Disneyland Hotel Check-In Magazine, 1967 (Part One)
GDB friend Sue B. kindly scanned an issue of the Disneyland Hotel's CHECK-IN Magazine, from September/October, 1967. I personally own perhaps two issues of CHECK-IN, and knew very little about it. Don Ballard, expert and historian on all things relating to the Disneyland Hotel, said on his blog: It ran from about 1965 until around 1973, exact dates unknown. It contained so many articles, details and photographs from this period at the Disneyland Hotel. I used my copies (about 50 different issues) for many key pieces of information in my first book on the Hotel.
As you can see, Prince Rainer of Monaco is enjoying his deluxe suite with his children, Prince Albert and Princess Caroline.
Like many other Disney magazines from that era (Disney News and Vacationland for example), the ads are half the fun. Why yes, I will relive the days of the 49'ers at Knott's Berry Farm! No parking fee or admission fee to the grounds, hard to believe.
This ad fascinates me, I've never heard of The Fire Station Night Club & Inn. California's #1 speakeasy! I thought that the #1 speakeasy was Stinky Joe's, but what do I know? The Fire Station sounds like it was quite a scene, sort of Shakey's Pizza Parlors crossed with Farrell's Ice Cream Parlors crossed with... well, I don't know. A parlor with a little more energy. The band sure looks like The Firehouse Five Plus Two. Every Wednesday Night is NEW YEAR'S EVE!
Next is an article about the baseball players who stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for the All-Star game, which was played in Anaheim. I'm afraid my knowledge of baseball is pretty limited, I don't recognize any of these fellows. But I remember Dick Enberg (interviewing Jim Fregosi in the first image)!
Hey, Carl Yastrzemski, I know him. I'm not completely hopeless! They misspelled his name, which is always fun. Those of you who recognize other players are welcome to chime in.
Disneyland lessee Global Van Lines has an ad; and we get an article about some of the fans who showed up to see baseball royalty while the guys stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.
This is the end of the first of two posts, I'll share the remainder soon. THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!
26 comments:
Major-
These "magazines" are always so much fun to browse thru. And look... "Prince Rainer, Prince Albert and Princess Caroline" - they're just like you and me-!
WOW - you could start out at The Fire Station Night Club & Inn, and when they close for the evening, head back up Harbor Blvd to Belisle's [Open 24 hours] to 'sober-up' on a slice from one of their crazy-big home made pies-!
Thanks Sue for sharing this magazine. Looking forward to the 2nd post.
The map in the Knott's ad makes it look like KBF is only about three blocks away from Disneyland (as the fairy flies). We all know it was at least five blocks. ;-)
"Grrreat Dinners"! Looks like Tony the Tiger worked at the Fire Station Night Club as well. I like the artwork in this ad.
Major, like you, I only recognize Dick Enberg's name from this page. I will assume that Andy Etchebarren went on to create the Etch A Sketch? (har har)
Global Van Lines, "Official Disneyland Movers"... Where did they move Disneyland to? That's what I wanna know! And where was it located before the move?... Maybe Disneyland really WAS located just three blocks away from Knott's, at one time!
Lou & Sue come through again with a seemingly never-ending supply of Disneyana. Thank you to you both, and of course, to Major too.
These are awesome! The Fire Station ad is wild! Guzzlers not only tolerated, but welcomed! I think their band is a Firehouse Five Plus Two tribute band, The Fire Station Four Plus Three. They tried to have a battle of the bands, but it just descended into long division.
Just noticed Eddie is Peppery AND Stankey!
There is that statement about Knott's being open every day of the year, as Stefano pointed out last Friday. Although, I believe the ad he saw stated that Knott's was "Open Every Day Except Christmas Day." So again, their closure on Wednesdays and Thursdays came at a later date than Disney's closure on Mondays and Tuesdays (in the off-seasons).
