Monorail Expansion, October 1961

This October 1961 image shows a banner heralding the expansion of the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System. In June of the same year, the Disneyland Monorail became a genuine mode of transportation. With a 2.5 mile track expansion, Disneyland Hotel guests could board at the hotel and begin their park visit by exiting the sleek comfort of their Monorail car at the Tomorrowland station. Did you know department: The Disneyland Monorail was the first in the U.S. to run adjacent to a major traffic artery.



At the end of the day, guests could return to the Disneyland Hotel and sip adult beverages at the Monorail Lounge that weren’t available in the park. Guests had the option to purchase two different types of tickets: the traditional ticket to Disneyland park (disembarking in Tomorrowland) or they could stay on for a round trip. Not only was the track extended, but trains grew from three cars to four cars and the fleet grew to three Mark II trains with the addition of a yellow Monorail.

With a time machine and a bag of quarters, you could make a good profit hoarding the 25¢ Disneyland Guidebooks available at the Disneyland News stand!



This previously posted June 1961 shot shows the entrance tunnel on the right side of the Main Street Train Station, draped with the same banner. My OCD tendencies have been satisfied!



The Grand Canyon Passenger Car shown here was eventually converted into the Lilly Belle.



So many great vintage paper items here!



Another previously posted 1961 shot showing the edge of the banner on the left side tunnel:



LATE ADDITION: A few readers have tried to figure out what text was covered up in the first shot. Most likely it matched what was on this display board: "First On Earth    Flying Saucers.”



See more 1960s Disneyland Railroad photos at my main website.

Disneyland Memories from Steven D

One of the greatest joys of doing this blog is the opportunity for readers to reach out to me with cherished memories they have of visiting Disneyland “back in the day.” Steven D is one such reader who recently sent his story of both visiting AND working at the Park. He was also kind enough to share two black and photos from his collection, which are appropriately noted. The rest of the post is peppered with photos from my collection to illustrate his story (in italics). Enjoy!

I truly enjoy your blog, especially the earlier Disneyland stuff. That is the period from my memory and they are good memories. I was first there in 1958, when I was 5 years old. Above is a shot of my brother and me, (the taller one) in Town Square, 1960.

Little boys loved that cannon in Town Square! Below is a shot of my Mom and brothers, circa November 1965:



As boys in the early 60’s, my brother and I lived just a few miles from Disneyland. We would ride our bikes there and with just a $5 bill in each of our pockets, we could buy a 15 ticket book/admission for $3.25 and still have money for lunch. There was a Catholic School Day at Disneyland; we had the patronal feast of the Diocese as a holiday.



We could order our Disneyland admission ticket at school and go to Disneyland on a day when all the public-school kids were in school. That was still in the ticket days but on Catholic School Days you could ride anything as much as you wanted to, no ride tickets that day. I can remember riding the Matterhorn Bobsleds, jumping off, getting right back in line and right back into the bobsled again. We did this over and over again.





As I remember, the park was not busy on that day. Despite all the school kids invited & I think at a special reduced price, it must have been still considered a luxury for many families to send their kids. So, we basically had the run of the park.

After joining the company in 1973, I collected my paycheck every week backstage in a room at the rear of the Courthouse & had to pass the stairs to the Disney apartment on the way. By that time Walt was already dead. We knew though when Lillian was in the park. There would be two pots of blooming flowers on every step, all the way up to their patio platform when she was in residence. I believe that the special Disney train car, the Lilly Belle, was added to the train when she was in the park too.



I actually still remember my first day working on Main Street in the morning before the gates opened. It was a beautiful sunny day, sidewalks and streets wet, freshly washed a few hours before by the night cleaning crew. There was a magic in being there before the gates opened. I was very blessed. What a wonderful place! The above pic shows me working a Grad Nite at the Disneyland Newsstand, 1975 or 1976. I was in front gate, yellow and blue costume here. I preferred working on the other side of the tunnels in Main Street costume. In those days, the Main Street men’s costumes, shirts, bow ties, blazers, and vests came in four different color combinations to choose from! No wonder it was the largest wardrobe department in the world. Imagine the cleaning bill. Bad me, I checked out a clean costume every time I came to work, even if I just worked for 4 hours!



