Sunday, May 29, 2011

View From HoJo's - 1970's

We're taking a little detour away from Disneyland, but not very far from Disneyland... it's the nearby Howard Johnson's hotel (aka "HoJo's"), just to the east of the park - and visible from inside the park in such photos as this one and this one. Besides the familiar tower building, there were these lower two-story "bungalows" (for lack of a better word). From this view over the curved roofs of the bungalows you can see the big scary fence and trees that were part of the backstage area in the Tomorrowland area.


You would even be able to see the Monorail go by on the beamway, and I'm sure the fireworks can easily be seen in the evenings as well.

10 comments:

Connie Moreno said...

Wow, it's like you read my mind - SCAREY! Lately I've been thinking about staying at HOJO...just because. I wonder if they not have a viewing platform for the fireworks?

Thufer said...

I was a frequent stayer at HoJo's in the 70's and 80's. We always preferred the tower rooms. I remember being amazed and amused by the TV in the bathrooms there. Another oddity for me was the sheer amount of channels that were available and some which ran almost totally cartoon programing. Always added to the excitement of the trip.
I would often walk to the street and simply gaze at the fence, the berm and the monorail track which were just right there.

Hrundi V. Bakshi said...

We stay at the Ho frequently and you can indeed see the fireworks well from these balconies. We've done this many times. Another great place to see the fireworks is from the hot tub or the pool You can hear the music pretty well from there too..

Nancy said...

very cool, but where is everyone!? kinda spooky :)

TokyoMagic! said...

The Skyway doesn't appear to be operating. Could these have been taken before the park opened?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we can even see the part of the Monorail beam that leads backstage and into the roundhouse (just beyond the freeway off-ramp and in front of the Small World show building).

Major Pepperidge said...

I wonder how pricey HoJo's is? Connie, if you stay there, please post a full review!

Thufer and Hrundi, I am jealous! Only once in my life did I ever do a multi-day visit to the park, so hotels were moot.

Nancy, they were all eaten by zombies!

Tokyo, I thought these had an "afternoon" feel about them, but it's hard to tell. I'm not sure about the beam either, I can't discern it in that first photo. You are probably right though, you know so much!

JG said...

Nice pics Major, also, "what Connie said".

I never stayed at HoJo's. Dad always preferred the Magic Lamp and later, when we were more flush, the Jolly Roger, which I think is still running. We may have had breakfast there once before driving home, can't be sure.

The first picture shows a very modern classic layout, for some reason, this reminds me of the Salk institute in La Jolla, a very famous modern building, and not a motel.

Fun to see these views of the park from outside, they seem much the same today.

JG

Katella Gate said...

Where is everybody? Judging from the architecture, maybe they are all at Carrousel (Logan's... not King Arthur's)

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the mattercam?

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/take-a-tour/webcam

Eric

Major Pepperidge said...

Eric, I have not seen the mattercam! Unfortunately, I got a "server not found" message when I followed the link. I'll try it another time and see if it works then. Thanks!