Happy Leap Day! Today's post features the last seven pages of a Disneyland Hotel Check-In Magazine (presumably you saw part one!), scanned and shared by Sue B. The magazine is part of her Dad's collection.
Sometimes the ads in these Disney magazines can be almost as fun as the articles. The ad for Delco Energizer batteries isn't that inspiring, but it's cool to see the ad for L.A. Airways, with transportation via helicopter from LAX to Disneyland and back. How much would one of those flights cost today?? My guess - over forty dollars (Australian).
Avis tries harder, each customer received a beautiful golden retriever puppy with each car rental. Meanwhile, The Gray Line offered sight-seeing tours aboard their buses going all the way back to the earliest Disneyland days.
This issue had a lot of coverage related to the big All Star baseball game that was being played in Anaheim (the players all stayed at the Disneyland Hotel - did Jack Wrather let them stay there for free just for the publicity? As most of you know, the only sport I really follow is rhythmic gymnastics, so I am not familiar with many of the names listed. But I know who Gene Autry is! He sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".
I enjoy the ad for the Disneyland Hotel, presented as an elegant getaway for couples in a romantic mood. And I also enjoy the blurb about the royal family of Monaco, who were pictured on the cover. My favorite part: Only disappointment: that Princess Grace was indisposed and unable to accompany them. Can you picture Princess Grace in Disneyland? I can't!
Basketball fans need not despair - the American Basketball Association also met at the Hotel, along with the announcement of the Anaheim Amigos. The... Anaheim Amigos?? Well I'll be darned. I love the photo at the bottom with "team trainer Artie Funair", flanked by two wholesome cuties.
It's nothing but sports, sports, and more sports in this issue of Check-In Magazine, including golf, best played on a course while the sprinklers are going. And let's not forget the Continental Football League's Orange County Ramblers. Did they drive to their games in Rambler station wagons?
And finally, it's nice to see Marcia Miner, "Miss Disneyland" for 1967, and the hostess of the famous episode of "The Wonderful World of Disney" featuring "Pirates of the Caribbean", the New Tomorrowland, and more. And I love the ads for Movieland Wax Museum - the wax figures look more lifelike than the real thing. Because of Botox. ZING! Got 'em! I showed those Hollywood phonies! I miss peaceful and beautiful Japanese Deer Park too.
Well, that's it for this issue of Disneyland Hotel Check-In magazine! Many thanks to Sue B. for taking the time to scan this whole magazine for us, I hope you had fun reading it.
Major-
ReplyDelete"But I know who Gene Autry is! He sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Hey - let's not forget I Wish My Mom Would Marry Santa Claus. One of my favorites-!
I particularly enjoyed this Disneyland Statistic... "Initial 22 major attractions have grown to 50 major adventures..." I always wondered what happened when an 'attraction' grows up - they become 'adventures'-! That factoid must've been taught on the one day I was absent from Biology class - apparently the same day as this one: When a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much...
Thanks again to Lou and Sue.
I loved the DL Hotel's Plaza building and all of it's shops. What a shame they bulldozed it for that ugly ESPN restaurant, which has been closed for more than 5 years now.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Gray Line's "Sight-Seeing Tours"...I don't want to go by the stars homes. I want to see the stars up close and in person. That's right, I like to be within pie-throwing distance of them!
Funny, I'm just finishing up on a Japanese Village and Deer Park post. I should have it posted sometime today.
Thank you Lou, Sue, and the Major, too!
Nanook, doesn't Gene Autry also have some museum somewhere, in the parking lot of some zoo, somewhere?
ReplyDeleteThe Plaza Building was fantastic, especially the Toy Shoppe which was below ground level. Like Disneyland, they stocked super cool exclusive stuff, like the best model cars...
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, how much did it cost to fly from the airport to Disneyland? Forty dollars sounds about right for 1967 (even Australian dollars).
ReplyDeleteI notice in the "Disneyland Statistics" that they call the park "The Magic Kingdom". Take THAT, WDW! Who's the Magic-est Kingdom now!?!? Hmmm? Do they ever refer to Disneyland as The Magic Kingdom anymore? What about "The Happiest Place On Earth"? is that reserved only for Disneyland (Anaheim)? Or is it used for ALL Disney parks?
Sooo, why are they playing golf in the middle of sprinkler season? I don't golf, is playing while the sprinklers are on actually a thing?
And I don't understand the Ramblers helmet logo. I see the stylized "R", but what does the rest of it represent?
We visited the Hollywood Wax Museum in 1975. The big attraction at the time was a reproduction of Michelangelo's "Pieta". It looked ok, I guess. But it WAS just a reproduction after all... and done in wax. Sort of like looking at a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, done in paint-by-number.
And how do we know that the deer in the Japanese Deer Park were actually Japanese? Hmm? Did they have passports? ;-)
Thanks so much for sharing Lou's magazine with us, Sue. And thanks, Major for the commentary.
Until the late 1990’s ALL Disney “castle” parks were referred to as “the magic kingdom” . WDW marketing began putting up a stink eventually when other parks used it and eventually it was (mostly) dropped ….
