Parking Lot, May 1960
It's parking lot nostalgia time! Today's fond memories of a parking lot must baffle humans and replicants who were busy doing things besides going to Disneyland. But anyone who went there as a kid before there was a California Adventure can tell you that arriving in the parking lot was an integral part of the whole Disneyland experience. Looking for your spot, remembering where it was ("B" for "Baloo"!), and waiting for the tram - all the while, looking towards the entrance, with the Monorail whizzing by, hearing the sound of the train whistle, and even glimpsing the icy peak of the Matterhorn. It was all so close!
Speaking of the tram, there's one now! You can also see the Freight Train at the station. What's that sporty little car? An MG?
13 comments:
Disney, leave "Soarin'", bulldoze the rest of DCA, and BRING BACK THE PARKING LOT!
I'm pretty sure the car is a Triumph TR3...but I could be wrong.
Yeah, it's a TR3. Ann-Margret drives a nearly identical one in Viva Las Vegas.
Go TokyoMagic; your singing my song. We see parking lot (best use ever of 100 acres); a tram, yes sir re in deedy Bob; and a Triumph TR3! My heart is skipping beats as I type.
This is so true!! My sister and I both have the fondest memories of that parking lot, for exactly the reasons you say. It has not been the same since the whole California Adventure thing took over that area.
The anticipation! It was like Christmas morning!
Though I generally like what's happening with DCA's makeover and Downtown Disney, it's a shame that there is no visual build-up at all to arriving at Disneyland's main gate anymore.
Ya, what Rick T said!!
I remember parking in Winnie-the-Pooh 10, which was in the SW corner by the Katella fence. We got there in the afternoon and didn't feel like waiting for the tram. That was a hike - but we were young and fit and under 27.
A couple of years back, we stayed at the Alpine Inn on Katella, just over the fence in the SE corner of the Disneyland/DCA block, and walked to the park - over 40 and with kids under 9. All I can say is I think Katella's about three miles south of where it used to be...
Absolutly a Triumph TR-3. How do I know? At the moment this photo was taken, my dad owned one just like this one, and it is this car that we used to drive to Disneyland in up to about 1967 when we got our Volkswagen.
I've sent this picture to my dad, but I am sure it's not *our* car. My dad ordered the hard top (seen here) but through a factory error, it never arrived.
Just to be sure major, can you enlarge the license plate?
It figures, I always get the car wrong. I just don't have that magical ability to remember cars (i.e. I'm dumb). My brother has an incredible memory of cars and WWII airplanes. I just know I like them.
Katella, I zoomed in on that license plate, but it's too blurry to determine what the numbers are, unfortunately; so I didn't bother posting it.
For the longest time parking was 50 cents. I think right up to the early 1980's. Then is started jumping up in price. I remember riding in my parents 1959 Chevy station wagon, coming up to the parking shack to pay the parking and then the Disney cast members directing you to a parking space.
The parking space is better used today. However, they should have somehow expanded Frontier Land and Adventure Land along with Tomorrow Land into the old parking lot instead of building DCA. However, maybe with the $$$ revamping of DCA, maybe they will make it just as magical, innovative and interesting as the original Disneyland.
I would take any of those cars in the first pic. The Triumph is very nice as well.
Aaah, What Thufer Said.
Fabulous pics Major.
Thank you.
JG
I see a few problems with what Disneyland did with the parking lot creation of DCA. Like man others, they lost that aurora of a feeling of seeing that huge sign and feeling as you entered the enormous parking lot. Now, it's like entering a mall.
Second, they wanted more people and more revenue DCA and DD have brought that, but now it is so overcrowded they keep raising ticket prices to control crowds.
I agree with other posters, tear down DCA and bring back the parking lot and MAGIC that made you feel so good as you knew you were entering Disneyland. I don't like DCA and wish they had really thought about the Disneyland brand and image before ruining it.
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