Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Tram, Monorail, and More! September 1971

I'm super happy to share some beautiful photos from Lou and Sue (providers of so many amazing photos!), both taken just outside the ticket booths and entry. The Monorail beam is overhead, and a parking lot tram waits for guests who are (mysteriously) already heading home. I don't understand it, maybe they left the water running in the bathtub? The Disneyland sign can be seen in the distance, as can the Grand Hotel.


I love this shot with the yellow Monorail heading our way. I hope the pilot toots the air horn! Just beyond that trashcan are the ticket booths, and a surprising number of people seem to be arriving at this late hour. Maybe they were locals hoping to catch the nightly fireworks. 


Thank you to Lou and Sue.

Hi folks, I'm still on my secret mission that definitely does not involve me wearing a tuxedo in Monaco, playing baccarat, romancing stunning women, and fighting thugs. I'll be back with you as usual on Thursday!

20 comments:

JB said...

#1: I'm trying to get my bearings- Are we looking sort of east-by-south east? That seems right.
I'm lousy at naming attraction posters; I think the closest one is Tom Sawyer Island, at least that's him with his back to us. The next one must be the Columbia. That's all I got.
What is that building that looks like Space Mountain? I think Major showed us a close-up of it a year or so ago(?) taken by Lou Perry as well. I think. I might be thinking of something else.

#2: This one captures all the excitement and antici......pation of arriving at Disneyland. I'm keepin' this one! Perfect shot of the Monorail. Thanks, Lou.

And thanks to Sue and Major, too.

Melissa said...

Vrrrrooooooooom!

MIKE COZART said...

For the attraction posters I cannot identify the very first one .. the second back is GREAT MOMENTS WITH MR. LINCOLN, ROCKET JETS , PRIMEVAL WORLD, -a empty display case- , PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, - a empty display case-, SAILING SHIP COLUMBIA, TOM SAWYER ISLAND .

That very first far back poster has a great deal of light blue : it’s possibly a PEOPLEMOVER or another TOM SAWYER ISLAND …. I just cannot tell. Interesting that there are empty cases at all since they could have place a new one when removing the old one / most likely because of fading or water damage …. Those monorail pylon posters were mounted onto aluminum panels ( most of the outdoor posters were) and often new posters would be mounted right over an old one ….a friend of mine had a SKYWAY poster that had been slapped over a RED WAGON INN attraction poster… I wonder if today there is technology that could separate the two posters.

Love these pictures! It’s a Disneyland look I feel very familiar with.

Chuck said...

JB, that’s Melodyland, a theater in the round and I think dinner show place. It eventually became a church and I think nits spot is now occupied by the Anaheim Garden Walk shopping and dining complex.

Man, I can hear that Monorail horn in my head like I just heard it yesterday.

Thanks again, Lou & Sue & Major!

Anonymous said...

I miss the hotel tram! It was a fun way to start your day at Disneyland.

—Sue

JG said...

JB, Chuck beat me to it. The concrete circus tent is (or became) Melodyland Christian Center, at least that is what it was called when my church youth group went to an event there, ending of course, in a visit to the Park. I don’t know what is before or after, and the site is now part of Garden Walk.

I don’t recognize the big sign “House” further down, it must rotate and be “House of Something or Other”, but I don’t recall what. At least it’s probable it doesn’t say “House” on the other side because “House of House” would be weird.

Also POWER LINES! (There, I feel better now).

Two trash cans in photo 2, I’m confident there are more hidden in the crowd. I remember that tram ride felt precarious.

Chuck, the monorail horn is one of my Top 5 Favorite Disneyland Sounds.

Major, I hope you’re having fun, everyone needs some time off. Watch out for mysterious women. I hope your wristwatch has some cool secret functions, like a cocktail shaker or something.

Thanks to you, Lou and Sue for these pics.

JG

DrGoat said...

Thanks Lou and Sue for these very evocative pics. Boy, I wish I could wish myself into that place.
Nanook, it looks like the two cars on the right are the same model, a Valiant maybe? The Chevy is easy.
Well, now I've got the Monorail horn in my head. Very close to a train whistle but much more. Cripes, I can almost smell that parking lot.
The hotel tram was a great way to start the day. Taking the Monorail is great too, but the breeze and the sound of the tram rolling along was special.
Remember Major, back to the wall with a good view of the entrance. And don't order the Cannoli or the duck Pate.
Thanks Lou and Sue, and bring 'em back alive.

Anonymous said...

Boy, the best memories then. September 1971, the parking lot as I remember it, not to mention the surrounding area. The Grand Hotel in the background and the Melodyland Theater as well.

First, the circular sign in #1 is for the Hyatt House hotel...as it was called. A low-rise Hyatt with a very large sign but it was an anchor on Harbor Blvd. Later in the decade when I was running the ROP program at Disneyland, another ROP instructor was teaching Hotel/Motel operations at that, and other locations.

As for #2...Major...that Monorail is heading back into the Park, so you are looking at the back end of the it...not the front. Otherwise, if it is heading our direction, somebody is going to get one heck of a reprimand!!

KS

Nanook said...

