The Fuzz at Disneyland

Recently, a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video titled, “Disneyland’s Abandoned Police Station — And the Mystery Hiding Inside” from Hey Brickey! The video breathlessly begins with the ginger-bearded Brickey dramatically discussing the topic:

Friends, you have walked past it, in fact every single one of us has ignored this building. Just through Disneyland’s left entrance tunnel, there is a building that almost nobody notices. This building was the Disneyland Police Department, and when Disneyland opened 70 years ago, it opened with a real Police Force. As we learned,  there were real crimes happening! But how could one of the very first buildings that you see when you walk into the Park end up being one of the least documented buildings in Disneyland’s 70 years?

Wait a minute…a Police Department building at Disneyland? How did I not notice this before? Brickey goes on to give my site a nice little credit:

When you have an idea for a video, and you go over to davelandweb.com, probably the largest public collection of vintage Disneyland photos and you realize good old Dave doesn’t have any photos of the Disneyland Police Department, you know you’ve struck obscure gold!

One of the photos Brickey uses from my collection in his video is this previously posted shot of a Security Officer at the Park in Town Square.



I ended up going down a rabbit hole one evening that lasted until midnight, as I combed through every shot I could find of the Disneyland Police Department office which was on the left-hand side of City Hall in Town Square. It’s really not all that shocking that this small portion of City Hall was rarely photographed. In 1955, who would enter Disneyland and say, “Hey, I can’t wait to photograph the Police Department!” The answer would be: nobody. As Walt intended, guests were focused on the Castle as soon as it came into view in Town Square. A tree planted in front of the Disneyland Police Department made it nearly impossible to capture, and if you only have a roll of 20-24 exposures on your 35mm film camera, you’re not going to waste it on that! Here’s what I found in my collection, beginning with this image from July 1955:



Yup, Brickey is right! There it is, with a Mickey Flag waving proudly over top of it and guests walking securely by it without any fear!



Also from Summer 1955. Notice the sparse landscaping.



Just behind the souvenir booth, we see the Police Department, also obscured by a tree.



Summer 1955:



This detailed view shows a Security Officer in front:



A little further right, just in front of City Hall is a Keystone Kop. While I appreciate being alerted to this building by Brickey, his video does have a few fallacies to it.



He attempts to say that the Keystone Kops were basically undercover cops. Not really; they were professional musicians. No overlap there, folks.



This 1955 3D image cuts off the Police Department:



Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, by stitching the left and right into one image, the Police Department is now visible:



The detailed view:



From October 27, 1956:





1957:



You can see that the light posts in front had “Police” written on the globes:



Still there in September 1958:





September 1958:





From December By December 1959, the sign had been blocked out:



In this April 1965 shot, you can see the Guided Tour Office was now roosting in the building:



A contemporary shot of the building, looking very much the same:



Here’s the video from Hey, Brickey! It’s a very fun and informative video; just make sure you do a little fact-checking before taking every word as the Gospel.



On another note, Stack’s Liberty Ranch, keeper of multiple theme park treasures, has put out an APB for former employees or guests who have interesting stories about days gone by in local theme park history. Check out the Stack’s Liberty Ranch Facebook Page and contact them through Direct Messages if you have a story (or know somebody else who does).

See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.

Babes in Town Square

Walt Disney was into sustainability years before it became a buzz word. Once the 1960 Disney feature, “Babes in Toyland” was wrapped, the soundstages had to be cleared for the making of the next studio film. Rather than discard or waste storage space for the elaborate sets and props from “Toyland,” Walt had them moved over to his Anaheim Park and converted into an attraction for his Main Street Opera House.



From December 1961 through September 1963, the sets on display included Mother Goose Square, The Toy Factory, and Forest of No Return. These two December 1961 images show the signage in front of the Opera House beckoning guests to come inside.



From May 1962:



This August 1962 image is the best shot in my collection of the signage in front.



From 1963-1964 the Opera House became the Mickey Mouse Club Headquarters, as seen in this September 1963 image: 





The next two shots from February 1964 show that the little guard booths in front of the Opera House from “Babes in Toyland” remained.





May 1964:



…and November 1964:



In 1965, the Opera House finally got a real attraction of its own, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, seen in this August 1965 shot:



Below is a screenshot from the 1960 film, showing the sets from Mother Goose Village:



Side-by-side comparison shots from the Devlin family, who visited the inside of the Opera House and posed by the sets from the film:







See more Disneyland Opera House photos at my main website.

All In The Details, Pt. 2

One of the great advantages to having the original source material is that it allows you to zoom in on specific areas and look at some of those glorious details! In this September 1969 shot, we can see that the ticket booth is closed (what’s a guest to do?!?) and get a better look at the signage. “Purchase tickets here for Tomorrowland Adventures.” No ticket, no adventure.



The ho-hum Astro Jets attraction got a lift with the “New” Tomorrowland revamp in 1967…literally. Here the newly christened Rocket Jets attraction sits high atop the PeopleMover platform.



Here’s a somewhat run-of-the-mill Main Street shot from 1957 with the Omnibus lumbering towards Central Plaza.



Zooming in, we can see that the photographer captured the sign for the former Hollywood Maxwell’s Intimate Apparel shop all covered up, waiting for the new sign that would say, “China Closet.”



