Who can identify where this was taken?

[zackiedawg]

Here's a quiz for the Disney experts around here! I dug up an old photo I took of my mother from 1980, taken somewhere in Disney World. I cannot seem to place exactly what bridge she is standing on, or where I am standing to take the photo:

Can anyone figure out both locations, down to the yard? Exacly where am I standing, and exactly where is she standing?

I suspect Magic Kingdom, but cannot quite figure it out!

 

[AUBandPilot]

I might guess Discovery Island in the middle of Bay Lake.

 

[Roger]

My guess would be the bridge to the Swiss Family Treehouse (original?); taken from Adventureland.

 

[Dan]

My guess is somewhere in River Country. Or else somewhere in Tom Sawyer's Island. But that's hardly "down to the yard".. they're just rough guesses based on the look of the scene. I was going to say that my memory of Disney World circa 1980 isn't too good.. but no, I don't have a memory of it from that time at all, I can't have been there at all until well after then.
I'm just making my guesses, so that when this mystery is solved I can find out if I was right or not.

 

[zackiedawg]

Hmmm. I don't think it's Discovery - though I could be wrong. I can't recall any area in Discovery with an inland pond - the walkways mostly wound along the perimeter of Bay lake, then in under the tree canopy.

Swiss Family Treehouse is a possibility in my mind...something about the foliage and what I assume to be a fake goose/swan thing (if it isn't fake, my god it's huge!) remind me of Adventureland.

River Country - that's also a possibility to me...I do remember around River Country there were bridges/walkways through the mangroves. But for some reason, like Discovery Island, I can't picture anyplace that would have looked so much like a pond. Tom Sawyer Island is a possibility - but I can't think of where on the island this would be!

Appreciate all the guesses. I'm embarrassed that I can't think of it - I've been going to Disney World since 1971, so I should know this stuff! Hopefully there are some other long-time Disney vets here who might be able to come up with it, or confirm one of the above guesses!

 

[zackiedawg]

AUBandPilot - You were right! While pulling down some slide reels, I had the chance to go through and happened upon a series of pictures of Discovery Island from 1984. One of the pictures in particular seems to confirm that the first pic above from 1980 was in the same location:

There are those same huge goose/swan things - and they weren't fake after all! And in the background, part of the bridge/walkway has the same type of design.

Funny, being a Disney regular I thought I'd remember everything - but these two photos, and some of the others I had from there, showed me that I really don't remember much about Discovery Island. In one pic, there was a Disney staffer with Macaws sitting on barrels, and we were walking through and letting the Macaws get on our shoulders...I don't even remember that! And a big flamingo pond too. Too bad - it looked like alot of fun, and I wish they'd reopen it...but from what I hear, the years of disrepair and the hurricane damage have made it unrecoverable and taken over my birds and bugs.

Anyway...sorry to disagree with you - you were right after all!