New Year's Eve
Before we get to my New Year’s Eve stuff, I have two fun scans from Sue B! First up is this crazy trio, they're out of control! Just look at those hats. By midnight these folks will just be getting started.
Next is this odd photo - certainly a party, though it's hard to be sure if it is New Year's Eve. These people seem to be in a tiki-themed restaurant, which is always a good idea. Looking more closely, I realized that I recognized two of the people!
I'm reasonably sure that the woman is actress Natasha Lyonne ("Orange Is the New Black", "Poker Face"), while the man to the right is Andrew McCarthy ("St. Elmo's Fire", "Pretty In Pink"). Weird! Does anybody recognize the guy with the curly hair?
Thanks, Sue!
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Can it be New Year's Eve already? I can't believe it! We're saying goodbye to 2025, and are ready to greet 2026. Many of you will celebrate with family and friends, watching robot Dick Clark on TV. "And now - beep - here's Paula Abdul - beep". I will be celebrating in my own fashion, in a darkened room with a bowl of cold gruel.
I wasn't sure what to share for the occasion, but realized that I have scans from two different New Year's Eve Disneyland events. Perfect! Let's start with a look at this rare flyer encouraging fans to "ring in 1961 at the biggest happiest party ever". I love the simple, charming graphics. The park was open until 2:00 AM, which was way past my bedtime, but you could ride "all Disneyland attractions as many times as you desire", dance to five great bands, and you even got free hats and noisemakers. Sounds like fun! $4.50 is about $48 in today's money - still a bargain, though people might not have thought so back then.
Let's step into the nearest time portal and set it to 16 years later, for a NYE party at the park at the end of 1977. The graphics are typical of the era, though I'm a little surprised at the group of characters at the top. Mickey, of course. Goofy, naturally. And then two Dwarfs and Br'er Bear? No Donald Duck, no Pluto, no Minnie? Outrageous!
I love the very 70s headliners, Minnie Riperton ("Loving You") and Meco, famous for his (yes, Meco was a person) disco version of the Star Wars theme song, which was a big hit. Minnie is Maya Rudolph's mom, BTW; I wonder if Maya was there that night (she was only five at the time)? Louis Belson and his Orchestra was a Disneyland mainstay, as was Teddy Buckner and his All Stars. "Roy Ayers Ubiquity", that's a new one - not so ubiquitous! Let's not ignore Sunshine Balloon, one of rock's most important and influential bands (sorry, Beatles). I would imagine that the Midnight Spectacular in front of the Castle would have been especially dazzling on New Year's Eve!
Have a safe and fun evening!
13 comments:
Major-
Sue, you've done it again-! I want those hats.
That might be Natasha Lyonne, but that certainly isn't Andrew McCarthy.
1960/61 seems like the perfect time to be at Disneyland. Oh well... I'm a bit too late.
Thanks, Major and Sue-! And happy NYE to all.
"Christmas Eve stuff"? Major must be hittin' the schnapps again. :D
1) I wonder if these wild party-goers made their own hats from bits and pieces provided by the host/hostess, or maybe the host/hostess made the hats beforehand and handed them out to the guests?
I can't tell what the party gifts on the coffee table are. I also can't tell if that trivet/coaster is a gift or just a trivet/coaster.
2) I like that giant clam on the wall... I wonder what they feed it? Or maybe it's a croissant?
4) Any guesses what the "Midnite Spectacle" was? A fireworks show? Maybe Tink rolled a giant ball down the slopes of the Matterhorn. While the graphics are charming, they don't look very "Disney" to me.
5) So, which two Dwarfs are depicted here? That must be Happy on the right. But on the left? Sneezy? Bashful?
6) The 1977 event was a little classier than the 1961 celebration. You can tell because, in '77, they had the "Midnight Spectacular", while in '61 they had a "Midnite Spectacle". Funny how the adjective "spectacular" can be used as a noun, too.
Thank you, Sue. Your curated photos are always fun. And thank you, Major. Your curated photos are why we come here!
Like JB, I was noticing those hats in the first pic. At least two of them appear to have been made with paper plates. And that might be a paper cup on top of the one with the ostrich feather.
The guy with the curly hair (in the second photo) looks like he could be James MacArthur's son.
