the park opened. This area is now long gone and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is now located here.






Wednesday, September 23, 2009