Here are a couple of nice snapshots from 1967 featuring the always popular parking lot!
I love this first image with a few old-timers on their way from the parking lot to the entrance gates. Look at the shadows... the sun is on its way down, so these folks have missed half the day. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
We can see the star atop the Matterhorn, so we know roughly what time of year this was, anyway. I think I see one of those VW buses (to the right) with 21 windows - those have been fetching high prices these days.
This one was taken from further out, all the better to capture the yellow Monorail as it passed by!
Major-
ReplyDeleteOh heck, if you were dressed in such fineries, you wouldn't be at all concerned with arriving [fashionably late] for an evening of adult fun at The Happiest Place On Earth - and if you arrived there in that white, 1959 Lincoln Continental... well, I rest may case. And are we to assume those little round 'blobs' seen atop the Main Street Train Station are somehow connected with some sort of Christmas parade-?
The last image features a 1959 Oldsmobile, with evidently some body work being done on the trunk, and behind it is a white 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon.
Thanks, Major.
The lady on the far left in that first pic, is wearing a top that is reminiscent of the psychedelic colors of the Disneyland bags from the late sixties/early seventies. And her pants are the color of the Disneyland bags from the late seventies/early eighties. Now I want an outfit made entirely out of vintage Disneyland bags.
ReplyDeleteThe sign says "Reserved Parking" so maybe there was a nighttime event or private party.
ReplyDeleteTM: LOL! Pictures!
Love those "reserved parking" signs! They're vaguely reminiscent of the bobby in Mr Toad's Wild Ride without (I think) being an exact duplicate. Ahh, the days when every possible surface didn't have to be covered with an image of Mickey & Company...
ReplyDeleteNot that I have anything against the classic characters, but there's room for other artwork, like these signs that look incredibly Crumpy.
TM!, I'd like an outfit made entirely out of vintage Disneyland napkins.
Nanook, somehow I would have expected a 1959 Lincoln Continental to have bigger tail fins. Shows what I know!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I think there’s some service that will allow you to create custom patterns for cloth - wish I could remember what it was called. But I like your idea of using Disneyland bag designs for an outfit (though I know you wanted to use actual bags!).
Scott Lane, all of that parking was reserved for ME.
Chuck, the cops also kind of remind me of the guy in the foyer of the Bird Cage Theater at Knott’s (a painted figure, warning people about interrupting a show that’s in progress).
But Mom, I wanna go in right now! Tell Dad we don't need no stinking ice in the cooler for the Cragmont cola! I think I'm tall enough for the Matterhorn this year and it's right OVER THERE! C'mon!
ReplyDeleteThe above may or may not have actually happened, but I know one thing: the good Major knows exactly what color to make my Monorails...
As I recall, the reserved section was for VIPs and also handicapped/wheelchair access. Cabs and private tour busses got special parking as well. And there was temporary parking for those wishing to buy tickets in advance of entry.
ReplyDeleteThe Parking Lot was an attraction unto itself. Interesting how much it is missed. KS
Thufer would have loved this post.
ReplyDeleteI miss Thufer.
Thanks Major, this is great stuff.
JG
Major, you are right, I did mean actual bags!
ReplyDeleteChuck, if you make an outfit out of Disneyland napkins, don't wear it to the park this weekend! There is heavy rain predicted here for the next two days!
TM!, the weather forecast reminds me of a time in the summer of '95 when my wife and I were in the Park and a huge rainstorm came up unexpectedly. The merchandising people were as unprepared as everyone else and only had a few ponchos on hand in a few stores that all sold very quickly.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I reached into our "Disneyland backpack" and pulled out the yellow Mickey Mouse ponchos that had lived there since our Florida honeymoon primarily for those moments that we decided to ride Splash Mountain. We were asked repeatedly by other guests - most of them drenched by this point - where we had gotten them. The looks many of them gave us when we honestly responded "Walt Disney World" were priceless. That's probably the only time I've ever felt in actual, physical danger at a Disney Park.
Now I desperately want one of the parking signs!
ReplyDelete