Fun Find Friday
January 29, 2016
Location: Trader Sam's Grog
Grotto and Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar
In 1991, Disney released an
action packed film under their Touchstone label
known as The Rocketeer. The film follows Cliff
Secord, a pilot, who discovers a rocket pack at
the airfield and uses it to rescue a fellow
pilot. He eventually reveals his alter ego to
his girlfriend, Jenny Blake, but unfortunately
Neville Sinclair, a big time actor and
undercover Nazi, overhears the plans and decides
to try and woo Jenny by taking her to the South
Seas Club.
So how does this all connect to
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto? We'll get there.
First, a little bit of history. Since The
Rocketeer was released in 1991, shortly after
Disney-MGM Studios opened up in Walt Disney
World, Several of the props made their way over
to the park at the Studio Backlot Tour. In
addition to the props, a few references to the
film could be found near Hollywood and Vine (at
Peevy's Polar Pipeline) and in front of The
Great Movie Ride (where The Rocketeer's
footprints still stand today).
When the Studio Backlot Tour
closed in 2014, many of the props for the film
disappeared with the classic attraction,
including the South Seas Club Dolphin which was
located just before guests boarded their trams.
It was sad that the often forgotten film was
beginning to be referenced less and less
throughout the parks.
Enter Trader Sam's Grog Grotto.
Just after entering the bar, guests can find the
following image on their left hand side:

While at first you may notice
the picture of the Nautilus or the picture of
Walt Disney himself, but the one item on the
wall that is most obscure is the menu from the
South Seas Club! This isn't the only new
location on property to feature a reference to
the Club, however. Over in Disney Springs,
Indiana Jones' personal pilot has established a
place of business known as Jock Lindsey's Hangar
Bar.
While Jock was going on his
adventures around the world, he began to collect
coasters from the various bars he went to. While
some of these bars are from other countries like
Le Lapin Agile (Paris, France) and The Python
Bar (Caracas, Venezuela), one coaster he
collected is from none other than the South Seas
Club! And lucky for us, visitors to Jock
Lindsey's Hangar Bar are able to take the
coasters home to be reminded of Jock's
adventures around the world:

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