To be so blessed.

offered without comment

Happy Birthday Disneyland

Thank you WALT. What was just simply roaming thoughts sitting on a bench watching your daughters go round and round became the icon and landmark for 'The Happiest Place on Earth'. For 56 years now, your gates have been opened, the tickets have been sold, the picture in front of the mouse have been taken, a short walk through the tunnel and disbelief is suspended.

There are many sites on the Internet to see pictures and read stories and enjoys other fans company. I hope each of you enjoy whatever remembrance you have planed either at the park or just in your minds. Remember the happy times, the wonderful experiences, the moments of pride in nation and the realization of times past were no different that times present nor times future; to smile with your heart is the true blessing Walt left for us all.

My Friend does the CHOC Walk!

 

I wish to let all of you know that my wonderful “Disney” friend Connie Moreno has signed up again to do the CHOC walk. Please go here and help her reach her goal. This is a wonderful cause and was important to Walt himself.

I know times are hard and we all have our own needs, but now is also the time we must remember the needs of others. Every little bit adds up and will be a blessing to children in need.

Thank you and if you have the time, let Connie know you are with her every step in the park.

Here is the link to Connie’s blog and you can go from there to her donation page.

I use to tell the kids that Mickey went to sleep.

 

 

ah, well, that wasn’t really true:

A World on the Move

I wanted to share with you what has become ‘one’ of my favorite postcards from the park. This is how Tomorrowland should look. Everything in motion. Moving. Going from somewhere to somewhere. Never really stopping. I am not afraid to admit, even if the journey only took place in my mind, on each and every adventure I every set out upon from any conveyance seen here; it was most magical and gave me an abundance of pleasure.

There is the Skyway, the only attraction which took it’s passengers to truly other ‘Lands’ and allowing for the most dramatic of views while doing so. The ‘grays’; the true fleet ready to take you under the seas. The PeopleMover, that always made me feel like one of the Jetsons. And, the Monorail. Nothing ever said this is what the world should be like as the Monorail.

There was just such an hectic energy in this Tommorowland; a promise that the world would be OK for everyone and it would always be prosperous and always looking for a bigger, bolder, faster and yes, safer way of life.

If only it were true!

Happy Birthday Disneyland

I am not sure it is possible to capture the true scope and meaning of what occurred 55 years ago today? Maybe Walt knew, I am sure he hoped; but anyone else? Those who's talents were tapped, those who had toiled for the past year and a day in the dirt, the staff; any of them? Did they really have a clue what this dream was about?

All those years ago there was a 100 acre parking lot which cost a quarter for the day and a ticket at the gate cost you a dollar for an adult and 50 cents for a child. Water fountains were few and far between due to a plumbers strike and the pavement wasn't cured and dry. It was hot. The river boat Mark Twain almost flooded because it was unsure what the load capacity was. Doh!

It is so much to so many. It was a testament to the 'Showman of the World', it is a source of enjoyment to the child in almost all who visit. Even on a hot and crowed day. It is forced prospective to anyone who enters. It is a dispensation of belief to all. The thrill of new paint, the assurance of cleanliness where cleanliness is of most importance, it is the smell of popcorn and it is the tears of a lost balloon fading from your child's sight, high in the air riding the wind. It's all that and more.

It is where cartoon characters live and where candy is made. It is a reason to smile. It is the happiest place on earth after all. There are detractors; but they are few. There are dying children whose lives are made whole by a visit; if just for the day.

 

This is a 1954 publicity picture of Walt for the TV series Disneyland from my collection. It was this TV show which provided (some) of the money to build the park.

What was where fifty five years ago:

Main Street USA:

Disneyland Fire Department - horse drawn and chemical equipment

Disneyland Street Railway - 4 horse drawn cars

Horse drawn station wagon (4)

Main Street Cinema - with 6 performances of silent movies, accompanied by pianist

Disney Penny Arcade

Shooting Gallery

Arcade Machines

Santé Fe & Disneyland passenger train and its six cars

Adventureland:

Explorer's boat ride - 7 boats

Frontierland:

Conestoga Wagons, Buggies, Buckboards and Surreys

Davy Crockett museum-theatre

Golden Horseshoe

Mark Twain river boat (turned out that the capacity was around 300 people)

Pack Mules - 2 packs, 1 lead horse and 9 mules in each group

Disneyland Stage Lines - 3 stages with 4 hitch

Fantasyland:

Canal Boats of the World - 8 boats

Casey Jr. Train Ride - 2 trains

Dumbo Aerial Ride - 10 Dumbo's

King Arthur Carrousel - 72 horses

Mad Tea Party - 8 cups

Mickey Mouse Theatre - seats 400

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - 8 cars

Peter Pan Ride - 7 galleons

Snow White Ride - 8 cars

Tomorrowland:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Exhibit

Autopia Freeway - 32 cars, 1 special Disneyland car, 4 police cars and 3 extra cars

Space Station X-1

Speed Boat Ride - 14 boats

TWA's Rocket Ride to the Moon - (Diana/Luna) accommodating 104 passengers each

Walt dedicating the park on this day in 1955 from my collection.

Dedication Plaque (unknown source)

Early 55’ aerial of Fantasy and Tomorrowland from my collection.Note what was referred to as either Snow or Holiday Mountain above the Castle which was dirt that had been dug from various parts of the park. Later to become location of the Matterhorn.

I stumbled upon a tree.

Upon building the park, all the trees were tagged for either removal or to be kept in place. There were different colored ribbons which were tied around the trunk of almost all the existing trees. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the person who came to remove or leave said trees was colorblind. This isn’t that story but does provide some insight into the parks very early days.

