Parking Lot, 1965
Here are two more vintage photo prints from 1965 - this time the famous Disneyland parking lot is featured. Acres of Asphalt! A Cornucopia of Cars! A Plethora of something that starts with "P"! Both photos were taken from the Monorail, no small feat since they traveled at near light speed. Notice the red shift! Look at all them durned cars. There were still some tail-finned beauties, and my beloved station wagons, and even the occasional VW Bug. Under the distant Monorail track is a tram, and we can even see a glimpse of the Douglas Moonliner to the right.
This one is interesting to me for several reasons, though I am a bit discombobulated. What direction was our photographer facing? Does the dirt lot in the distance have anything to do with the construction in progress in the southwest corner of the park? Buses, campers, and even a sailboat would be directed to these mega-sized parking spots. I love that blue car hauling the cute little trailer. You'd be snug as a bug in that thing.
27 comments:
Major-
2nd image is looking essentially north. That 'dirt' is on the east side of Harbor Bl. That should be CM parking on the right side of the fence. The 'outbound' monorail beamway to the DL Hotel would be behind us.
Thanks, Major.
Major, that would be a ‘Plethora of Pontiacs.’ And that sure is a cute little trailer...as opposed to a long, long trailer.
Thanks, Major.
—Sue
By golly, I do see the red shift in that first photo! We must be going at least 175,000 miles per second!
Sort of a toss up between pale blue and white for the most popular car color in '65. Really makes the red ones stand out.
What is that tall white-ish structure in between the Moonliner and Main Street Station? Surely not one of the Main Street buildings that far over to the right?
In #2, it seems odd to see a sailboat parked in Disneyland's lot. Did they come to the Park on a whim after a day on the ocean?
I like the little wings sticking out of the back of the travel trailer. Sort of like Mercury's winged sandals.
Sue, a Lucy and Desi reference... nice! I actually enjoyed that movie, even with the smarminess.
Thanks, Major. I hope we remember where we parked!
JB, I see the top of the Opera House...is that maybe what you see??
—Sue
Sue, I suppose you're right. It just seems like it's too far over. A trick of perspective, I guess.
You can even see part of the castle in #1.
(Crazy cell phone and blog...I was able to post my first two comments from my cell...then they stopped communicating. So now I'm on my laptop.)
Faint memories of a Disneyland TV special in which Jim Varney, as his Ernest character, remembers a visit with his father as a kid. The flashback has Varney as his dad, spending the whole visit on the parking lot tram and marveling at all the different years and models on display.
Guess you had to be there. Then again, I was there and thought it was more sadistic than funny (although Little Ernest seemed just as fascinated by the parking lot alone).
Ooh! Buses! This will be fun later. First day back from a week’s vacation; priorities and all that.
Concur with Nanook’s orientation of our mental map. The Grand Canyon diorama building is hiding in the trees.
In addition to the details Sue and JB have pointed out, you can also see the top of the mast of the pirate ship to the left of the castle and a single Skyway bucket between the Emporium corner facade and the Matterhorn. Unfortunately, the Matterhorn appears to be blocking our view of the Skyway pylon atop Holiday Hill.
JB, those little wings on that trailer mark it as a Shasta. We had a Shasta trailer and later a mini-motorhome when I was growing up. The trailer went to Disneyland and the mini-motorhome went to WDW.
The second photo would be my dad's favorite place to park. We lived in Whittier but would bring the RV to Disneyland. The parking is ALWAYS close to the gates and you can go out to the RV for lunch instead of that expensive Tahitian Terrace. Dad was such a party pooper.
I had to zoom in to find the objects that Sue and Chuck mentioned, but for some reason, the first thing that caught my attention in the first pic is that '49 or '50 blueish Plymouth in the center of the photo. We drove from NYC to Tucson in 1952 in one of those. A green one. Lots of cars and asphalt, thanks Major.
This is wonderful, just perfect. Nothing will ever duplicate the charm of the Disneyland parking lot. I’m going to stop short of saying it was an attraction on its own because the Ernest skit does sound like some people I went to school with. Seeing the tall bits above the berm just heightens the anticipation.