@ DrGoat-
Yeah - that's a 1959 Chevrolet; a 1970 or 1971 Ford Maverick. Then I'm gonna say we first have a 1966 Plymouth Valiant and then a 1965 Plymouth Valiant. It's really hard to tell at this resolution - but that's what I'm going with.

Thanks, Major.

DBenson said...

Gee ... With the boss absent, maybe I can smuggle in a plug for my self-published eBook called ... (Sounds of a scuffle and a door slamming).

Anonymous said...

Nanook...you are amazing with the cars. Had to look twice on that Maverick. I was sure it was my old 71 Pinto...but nope...of course this was not the employee parking lot either. Well done! KS

JB said...

I'm having trouble posting again. I'll try breaking it up into smaller parts:

Chuck and JG, thanks for IDing that Space Mountain-type building. Now that I think about it, the photos (of Lou's) that Major posted about a year ago was some other modern-looking building in the area. It had a sign out front. BPOE (Elks)? Some service club, I think.

JB said...

Top Disneyland sounds: yes, the Monorail horn; Mark Twain steam whistle (also the swish, swish, swish of its paddle wheel); The Swisskapolka playing as you walk by; the clanging, crashing, clunking of the Skyway buckets going through either station; the yodeling while in the Matterhorn queue... so many more sounds!

Chuck said...

JB, so many sounds that just immediately take you back to Disneyland. The bell on the Twain, the “Unbirthday Song” at the teacups, or the sound of an Autopia car when you floor the gas pedal. Smells, too, like the grottoes in Pirates of the Caribbean, the Emporium, or a backed up sewer in Fantasyland. Just makes you all warm and tingly inside.

Melissa said...

"...it must rotate and be 'House of Something or Other'"

Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Cats!

JB said...

Another SCTV reference from Melissa!

JG said...

KS, Thanks for confirmation of the Hyatt House. Is that connected to the Hyatt Chain?

If memory serves, there’s a Hyatt House hotel on Harbor still, but further south. I walked by it on my last visit and the name stood out. These must be connected somehow?

JB, WED used Melodyland as a model for Space Mountain. (JK)

JG

Bu said...

I'm late to the party...I'm still trying to figure out what a dent, stain and Fudgie are from posts a year ago..."I liked it better when it was a Parking Lot". A fine quote. It is quite amazing that things like the Monorail track still exist today being built/poured/molded so long ago. Same with the Mark Twain: that has sailed for twice as many years as the Queen Mary did from 1934. The QM is unfortunately crumbling from the inside out, but the Mark Twain still sails on the Rivers of America. Did they do some special celebration/press junket when they refilled the river after the Star Wars thing bringing in waters from all the major rivers in America? Sounds like a missed opportunity to me if that wasn't planned. Back to the P-Lot: My female coworkers did not enjoy so much working the gate...it was a place to go (be assigned to) if the phone room was full, the tunnels were full...and then you went to the gate. Yes, we did staff the tunnels and your "placement" was very specific and body posturing just as specific. Regarding where those photos were taken: it can sometimes can be very gusty. TG's wear skirts...skirts fly up, and then it's "23 Skidoo". For those of you who don't know what "23 Skiddoo" means, it was coined by the NYPD at the turn of the century for the intersection of 23rd and Broadway (nee Flatiron Bldg) where it also gets very gusty. Men would stand waiting for gusts of wind so they could catch a glimpse of ladies ankles. (look it up, it's a thing. And it IS still gusty 100+ years later. I think those P-lot guys and sweepers may have been doing the same thing out there. Disneyland "aromas"...yes!...there is a Parking Lot smell, AND a Tram Smell. And when they combine together is was the smell of anticipation for what was to come after ticket booths and turnstiles. I remember very faintly that parking lot trams were used INSIDE the berm for some special event/thing. Perhaps it was for one of the "Family Open Houses". They did one in the 25th year and the 30th year. You could bring in your family when very few rides were open (but in a different way) check out all the backstage areas, warehouses, paint shop, Club 33...basically everything was open except Walt's apartment (which was still used by the family back then.) So pretty much it was "take Mom to work day." Funny that I did not remember it until just now...and I DO think that night is when the trams were taking people from the hub to the pony farm and the other places in the back 40. It was a cool thing, how odd I forgot about it until now. Perhaps Pirates, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion with all the work lights on wasn't memorable until now! It would be fun to see photos of that night! The color of the trash cans is perfect. I saw a photo of what is done now...it's kind of "flesh"...I personally enjoy yellow. Thanks Lou and Sue for the photos and memories.

Anonymous said...

Bu- I was working at the park during the 25th year celebration. My parents & I attended the "Family Open House". I recall riding the tram through the back area & seeing the paint shop, etc. Also I got to see the Haunted Mansion behind the scenes- very cool!

-DW

Anonymous said...

JG... Yes it was associated with Hyatt at the time. I did a street view yesterday of the corner and find that the facility still exists in a freshened-up look. Nonetheless, the buildings remain pretty much the way they were at the time, minus the sign of course. Its called The Anaheim. After checking on Google Maps, I see a modern Hyatt House on Harbor south of Katella. Apparently it was a complete relocation a couple blocks down from the original. KS