Another tree related story and quote of Walt’s is just prior to the opening to the park the press was invited to take a first hand look at the parks progress. Everyone by now knows of the forced perspective used in the park with regards to all the buildings and structures. A reporter noticed there was a lot of live vegetation (read as trees) and upon questioning Walt about their use and on how to deal with their growth, Walt responded:

“Trees have no scale.”

Why do I share these stories with you? Well, I continually get amazed but the showman’s ability to just astutely observe and then bring a mere glance of something as mundane and everyday as a tree to become a beloved symbol of excitement and adventure. I had never read nor knew of this ‘ LITTLE ‘ tidbit of park history. Check this out:

Hay Alice, what was at the bottom of that hole?

Tim Burton let loose with the Disney brand name. Humm, he takes over the Haunted Mansion at Halloween, will we see a special ‘overlay’ maybe in the near future. This could be fun, I hope so!

43 years ago today.

DISNEYLAND DAZED
By Thom Barley
Santa Ana Register Staff Writer
December 15, 1966 / Afternoon Edition

“Feel? Nothing yet. I’m so numb ... I felt like this when they told me President Kennedy was dead.”
“I was trying hard and now you’ve made me cry. I’m hurt deep inside. To think that that marvelous, marvelous man won’t be back ... “

“Mr. Disney stood right there and told me that when his apartment was finished my group was to come and play for him ... Said we played his kinda music. All I can say is that he played my kinda music too.”

The tributes came from Disneyland employees who were desperately trying to carry out an unprecedented instruction from the top brass: “Carry on normally. Behave as if nothing had happened.”

For once, a Magic Kingdom order wasn’t being carried out very well.

Guide Suc McKinnon, 19, took a firm grip on her reception table near the Main Gate and a deep breath before she answered our question. She spoke slowly and clearly. “I’m just empty inside. I wouldn’t have thought that such a thing could happen. I thought Mr. Disney was getting better.” Her companion, Sally Sherbin, 19, took over as Sue nervously shuffled papers. “I felt like this when they told me President Kennedy was dead.”

“We should close Disneyland if only for a day,” said Carol Paul, 21, trying hard to maintain her composure as she welcomed visitors to a Frontierland saloon. “He was a marvelous man, a good and kind man,” the Anaheim girl went on. “We were all on a first name basis with him and he wouldn’t have it any other way. This has been the biggest shock of my life and I have an idea that I haven’t really accepted the news yet.”

Reactions from Disneyland’s young visitors ranged from tongue-stilling astonishment to disbelief. Susan Burky, 7, of San Francisco, happily confirmed that she knew just who Walt Disney was -- “I’ve seen him a lot on TV.”

But she stopped smiling when she was told that Walt Disney, the man indirectly responsible for the “Mouseketeer” hat her father had bought her a few moments ago, had died that morning. “Yes, I’m sorry,” she said. “No, I don’t know what to say ... . ”

So it was with a shocked David Squire, 10, of Urbana, Illinois, and Sandy, 14, Carol, 12, and Janet Fritzen, 10, of San Francisco.
Overlooking New Orleans Square, we wandered through what had been, we understood, one of Disneyland’s closely guarded secrets: a suite of rooms which Walt Disney was to have moved into on January 15.

Painter Ernest Hart of Santa Ana interrupted his masterly glazing of a fireplace to acknowledge, with a sad smile, that he had heard of the death of the man who would have been admiring that beautiful fireplace a month from now.

Below a balcony of the executive suite, a Disneyland quartet was preparing to entertain the incoming crowds and obviously trying valiantly to “behave as if nothing had happened.”

“He loved to hear us,” smiled Herman Mitchell. “He told us, not very long ago, that when his apartment was ready he wanted us to come in there and play some Dixieland. “I told him, ‘Walt, just let us know when and we’ll be around.' ”

They weren’t playing Dixieland as we made our way to the Main Gate. We couldn’t place that slow blues by name but we’re sure that Mr. Disney would have enjoyed it.

Sometimes, a newsman gets his best reactions when he’s back at the office, pulling his story together.

Mrs. Ilse Henry of Newport Beach phoned in to ask: “Is it true that Walt Disney is dead?” “Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid it is.” The voice of a child broke in, apparently via an extension phone: “He’s dead,” but it’s Christmas!” “She didn’t believe it,” the obviously upset Mrs. Henry added.

“Sure, we’ll carry on, just like they said. But it isn’t going to be easy.” Jeri Heffner, 20, was feeding the sparrows at her Floral Market stand “because I just had to something.” She responded to a question with unseeing eyes. “Look, that’s ‘Fatty’ over there,” she pointed out. “He comes every day and he eats too much. It’s better to keep busy like this. I guess I’m just stunned at the news, that’s all ... “

Orders or no orders, Linda Lee, 19, a soda counter waitress quickly abandoned her forced smile and wept. “Oh, he was a wonderful, wonderful person,” sobbed the San Francisco girl. “Nothing you or anybody can say is going to make this any easier. I met him several times here and I ... I’m sorry,” Linda cried, “I’m very, very sorry ... .”

We're all Imagineers now...

OK, this was posted on White Chapel and I just can not resist. For those of you who do not know, Disney bought Marvel Comics today. My favorite author/writer is Warren Ellis. Warren is currently writing Astonishing X-Men as well as Anime for Marvel. It all boils down to this and I give credit @cornelius.urquhart a fellow White Chapel-er; and the future looks like this: