More From Ken S.

It's time for another selection of images, graciously donated by GDB pal Ken S.! And once again, he has included recollections from his own days as a Disneyland cast member. Better than the photos? Let's call it a tie, they're both great! I'll let Ken take over.

Ah…the organized Cast Member parties of Summer.  They were like the bookends of the Summer Season when the ‘permanents’ mixed with the “seasonal” CMs.  Custer’s Last Stand, held earlier in the Summer on the anniversary of his last stand, begun by the canoe Indians, became essentially a bacchanal consisting of many hundreds of Cast Members where the liquor was bottomless, the bands echoing through whatever large venue was selected, or dared to host us…endless dancing and frivolity…with hangovers and fortunate selective brain loss later in life (as in “I deny all knowledge!”).   And then in August, the Adventureland crew sponsoring its own party, the Banana Ball.

During my time, it was portrayed as a more subdued event, where one was encouraged to wear tropical garb…like a couple cocoanuts over a bikini.  But that’s another story.  While that would not have been frowned upon (smile), it was a relaxed version of Custer’s with a little less noise but the same amount of booze.  Some decorations were in the venue…maybe an item or two that needed to be returned to the JC before supervision found out.  Were there wild times?  Uh… I forget (smile).  But I liked the tropical tone that the JC guys could put on…at least being able to hold it together for an hour or two.  Many a relationship began or ended on that night.  But it was just plain fun.  Today so many of us laugh about it and some pictures get posted that are strictly for those participants intended to see them.  LOL.  And that tells me that while it was a bit risqué at times, we all took it in good fun and still look upon that innocence with a subtle smile and wink.  And look at those prices for admission for such an event.  Less than a hour’s wages at top scale, which for me was $6.47/hr.  That’s the equivalent of $33.45 at the moment.  WOW!

As I began to find more of my old CMs on social media, I asked one who moved up and retired from Disney if these parties…or something of similar scale, were still being held either at Disneyland or WDW.  He was always involved in them.   His response was “It’s no longer possible, Ken”.  It was a sobering answer acknowledging another tradition being lost over time.

Doesn’t this look like a cute couple?  But they weren’t in reality.  It was just a moment in time.  Such a favorite of mine.  The clock in the background says the next show is 7:40pm.  Denny was the foreman on Tiki and this is at the turnstile entrance.  Denny and Joan.  It’s my thinking she was leaving for the day and was walking to the locker room when she was captured for the picture.  Such great CMs.  And Denny…you are so missed.

Speaking of tradition was the never-ending shenanigans while “on stage” which have been well documented.  And showing off for the camera was the ‘Canoe Reserves’.  In case we found ourselves shorthanded we kept a few in a dock box.  Right!  Denny, at the rear of this line up.  Oh, was he fun to have in your rotation…and a star baseball player for the Adventureland team.  Unfortunately, I can’t identify the slightly hidden fellow in front of him after all these years.  Jim…again just a fun guy and jock who was a QB for a nearby college.  Within 4 years of this shot, he was the starting QB for the Seattle Seahawks.  By then I was living in Oregon, listening to the game on my radio.  Talk about whiplash!  Last upfront is John whom we have met before.  He’s still happily selling real estate in Santa Fe and doing very well.

My first nametag with my one- and 5-year pins attached.  More like punching a hole through the plastic like a stud earring in an ear lobe except a whole lot less than painful…or so I assume.  I would wear an earring while working Pirates but it was a clip…just to add to the attraction and not as a personal statement.

Lastly, taken in the Wheelhouse of the MT.  Some of the infamous CMs of the era.  There are pictures floating around with CMs in the Wheelhouse with beer they would smuggle in.  But not this time.  “Wild Bill” on the left.  That was a play on words.  He was quiet with a sharp wit.  His “real job” was a teacher at a nearby high school.  Spent years at the Park as did so many other educators as a side job.  Steve, obviously in civilian clothes, and Jim.     What cutups.  Steve was a surfer who started selling surf gear to surf shops.  He became the top salesman for a small company that isn’t small anymore.  And he’s still surfing, taking trips back to Orange County from his home in Utah.  I think he got a “no rehire”.  LOL.  Showed them!  Jimmy, a legend within our group.  He became an OC fireman who manned the crew at the John Wayne Airport as I found out a few years ago from him.  Retired, living the good life with that sense of humor intact.  Many a time when I flew in and out of John Wayne and saw the firehouse along the runway…to think we essentially crossed paths frequently over the years.  With his sense of humor, I would love to have been a fly on the wall inside that unit!  

Wow! Thank you SO MUCH, Ken! I absolutely love your stories and memories. I'm sure that many readers (including me) wish they'd had a chance to work at the park during those golden years. I have one more batch of photos from Ken for another post, STAY TUNED!