Our first trailer was about the same size, except an Aristocrat brand. Lots of fun. I had a little backpacking tent, so I slept out on the ground most nights. Having the trailer meant easy packing for camping, everything was stowed on board, just hook up and go. No more getting to Yosemite and discovering the tent poles were forgotten and rigging cords to the trees to hold it up.
Really loving these photos, Major. Thank you.
JG
Dude brought his own boat to Disneyland, but they wouldn't let him race the Mark Twain. Sad, really.
Nanook, thanks for the orientation on photo #2, I’m not sure I would have guessed that we were looking north.
Sue, how about a “plethora of Porsches”!
JB, sometimes when I’m driving I notice the slight red shift on the freeway. I admit that I have kind of a “lead foot”. You’re right about pale blue or white for popular car colors, but how about that psychopath with the lone yellow car in photo #2? Arrest that man immediately! That structure is the Opera House, you can sort of see the curvy shapes. I’m assuming that the folks with the sailboat were on a road trip vacation, and Disneyland was just one of their stops.
Sue, I concur!
JB, if you ask me, opera houses are always “too far over”. (No, I don’t know what that means either).
Sue, I think I see the dent! ;-)
DBenson, I hate to admit it, but that Ernest bit actually sounds kind of funny. What has happened to me??
Chuck, I need to know what that mostly-obscured distant bus is. The one you really can’t see. If I don’t learn the make and model, I will plotz. PLOTZ! This photo was taken on one of those days when they only ran one Skyway gondola. It seems inefficient, but they knew what they were doing. I noticed those little wings on the trailer, what a funny detail. Maybe it actually got airborne at a certain speed?
MRaymond, it sounds like your dad and my dad were a lot alike when it came to saving money! We didn’t have an RV, so there was no heading out to the parking lot for lunch. The good news is that you burned off all of those calories by the time you got back to the park and were ready to eat again.
DrGoat, whoa, from NYC to Tucson, that’s some drive! How many days did that take? I’m going to say three, or two if your dad was the Terminator. I sure love all those old cars, even the humblest of them.
JG, of course we can see a little bit more into the park from the elevated vantage point of the Monorail, but as we’ve seen, even from the ground you can usually see some stuff from ground level. Not long ago I drove past the park on the 5, but with all of the sound walls and other construction, the Matterhorn no longer dominates the skyline, I didn’t see any hint of the park at all. Maybe at night I would have at least seen the tip of Space Mountain. I’ve never been camping, believe it or not, and the only time I’ve slept in a trailer is when my sister’s house was so full for the holidays that we need an “extra bedroom”. I do kind of like the idea of having your own little cozy place to sleep when on a road trip, though.
Melissa, when the person at the ticket booth told him he had to leave his boat in the parking lot, he almost went right home!
Pic #1 you can see some Tour Guides there dead center...you can make out the riding hat, white blouse and knee socks from 100 miles. That was of course on purpose. Answering questions at the Main Gate was a bit taxing...and it was a wee too windy most of the time for the ladies and they would be constantly holding their skirts down. Guests do ask a LOT of questions. They probably should have read their IMPORTANT! READ THIS BEFORE BUYING YOUR TICKETS! brochure. Perhaps other little Majors took the brochures and immediately put it into a hermetically sealed plastic envelope never to be touched by a human hand ever again. I was that kid too. I'm not sure there was too much decision making in my family- "what is the cheapest?"