I used to work in an office that was two properties away from the Fire Station Inn/Motel. It was an interesting property. The configuration of the building(s) containing the rooms was a giant "U" shape, with a huge grassy lawn in the middle of the "U." It kind of seemed like wasted space. There was a thrift shop up front on one end of the "U," which was attached to the motel. I always thought it was an odd location, and figured that it must have had something to do with the motel at some point in time. Now I'm wondering if that could have been the original night club part of the motel.
As for the statement at the bottom of the ad, "100 Unit Motor Inn Adjacent," there was a trailer park next door to the Fire Station Motel. In the nineties, and perhaps even before that, both properties had mostly (if not entirely) long-term tenants living in the rooms and in the trailers next door. A LOT of incidents occurred on a regular basis, which required the police to come out to both properties. We will just leave it at that.
I can't remember exactly when the Fire Station was torn down, but the city of Garden Grove had been wanting that property for "redevelopment" for a very long time. At one point, there was a proposal to build a "River Walk" like the one in San Antonio, which would have also required the removal of the large shopping center south of those properties. I guess the plan was to have a man-made river, since one didn't already exist there. Google "street view" only goes back to 2008, and the motel is already gone at that point, but the "Motor Inn" next door was still there at that time, and it doesn't disappear until sometime between 2011 and 2014. Today, the massive Great Wolf Lodge occupies both properties:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7789718,-117.9149994,3a,49.2y,296.64h,92.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sTsTHi3XhsD22Ca91UbyV6A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu
Thank you Lou, Sue and the Major, too!
P.S. Where are Princess Grace and baby Stephanie? Maybe one of them was taking a nap and the other one shot the magazine's cover photo.
Bu, you just reminded me of a time when my manager at Knott's asked me to drive to the grocery store, and buy bananas! I worked in the Cable Car Kitchen Ice Cream Parlor at that time, and we ran out of bananas for the banana splits. It's kind of odd now, when I think of it, because we really didn't sell that many banana splits (with three scoops of ice cream). The sundaes (with two scoops of ice cream) were far more popular. You'd think that we could have just told the very few people who ordered a banana split, that we were "out of bananas." At Disneyland, that might have been "bad show," but at Knott's it would have just been par for the course. Again, it's strange that they sent me to purchase them. I had to go alone, and I didn't even get a company car. They should have let me take a car from Gasoline Alley or Henry's Auto Livery. Or a stagecoach.
Hey, where did Bu's comment go? My last comment was in response to Bu's comment, but since his seems to have disappeared, my last makes me sound like a crazy person! Oh well, I'll let it ride!
Chuck, I bet you will say that my comment doesn't make me sound crazy.....just a little bit bananas!
How cool would it be to rock up to the supermarket in a stagecoach?!?
I remember one time when I was working in a restaurant, when they ran out of the pre-mixed cinnamon sugar they put on the tapioca pudding. They sent someone to the nearest store, a half-hour's drive away, to *buy* cinnamon sugar. They didn't believe me that you could just mix cinnamon and sugar yourself without a recipe. (Yes, they were a bit dim.)
TM!, you know you've hit the big time when other people start writing your jokes for you.
I found an article about the end of the Fire House Motel.
Yeow, the Fire Station sounds like quite the night spot. Brings a whole new perspective to Pole Dancers.
Yes indeed, the old ads are the best part.
I know nothing of baseball and don’t want to learn, but I guess they had to stay somewhere. I remember other old ads remarking that the new DLH was a magnet for celebrities in the early years.
Thanks Sue and Major, and the rest for great stories!
JG
Nanook, admittedly, Prince Rainier and his family don’t look very different from mere mortals in that photo. I’d love to know more about the Fire Station night club - how long was it there? Was it popular for a while? It sounds like a good time if you like that sort of thing.
JB, I often like to walk to Knott’s from Disneyland when I’m full of pep. It’s just good fun. Tony the Tiger had several side gigs, including one as a psychic detective. Poor Andy Etchebarren, he had his name made fun of his whole life, and now it’s happening again. Your questions about Global Van Lines can only be answered by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Melissa, so funny that they encouraged heavy drinkers to come and stay a while!
Melissa, yeah, that is some name. Andy Etchebarren is feeling a little better about himself.
