Goofy's Sky School Ride at Disneyland, California Adventure for Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed by Don Smith at Disneyland, California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California.

Our friend Don Smith travels a lot, and sometimes he sends me some great weathervane photos from his travels.  I have featured some of those weathervanes here on Weathervane Wednesday - including what may be the highest weathervane in the world HERE on top of the Matterhorn in Switzerland. 

This two dimensional metal weathervane can be found atop the watertower at the Goofy's Sky School roller coaster inside Disney California Adventure park in Anaheim, California.  This ride used to an attraction called Mulholland Madness, but it was rethemed and reopened on 1 July 2011. It is based on a 1940 short cartoon called Goofy's Glider. The ride is full of gags from this movie and other cartoons featuring Goofy. 

If you have visited Walt Disney World in Florida you might have seen the similar ride called The Great Goofini's Barnstormer inside Fantasyland. This is a junior roller coaster for young children. 

In the 1920s and 1930s barnstormers were itinerant pilots who traveled around the country doing aerial stunts with their plans, and offering plane rides.  Did you know Charles Lindbergh started his career in the air as a barnstormer? 

This weathervane is two dimensional, and it shows a hapless Goofy flying his little plane while being chased by a lightning bolt and an ominous cloud.  The weathervane is a preview of the wild ride just beyond the watertower. 

For the truly curious:

Goofy's Sky School ride at the Disneyland website:   https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disney-california-adventure/goofys-sky-school/

Weathervanes from Switzerland with photos from Don Smith:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/09/weathervanes-in-switzerland-for.html   

Click here to see over 550 Weathervane Wednesday posts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

--------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:   Don Smith and Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Goofy's Sky School Ride at Disneyland, California Adventure for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 16, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/04/goofys-sky-school-ride-at-disneyland.html: accessed [access date]). 

Peter Pan themed weathervanes from Disneyland Paris - Weathervane Wednesday

 These two weathervanes were spotted in Fantasyland at Disneyland Paris.

These two delightful weathervanes can be seen above the ride "Peter Pan's Flight" in Fantasyland. This is the most popular ride at Disneyland Paris, which surprised me because it is a three minute family ride for all ages.  At Walt Disney World in Florida the thrill rides like Space Mountain are more popular. You can find this ride at most of the Disney parks including California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, and Shanghai.  

The two weathervanes are a pirate ship and a crocodile, which are both featured in the Peter Pan book and the Disney movie.  They are cut out of sheet metal with details similar to the animated versions in the cartoon film. The higher weathervane is the pirate ship, which can be seen from quite a distance in Fantasyland, and from near the Pirates of the Carribean ride in Adventureland.  The crocodile is more difficult to see since it is on a lower roof around the corner from the ride entrance. The crocodile is featured in the last scene of the ride.   

For the truly curious:

Peter Pan's Flight attraction at Disneyland Paris:  https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-usd/attractions/disneyland-park/peter-pans-flight/   

Peter Pan's Flight on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D4RT9hlz8Y   

Click this link to see almost 500 Weathervane Wednesday posts:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday    

---------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Peter Pan themed weathervanes from Disneyland Paris - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 13, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/06/peter-pan-themed-weathervanes-from.html: accessed [access date]).  

Aladdin and his Magic Lamp - Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervanes were photographed at Disneyland, Paris, France.

In Disneyland Paris, next to the Sleeping beauty castle, and above the entrance to Adventureland there are many weathervanes that tell the story of "Aladdin and his Magic Lamp".  We had to walk around this version of the storybook Arabic town to capture all of them as they spun in the wind.  We found six weathervanes- Aladdin on the magic carpet, a horse, a musician standing on a sword, a Phoenix, a camel over a crescent moon, and the genie emerging from the magical lamp.  Did we miss one?

All these weathervanes were two dimensional, with no cardinal points. The were all installed over various towers and domes above the twisting streets of Agrabah and it's marketplace. There was a passageway inside one building "Le Passage Enchante d'Aladdin", with whimsical dioramas behind windows that told the story from the Disney version of this tale.    

For the truly curious:

The official Disneyland Paris website in English: https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-usd/   

Le Passage Enchante d'Aladdin:  https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-usd/attractions/disneyland-park/le-passage-enchante-daladdin/  

Click this link to see over 500 weathervanes from all over the world in my "Weathervane Wednesday" posts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

------------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Aladdin and his Magic Lamp - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 31, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/05/aladdin-and-his-magic-lamp-weathervane.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tinkerbelle at the Disneyland Paris Hotel - Weathervane Wednesday

Today's weathervane was photographed above the Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland, Paris, France.

 

The Rojos had a three generation family vacation to Disneyland Paris recently.  We had a wonderful time in this park, which is much smaller than the DisneyWorld resort in Florida.  I loved that the entire park is walkable, including walking from your hotel to both of the park entrances.  While walking we were able to explore and appreciate many gardens, displays, artwork, new foods, people watching, and (you guessed it already!) weathervanes! 

This whimsical little Tinkerbell is atop the Disneyland Hotel, which straddles the entrance to the Magic Kingdom park.  In the rush to get through security, show passes and tickets, many people probably don't even notice this little weathervane.  She is two dimensional, gilded, and caught our eye in the morning sun as we approached from the Disney Village.  We couldn't tell what the tiny figure on the vane was until we were right next to the park entrance. I was amazed at the detail when I was able to blow up the image at home on the computer monitor. 

The Disneyland Hotel is currently under renovations until 2024.  It is a pink victorian style building with many turrets and an interesting roofline that mirrors the Sleeping Beauty Castle at the other end of Main Street.  

This Disney park had lots of weathervanes!  Stay tuned and I'll post more in the coming weeks for more Weathervane Wednesdays.

For the truly curious:

The official Disneyland Paris website in English:    https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-usd/  

The Disneyland Hotel in Paris:  https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-usd/hotels/disneyland-hotel/?hotel=DNYH   

Click here to see over 500 more weathervane posts!

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday     

----------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tinkerbelle at the Disneyland Paris Hotel - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 10, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/05/tinkerbelle-at-disneyland-paris-hotel.html: accessed [access date]). 

Disneyland 1973 - Photo Friday

Vincent and his Dad in front of the "Small World" ride, Disneyland 1973

Same image color corrected 

Many American and foreign families have photographs of Disneyland and Walt Disney World in their family photo albums.  I found these photos of a 1973 trip that Vincent's family did from Puerto Rico to California, including time at Disneyland.  The photos are very faded, but still show what fun they had while they were there.  You can also see how much Disneyland has changed!  I used the color correcting application at My Heritage to change a few photos.  This colorization brings out the details in the old, faded, yellowed photos. 

Another color corrected photo

Seen on the Jungle Cruise

Vincent's Dad on Main Street, USA

Somewhere on Main Street, Disneyland

On the way to Los Angeles, California

Everyone used to dress up to fly in those days!

"Vlo. Delta a Los Angeles, Mayo 25, 1973  SJU/LAX"

"Park Vine Motel, Los Angeles, Mayo 1973"

Vincent in Los Angeles, 1973

This one looks great color corrected!

Another postcard tucked into the family photo album

---------------------------

Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Disneyland 1973 - Photo Friday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 18, 1973, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/12/disneyland-1973-photo-friday.html: accessed [access date]).