...and we would go with that. Pic #2 is a lovely view of the employee parking lot. That diving line/fence was still there in the 80's. It had to be original as it looked like it was at least 20 years old. I'm sure it was older..it wasn't in great shape...kind of misshapen from cars bumping it and not particularly "good show"...but it's for the employees, so who cares. Much like the offices and break rooms, etc. I wouldn't call any of them "good show". Old sofas and carpeting with things living in them. I am depicting it bleaker than it was, and the explanation at the time that if it looked nice/decorated/etc. that guests would think it was a guest area and hang out. There were guests that wandered back stage all the time- generally looking for a bathroom...or the Pirates...they would see the vending machines and partake in a snack or two...I think it was .10 for an ice cream sandwich. Bet they thought "WOW...everyone says this place is so expensive!" For those of you thinking..."guests would know if they were backstage...come on! they would know!".....no....they don't know, and didn't know. Mickey could be there headless and they would still ask headless Mickey where the bathroom was. Or our UK visitors "CAN YOU PLEASE DIRECT ME TO A TOILET". So polite, yet so very to the point. We all giggled. Canadians: "Wash room". Polite ladies: "Ladies room". You can see the Grand Canyon in that pic...slightly, and this was pre Ad-Bldg, but I can imagine it there next to Harbor House, which changed in appearance, but maybe the "new" Harbor House was just a layer onto the "old" Harbor House. Harbor House was not a lounge, or a place to hang. It had time clocks and time cards. And a small table to hold Disneyland Lines or other handouts. I always took a few. There were a couple of internal phones out there to call your office if you forgot your ID. That was NOT popular as they would have to call security to clear you. You did that too many times...."bye". All phones in the park were basically internal only...until we made a BIG discovery...one phone (of many phones) we attempted to dial "9" and then an external number....AND IT WORKED. This was a top secret, do not tell any one, ever, at any time....as we did not want supervision to know our secret as it would be shut down FOREVER. The ladies made hair appointments, chatted with their friends, etc. etc. etc. HA! Someone ultimately slipped, it was discovered, and then surreptitiously shut down without a turned eye or any pomp and circumstance. The supervisor at the time knew it was convienient and would often ask "which one of these phones is the one that can I get an outside line on?" That supervisor still works at the Park. Next time I go to Disneyland I'm bringing a boat and a trailer.
Major,
That trip (I was only 3 years old) took about a week because we stopped at every interesting place along the route, including that Story Book Land that Andrew posted a while back. I don't remember a lot but my sister who is 5 years older filled me in. On top of that, 3 or 4 months later, my Dad and Uncle did the same trip back to pick up more furniture and other stuff we left in NYC. They did the trip in considerably less time, with an occasional stop at an art museum or exhibit my Uncle wanted to photograph.
@ DrGoat-
Very good guess on that car: Correct family; wrong sibling. It's actually a 1949 Chrysler, probably in Mist Blue. Those taillights, more S/S trim and 'deep' rear bumper, separates it from the Dodge/Plymouth side of the family.
Major-
HERE"s a nice high-rez image, from 1/20/1983, of that area of the Parking Lot to help 'ground' today's shot. (Thank you, Daveland).
Major-
I should've also mentioned that sailboat is being pulled by a 1962 Buick Invicta, in 'Arctic White'.
I remember one time in high school when my friends and I went to eat lunch in the car at Darien Lake (our home park), and the nanosecond we got the sandwiches out of the cooler we were swarmed with seagulls like something out of a Hitchcock movie. You've never seen the windows of a Chevette get rolled up so fast. We bolted down our lunch in the sweltering car, shaking in our boots. We had to wait quite a while before the gulls gave up and went in search of some other baloney-eating idiots.
Love the parking lot! I was always fascinated as a kid by the loading/unloading systems at DL, and closely observed Mr Toad, Matterhorn, Jungle Cruise, and other synchronized processes. Same thing with the parking lot! An employee (oops, "cast member") would direct cars to park in pairs... one ready to pull forward upon leaving, and one to back up to leave -- unless the car in front had previously left.
Really was part of the "magic" to see the approaches to a World on the Move.
Nanook,
Thanks for the input. Could have sworn that was a Plymouth. Upon closer inspection, I do see differences. I just sent the Major a scan of the 1950 green Plymouth my Dad drove us out in. Maybe he can share it or put it somewhere you can link to. Included is the English Ford my Uncle drove. That thing went anywhere except up to Mt. Palomar Observatory. Overheated once too often. My sister said that he bought it the day I was born.
https://www.pinterest.com/cootieaz/my-saves/
That might work, it's the first pic.
