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!
4 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.
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