Gee, in 1961, if you wanted to save a $1.00 by getting your ticket in advance, it looks like the ticket sales locations were limited. I bought my ticket for New Year's Eve of 1981/82, at a Ticketron, which was located in the basement of my local Sears department store. Maybe the "Midnight Surprise Spectacle" was an inebriated Walt Disney coming out on the balcony of the Castle, and making a spectacle of himself. Or maybe it was just a robot with barely any resemblance to Walt, who appeared on the balcony and bored the crowd with the story about how his brother used to be a mailman.
JB, the midnight thing at Disneyland usually involved a countdown clock, followed by a lit-up sign showing the changing of the numbers in the year. I've posted about my New Year's Eve visits in 1981, and two separate years in the 1990s.....very different experiences. I think it was better when they sold the tickets separately and closed down the park, and then reopened for the New Year's Eve party. I'm not sure what year they stopped doing that. Oh, and there are photos in an issue of "Disney News" magazine (from maybe 1970 or '71?), that show some characters out on the balcony of the Castle, along with a giant Mickey Mouse clock for the countdown.
Major, I remember Casey Kasem playing the "Star Wars Disco" song by Meco as a part of his "Top 40 Countdown" on Sundays, and I even bought the 45 rpm record. Other than that, I wasn't too familiar with Meco until around the early 2000s, when a friend loaned me his Meco/Wizard of Oz record/album. After that, I was a fan and ended up buying several of his records on ebay.
I wonder if Minnie Riperton shattered any of the glass panels of the Starcade or the PeopleMover tunnel, when she hit her "Lovin' You" high note on the Space Stage?
Thank you, Sue and Major! And a happy New Year, to all!
JB, the “Midnight Spectacle” was a pair of glasses. Not very exciting, but more wholesome than the beer goggles available at NYE parties outside the Park.
TM!, I remember watching Meco play the “Star Wars Disco” on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand (my phone tried to change “Meco” to “Mego,” which would be a different nostalgic conversation altogether). As a kid, I always wondered why that show never had reruns like all the other Saturday morning shows. Didn’t quite understand the concept of chart position until around 5th or 6th grade.
Happy new year, David! Gorillas Don't Blog 2025 is now live in the archive: https://mediagraph.io/parkendium/explore/collections/2025-3
Those folks in photo 1, and the lamp, and the furniture are all straight from my childhood. New Years Eve was Guy Lombardo on the TV, and just us. Our big celebration was the next morning with the Rose Parade and continuous football, and those folks on our couch.
Photo 2 is “who?”. Cool clamshell though.
Flyer 1, the guy in the lower right corner looks like the Tweedle-brothers cousin. That sounds like a terrific event.
Flyer 2 is also “Who?” I vaguely recall Disco Star Wars, but the rest of that crew might as well be in Sanskrit. How odd to see the Park mapped as a circle instead of the familiar rounded triangle.
We two are gearing up for a small spread of cold cuts and a bottle of sparkling. Hope our Junior Gorilla friends have a safe, fun evening. Thanks Major for another year of great entertainment!
JG
A Happy New Year to all and to all ...a good...wait a minute...wrong holiday. Guess I started the party too early. Where's my little hat?? Happy New Year everyone!! See you next year! KS
I've listened to lots or Desmond's radio ads for the Disneyland New Year's Eve, from audio archives of course.
I will have a safe and fun evening. I'm going to bed at 9:00 p.m. tonight. I'll say hello to the new year in the morning.
2025 has been a good year, here on GDB, thanks to Majors wonderful work and posts. And the comments too.
Other than that, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! to all the GDB faithful.
Thanks for the link, Jason
Nanook, I still think that’s Andrew McCarthy!
JB, remember, I wrote these a while ago, probably while I was in the midst of a bunch of Christmas posts. Still, it was a dumb goof. I assume those hats were purchased, but you never know, some people loved to do weird crafts from McCall’s magazine or some such place. No idea about the trivet/coaster. Giant clamshells are cool, but I don’t want them harvested to extinction for tiki decor! I’m sure the spectacle was a fireworks show. I’m really not sure about the Dwarf to the left, I’d say he’s Bashful, but it’s hard to tell. If I had my choice, I’d go to the 1961 NYE celebration!
TokyoMagic!, I agree that Curly looks a bit like James MacArthur, but I do think he’s somebody famous (or who used to be famous). Saving $1 was the equivalent of saving $5000, so it was worth the effort. I’ve been told that the Walt animatronic is much better in person. I suppose it’s possible! Since Disneyland often closed at 7 pm anyway, it made sense to have a celebration begin at 8:00. I know they sometimes close the park earlier for special events today, but I would be very unhappy to pay full price, only to have to leave when I should have four or five hours left! The place is just too expensive these days. Wow, Meco did a “Wizard of Oz” album?? How odd. And yet you seemed to like it! Minnie Riperton sure could hit those high notes, just like Ella Fitzgerald.
