Sue Goes to Disneyland! May, 1964
Here are more fun photos from Sue. B (of "Lou and Sue" fame)! These are from a May, 1964 trip to the park, and star little Sue herself! So fun to think that this cute little girl is now "one of us"! I am crediting Lou as well as Sue, even though he didn't take these photos... they were taken by Sue's Aunt Adeline. But hey, without Lou we wouldn't have Sue, so he still gets credit!
There's Sue in her white sweater and red shoes (I'll bet she loved her red shoes), accompanied by her Mother's friend Carol, who seems perfectly happy to introduce Sue to a certain big movie star.
Awwww! There's li'l Sue posing with Goofy himself. He looks more bashful than she does! Such a cute picture, and I love the old Fantasyland façades nearby. We even get a glimpse of some of the pirate ship vehicles on the Peter Pan attraction.
And yet another super cute picture! The goth schoolgirl to our left has an interesting look for 1964. These pictures evoke so much nostalgia for a simpler, more laid-back Disneyland. The place that I loved so much.
I suppose it was inevitable that other kids would realize that Goofy was right there, and they (or their parents) all wanted that special photo to send to Grandma and Grandpa. Sue doesn't seem to mind though!
Never fear... Sue has been slaving over a red-hot scanner, and has sent me LOTS more wonderful photos, including a lot more from this batch. And she's also included some incredible slide scans from the 50's from her dad! You'll be amazed.
30 comments:
WOW! Look at Sue’s red shoes!!!! Major : defiantly a different Disneyland experience in 1964. No being forced to be glued to your Cel phone for fast pass .... having to decide what you want for dinner two days in advance ..... planning to avoid the crowd mass on Main Street of the people who lined up for fire works 4 hours in advance ..... watching safety bars and railings get higher and higher because CALOSHA says so!
I’ve become a grumpy old man at 53.
Alternate
( .... they ruin everything ....)
Such innocent times! I'm not a major Disney fan (except for about the first two decades of Walt's cartoons and a few of his live-action features), but it's heartwarming to see these kids having some fun. And at the time, Disneyland was affordable for the average working-class family, which was what Walt wanted it to be.
Now, the Disney parks aren't so affordable. Too bad.
Awwww, sweet pictures of Sweet Sue, taken by Sweet Adeline!
Sue, you needed that furry red coat in the last pic, to go with your red shoes!
Mike.....ha, ha! You're singing my song!
Thank you for sharing Lou, Sue, Carol, Adeline, Goofy, Goth Schoolgirl, and Major!
Major-
Sue is definitely the ideal child for a day at Disneyland, and clearly knows how to work her way into Goofy's heart. That 'goth schoolgirl' is displaying her own unique way of holding on to a DL ticket book. (I can see why it never caught on).
And is that sweep we see in front of Peter Pan's Flight 'Dutch'-? Another feature of a 1964 Disneyland: King Arthur Carousel horses in colors-! Yes, pick your favorite one, kids.
Thank you Sue and Aunt Adeline.
Orher than Sue, the first guest I noticed in that first pic was Goth Girl. I, however, took her for a gang member (anyone remember the Sour Grape Gang?...or maybe she's closer to Tim Burton's Lydia...anyway...) who was about to rough the Goofster up! Fortunately, cute Sue was there and everyone watching her made Sour Grape/ Lydia's plan fall apart! Drat! Foiled by cutness again! Time to ride Snow White and cheer for the witch!
Great pictures Sue! (and Major!)
Sue, you are a caution. So cute and Auntie Adeline is perfect. She's got some sensible, yet classy sneakers for the long day.
I'll join in that chorus with Mike and TM. Got really misty eyed thinking of the 60s in Disneyland with our family. I'm sure I brushed by Sue and her family some afternoon in Fantasyland. Had to happen, right?
I must say, that red fuzzy jacket that little girl is sporting in the last pic is fabulous.
Lovely photos taken by Lou. Ooodles of thanks Sue.
Thanks Major, for being the middle-man in this heartwarming endeavor.
Wonderful stuff, I love the pic with the kids clustered around Goofy.
Great shoes, everybody. Even Goofy is rocking some bench-made John Lobb.
Thanks Lou, Sue, Major & all.