I believe that until 1975 we were wearing the Main Street costume when working at the Newsstand. After that it changed to a front gate costume, bright blue pants, yellow short sleeve shirt and warm but ugly yellow fuzzy jacket for nighttime. I am wearing the jacket in the photo. Everyone hated the new costume. There was a back door in the Newsstand stock room that led to a very narrow, probably not even 3' wide pathway right behind the front gate iron fence/hedge. The path led to the back lot behind the courthouse and was used to bring in stock for the stand from backstage. One time I went out there for some reason and found a young male guest perched on top of the fence trying to get over and into the Park. He asked me to let him come over. In a way I felt bad about it but also didn’t want to lose my job, so I told him, “Sorry, but you need to get back to the other side where you belong.” I remember waiting on Sally Fields and Sidney Poitier at the Guide Stands.

The image below is from March 1975:



I worked at the two Main Street Guide Stands right by the tunnels and listened to the “Disneyland Santa Fe Railroad” now departing message about every 10 minutes. When I pull it up on YouTube, it takes me right back and brings a bit of a lump in my throat. Main Street in the early evening hours was dead quiet. I still remember in the quiet hearing John Denver singing “Rocky Mountain High” from the Tomorrowland stage. The Guide stands were also the perfect places to view the parades. There was the Main Street Electrical Parade, when I first joined the company in 1973, The Christmas Parades, and in 1975/76, America on Parade [shown below in an August 1976 image taken in Town Square].



No better place to see the fireworks too. I wouldn't recognize the view to the former parking lot any longer. Did you know that the parking lot crew were all members of the Teamsters Union? I think the entire Park was unionized; I was a member of the Retail Clerks Union. I also loved spending my lunch break in The One Of A Kind Shop. I walked there in costume, which was slightly discouraged, as you didn't want to be seen in say a Main Street costume in Adventureland. As I remember I had to pass though there to get to New Orleans Square. I tried the tunnel system “once” and got hopelessly lost. I ended up coming out on the shore of “The Rivers of America” and never tried it again. It was dark, a bit scary, and no one was down there when I tried to find my way around.



Above: the Royal Street Bachelors playing in front of the One of a Kind Shop in New Orleans Square, 1969.

One day at the OOAK Shop, I was looking up at a small emerald and clear glass crystal chandelier [picture below]. The sales lady said, Mrs. Disney just brought that in. It hangs in my bedroom today here in Ohio. Stupid me. I didn't ask which Mrs. Disney and worse yet, should have asked the sales lady (who had been there for years) see if Mrs. D would write a short, signed note, for the piece. With the price of Disney memorabilia today, what could that have been worth with a note from Mrs. D? Doesn't really matter, I guess. I love it anyway. What a beautiful and luxurious shop that was! And now, cheap plastic, t-shirts and plush. Ugh!



Speaking of plush, I often worked Grad Nites in “Pooh” gardens, the Tour Guide Staging area, just packed with Winnie the Poohs, wearing graduation caps. Grad nights ran from 11pm till 6am. Unbelievable now, guys came dressed in coats and ties, girls in dresses. Groups like "The Spinners", "Olivia Newton John", "Natalie Cole" & "The Pointer Sisters", would perform those nights. After changing out of costumes at the end of the shift, we all went out to nearby Denny's afterwards for breakfast. Those were the days! Dad was transferred here to Ohio in 1976. I have a Fine Arts/Interior Design degree from Woodbury College but attended Cal State Fullerton too. I have often mused that I may have just stayed working at the park, working my way up, had we stayed in California. I was so happy there. Guests were generally so excited that their excitement was contagious. It as a happy job.

Actor Kevin Costner, who was one year younger than me, was attending California State Fullerton on a baseball scholarship when I was there. He had the esteemed job of a Jungle Cruise Captain when I was working at the park. Although I never officially met him, I wonder if I ever passed him coming out of wardrobe?

The last time I was at Disneyland was some time ago, just before California Adventure went in. I know if I went back certain areas are almost unchanged, like Main Street and New Orleans Square. I would like to see them again but I’m not sure that I wouldn’t be sad over some of the changes in other areas, be they better, like the newer Fantasyland.

Thanks a million, Steve, for sharing these great stories!

See more vintage Disneyland photos at my main website.

Disneyland Opening Day Celebration!

On the anniversary of Disneyland’s Opening Day (July 17, 1955), I will post an assortment of shots from one of my favorite attractions: the Disneyland Railroad. The above Genuine FauxD© shot shows the time lapse tower from Opening Day as well as an assortment of highly collectible (at least today they are) vintage cars! Walt Disney’s oft told quote made before the Park was completed was this:

I just want it to look like nothing else in the world, and it should be surrounded by a train.



