Magic Kingdom Club Posters
The "Magic Kingdom Club" was a program hatched in 1958 by Milt Albright. The D23 website says: Companies and organizations primarily near Disneyland and later Walt Disney World could offer memberships to employees, which gave them discounts at the parks. The club published Disney News, later The Disney Magazine, before that magazine went national. The club ceased operation in 2000.
This first item is a small poster, possibly sent out to companies that participated in the MKC program. Examples like it might have been pinned to a bulletin board in the company's lounge or lunch room. In 1959, folks could really take advantage of value pricing and enjoy all of the fabulous new additions to the park. You know the ones I mean! Interesting that instead of the "Submarine Voyage", that attraction is just called "Undersea Voyage".
This one is undated, but I would guess it is from the early 1960's; obviously the Monorail was routed to the Disneyland Hotel by this time, so it's from 1961 or later. Play a round of golf! Sit in your hotel room surrounded by wonderful mid-century modern furniture? Buy lots of ticket books and save them for 60 years so that you can sell them for a fortune!
HEY! Scott Heinz sent a scan of his 2002 Magic Kingdom Club card. Now we can take his membership number and pretend to be him (be sure to wear a monocle to make it seem legit). As I said to Scott via email, I wasn't sure if the MKC still existed. Thanks Scott!
22 comments:
Major-
Not only is there an Undersea Voyage!, there's also a Monorail System!. Yes, vintage Disneyland had it ALL. [I'll take a "Special 20" Ticket Book, if you please].
Thanks, Major.
I loved the Magic Key Coupons/Tickets. They were like having a book of all "E" Coupons. MKC members could also get the "Unlimited Use Passport" in the "off" seasons, which I don't think were offered to the public until years later.
These are great posters, Major!
Best of all, you could subscribe to the quarterly Disney News. I got on board with my first full-time job in 1977; keeping up my subscription until it morphed into a more generic family magazine. Besides plugging the parks, the old incarnation would announce new movies, new records, new 8mm films, and special episodes of "World of Disney". It was slight, but it was something like two bucks for eight issues.
Today it's maddening to see the rates the travel packages: Four nights at the Contemporary or Polynesian, five days admission to the Magic Kingdom, 16 attraction tickets, a day at River Country, and other goodies for $148 per adult ... Double occupancy and pre-Epcot, but still.
I finally did get to Disneyland with my Magic Kingdom Card. At the time the one-day Passport, which allowed unlimited rides, was an MKC exclusive. People asked me where I got it. If memory serves, the Disneyland Hotel had a Sgt. Preston bar/restaurant with a miniature version of the dinner show at WDW.
That Disneyland ‘59 poster is a favorite of mine. An early business card of mine was inspired by its colors and layout. So many of these MKC “bulletin board “ posters were really fantastic designs - well through the 70’s. By the 80’s there was less illustration and more photography.
MKC membership was available to military members through their installation morale, welfare & recreation (MWR) program. I know we had special ticket books for DL in the mid-'70s and had four-day unlimited WDW passports (with the exception of shooting galleries) that included a fifth day at River Country and a trip to Discovery Island in 1979. We pinned them to our shirts so we didn't have to keep pulling them out and showing them. My wife's corporate family family did the same thing, except they had nice WDW buttons while we used just plain safety pins.
DBenson, TokyoMagic! posted a link on his blog earlier this month to a "Disneyland '84" video that includes a portion of the Sergeant Preston floor show (unexpectedly using a song from How the West Was Won).
Midget Autopia
Junior Autopia
Fantasyland Autopia
Tomorrowland Autopia
Super Autopias!
That "Disneyland" is in some funky font on the "59" poster! I have a bakelite lighter with the castle and logo on it that no one can identify (I wrote Dave Smith and he says its a very early non liscensed item...maybe...) Anyway, I put it on Facebook and there was a big fight about how the font was wrong. All I'm saying is that it looks "righter" than that poster font! Lol!
Agree with Mike; the art and layout on these is charming. Even the bastard font, which I hereby dub “Dinsey Blackletter.”