JG
Glad I stopped by today! Kids, parents, aunts and Goofy, all having fun. I like the sweater, jeans and Mickey ears on the young lad. That's how I dressed in the day.
Thanks Major, Sue, Lou, Carol, Adeline and my parents, who took me to this Disneyland at that age.
zach
In the first picture, Goofy is clearly in awe of Sue's bold fashion choice in footwear. Schoolgirl-gone-bad, looks like she is about to heckle Goofy. And speaking of shoes, check out the winkle pickers the little girl in the last photo is sporting. The Beatles would be envious. Thanks to Sue for bein so darn cute, and sharing these great shots with all of us. Thanks to Major for making all this possible.
Sue was the cutest little girl ever... probably still is :)
Great pics of my favorite Fantasyland era.
Another nice GDB morning. Thanks Sue and Major!
Love, love, love these photos! Love seeing little Sue in her cute outfit and red shoes to boot :)
A time when one would dress up when going out...especially to something as important as Disneyland! Imagine...a character (not you Sue :)) lounging around waiting for attention. A slower time and place. That could have been me...except it would have been around 1957. KS
Mike Cozart, yes, 1964 truly was a different experience - not that I remember it! But you can see from photos like these. When I see photos on Facebook showing the park as it is lately, I’m glad I’m not there. That used to be unthinkable! It makes me grumpy too.
Pilsner Panther, there are many Disney films that I don’t particularly love, but I do like the early animated features and the very early short subjects, and some of the live action films as well. The company’s attempt to keep crowds lower by raising prices is a bummer, allowing only the well-to-do, or else people who have to scrimp and save. The park has been “loved to death”.
TokyoMagic!, I’ll bet Sue was thinking, “Hey, that furry red coat would look better on ME!”. Luckily, she hadn’t learned karate yet.
Nanook, don’t say “sweep”! I’ve learned the hard way! It’s practically an epithet. They use “sweeper”. Today I’m feeling sassy, and think I’ll choose a butterscotch-colored horse to ride.
Stu29573, Goth Girl appears to be talking to a friend who is out of frame to our right. Goth Boy? You’re right, Tim Burton would love her. It’s cute to see how enthusiastic Sue was about meeting her favorite characters - I would have been much more shy!
DrGoat, the thought of going to Disneyland the way it is today, with my dad (assuming he was hale and hearty) is not inspiring. He’d blow his top! I’m sure on the drive home he would declare “Never again!”. I think we all need fuzzy jackets, red, blue, or any other color one would like!
JG, I was sure that Goofy’s shoes were custom-made in Italy, but I’m not good at ID-ing such things.
zach, I guess May could still be a little chilly, but the kid in the sweater will be comfy all day. Hopefully his family got to stay until the park closed.
Jonathan, I think it’s kind of funny that the Goth Girl wore (apparently) her school uniform to Disneyland. It was her day off! Time to dress casually! “Winkle pickers”, that’s a new one on me. Why that name??
Grant, that’s a pretty great era, though the earlier days (when your mom was there) seem pretty great too, to me anyway!
Irene, I knew you would like these!!
KS, it really is astounding that there aren’t 100 people waiting to mob Goofy. He’s just relaxing, and happy to see his young fans. Sue was worried that people were tired of seeing photos of her, and I assured her that this was NOT the case.
Sue wins the “Cutest Junior Gorilla As a Kid” award, the coveted CJGAC (pronounced “see-jay-gak”). It’ll look great next to your Oscar and the Piston Cup.
I'm a grumpy old man at 59, but I was grumpy at 8 too, so nothing much has changed. Fast pass, dinner reservations, 4 hour placeholders for fireworks...wow...that is a lot of work for an expensive day of "leaving your worries outside of the berm". I wasn't built for "Forever Disneyland 21"! That being said, such cute photos before the mobs would attack characters to the point where you have to wait in line to take photos. I really like this Goofy costume! The head has a matte quality that makes it look a bit more real and less plasticy. Not everything needs to be shiny! I know that the Fantasyland sheet metal tents were a cost saving measure when the money started running thin, but they are all so charming and well done. A cute Bavarian town is cute, but I kind of like the two dimensionality of the sheet metal! Another myth story: - there was much talk about how Walt wanted all of the horses leaping (he got that) and that they HAD to be all white, as all of the fairy princesses who wanted to ride the white horse should! I don't think they were painted white until much later- clearly they are not white in these photos! There is also a "sound" to that chain used around the carousel...and I am enjoying how big gigantic Goofy is using them as a "seat". Carol is certainly rocking the white sunglasses! Very Mrs. Walt Disney of her!
