standbyme

Good morning everyone! Once again, I appreciate the feedback. It does make a difference to me that I can see who is enjoying these photos. Today is another shot from the tower. When the antique cars were still there I never failed to take a picture of that area when I was up in the tower. It was a close tie of my favorite area to look down upon…that and of course the fountain area. It was fun watching the cars go along the track from up there…plus all that glorious grass & those wonderful trees! 1974 2011 Today, it doesn’t get much “colder” than this area of the park. It is like night and day compared to its previous self. I miss the antique cars SO much…but at least I have my memories. As for where I would rather be standing in today’s photos…need I answer?!! P.S. As I mentioned in my 1st post...I will be skipping posting these on the weekends...so my next one SHOULD be on Monday. Once again, Hendrick was kind enough to put these 2 photos together!

You really are an observent individual. I noticed that the photos seem to have been taken over a period of time...which I thought was odd for a fluff piece like this. If you look at the 2 photos of the shop on International Street (that are on the same page no less) you will see that the tree has leaves in one, not the other...and no shutters in one... As for your observation...it has to be during construction because if you look to the right you will also see that all of the light poles are without their lights...PLUS I lightned up the photo...that IS a bunch of cars parked in front of the tower, isn't it?

By the way, isn't this an amazing train wreck of an outfit?! What was the person smoking who designed this monstrosity? It's like the person was going out of their way to make the women look as stupid as possible...and which part of the outfit is the most ludicrous, the hat, the cape, the boots...or that anyone would be seen in public in it?!

I recently purchased this magazine from 1973...and I probably should have saved it for later in the offseason...but I enjoyed reading it so much I thought that I would just go ahead and share it now. Besides the photos it has some interesting facts...such as how long the people in the costumes could last in the heat...and that parking was 50 cents a car! Enjoy!

Hendrick came through again! http://localhostr.com/files/XnWYeVZ/birdsc.jpg This is how these photos really come to life. Thanks again Hendrick!

Thank you to everyone who responded…it does mean a lot to me, sincerely. (Although some of the responses are SO hopeful they almost scare me…I hope that the pictures don’t eventually let some of you down.) As I mentioned, quite a few of them are the “same old, same old”…at least that’s the way I see them. PLEASE do keep in mind that I have not posted the 1974 photos before…so even if the 2011 shot is “boring”…at least you have an unseen old shot to look at….which leads me to today’s photos! This is a shot of one of the island’s in Lion Country Safari. TombraiderTy’s Lion Country Safari thread was a great assist with some of these photos! As Ty pointed out, the islands were supposed to look like a monkey’s face…this would be a shot of the “right eye” island. (I hope.) This was a tough one. I went through several old shots and attempted to match the park benches in the background and the type of tree that is on this island. There is room for error with this shot...but I THINK I got it right...what say you Ty? 1974 2011 And today here we stand outside of the line for Congo Falls. About the only thing that looks somewhat the same (to me) is that you can still see an embankment in the background. Thanks to Hendrick: As for where I would rather be standing…1974 or 2011, today I choose 2011. As much as the island is interesting, I love Congo Falls SO much I would give up looking at the turtles & birds in a heartbeat…plus it doesn’t look like they themselves are probably having a great time being confined to that little area all the time. I hope it does, I have been counting on it!

Thanks everyone for the responses! (And Ty, I fixed my mistake...thanks for being my editor!) I also just wanted to say thanks to Hendrick for making a "fade" of the 2 photos! http://localhostr.co...2e/aerialb2.gif