Over in Fantasyland, on the Peter Pan’s Flight attraction, we see Peter flying the Darling children back to London.



In the lower portion of the image you can see the Crew List book:



Walt Disney himself gave these lucky kids a tour of Frontierland before the actual opening of the Park.



Looks like Mickey Mouse was included as well.



See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Rose Parade Medley and Memories

Let’s take a visual journey through some memorable moments from the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Who better to begin with than my fave, Shirley Temple? The year she was first Grand Marshal (1939), the parade was held on January 2. You can see her father in the float with her, somewhat obscured by the roses that surround him.



On January 2, 1964, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and wife Mamie presided over the parade.



A closer look at the Grand Marshal car:



Walt Disney served as Grand Marshal on January 1, 1966 alongside Mickey Mouse:



Frank Sinatra was the Grand Marshal for the 1980 parade; here is the float that portrayed him with flowers:



Sinatra and wife Barbara Marx waving to onlookers along the Pasadena parade route:



Disney celebrated their 25th anniversary with this caravan which included Cinderella and her coach and a train that released balloons:



If the boxes and train look familiar, you might have remembered them from the Park back in 1980; a good use of economy!



The Firehouse Five Plus Two traveled down Colorado Boulevard in the parade that year atop a gigantic fire engine. Western Airlines was the sponsor of this particular float:



It does appear that legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ward Kimball were performing that day:



A vintage September 1964 shot of the band playing at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Saloon:



Of course, the most famous participant in the parade that year was…ME! Yes, I marched in the parade that day with my alto saxophone and the other members of the Conestoga Senior High School band.



I’m the saxophonist in the middle:



I stumbled upon a detailed account of the parade that day. Apparently we were the “114th unit” in the parade, having raised approximately $115,000 to pay for the trip that allowed our entire band (and chaperones!) to fly from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. We also had side trips to Knott’s Berry Farm, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market on Fairfax, Universal Studios, and…Tijuana! While most of my memories of the trip are a bit hazy, I can still remember the thrill of that first turn onto Colorado Boulevard when we all knew that the TV cameras would be on us. From the online account:

Before dawn on the morning of December 26th the group left from the parking lot of Conestoga High School for the airport. Its six busses were escorted by vehicles from the Tredyffrin Township police and the Berwyn Fire Company, their red lights flashing and sirens sounding. For some of the members of the group it was to be their first airplane flight. To prepare for the five and a half mile long march on New Year's Day, in early December a two-hour practice at that distance was held on Devon State Road. And to be sure that the length of the march would have only a minimal effect on the quality of the music it was also decided to play just one tune, "March America", over and over during the entire parade route, Dr. Kiehner [our band director] noting that "it's not terribly high for the horns to play and they will be able to sound just as strong at the end of the parade as at the beginning". Everyone in the group survived the five and a half mile march -- "as fresh at the end as at the beginning", according to Kiehner. (While this may have been a slight exaggeration, for a finishing flourish the band played "March America" "one more time" after the parade route had been completed, before getting ready to go to the Rose Bowl game and then taking part in a "New Year's Eve Party" -- one day late -- that night!)

We did not play “March America” continuously; in between to give most of the band a rest, the percussion would play our peppy drill cadence. Just like your typical California traffic jam, we would often march and then have to stop, as the floats ahead tended to take more time than allotted. I remember our director being extremely proud that not one member had to drop out; although it was chilly when we started, the temperatures were much higher by the time we finished. Those uniforms were HOT!!! The thrill of being on camera evaporated quickly and the rest of the parade route became increasingly arduous as the sweat drenched our bodies. I do remember playing our “encore” and thinking “Get me outta’ here!” The game that day was between USC and Ohio State, with USC taking home the victory. And if you thought “Tijuana” was a typo, you would be incorrect.

Second in excitement only to the Rose Bowl Parade itself, however, was an "instant parade" the preceding Saturday in Tijuana, across the border in Mexico. Upon its arrival, the band lined up and marched down the main street, with cheering native boys and girls running along with it and following it to City Hall. There it gave an impromptu concert of football songs and other numbers, and was officially greeted and thanked by various public officials, including the alcalde or mayor, who presented the group with a key to the city. After a lunch of "the works in Mexican food" ("Do try everything," the ten-page outline had suggested, but added "no extra beverages -- they will ask you if you want them and you say NO!") everyone was free for three hours of sightseeing and shopping ("Keep your wallets and purses secure") before returning to the United States and dinner at McDonalds', five busses arriving all at once.

I had forgotten that we marched in Tijuana; I do remember buying a blanket there (your typical tourist trap purchase) and being excited that I was able to haggle the price down. Can you imagine allowing a group of high school students to run free for three hours in Tijuana? Nope…neither can I. On the trip back, our caravan of buses were to be inspected by a border agent. On my bus, there was a foreign exchange student from Switzerland who played trumpet. I remember Dr. Kiehner instructed him very carefully: “If you get asked, you are an American citizen!” The agent came down the aisle and all went just fine, with the student responding as he had been instructed. Next thing we knew the caravan proceeded back across the border safely (and quickly) into California. Yes, times have changed.

See more Pasadena photos at my main website.