I'm going to hit 71 this month and I'm not so much grumpy, but impatient might be a better term. That can morph into grumpiness pretty quickly though. I had pretty much reached full grumpiness on our last trip a few years ago during the fireworks fiasco.
Am at work now, so I’ll respond more later...
If you truly want to see a cute Jr Gorilla, you have to see Andrew’s photo of him driving the car—with his mom in back. It’s from, like 5 years ago. ;o)
Hey, Andrew, please link it to today’s comments. Thank you!
Chuck, we have some photos of you as a little kid, you were cute too! Hey, it’s not a contest. And you already have your CJGAC from a different year.
Bu, ha ha, when I gripe about something, my mom says, “You’re just like you were when you were little”. So I guess I was grumpy too. And I totally agree… for years I read about how a trip to WDW required planning, many months beforehand, for every meal and event. I absolutely hate that idea, but I guess its the only way they can get that place to work with the sheer number of people they have. I always thought, “I’m glad Disneyland isn’t like that”, but of course the concept has been creeping in, little by little. I like this version of Goofy too, though I can’t imagine NOT liking any of the Goofys. The two-dimensional “tents” of the early Fantasyland were inspired by the background designs for Sleeping Beauty, which was in production when Disneyland was being built. Eyvind Earle even did some elevation plans and color suggestions. You are right, the Carrousel did not have all-white horses until the 1980’s, I believe it was Tony Baxter’s deal (or at least he seemed to approve). Maybe it was to speed up loading, so that nobody fought over a special horse. They’re all basically the same! No fighting! Ha, I didn’t even notice that Goofy was using the chain as a seat!
DrGoat, I feel like I go through phases. I’m all calm and zen, and tell myself, “Why get upset over something that you have no control over?”. And then 10 minutes later I’m gnashing my teeth and getting red in the face (and saying some choice words!). I learned lots of good words from my Navy dad, ha ha.
Lou and Sue, I was wondering when you were going to chime in! I don’t remember seeing the photo of Andrew driving. A 12 year-old can’t legally drive a car, so I will be reporting him to the authorities at once! We must obey the laws! ;-)
Lol...Major, he’s really only about 3 years old in his picture—and absolutely adorable! I was kidding that he took the pic 5 years ago.
I’ll be back later.
Major, winkles are periwinkles, a type of shell fish. A winkle pick is the thing you use to dig out the edible part. The name was given, by the Brits, to describe the look of pointed toe boots, like the Beatles wore. Groovy man.
Well Sue... if it makes you happy... :-)
STU: I remember the SOUR GRAPE GANG ( BUNCH) !!! From The Banana Splits !!! They all wore purple tones and go-go boots and next just walked ... they did like a groovy dance-walk thing. They always frowned but never really did anything mean .
Our “Goth Girl” in 1964 would have been categorized somewhere on the character scale between a coffee house beatnik and a Von Zipper Gang member .....
HEY GOOFY!!!! That chain has been provided for your safety and it is NOT strong enough to support the weight of you or your children”
I know the Disney company saves samples of most of all the previous Mickey Mouse costumes , but I’m not sure about the others. Into the 1990’s a big chunk of the lower level “ old cast lockers - on the opposite side of Grand Canyon Diorama) was used to store old character costumes - through the windows on the end you could always see odd or uncommon figure heads for characters like Sam The Eagle from America Sings .... a Mr. Toad and a couple Shaggy Dogs ( DA?) but buy 1998 so many of older back stage storage areas were being cleared away.
That’s interesting and I never thought about it before regarding the story how Walt wanted all the Carousel horses to be all white steeds ... when clearly there is evidence for many years they were not all white - is this another exaggerated or made up Disneyland - Disney Archives story??
I remembered seeing King Arthur’s Carousel with a few other animals that had replaced the horses - they were roped off and guests could not ride them - they had been added for filming scenes for EPCOT CENTERS Magic Journeys 3-D attraction .