Way back in April I teased that I had purchased a set of photos of the park from 1974. (Random Photo Thread) A lot of the photos are the “same old, same old”…it’s amusing to me that I have seen several different sets of photos that people have taken at the park over the years and it seems like you can count on quite a few people taking the same exact shots. (I wish I could run across someone who liked to take more pictures of the rides back then! ) Anyway, as I was scanning these photos and looking at them I kept thinking to myself just how much the park has changed. (duh) I was also just as amazed of how many of the things that existed all those years ago are still there. This got me thinking…what would these photos look like today if I were standing in the same spot as the person who took them 37 years ago. (Light bulb goes off in head!) I decided to see if I could recreate each of the photos that I had. I could tell that MOST of them would be easy…especially whenever I could use the Eiffel Tower in the background as a point of reference. There were 3 photos that I knew would be impossible for me to recreate…these were taken from The Lion Country Safari monorail. I shared those in TombraiderTy’s (excellent) “Lion Country Safari Spotlight” thread. Due to the fact that EVERYTHING has changed in some of the photos, it became a challenge to figure out exactly where the original photographer would have been standing. (Especially in the Lion Country Safari shots.) To figure this out I poured through old park photos that I have saved up over the years to try and pinpoint each location. As I stated, the Lion Country ones were the toughest…here is how I went about figuring out where to stand to take the new photo: If, after looking at the original photo there was no current visible landmark I would figure out from an old aerial photo of that area where the person was standing when they took the photo….then I would find an exact aerial of the photo of that area today. (Once again, it’s amazing how so many people take the same exact shots year after year.) I would then size match the 2 photos, then layer them, and then make the current photo almost invisible and mark where the person would have been standing and in what direction the camera would have been aimed. After making the top layer visible again I would then be able to see a current landmark to go by. Here is an example of my work in progress: After I had done all of my research, “all” I had to do was take the new photos when I went to the park. In order to do this I came armed with both the copies of my 1974 photos and also my “work” photos of where to stand to get the same shot. In the past I remember a park employee posting on here that security is watching guests a lot more than they think they are. If that truly is the case I would say that the park’s security was not on their toes the day I was taking these photos! I KNOW I had to have looked suspicious while I was completing my mission. I would stop in front of something, start looking at my photos, every now and then holding one up to make sure I was getting everything I needed in the shot. I would then take several shots at varying angles just in case. THEN, since I didn’t want to have to remember if I had or hadn’t taken a certain picture I would walk over to the nearest trash can and throw away any of the photos connected with the one that I had just taken. Tell me this whole scenario wouldn’t have seemed suspicious! I am very proud of how well some of these photos turned out…as you will see some of them are almost an exact match. There are 31 photos in the series. I would say that with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 I really am within’ 3 feet of where the original photo was taken. There is room for error on some of the shots…even though I could pinpoint where to stand…in some of the photos where there was no remaining landmark from 1974 I had to make my “best guess” on the direction of the photo…where even tilting the camera a few inches gives you a different photo altogether. (I will point out the couple of times when this came up.) I PLAN on posting one comparison shot set a day. (Not counting weekends.) BUT, there are 2 conditions! #1. If you feel that I have made an error by all means point it out. (Even though I THINK I have done my homework I do not for one second feel that I am infallible.) BUT if you do think/know that I have made a mistake…PLEASE point it out in a NICE way. And #2, which is a BIG condition! (And some may say selfish.) When I started this project I was excited about sharing these with this community…I must admit that that excitement level has dropped CONSIDERABLY since then…so much that I was REALLY close to bypassing posting them here and just sharing these photos directly to a select few. The reason I say this is because SO many of the viewer’s remind me of that old line from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”…”Here we are now, entertain us”. Many members seem to have lost what made this site so special “back in the day”…courtesy to their fellow members. Over the last year I have seen a disgusting lack of consideration for the posters who have went to a lot of effort to put together either special features or trip reports. These posters spent quite a bit of time putting these together for our benefit and what do they usually get out of it, almost nothing. (I long ago gave up making trip reports.) Here are screen-grabs from the latest trip reports: Look at the difference between the views and the replies! Those numbers just scream inconsiderate…or lazy…take your pick. If a member has the time to punch on a topic, that member should also have enough time to post a simple “Thanks”…or at the VERY least hit the “Like” button to show that the author’s effort was appreciated. SO, here’s where I stand…after spending a nice sum of money to purchase these original photos, then spending time scanning them, digging up old research photos, using a few hours of my (limited) time at the park to take the new shots…and finally putting this whole thing together…J.D. (that’s me) is NOT playing the “Here we are now, entertain us” game. For all of the above reasons I feel like I should be able to rate a little consideration and know that my efforts were not in vain. I DEMAND interaction…and here is how it will work. I will keep posting a new set of photos each day as long as I get a certain amount of either comments OR “Likes” each day. (And just like the park won’t disclose the maximum amount of Fast Lane passes it will sell…I won’t say what my minimum is…but it’s not much.) I am NOT asking for, nor do I want any condescending “Oh this is just the greatest thing ever…” type comments. I am simply looking for a little proof that someone is out there enjoying my work…or else why do I need to bother to keep posting them? I would be happiest to see a little interaction with comments about how someone feels about the changes in the park…but I will settle for a simple click of the Like button. So…will all that said and done…here are today’s shots: 1974 I STILL miss the tunnel walkway…it is one of the few things that I can still remember from my first trip to the park way back in the 70’s. 2011 I thought it was amazing how many structures had survived after all these years. As I looked at each set of photos I would sit back and think…where would I rather be standing…back in 1974 or 2011. With this set of pictures it was pretty easy. 1974 wins easily, to me the area looks serene…and a more consistent theme throughout the area. I HOPE that everyone enjoys the (hopefully) upcoming photos…and just like the Son of Beast posts…I am going to beat this horse one last time: P.S. Looking at a lot of these photos as a "fade in, fade out" type of slide show was (in my opinion) neat...some of the photos are so close you can see key structures change before your eyes. I TRIED to come up with a way also throw on a slide show version but I couldn't figure that out...so if someone else knows how feel free. EDIT: Hendrick was nice enough to slideshow these photos for me/us! Thanks!!!

