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thymeandplace
10-12-2009, 06:31 PM
On my last trip to Disneyland while I was talking to a CM due to Big Thunder being broken down and Fantasmic, thus being practically stuck in Frontierland with nothing to do, she gave me a short tour of the back, creepy part of Frontierland.

Back there is a little lagoon on the other side of a fence and some grass with a mine shaft that's been boarded up but you can still see something in there. It's the remnants of the ride that existed before Big Thunder, and some parts of it still work. The bear snoring works and you can hear it if you stand there for long enough (it's typically quiet there even during the day because there isn't much there) and you can see the light effects in the shaft/cave, as well as the mechanical fish still pop out of there on occassion.

Just something nostalgic that I just now remembered.

TowerofTerror
10-12-2009, 07:05 PM
wow thats awesome is the area she took was it right next to the restroom next to village haus restaurant and say castmembers only

Rufus T Firefly
10-12-2009, 07:30 PM
On my last trip to Disneyland while I was talking to a CM due to Big Thunder being broken down and Fantasmic, thus being practically stuck in Frontierland with nothing to do, she gave me a short tour of the back, creepy part of Frontierland.

Back there is a little lagoon on the other side of a fence and some grass with a mine shaft that's been boarded up but you can still see something in there. It's the remnants of the ride that existed before Big Thunder, and some parts of it still work. The bear snoring works and you can hear it if you stand there for long enough (it's typically quiet there even during the day because there isn't much there) and you can see the light effects in the shaft/cave, as well as the mechanical fish still pop out of there on occassion.

Just something nostalgic that I just now remembered.

Did you also notice the crawfish and the turtles in the pond? (They're real)

oregontraveler
10-12-2009, 07:46 PM
wow thats awesome is the area she took was it right next to the restroom next to village haus restaurant and say castmembers only

This is the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland (replaced by BTMR)
There is one tunnel left which is across from the ride exit towards the Big Thunder Ranch. I'm assuming the area right behind or next to the restrooms
is just backstage access. But overall, that entire area at one time was the
Mine Train and Rainbow Ridge Pack Mules trail. Also, there is an old Mine
Train that you can see from the Mark Twain along the river's edge.

Bob Weaver
10-12-2009, 08:06 PM
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad uses only a portion of the real estate that Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland used. It was a superb attraction that they never should have discontinued. You can read my lengthy, detailed description of the Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland, and view many photos of it, at this page:

http://davelandweb.com/nw

Phil Johnson
10-12-2009, 11:34 PM
That's amazing that some of the stuff is still working. I can see it still being there, but why keep it turned on?

Malcon10t
10-13-2009, 07:27 AM
That's amazing that some of the stuff is still working. I can see it still being there, but why keep it turned on?Generally, it is hooked to a specific area, and when that area is live, then it is too. Probably, no on has simply disconnected it from the rest of the system. It is interesting how they keep and reuse a lot of the older items.

thymeandplace
10-13-2009, 07:36 AM
The CM who talked to me about it told me that it was on a different energy loop, but that they keep it on as a nod to Nature's Wonderland. Almost in the same way as the Country Bears in Winnie the Pooh (which I still haven't seen)

DizneyMommy
10-13-2009, 12:58 PM
On my last trip to Disneyland while I was talking to a CM due to Big Thunder being broken down and Fantasmic, thus being practically stuck in Frontierland with nothing to do, she gave me a short tour of the back, creepy part of Frontierland.

Back there is a little lagoon on the other side of a fence and some grass with a mine shaft that's been boarded up but you can still see something in there. It's the remnants of the ride that existed before Big Thunder, and some parts of it still work. The bear snoring works and you can hear it if you stand there for long enough (it's typically quiet there even during the day because there isn't much there) and you can see the light effects in the shaft/cave, as well as the mechanical fish still pop out of there on occassion.

Just something nostalgic that I just now remembered.

Wait, I'm confused, was this backstage or can anyone see it? I can't even picture where you are talking about...

CariBelle
10-13-2009, 01:20 PM
Wait, I'm confused, was this backstage or can anyone see it? I can't even picture where you are talking about...

If you walk the path from Fantasyland to Frontierland, it's on your right after you past the Celebration BBQ.

Bob Weaver
10-13-2009, 08:21 PM
http://www.keeline.com/MineTrain/BearRiver/BearRiverToday2.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/227/465476215_b48ad09733.jpg

It's heartbreaking to see these today because these are the remants of one of Disneyland's greatest attractions. The Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland ran through a 7-acre area of Frontierland from 1956 to 1959 as the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train and then from 1960 to January 1977 as the Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland. An unforgettable attraction with great scenery. The tunnel shown here was one of the tunnels the train went through, and it went on this bridge over the "Bear River" scene, with animatronic bears standing in the water and fish jumping from the water. This part scared me because as a kid when the train went on this bridge, you couldn't see the bridge, you could only see the water and it seemed really high up. I was always greatly relieved when the train left the bridge and went back on solid ground. Other scenes along the ride were the impressive Cascade Peak with its many waterfalls, the Living Desert with bubbling mud pots and geysers, Balancing Rock Canyon and the awesome Rainbow Caverns, a fluorescent wonderland of colored geysers, waterfalls, pools and channels of color, all of it illuminated only by black lights. That was demolished between 1977 and 1979 in one of the stupidest decisions ever made by the park. Big Thunder Mt. Railroad now occupies some of the space of it. Cascade Peak lasted all the way to 1998 when it was finally bulldozed.