The art alone is worth collecting Disneyland posters and handouts. Chuck, I remember seeing some MWR literature about Disneyland and WDW when I was stationed at Beale AFB in California. I wish I had saved some for my collection. Thanks Major.
Nanook, yeah, I don’t know how much of a “system” the Monorail was in 1959, but it sounds cool! Those 20-coupon ticket books are rare, I wish I owned at least one.
TokyoMagic!, yeah, back in those days it was an amazing thing to be able to go on any ride you wanted, even if you had to use a ticket. One of the things I loved about “Navy Nite” was that we could ride anything, as often as we wanted. Little did I know that I would miss the regular ticket books someday.
DBenson, yeah, Disney News was a really fun magazine if you were a fan of the parks - there were all kinds of articles about restaurants, the people who made the harnesses for the horses, specific rides, and even non-Disney attractions in Southern California. I still have many of the issues that I received when I was a Magic Kingdom Club member. I’ve seen the “generic family magazine” version on eBay, and it looks thoroughly uninteresting. $148 per adult for four nights at the Contemporary or Polynesian… I assume that was for all four nights, not “per night”! And yes, I believe I have heard about a Sgt. Preston bar/restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel.
Mike Cozart, I think I have one or two additional MKC posters, though they are not as graphically interesting as that first example - and not as old as either of these.
Chuck, so - the ticket books you mentioned were specifically for Magic Kingdom Club members who were in the military? Gosh I’d like to see one of those! Long ago I posted photos of a special ticket book for Vietnam veterans, but I’ll be darned if I can find it on the blog now. Naturally Photobucket is having issues again (third time in two years), so that’s part of the problem. Your mid-1970s trip to WDW with passports must have been amazing!
Andrew, so many Autopias! They should have had one for every “land”. Imagine an Adventureland Autopia.
stu29573, I have a friend who collects only the rarest and best Disneyland collectibles, generally from the 1950s, and he has MANY items that I have never seen before. And I’ve been following Disneyland collectibles for decades. So I would not be surprised if your bakelite lighter is authentic. I’d love to see a photo of it!
Melissa, we’ve seen that font a few times, including on a wonderful lunchbox (I would link to my photos of this lunchbox, but Photobucket is down. Please, everyone, never use Photobucket!).
Jonathan, I guess that’s why ephemera is so collectible today, the best stuff is what was thrown away by almost everyone!
@ Chuck-
"Raise a Ruckus Tonight" is an old American folk song, and was adapted for use in How the West Was Won. And on a side note - I can't believe how appallingly-awful that "Alice" segment is from the "Disneyland '84" video.
Major...that Monorail 'system' consisted of the one station and a quick winding ride through Tland,over the Motorboats and around the Matterhorn. Still, it was an amazing trip at the time. Now where are all those Monorails we were promised would come to be in the 'real' world today?
We really felt special to be a member of the Club through my father's employment at Douglas. Those Magic Key coupons were like gold. In fact I collected quite a few of them for my future use while I was working turnstile. Still have them too. Don't tell anybody...I might not get a 're-hire' recommendation if Disney management finds out! ;)
BTW...that $4.75 in 1959 is worth $42.08 today. Still a bargain! KS
Nanook, so funny, I was thinking the same thing… that “Alice” number is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I shouldn’t be surprised, most of Disney’s park-related videos and TV programs are basically unwatchable today (“C”-list celebs, terrible jokes, awful songs, and so on). I think Jim Korkis did an article about the company that Disney hired to make all of them - why didn’t they hire somebody ELSE??
KS, oh trust me, I would have loved to ride the original Monorail, even before it went to the Hotel. I’ve wondered why we don’t have more Monorails or Peoplemovers in cities, and I suppose they are very expensive, and not as practical in the real world as Walt had hoped. Now that you’ve revealed your stash of Magic Key coupons, I hope that the Disney Police don’t come banging at your door late at night!
I agree about the "Dinsey Blackletter" font for "Disneyland". It looks like someone grabbed the Alice in Wonderland style sheet when they created that one. They also really "stretched" the vertical strokes on "59" to get the round portions where they wanted them.
I love the rendering of the Matterhorn. Does anyone know if it was ever produced in full color?