I hope you specifically mean material goods. Oh joy.

It would be too much to hope for that The Racer would be painted back to it's Red , White & Blue colors for the 40th Anniversary of the park.

Instead of cycles...I would say it's in circles. P.S. You made me have to look at your profile...I looked at your name, then your post count and wondered how I could have missed this Dwight_Schrute guy's posts all this time.

How can I miss you if you won't go away.

That is THE main things that I feel that we have lost around here, courtesy*. If I believed in signatures this would be mine! There used to be a feeling of comradery around here...but that has been QUITE a while ago. *Which coincidentally is a subject that I have included in a forthcoming post I have ween working on for a few months.

I recently saw an interview with Bill Clinton. When asked what was one of the problems he thought that has caused our current economic situation, he replied something to the affect of: The definition of what a corporation is has changed within' the last 15 years. It used to be that a corporation had an EQUAL moral obligation to it's shareholders, it's employees & it's customers...now, it's the shareholders here, (He lifted his one hand high in the air.) and the employees & the customers are here. (His other hand was down really low.) I couldn't have agreed more with him...and I would have agreed with any politician who made this statement no matter what their party affiliation.

You're just asking for The Interpreter to pop in!

$30.00 Fright Lane passes, $5.00 Trick-Or-Treating...there is no doubt that they got more money out of my family on our Halloween trip...but in the end, possibly one less trip next year it will all balance out with us in the end.

Glad to hear she is out of intensive care!

On a Friday I don't think it's usually even possible to wait 1 1/2 hours...the only exception would be Tombstone Territory. As for Saturdays I think it is EASILY a minimum wait of an hour for a lot of The Haunts. I would think that Tombstone Territory on a Saturday night could be a 2 hour wait...but I don't know about 3. As I have mentioned I broke down and did the Fright Lane passes on the Saturday night that I was there...so I can not testify to the actual wait times THIS year...but as for last year on Saturday I can say that each Haunt I stood in line for AVERAGED an hour wait...so the 2-3 hour cumulative would be a low figure. I am NOT counting when it gets to be around midnight when the crowds have thinned down dramatically because even though someone could hit quite a few Haunts between 12-1, the Haunts are weak by then. (Less scareactors & energy in the one's that are still there.) The longest I have ever waited for a Haunt was Route 666....which was about 2 hours...and we were in line about an hour before it opened...I can't even imagine how long of a wait it was for the people who got in line when it actually opened!

If you mean that a lot more guests have left their manners at home, then yes I have noticed this more and more over the last couple of years. I have heard the "F Bomb" more and more. The worst example was this summer while standing at the water cannons at White Water Canyon a guest in the raft gave the employee in the shack the finger and yelled "F*ck You!" It really ruins the family mood when you have to explain the whole "Yes, that's a bad word...no they shouldn't have said it..." to your little ones. I don't really know the answer to this problem...I wish I did.

I'm not sure if I were a member of your family if this quote would thrill me.

That's also what i've thought would be The Crypt's fate for the last couple of years. So...chances are we're all 3 right!

Thanks for the trip report...I never get tired of looking at Halloween stuff!

I agree 100%. I still find it odd that I live in Illinois, only go to the park a few times a year...and yet when I go there I have people call me out by name. (It makes it seem more like home! ) I also hope the park is willing to let us see some of the construction...or possibly some deconstruction this off season!

A strong noose gives me the creeps...no one could ever get me to put one around my neck even if I were standing on the ground...I have too good of an imagination of what could even remotely happen. Here is a news story from about 2 weeks ago...truly tragic: http://www.portorchardindependent.com/news/132840108.html

That's also what i've thought would be The Crypt's fate for the last couple of years.