Major, do you mean the northbound bus on Harbor Blvd? That’s a bi-level model of the Crown Coach A-779-11 Supercoach in Tanner Grey Line livery, which has graced this blog before in parking lot photos both at Disneyland and at Travel Town (left side of frame in both linked images).
On the left side of today’s second image is a 1950s Superior Coach school bus of some model painted for…maybe Victorville Protestant Church? Behind that is a line of white-roofed GM PD-4104s in Greyhound colors. At the end of the row and offset from the Greyhounds are two red-and-white or red, white, and silver buses that may be ACF-Brill Model 41s or GM PD-3751 Silversides; not really sure based on the lack of detail.
The travel trailer appears to be a 1958-64 Shasta Compact.
I'm shocked a 49 or 50 Chrysler was still on the road and looking pretty good in 1965. I think of cars of that era having a max service life of a decade or so. Nowadays, 10 years is just broken in for a car.
@ Dean Finder-
Yes, I think when cars from that vintage made it into the mid-1960's, and found their way onto Used Car lots, they were referred to as "transportation cars"- and often selling for under $100.00. (I wonder how much farther they went once driven off the lot...)
Included is the English Ford my Uncle drove.
My aunt drove a green Ford Anglia in the late Sixties. I wish somebody had thought to take a picture of it!
Bu, good eye on the tour guides! We’ve seen photos of guides hanging around out front before, presumably to entice customers to take a premium tour of the park. I wish I’d done it at least once back in the good old days. I applaud any Disneyland visitors from the past who had the foresight to keep their gate handouts, guidebooks, or other ephemera in good condition, especially when they manage to survive for over 60 years with hardly a crease. My dad liked to get the cheap ticket books, but then we always ran out of the E and D tickets, so that we would have to buy more. I’m sure it would have been better to just buy the “Big 15” books to begin with. I love the idea of guests accidentally wandering backstage, and wish that I’d been one of them. “Merciful heavens! I had no idea!”. The Harbor House sounds like it should have been a rough place, full of one-eyed ne’er-do-wells and people with switchblades. A few spittoons would have been in order.
DrGoat, my dad was the sort of guy who had only the destination in mind, so we barreled past anything of interest along the way. We’d only stop for food, bathrooms, and gasoline. You guys did it right!
Nanook, once again, I am so impressed by your knowledge of various makes and models of vintage cars, including those cool color names. “Mist Blue”, love it. Thanks for the Daveland link.
Nanook, Jeez, I’ve never even heard of a Buick Invicta. That’s some name!
Melissa, somehow I thought you were going to say that you were attacked by bees or hornets. maybe it’s because I’ve been watching YouTube videos of guys removing hornets from people’s homes. Seagulls would be no fun either. “Rats with wings!” (I know that is supposed to be pigeons, but it applies to seagulls too).
LTL, you were clearly a lot more observant that I was! My guess is that by that point, I was so focused on getting to the ticket booths and into the park. Why is it taking so long! I’ll bet that the CMs who worked in the parking lot had their own little cliques, since they were literally outside the gates for the day. So close, and yet so far.
DrGoat, sorry, I got home too late to share the photo of your Dad and Uncle with the Plymouth, but I would love to post it at another time. I’ll email you about it, probably tomorrow! Our station wagon would overheat regularly, which meant that we couldn’t run the AC, and that was pure torture on those hot road trips. A rolled-down window just didn’t help much.
Chuck, why yes, that’s what I meant! I knew you’d know. I’m amazed that you remember seeing those particular buses, but they are obviously of interest to you, which is cool. Stuff is cool, Chuck! At first I thought you were joking about the Victorville Protestant Church, but now I see that you were right on. Thanks for all the fun info!
Dean Finder, somehow I thought that old cars were built like tanks, and tended to last longer than today’s cars. I guess not?
Melissa, how did your Aunt get a Ford Anglia in the U.S.?
An Englishman had the Anglia shipped over here when he went to university, but decided not to take it back with him when he graduated and sold it to my aunt.
I'm surprised that no one mentioned that the background of the second picture is that of the Employee Lot! Parked there many a time!! KS
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