Phil Johnson
10-14-2009, 07:02 AM
Ah, ok... I know where those are. And I have heard the snoring. :) I think they make for nice little scenery in a spot that would be just trees otherwise. I knew about the ride, of course, but never had a chance to go on it. And I never made the connection that those were part of it, though I suspected it was connected to an old attraction of some sort.

Bob Weaver
10-14-2009, 07:12 AM
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/58875020_cc17860c52.jpg

The row of storefronts behind the loading area for Big Thunder are the original storefronts from "Rainbow Ridge," the little town where the Mine Train started and ended. They are still sitting where they originally sat, they were not moved when Big Thunder was built. The loading area was the same as it is for Big Thunder, but the train track was closer to the stores. Many of the little stores had recorded sounds, the hotel had a snoring sound, the dentist office had dentist sounds and I think a different guy snoring, and there were some other soundtracks. They didn't play very often and you never heard more than one at a time. It might have happened that you stood in line and never heard any of the sounds. I think the snoring from the hotel was the most frequent one. The wait for the train was never very long as each train could hold 74 guests and trains arrived every few minutes. The pack mules that you could ride on also walked in front of the storefronts as part of their path. I have seen videos on Youtube of some mock gun battles that were staged in front of the stores, with at least one person running up the hill, but I never got to see one of those in person. Some people think that the colored gesyers and things you see on the left when you are going up the first lift on Big Thunder are part of the Rainbow Caverns from the Mine Train but they are not. The original Rainbow Caverns was housed in a large building that sat approximately where most of Big Thunder is but the track was entirely flat for the Mine Train through the caverns and the waterfalls, geysers and pools in the original Rainbow Caverns were entirely lit by blacklights and the water was fluorescent in 6 colors. There were 6 separate plumbing systems, one for each color. There were no colored lights or spotlights, it was all done with blacklights. It was designed by the famous Imagineer Claude Coats. Although only one color is seen in the photo below, there were 6 colors of fluorescent water and they often intertwined, with channels of color running next to each other, even passing underneath the train tracks at some points.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/danolson/HM%202/aaaa-8.jpg

KarenW2
10-14-2009, 12:03 PM
The mine train ride was one of my most favorite of all, when I was growing up, going to Disneyland. I always loved going into the cave pictured above and hearing the organ music. It was always nice, cool and relaxing, especially on a hot day.

I never got to ride the burros, since my mother wouldn't let me and I was very young. She thought they were stinky animals, but I didn't care. I thought it would've been fun to ride them. Oh well.

cynthia312
10-14-2009, 08:19 PM
Thanks for the Disneyland history 101. =) I always love to broaden up my Disneyland knowledge. Next time I'm there, I'll remember to check it out. (especially the snoring part...sounds interesting and eerie at the same time!)

Ish68
10-14-2009, 10:25 PM
some of those props still work because they occasionally work on them to keep some of those little effects running.

As a matter of fact there is talks of going back in at a later rehab of the area and get other little things working that have not worked for a while.

the tunnel was reconstructed and refurbished not to long ago.

Hannahbelle
10-15-2009, 03:52 PM
Cool thread. Thanks everyone, I enjoyed reading that.
Can someone answer me this?
Why did I see (About 15 years ago) while riding the train around the park, between NOS and Toon Town, the top of the Columbia on the LEFT of the RR tracks? So coming from NOS the ROA are on the right.
It was twilight out and I could see the lights on the top of the boat like they were getting ready for Fantasmic. How did the boat get over there?

Kuzcofan
10-16-2009, 01:16 PM
That isnt Columbia. That is the top of a ship in the port of New orleans. It actually is just a ship mast that is above the building tops to look like a ship porting in NOS. If you stand by ROA and look over the buildings you can see it, it is kind of like a "hidden mickey" type of thing.

I think that is what you are talking about, but I do not believe it was there 15 years ago though, I think what I am talking about has only been there a year or two.

Hannahbelle
10-16-2009, 01:42 PM
It was in the back lot area though. It wasn't near any buildings. It was after you leave NOS station and before you see the BBQ area.

DaDuckFan1955
10-21-2009, 03:46 PM
The CM who talked to me about it told me that it was on a different energy loop, but that they keep it on as a nod to Nature's Wonderland. Almost in the same way as the Country Bears in Winnie the Pooh (which I still haven't seen)

Here are a couple of pics of them

http://daduckfan1955.smugmug.com/Theme-Park-Disneyland-December/Disneyland-Dec-2007-Country/4056879_kDvrj#236249707_iFYSc