I think it would be funny to see guests reactions if one horse was temporarily replaced with a demon pig with wings, horns and it should be wearing heavy black horn rimmed eye glasses .
Major, the description you gave of your going from Defcon 5 to Defcon 2 cracked me up. Sounds familiar.
Can't wait to see those slide scans from the 50s!
Sue, you always have a happy face like you're having a good ol' time. Thanks so much for your generosity of sharing your personal pics with us. You've share so much already and still are.
It makes my day seeing you as a child enjoying Disneyland the same time and era I did. We are the same age after all. Anyway, your photos spark so many warm and wonderful memories of my own. I know when it's a "Lou and Sue" post it's gonna be a good day!
Thanks as always for sharing with us.
Thank you too, Major.
Am finally home from work and have time to comment more...
"...having to decide what you want for dinner two days in advance..."
Mike (& Bu & Major), I'm sure you know, you can book WDW meal reservations up to 180 days in advance. (Disneyland is something like 60 days in advance, if I remember correctly.) I found that I had to do so, if we wanted to eat in certain restaurants - especially if we wanted normal eating times. Try guessing what you'll have a taste for - that far in advance. It definitely takes the fun out of a Disney trip. What REALLY made things difficult is when I had to plan for a family reunion/trip, without knowing for sure who would be there and joining us at a restaurant. WDW charges for "no shows" (you give them your credit card in advance).
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"Now, the Disney parks aren't so affordable. Too bad."
Pilsner Panther, I couldn't agree more!
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TM! With that furry red coat, I'd be red from the tippy-top of my head to the bottom of my toes!
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"Sue is definitely the ideal child for a day at Disneyland, and clearly knows how to work her way into Goofy's heart."
Nanook, I LOVED seeing the characters. As I'm sure you remember, it was so exciting to "stumble upon" them. You didn't have to make reservations, 3 months in advance, to get to see them in a meet-and-greet.
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Chuck, I actually won the DJGAC (pronounced "dee-jay-gak") - Dippiest Jr. Gorilla as a Child award! I have got to find some of those really goofy ones for Major to post. I know you'll agree.
Thank you, Andrew! That photo is SOOOO CUTE! BTW, I love all the Jr. Gorilla kid-photos that everyone's posted on GDB! When I read any Jr. Gorilla's comments, I picture them as they are in their kid-photos. For example, I see Nanook, shirtless, sitting on the lawn, reading the newspaper (or is it a magazine??). The only exception is Mike...I see him in his saloon gal photo. *chuckle, chuckle, snort*
Thank you, all, for your fun and very kind comments!!!
I can confirm the "180 days in advance" reservations at WDW are real. I remember waiting to be seated at Le Cellier (the restaurant in the Canada pavilion of Epcot) and a man walked in and asked for the wait. He could not believe that there was not a single walk-up seating available that night or a reservation for the duration of his trip.
Dean: Oh(!), that poor [uniformed] weary and hungry traveler...
When planning our WDW trips in the past, I would mark my calendar and, exactly 180 days in advance, I made those meal reservations. Waiting a few days longer would sometimes screw-up our wishes. When it comes to Disneyland trips, I first make sure I have reservations at the Blue Bayou Restaurant before I book my plane reservations. (Trips are now few and far between.) Stupid way to plan and enjoy a trip, especially since I remember when both Disneyland and WDW weren't that crowded and most times you could just show up at a restaurant, at the spur of the moment, and get seated (up until the late 90s). Oh, well. Yes, I get grumpy, too.
Dean, btw, I've never eaten at that restaurant in Canada (I never had reservations there), but I hear/heard it's fantastic. Something about delicious steaks??
Mike Cozart, that's them! I don't think they ever said anything, they just looked mean (or grumpy).
My wife and I ate at Le Cellier once. One of the reasons why the reservations run out so fast is that it's tiny! Also, it's because it's pretty darn good. I had a filet. Wonderful! (Pretzel bread sticks, cheddar soup, chocolate moose shaped like a moose- what's not to love?)
Stu, that restaurant does sound good. Nothing like having a taste for something and having to wait 6 months for it.
^. Dean, lol...I meant “uninformed” NOT “uniformed”
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