ReplyDelete“Small World of Toys “ started out with unique toys - mostly from Europe … but in its later years it had toys sold in Disneyland and toys you’d find at moderate to higher end toy stores … but with OBSCENE prices … I remember their display of MATCHBOX Models of Yesteryear … costing about 3 times more than at a Woolworths , MINICITY or even a Toys R Us … of course when MATTEL was a park sponsor , their lines filled up most of the space. It also seemed like many of the hotel plaza shops had limited hours of operations …. Like Minnie’s … Dumbo’s Trunk … etc . I just have a feeling guests were not really buying the lady’s fashions … shoes … or men’s wear…. Eventually many of those specialty shops were used as office space for different divisions of Disney … the wedding planning offices eventually took up the entire middle floor of the building. Costuming used shop spaces along the west facing side to design costumes for Disneyland Paris . The first “Disneyland Resort / WESTCOT preview center was later located there. All of it gone. Down Town Disney has always had vacant buildings … the venue evolved with a big problem … BIG crowds and families spending lots of time there … but not any money . The “3 free hours parking and up to 6 free hours with a purchase had to be revised …. I think 1 hour is free now. It’s operations had to be corrected to keep parking open for guests dining and spending money.
I miss the original Disneyland hotel …
Hooray! More Check-In Magazine (not to be confused with Check-Out Magazine, which covered the swinging cash register scene). You are right, Major - the ads are almost as fun as the articles.
ReplyDelete“Delco Energizer starts cars faster.” I should try hooking one up to one of my Mattel Sizzlers and see what happens.
Not sure I have ever seen an LA Airways route map before. They flew passengers as far as San Bernardino and mail and express as far as Santa Catalina (that’s 26 miles across the sea). This issue was published in the year before the two fatal accidents.
”… Princess Grace was indisposed and unable to accompany them…”. Good grief! How long did that woman spend in the bathroom?
The Anaheim Amigos eventually became the Utah Stars by way of Los Angeles.
The built Ramblers at the Nash factory in El Segundo, but I doubt that has anything to do with the Orange County Ramblers’ name. As an interesting footnote, they lost the Continental Football League National Championship to the same team both years they were in existence - the Orlando Panthers from Orange County, Florida. A win for the OC no matter how you look at it.
TM!, you beat me to the museum joke. I’m not sore about it, though. I’m not easily Triggered.
Mike, did Small World of Toys sell EXINWEST?
Thanks again, Lou & Sue!
Nanook, the alternate title for that Gene Autry song was, “I Wish My Real Dad Would Die”. But Marketing decided that wasn’t commercial enough. And yeah, what’s up with “attractions” becoming “adventures”? And what’s the next step up from “adventures”?? I like “delusions”.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! I loved the ESPN restaurant, with lots of TVs and people shouting at the screens! In fact, I wish there had been MORE TVs and more shouting, and maybe the occasional fistfight. Which stars do you want to throw pies at? Inquiring minds want to know. Anita Bryant has already been done. Oh boy, I am looking forward to your post about Japanese Village and Deer Park!
TokyoMagic!, yes, Gene Autry has the KISS museum I think. He was a fan.
walterworld, you know you are in for some high-class shenanigans when you spell “shop” SHOPPE. That’s how the Queen of England would have done it. RIP.
JB, I actually have a ticket from LA Airways to Disneyland - it was $7.00 in 1959, which equates to roughly $75 in today’s money. I am assuming that Disneyland is no longer “The Magic Kingdom”, that’s reserved for the castle park at WDW. I complained about it to Reader’s Digest, but nothing changed. Ha, I didn’t even notice that the sprinklers were going. They should do that for pro golf tournaments. “Rory McIlroy just got his hat knocked off!”. The Ramblers logo has the “R”, and a stylized potato chip. It made sense at 3 o’clock in the morning. I loved the weirdness of the Hollywood Wax Museum when I was a kid, for some reason I especially remember a scene from a Sophia Loren movie, they played the audio from the scene over and over. It was in Italian. Perfect for Buena Park audiences! The deer at Japanese Deer Park were a variety found in Japan.
Mike Cozart, anybody who has ever purchased anything at a Disney property can’t be too surprised at high prices. They know they have a captive audience, especially at a toy store, when grandma and grandpa want go make little Bobby and Mary happy. I was recently looking at thin, cheap sweatshirts going for $65 (and up) at Disneyland. And you know what? They sold by the kajillions, they were ALL OVER the park (these are black sweatshirts with big white DISNEYLAND letters on the back). I wonder if the WESTCOT preview center had models? Or was it just paintings and drawings? It’s intriguing to think “what might have been”. Knowing that a west coast EPCOT would have been completely changed by now, maybe it’s just as well that we didn’t get it.