This 1956 image captures the joy of Disneyland. The E.P. Ripley is waiting at the Main Street, U.S.A. Train Station and in front, the little boy is proudly displaying his souvenir for the day, a pennant with Tinkerbell!



I was one of those Park nerds who would arrive WAAAAAAAY before opening, just to see the train pull up, see the smoke, and hear the whistle toot, letting guests know of its impending Grand Circle Tour around the Park. I would do my best to hustle through the turnstiles to board that first train and at least take it as far as the Frontierland/New Orleans Depot. Below is another 1956 gem:



See any hats or souvenirs you’d be interested in purchasing from The Disneyland News stand?



An undated 1950’s Genuine FauxD© shot of the Main Street Station:



A closeup of the Colorado Rockies passenger car, complete with summer bunting:



While on the topic of Walt quotes, according to Ward Kimball, Walt made this statement about the design/comfort of the cattle cars that were part of the original Disneyland Railroad fleet:

I want all the people inside those cars to feel the way the cows feel, looking out through the slats on a real cattle train!



Mission accomplished! These passengers look more like prisoners than Park guests in this 1956 shot:



A contemporary view from July 2008:



While I can’t say for sure when my next visit to the Park will be, I can guarantee you that this is the first thing I will be looking for upon arrival!



See more Disneyland Railroad photos at my main website.

Welcome to Disneyland, 1961!

It’s June 1961 in this first image and guests are scurrying through the Disneyland Railroad underpass to get to the GOOD STUFF! But let’s slow down and take a look at what’s in this photo; it’s purty durn good on its own. The Grand Canyon Passenger Car is up top on the tracks; it would eventually be converted into the Lilly Belle VIP Passenger car which still makes the Grand Circle Tour around the Park.



Over at the Disneyland News Stand there are all kinds of cool things: a Main Street employee in her turn-of-the-century dress, Annette Funicello on at least two different publication covers, and perhaps a TV tray on the right? What do YOU see?



I also bought this June 1961 Frontierland image, hoping I’d be able to get some interesting detail out of the shadows of the Shooting Gallery. Alas, not so.



See more Disneyland entrance photos at my main website.

Welcome to Disneyland, February 1960

Today’s Time Machine takes us back to February 1960. The E.P. Ripley and Passenger Cars are parked at the Main Street Train Station ready to take another batch of guests on a Grand Circle Tour of Disneyland. Will the young couple with the stroller make it? They better hurry! Too blurry to get any really cool views of the Disneyland News Stand.



Image #2 shows the Kalamazoo Handcar in front of the Land of Pueblos Passenger Train.



A closer look. Unfortunately, the population count on the station is blocked in this shot.



See more Disneyland entrance photos at my main website.

Disneyland Railroad 1950's Medley

While scanning one image, I realized there were a few more that I had yet to post, all from the 1950s, and all showing the Disneyland Railroad. Let's begin with the earliest one, which hails from September 1958. The banner over the entryway hails the recently opened Columbia sailing ship and the Grand Canyon Diorama. In addition, we can see the Disneyland News stand, as well as two Disneyland Guide Book Salesman/Boys. This is the same job that started a young Steve Martin on his show business career!



A 1958 interior view of one of the passenger cars:



And two interior shots of the recently opened Grand Canyon Diorama. First is from 1958:



This one is from October 1959:



A shot of the Main Street Train Station from November 1959:



A closeup of the Kalamazoo Handcar:



The last one for today is undated, and shows the E.P. Ripley pulling into the station. In the background is the parking lot, which eventually disappeared to pave the way for Disney California Adventure.



More vintage and contemporary Disneyland Railroad photos at my main website.

Boy Scouts at Disneyland, 1959

Sorry for the rushed post, but hopefully this April 1959 image is good enough to suffice for today (while I am out taking other images!). I am sure many of you are jealous of these Boy Scouts being able to pour over these vintage Disneyland attraction posters at the entrance to the Park.



Mom doesn't seem to be quite as excited.

See more vintage and current Disneyland entrance photos my main website.

Welcome to 1961!

I am digging this 1961 black and white image of the Disneyland News Stand near the entrance tunnel into the Park. I secretly hoped that the gentleman in the hat was Walt, but upon closer examination, I don't believe so.



Although Walt wore hats like that, the face and body seem a bit off.



Back to our original image, here's the souvenir map on display that guests could buy and hang on their wall at home:



Another image from my collection circa July 1960 provides a color image:



And here is an even clearer version of what was on display:



So much from just one little image!

See more Daveland vintage & current Disneyland entrance photos at my main website.