TokyoMagic!, I only want to go to Knott’s on Christmas Day, so I am not happy. I need to get away from the family. The huge grassy lawn you mentioned (at the Fire Station) sounds like it is where a pool should have been located. The thrift shop is an odd detail! I need a 3 hour documentary about that trailer park, it sounds like more fun than the Fire Station night club! I’m assuming that the Fire Station’s fortunes were waning toward the end, but it still must be quite a thing when your city decides that your business needs to go away because they have better uses for your property. A man-made river in Anaheim (and not in Disneyland)! I never heard that idea before. Ambitious, but fraught with liability issues I’m sure.
TokyoMagic!, hmmm… Bu’s comment showed up in my Gmail, but it is not in the comments. I promise you I did not delete it! It makes me mad that Blogger somehow deletes comments, apparently somewhat randomly (as far as I know). Anyway, I agree with you about the bananas at Knott’s, but then again, I appreciate that they made the effort. They should have just used the hotdogs from those leftover corn dogs and made a “hotdog split” with three scoops.
TokyoMagic!, see my previous comment!
TokyoMagic!, Chuck would never say anything so hurtful!
Melissa, wait, wait… cinnamon sugar is just cinnamon mixed with sugar? ;-)
Chuck, thank you for finding that article, I definitely want to read it later when I have a bit more time!
I figured I can share Bu's comment since it was in my email, and I feel bad that it somehow disappeared from the blog. So here is:
BU's COMMENT: I'll start out with a snippet about the Fire Station Nightclub: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-05-me-motel5-story.html Sounds like an exciting place! It's kind of sad that these "nice" places, built in the early optimism of the Magic Kingdom, only a stones throw away, would become so seedy. Even the SLA with Patty Hearst in tow, chose a Disneyland area motel to hide out in a watch a bungalow burn down in LA. The Fire Station compound was purchased by Garden Grove and now is the Great Wolf Lodge: a chain of water park hotels...er...Resorts (?) That being said, there is much lore and romanticism (clearly) about the Disneyland Hotel, and it seemed to escape most of the urban decay of the surrounding area. Princes and baseball players: well: it certainly was where "the elite would meet". Does Prince Albert have a Mickey watch on? I think so! Where is mummy? I'm not sure I've seen any photos of Princess Grace at Disneyland (?) Knott's and its tanned grizzled faces of old timers: yep: that's who I want to see! Not any mamby pamby royalty types at the park a few blocks away! Baseball players: who knows? Looks like Anaheim was set to become a sports mecca. I also was confused at the "official movers" of Disneyland: however, Global was always in my mind connected to Disneyland, and "on property" so-to-speak. I don't remember ever seeing a real Global moving van truck anywhere back stage moving things around. Perhaps they were there very stealthily. (?) Strangely, this brings up a memory of driving a company truck off Disneyland property: when I was in ODV....I was in costume, and we had to go somewhere to get some provisions....was it helium? It was something 911 because they couldn't deliver and we had to go get it. I remember feeling odd driving off "the lot" and another guy and supervisor were with me: crammed into the cab of the little truck. Hmmmm...what were we picking up and why? Did we have a cocktail out there too? We may have been naughty....hmmm....I think....we had to pick up something for some executive....why I was summoned: who knows....The memories swirl around. Thanks Major and Sue for the morning rabbit hole!
I was hoping Yaz had the big sideburns by this point, but that was a few years away.
Did DL sponsors like Global get a package deal for ads in the magazines? Or did the just want to have their names everywhere and paid for ads like anyone else in
fun discussion, and thanks Major and Sue for a glimpse at the complete DLH experience
The motel and night club are indeed fascinating, and true to form at GDB there's some direct knowledge and details (thanks TM)
I found some pictures after a cursory search
... my favorite is this one!
... plus, a royal family, Knott's, baseball, and TV -- yea
Nanook, admittedly, Prince Rainier and his family don’t look very different from mere mortals in that photo. I’d love to know more about the Fire Station night club - how long was it there? Was it popular for a while? It sounds like a good time if you like that sort of thing.
