****** WARNING ***** Today’s post contains 10 graphic images of the Pirate’s ship removal. These were graciously donated by Progressland. “Heartbreaking” is how they were described and it’s an accurate description.
First, for happiness and reference, let’s looks at two photos from the good old days. December 29th, 1956, from Major’s site “Gorillas Don’t Blog”. She looks brand new still!
From Dave over at “Daveland Blog” This image with the Sails unfurled is from April 1958. Hey Dave, that slide looks familiar :-)
* BEFORE YOU SCROLL DOWN READ THIS WARNING *
>>>>> If you are a hardcore Pirate ship fan, you may find the images below disturbing. Continue at your own risk. <<<<<
These appear to be from Late August / Early September 1982. Enjoy or ?
Ok, now just to get everyone back into the retro vintage grove, here is a placemat from a much brighter day on the Chicken of the Sea. Date unknown, anyone want to guess? Anyone want to guess what caused that stain on the lower left corner? Tuna I bet!
Well, that was interesting! Tomorrow we’ll head back to 1983 for a complete Disneyland Guide post, and maybe a visit to Knott’s too!
10 comments:
Fantastic post! So am I correct in assuming that the back end of the ship was salvaged? Wish I could have saved one of those porthole windows! Most of all, even more than the ship, I miss the Skull Rock Cove area.
These pictures are extraordinary. Absolutely fantastic. WOW what a shame, but thats progress.
P.S. The Main St station photo resto is coming along very nicely. Because I want to make it as perfect as possible, it is taking a little longer than expected. But never the less a lot of fun to do.
Hi Dave! I heard the back end part was unsed in the updated (1983) Peter pan ride? I've never looked that close so I don't know? Progressland might know....
I would have a field day in the pile of trash, port holes, ropes anything, I'd take it all!
Thanks Viewliner, can't wait to see the finished photo work :-)
These are definitely amazing photos. Sad, but amazing!
This is what Disney A-Z has to say about that piece from the stern of the ship: "To partially appease some of the Disneyana buffs, the Imagineers did try to save some elements of the ship, by carefully prying elaborate plaster work off the stern of the ship and placing it in a truck. Unfortunately, when the truck hit a bump, the plasterwork fell over and broke into a thousand pieces."
Some rigging, lanterns and other props from the pirate ship were put in the new Peter Pan's Flight.
i cant beleive that they tore that down like that!! they could have sold it or moved it or something,i sure do miss those tuna sandwiches when i was a kid! it was a ritual to get one everytime we went to disneyland!! what a bummer! this is the first i heard of this,i,m in shock!!
It's really sad to see it go. I spent a lot of time on that ship. I saw a couple of pictures on DaveLandBlog and found pictures of the inside. One of the two ladies behind the counter (in the red blouse on the right) was my grandmother. She managed the restaurant from the early 1960's until 1975. I ate a LOT of tuna sandwiches in that place. I want to say Thanks to everyone who had pictures and to DaveLandBlog for posting them. It meant so much for me to see her again!!!!!
“They tried to save the intricate, hand-carved plaster details. The plan was to carefully remove them, but the back panel was shattered when the truck hit a bump. They discovered they were built in place and therefore incredibly delicate.”
Excerpt From: Sam Gennawey. “The Disneyland Story.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/jNDHR.l
I have 3 photos of my wife and siblings posed on the dock in front of the ship, identical poses -1958/68 and 78. Fun to see the subtle differences.
The tail end of the ship was placed on the truck's lift gate and the lift gate broke. It shattered into pieces. It was a horrible sound. I worked at Pirate Ship 1979 until the day it closed. Husband was the driver of the truck who was supposed to move out the tail end of the ship.
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