Sunday, September 12, 2010

Disneyland 48 years ago, August 1962: Pt. 1



Hang onto your Mouse ears readers as we zoom back in time to August 1962. Hop onto the Blue Monorail and check out all those fancy vintage cars in the parking lot. That should keep some of you classic auto nuts busy for a bit.

If you brought your pet with you the the Ken-L-Ration Ken-L-Land is the place for you! Just drop ol’ Rover off here while you spend the day at Disneyland (don’t forget to come back to take him for a walk though!).



The marquee near the ticket booths heralds the upcoming additions that are under construction. Most likely this is referring to the Indian Elephant Pool at the Jungle Cruise.





The combine car sure looks purty here! It’s a shame that RETLAW 1 was ever allowed to leave the premises of the park.





For today’s visit, perky little Pam will be our tour guide. Please be sure to mind your manners around her, otherwise she’ll give you a good “thwap” with her riding crop!



I’ll leave all of you at Central Plaza today, with a glimpse of Tomorrowland and The House of the Future as a teaser for tomorrow’s post.



View more Disneyland photos at my main website.

8 comments:

Thufer said...

Oh, Oh...Are you kidding me? Oh, Oh!
This is the bestest. Oh my goodness, it's so, amazing. Love it. Love me the parking lot! Yes, thank you, thank you.
What? There are things to do in the park? Nahhhh. Just put me in the lot and let me enjoy the world right there.
Excellent.

Major Pepperidge said...

That construction sign is fantastic, and I love the photo of the cute tour guide too.

Connie Moreno said...

OMG! What a wonderful way to start my morning!!! LOVE these photos!!!! They make me want to go to the Park. Hmm...I think I WILL go to the Park! As soon as I saw the parking lot, I thought of Thufer!

CoxPilot said...

Yes, it's the bestest! Those were the greatest days. It was the perfect storm at Disneyland, and I had worked there for just a couple of years so far. (The bloom was still on the rose.) All the great new attractions finished and more on the way, the beauty of the Park was at it's best, and commercialism was not over-the-top. Buying stuff at Disneyland was considered your patriotic duty, and one thought it would contribute to the common good (keeping Disneyland at it's best for future generations.) AND, people seemed nicer then.

I also remember Pam. She used to stop by our Circle for just a bit with her gaggle of Oooo's and Aaaa's.

These photos really pull at the hart for me. Thanks Dave.

TokyoMagic! said...

Love the temporary sign out in front of the ticket booths. And are those crazy diagonal lines painted on the ground supposed to be a guide for how the guests are supposed to line up for tickets? Clearly nobody is paying attention to them.

Hmmm, I don't remember ever seeing diamond shaped name tags before. Maybe it was just a tour guide thing?

Looking forward to more from this series, Dave!

Bob Weaver said...

That photo of the ticket booths really reminds me of my childhood visits. We would get very excited if a monorail went by when we were standing there waiting for Dad to buy the tickets!

CoxPilot said...

I love the parking lot photo. There should be a full page devoted to nothing but the lot, including maps of all the sections names, etc. Maybe even a virtual drive thru.

The pictures were from 1962, but look how many cars are earlier than 1950.

stu29573 said...

This is great timing on this series, Dave, because today I am 48 years old! How cool!Thanks for the birthday present!