JB, I often like to walk to Knott’s from Disneyland when I’m full of pep. It’s just good fun. Tony the Tiger had several side gigs, including one as a psychic detective. Poor Andy Etchebarren, he had his name made fun of his whole life, and now it’s happening again. Your questions about Global Van Lines can only be answered by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Melissa, so funny that they encouraged heavy drinkers to come and stay a while!
Melissa, yeah, that is some name. Andy Etchebarren is feeling a little better about himself.
TokyoMagic!, I only want to go to Knott’s on Christmas Day, so I am not happy. I need to get away from the family. The huge grassy lawn you mentioned (at the Fire Station) sounds like it is where a pool should have been located. The thrift shop is an odd detail! I need a 3 hour documentary about that trailer park, it sounds like more fun than the Fire Station night club! I’m assuming that the Fire Station’s fortunes were waning toward the end, but it still must be quite a thing when your city decides that your business needs to go away because they have better uses for your property. A man-made river in Anaheim (and not in Disneyland)! I never heard that idea before. Ambitious, but fraught with liability issues I’m sure.
TokyoMagic!, hmmm… Bu’s comment showed up in my Gmail, but it is not in the comments. I promise you I did not delete it! It makes me mad that Blogger somehow deletes comments, apparently somewhat randomly (as far as I know). Anyway, I agree with you about the bananas at Knott’s, but then again, I appreciate that they made the effort. They should have just used the hotdogs from those leftover corn dogs and made a “hotdog split” with three scoops.
TokyoMagic!, see my previous comment!
TokyoMagic!, Chuck would never say anything so hurtful!
Melissa, wait, wait… cinnamon sugar is just cinnamon mixed with sugar? ;-)
Chuck, thank you for finding that article, I definitely want to read it later when I have a bit more time!
Dean Finder, I did not expect a link to Comic Book Guy! My guess is that the folks who placed ads paid for them like any magazine, but I honestly can’t say for sure.
LTL, boy, it is sad to see that place in ruins when it once (presumably) hopped with energy and life. But… that’s how things go.
"It makes me mad that Blogger somehow deletes comments, apparently somewhat randomly (as far as I know)."
Maybe your blog is... haunted! Pretty scary, eh, kids? Bleh! Bleh!
It was nice of them to let Prince Albert out of the can long enough to take a picture.
Some of the best GDB posts are the ones where I get a fascinating history lesson in the comments, frequently about something I never knew existed.
The pictures of the baseball players at the hotel are taking me back to those dark days of 2020, when they tried quarantining the whole NBA at WDW.
I'd be interested in the Fire House's history. Was it originally another theme motel, built to cash in on the nearby theme park? Did the Night Club draw locals or was it mainly tourists? It sounds like a grownup deal, but for square respectable grownups. And possibly a bit pricey for a weekly visit.
Did it prosper for any length of time, or was it a High Concept that came and went quickly, like Chuck E. Cheese knockoffs and big glitzy singles bars? Was there a turning point, like cutting back on the live entertainment or abandoning the theming? Did the club's closure precede or follow the rest of the complex hitting the skids?
I had the impression that much of the original glitz surrounding Disneyland never had a chance to get run down, since money was waiting to snap up properties and build bigger. From the article it sounds like the owner was holding out, either for bigger money or to realize some pipe dream. Are there any dicy areas left close to Disney, or has it all been gentrified?
I'm sure folks here know that we have Prince Rainier’s visit with kids to thank for the best color movies of old attractions, especially Adventure Thru Inner Space and Matterhorn…but you’d think they might have spelled his name correctly - on the COVER of their magazine, he is a PRINCE, and a Guest.
MS
"It was nice of them to let Prince Albert out of the can long enough to take a picture."
[rim shot!]
@Melissa... "It was nice of them to let Prince Albert out of the can long enough to take a picture."
And I think the Hotel even had Dr. Pepper in a 12 oz bottle!
