Four years ago today I began doing this blog. Can't believe I've been doing it this long; many thanks to all of you daily readers who are kind enough to engage in a fun dialogue and back-story info. You are the reason I keep up with this! And as I've said before, many thanks to Patrick from Stuff from the Park for inspiring me to start this blog. It was his collection of amazing photos and memorabilia that sparked this blog (along with many others out there!).
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I decided to post a series of photos from November 1978 that illustrate what it’s like to approach the Happiest Place on Earth. Since I go so often, I have to sadly admit that I am so focused on just getting there that my sense of excitement is not like it used to be. Just like this photographer did, I used to shoot pictures all along the way...just being able to see the Matterhorn from the Highway was a thrill; the entrance sign even more so! Hopefully this selection of vintage photos will help some of you recapture that feeling.
In shot #2, it looks like there might be some kind of fire off in the distance. Any of you OC Historians know what this might be?
What else can you do when the park isn’t open yet? Take pictures, of course!
Wow! What a selection of classic attraction posters!
Here are all but one of the posters shown in the previous photo:
And everyone has their personal favorite attraction that they run...oops, walk briskly to. This photographer’s was apparently Space Mountain:
Thanks for keeping up with me for the last 4 years; hope it’s been as much fun for you as it has been for me! See more Disneyland entrance photos at my website.
20 comments:
If that's 1978, it's probably the Carbon Canyon fire portion of the Mandeville Canyon Fires. Here is a link to the L.A. County Fire Department logs.
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/7810_Mandeville
CanyonFire/102978_mandeville_LBpresstele.htm
I remember it well because we had our horses at the Hidden Valley stables in Olinda. We got ours out in time, but several died in the fire.
Dave...congregations! It has been an amazing run and I do appreciate all your efforts. Please; continue.
Beautiful photos as always. It seems that "New" Tomorrowland posters are always the missing ones. You're actually missing two posters. Not just the 'Rocket Jets,' but also the New Tomorrowland version of the 'Monorail' replacing the 'Rocket to the Moon' with the 'Carousel of Progress.' Too bad, I keep hoping to find a nice scan of these posters.
Congratulations, Dave!
Congratulations! I must say that it was YOU and THIS blog that inspired me to keep going with mine! I love these photos and yes, they brought back memories of the anticipation I always felt while I was on my way to the Park. Love, love, love your blog!
Wow - Four years, seems like just yesterday :-).... Thanks for all your hard work and dedication Dave, you are the gold standard of blogs...
Congratulations Dave. I have appreciated your hard work very much. And the fact that you have brought back a lot of great memories... PRICELESS!
Looking forward to many more, Richard.
Congrats Dave, I aspire to your greatness ;)
I knew your 4-year anniversary was coming up! Thanks for all of the amazing stuff, and congratulations.
Congrats, Dave, on four years!
I love those posters!
I didn't get a chance to say Congratulations also. I started working at Disneyland 50 years ago, and after leaving, had not talked much about my experiences there. Thanks to you, all those wonderful days finally came rushing back.
Your "new leaf" is just as exciting, and your blog is a daily read for me, even though I'm not always able to comment.
Your "about me" section says you were on "Larry King Live". Do you have a video of that, and would you consider posting it on your blog?
Well done! Congratulations on being four! You and your owner are a source of joy and inspiration as seen by these comments. THANK YOU DAVELAND BLOG.
Congratulations, Dave! You have inspired as well! Thank you for your generosity and the time that you invest in order to share with the rest of us.
I love that shot of the sign pointing the way into the Disneyland parking lot! These pics do remind me of the excitement I used to feel just approaching the park. My dad would tell my brother and me to see who could spot the Matterhorn first as we got closer on the 5 fwy.
Happy 4th Anniversary Dave! Thanks so much for the daily Disneyland fix for those of us that aren't close enough to visit as much as we'd like to.
Happy anniversary!! I love this blog!
Happy 4th. I echo CoxPilot in my thoughts. Only thing is that I started there 41 years ago. Great memories come back daily thanks to you Dave.
Four years. Anyone that can kindly post the way you do on a daily basis is a true master. And they've all been gems.
Congratulations, Dave - with much appreciation.
Congrats on this achievement! Your blog continues to amaze.
Lee - I should have known you'd be the one to provide the answer about the fire/smoke photo! Many thanks - your contributions are always appreciated. As for Larry King, as the bio states, my ART appeared on Larry King. I did a painting for James Dean's nephew, and when he was interviewed by Larry King, he sat in front of it. The best part was when Larry asked him about and he said I had painted it. Almost like being there - ha! Thanks to everyone else for the kind comments - you make it worth the time & effort! - Dave
Thank YOU for writing your blog for four years!
And, oh, I LOVE those vintage attraction posters! They were/are so fabulous!
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