We never got to use the Magic Key tickets though we did have a special pass for attending an evening event. For some reason it felt very special.
If we use Scott's pass does that mean we get VIP treatment? - perhaps if we also wear the monocle??
The VIP treatment was the ticket books with all E-Ticket level tickets. Today (as that card and program are expired) the VIP treatment is the cast member checking your temperature upon entry must be wearing a monocle.
My Mom volunteered at the local hospital, running the gift shop and similar tasks. She got the employee benefit of the Magic Key Club. So for several years, we got the one-size-fits all tickets and the little magazine.
I think I wore out the magazines, although one or two survived for my kids to pore over. I wonder if we still have them.
I think the first poster is very interesting.
First, the bizzaro gothic font is amazing. Somebody fell off the wagon with that.
Second, the rendering of the additions does not show everyone's favorite view of the monorail beamway over the sub lagoon. The monorail appears to come out of nowhere, or out of the mountain. I know these renderings are always made for looks, not accuracy, but in light of our recent discussion over models and deign perspective viewpoints etc., it is worth noting. The 3-car train and the station are very much in line with the final products. I would have thought this poster might have re-used or re-purposed the artwork made for the Park advertisements, but it looks to be quite different and perhaps made up just for this use. Maybe the two-color printing has something to do with that?
Major, thanks for the fine ephemera today. Everyone's recent comments have inspired me to look in ancient boxes and I have found some worthwhile things.
JG
I just emailed you pics of the lighter!
Omnispace, I believe that the “curlicue” version of the Disneyland Blackletter font was introduced in 1959 - and that it was only used for a year or two. But that is just a semi-educated guess. I wondered if the “59” wasn’t hand-lettered, though I admit that this is unlikely. And yes, that rendering of the Matterhorn can be seen in color HERE. And yes, you will get VIP treatment wherever you go! Show it to a police officer to have any speeding tickets “taken care of”.
Alonzo, I can’t understand being so desperate to go to Disneyland that one would be willing to stand in a thermometer line. I’ll wait until it’s generally safe!
JG, when we moved back to California after several years in Pennsylvania, I went up to my new bedroom (which I shared with my brother), and found an issue of “Disney News” on the floor, left behind by the people who’d lived there before us. I feel like that was a good omen! It’s interesting to think that the first poster was almost certainly designed before they had photos to use. If you see my response to Omnispace, you’ll see that they did use the artwork for that one “insert” (I believe it was included with guidebooks), and I’m almost certain I’ve seen it elsewhere.
stu29573, thank you, it is wonderful!
Major, I recall that color version now that you re-posted it. I was thinking of the "billboards" posted in the park.
Yes, it is unmitigated good news to see that a former occupant of your house was a Disney News reader. Undoubtedly a good neighborhood.
JG
Major, I meant we had MKC ticket books, which were special (but aren't we all in some way?). Sorry about the confusion.
Nanook, I stand corrected. The songs on the How the West Was Won soundtrack are about a 60/40 mix of actual folks songs and original songs that sound like folk songs (plus one hybrid using a folk tune and Sammy Cahn lyrics). I wasn't familiar with "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" as a folk song and made a poor assumption. You (and my LP's liner notes) have set me straight. I seriously appreciate it.
And, yeah - the Alice segment is a bit cringeworthy. But I can't complain too much - it's Alice, after all. I've been a fan since I was about four.
@ Chuck-
I think we've ALL been Alice fans since about that age-!
As I often find very little to align myself with when it comes to the 'Disney' way of producing many of their live "spectaculars": simplistic choreography; stilted speaking; the copyrighted, Disneyland Full-Castrated Choir© - without a single note sung below Middle C; and what is far too often horrifically simplistic musical arranging and orchestrations - those are merely givens for me. What struck me right off the bat was the insanely unprofessional production values, and totally amateurish direction and camera work. Literally, a middle schooler's first film would look better than that embarrassment.
Hey, have we heard anything from DrGoat?? I wonder if he even made it to his 70th birthday?!?! Hopefully he did(!), and he's celebrating on a beautiful island somewhere (and just doesn't have access to the internet, at the moment)...
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