(and don't get me started about Janitor in a Drum)
Yay! Count Floyd makes another appearance here on GDB! It's been a while. Thanks, Melissa. And I knew somebody would bring up the old Prince Albert joke. ;-p
DBENSON : there’s PLENTY of “dicy” areas near Disneyland. In fact the city of Anaheim is home to the largest s concentration per city block of poverty in all of Orange County … and it ranks high in all of Southern California too.
Many years ago someone was selling an old time fire truck that appeared to be cobbled from different vehicles …. It was on a 1920’s ford chassis … but the rest of it looked more fantasy than authentic… the description said if came from an Anaheim old fashioned fire house theme restaurant…. (???) I think this is it!!!
San Diego had a MINSKY’s ROARING 20’s restaurant and nightclub for a long time in the 50’s and 60’s. At some point it became MICKEY FINNS ROARING 20’s dinner theater … all very much long gone. It featured red velvet wallpaper , big glass globe lights and lots of Chase Lights inside and out …looking more “Gay 90’s” than 20’s …. But in the 50’s and 60’s this was often a blurred/ blended theme.
In a Disneyland sign makers collection I bought in the 90’s there was a folder of color 8x10’s … featuring a fireman jazzband. The photos were from 1960’s … but nothing was labeled . For years I thought it was THE FIRE HOUSE FIVE …. Until I decided to sell them … they were not Disney at all but seemed to focus on the hand painted sign on the side of a a 1900’s packard stake truck the fireman jazz band was posing in. Now I wonder if this was a publicity photo for the garden grove firehouse club ?? Maybe the Disneyland sign painter and made the signs on the truck??
""Grrreat Dinners"! Looks like Tony the Tiger worked at the Fire Station Night Club as well."
Before or after his romance with the Grinch?
LTL, thank you for those photos! That little circle above the sign used to contain an image of a fireman's hat!
I just remembered that immediately to the right (north) of the Fire Station Motel, was a bar/nightclub called the Humdinger. It was reportedly a very seedy place. Now I am wondering if at one point, that was the Fire Station's bar and nightclub. It was a brick building, so it might have fit in with a "fire house" type of theme. The thrift shop I mentioned earlier probably would have been too small to contain a restaurant with a kitchen, a stage for entertainment, a bar, etc. Maybe the thrift shop was once the motel's office. The Humdinger was also torn down....sorry, you are in our newly formed "redevelopment zone." There were a lot of "redevelopment zones" in Garden Grove. They were trying to compete with Anaheim, and pull some of the tourists down the street to their city. There is still just a dirt plot to the north of the Great Wolf Lodge, where the Humdinger used to sit. I guess the new hotel didn't need that land.
Major, that "River Walk" project was ambitious. I wish I could have seen the plans. I started working in Garden Grove in '91 and at that time, it was something that had already been planned for a while. When our office moved to another location in Garden Grove, 11 years later, they were still talking like it was going to eventually happen.
After our office moved (from Harbor Blvd, to Garden Grove Blvd.) we were in another "redevelopment zone." Then in the mid 2000s, it was announced in the newspaper and on the news, that a Korean developer was going to build an amusement park in Garden Grove. It would have been on the land between Garden Grove Blvd. and the Garden Grove Fwy (the 22 fwy) and east of Harbor. They would have had to get rid of our office building, an industrial park, a mobile home park, and a huge strip mall/shopping center. There were some single family homes that would have had to go, as well. Talk about ambitious! After announcing it in the newspaper and on the news, it was all dropped when they discovered that the developer didn't have the funds to back the project! What the.....? I'm guessing that Garden Grove was just so desperate to compete with Anaheim, next door, that they didn't even bother to look into the developer's finances before making such a big announcement. So Garden Grove still does not have an amusement park, or a river walk. But they have a Costco!
Major, I forgot to mention that I love your idea of replacing the bananas in a banana split, with the previous day's corn dogs. Then Knott's could have come up with their own "specialty" ice cream flavors like "ketchup," mustard," and "relish." Hey, Knott's made and sold Tomato preserves at that time! This wouldn't be all that different.
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