Chuck, glasses can be exciting, haven’t you ever seen Elton John? He had glasses with little windshield wipers! Now THAT’S exciting. I honestly don’t know if I knew that Meco was a person (as opposed to a band) until I wrote this post. In a way you’d think that Bandstand could have done repeats as long as they clearly noted that it was an old show.
Jason Schultz, Happy New Year to you, and thanks for all you do!
JG, I know my parents had a few NYE parties at our house, but of course we had to go to bed. They liked to make daiquiris in these cool very 70s black goblets, which my mom still has. I know we’d watch the festivities in Times Square on other Eves, though it was hard for me to stay up. Sometimes we’d have leftover sparklers from the 4th of July, and we’d wave those around in the backyard. You don’t remember Minnie Riperton? “Loving You”? Maybe if you heard it, it would jog your memory. I have no plans for tonight, and am perfectly happy about it!
KS, your little hat is in your Little Hat Cupboard. You have one of those, don’t you?
K. Martinez, my mom remembers Desmond’s, as well as Music City. I won’t be in bed at 9:00, but I ordinarily get up so early that I am not the night owl I once was. Happy New Year to you!
HNYE. Obviously the wine guy is the kid from Bad Santa, Herman Merman.
Minnie Riperton... there have to be photos of Minnie meeting Minnie - how could Disney resist? I honestly wonder if she brought little Maya to that gig? And love me some Meco StarWars disco suite, regularly. The voice overs and sound effects make it legit classic.
THANK YOU Gorilla gang...Major, Sue, Jr.s ... for making this past year better.
2026? Progress towards Peace, Please.
MS
The “James MacArthur” guy also looks like an early adult JOHHNY WHITTAKER….. I went to several Disneyland New Years Eve special ticket parties in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Many on nights with severe rain storms . One time the rain was so bad the Disneyland parking lot crew couldn’t keep cars organized … the rain was so heavy drivers could not see the spaces nor could the cast - it was kinda scary and very dangerous. As soon as we got out of our cars we stepped in the DL PARKING LOT LAKE!! I had wet sopping socks and feet all night! When I got home the next morning the dyes in my socks had transferred to my feet! The rain was so bad very little of the countdown events went on … the gain lite up dates … I think it was 1988 - 1989 didn’t work because they were afraid of electrical issues with all the flooding. When we returned to our car in the morning all the parking lot automobiles were hap-hazardly parked! Guests were always given hats and noise makers so on these new years nites you would hear nothing but noisemakers blowing in ALL attractions. In more recent years there have been Disneyland New Year’s parties where the fog was soooo bad you could not see the fireworks …. Only hear them! I hade a very ethereal looking photo of the “It’s A Small World” facade slighty materializing thru the dense smokey fog. Another of the Columbia looking like a ghost ship phantom sailing thru the vail of fog on the Rivers of America.
HAVE A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL NEW YEAR everyone!!!
Happy New Year to all…I’m going to get my paper plates to make my hat, but it will be with two plates Ala Princess Leia! Thanks Major for a great 2025 GBD, and thanks to Jason for the immortality of it all. Here’s to a bright and cheery 2026, filled with Champage Kisses and Caviar Dreams.
MS, I didn’t remember that the Meco Star Wars tune had voice overs and sound effects. I can hear R2D2’s cheerful whistle in my head! Thank you for your positive vibes and good wishes, Happy New Year.
Mike Cozart, man, Johnny Whittaker was a big deal when I was a kid. I definitely knew who he was! I would hate to have soggy feet all day at Disneyland, though it has happened thanks to Splash Mountain. In a way the novelty of a heavy downpour at the park would be interesting, as long as you showed up prepared for it. I went once during a solid rain (though it let up later in the day), rides broke down, it was cold, but it was also kind of beautiful, and the crowds were light. I’ve been in heavy rains where it was so intense that I couldn’t see - in fact this happened just around two years ago as I was driving home from Pasadena. I finally had to pull over and let the worst of it pass, I couldn’t see the street signs, couldn’t see the lines on the road, etc. It was crazy! I would LOVE to see the river in the fog, it sounds incredible.
Anonymous, I admit that I would have never thought of using two paper plates for a “Princess Leia” look. I like it! Thanks to you, whoever you are! Probably somebody we know, but… we’ll never know.
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