Chuck, there was a time when there might have actually been a magazine just for fans of cash registers! Hey, I had one or two Sizzlers, it seemed like a miracle to me to charge them up and watch them go. I don’t think they quite had the oomph to do loops though, but it’s been a while. Well, now I have the image of Princess Grace in the bathroom into my head! She’s, uh, washing her hands. Yeah, that’s it. Losing to the Orlando Panthers, is there anything more humiliating? Panthers don’t even have opposable thumbs. I also thought about EXINWEST toys when reading Mike’s comment!
The old ads are the best.
ReplyDeleteMajor, I’m glad to hear I’m not the only fan of rhythmic gymnastics. What are your views on synchronized swimming?
I remember Delco-Remy parts and accessories, and Sizzlers… the toys not the steakhouse, but I remember that too.
Love the restaurant ad, rooftop bars are a thing again, thankfully. Next trip…
Love those Anaheim sombreros with dingleballs. I had friends who put those dingleballs on their automobile headliner.
We visited the Wax Museum on a high school trip. Fascinating, but not in a good way….
And the Deer Park. Amazing how interesting to watch deer parking… forward… reverse..forward… reverse again... Mom was upset because a deer chewed her purse, and she stepped in deer dung, which was plentiful.
Lots to love here, Major! Thank you Lou and Sue!
JG
Whoops - rereading the thread, I see that I referenced the wrong horse in my comment to TM! I guess I no longer have a shot at being the GDB Pun Champion.
ReplyDeleteChuck, we Wonder….
ReplyDeleteSue
JG, synchronized swimming was great until it got popular and commercialized. Now girls everywhere have their hair pulled back into severe buns, and they wear those nose clips. Sizzler steakhouses - ugh. I dated a girl who liked the salad bar, but the food was sub-par to put it mildly. I’ve never owned a hat with dingleballs, but need one. Wax Museums are definitely creepy, but that’s part of their appeal. Nobody likes stepping in deer dung (well, I suppose somebody does), but what are the deer supposed to do? I wonder if your mom kept candy in her purse, maybe that is what attracted the deer. A nice Werther’s hard candy perhaps.
ReplyDeleteChuck, everyone knows that Gene Autry’s horse was named “Baloney”.
Lou and Sue, we will just have to wait until year’s end and tally the points.
Major, I guess you’re right. That’s the only way we’ll know who is the Victor and who walks away with the Silver. Scout’s honor.
ReplyDeleteChuck, talk to Mr. Ed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a post of information today about the events and attractions surrounding Anaheim at the time. So much forgotten, until I read this. The Ramblers and Amigos...the ABA and its revolutionary shot clock and 3 point line (not to mention the multi-color basketball). Professional sports was evolving at a rapid pace.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is a reference to the 1967 All Star game at Anaheim Stadium. If Dad and I hadn't attended, the count have been 46,307. It was a very hot, smoggy, afternoon. And we were stuck in the temporary bleachers erected in the parking lot. 15 looong innings too as the sun was drifting lower into our eyes. After drinking a Coke, we would pour the ice onto our heads. Fortunately, we had our hats. Oh the misery...and the memory. I have the ticket tucked away. KS
The restaurant ad ... what looks like clip art of a passionate couple, under the headline "forget it!"
ReplyDeleteYes, the copy makes an effort to redeem that headline, pretending it was a question. But the real message seems to be, "You're sharing a room with the kids and they're all cranky and tired but too sugared up to sleep. Don't even THINK about a romantic evening."
Flashing back to days when I worked on in-house newsletters and the occasional slick magazine or program. I imagine the restaurant promo being hastily written and pasted up by an in-house staffer to plug a hole ("Don't we have any more pictures of guys attending a meeting? ... Okay, let's do a promo for the restaurant. We've got some nice photos, right? ... No? ... Okay, white space is classy ...").
Likewise the Pepsi ad; seriously doubt even a local Pepsi Cola manager would approve something that barren. At the very least, they'd have attractive product shots for supermarket ads. And wasn't Pepsi Cola still sponsoring the Golden Horseshoe Revue?
Since the hotel was then owned by a separate company, there may have been some turf issues precluding use of official Disneyland images as filler.
MAJOR: the WESTCOT preview center did have a model … all in white massing. You could tell the entry to FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD was inspired by the buildings at Ellis Island …. And the shapes of the other structures … ASIA , EUROPE , AFRICA etc…. But the detail was minimal at such a small scale.
ReplyDeleteI’m not aware of EXINWEST being sold at SMALL WORLD TOYS … however they did at sone point have EXIN CASTLES ( CASTILLOS) I have a late 70’s / early 80’s PSA (airlines) magazine with a article about updates at the Disneyland hotel … and a photo of the toy shop interior clearly shows EXIN CASTLES on the shelves . I don’t ever recall seeing them in person at the hotel. The Davey Crockett Arcade at one point had a massive EXINWEST display and stock in the early 1980’s …I think EXINWEST was gone from Disneyland by 1991 and the line was out of production by 1993. I know some of MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR’s images shows some EXINWEST in the Davey Crockett Arcade shop … but at one point the entire back wall of shelving was almost All EXINWEST boxed construction playsets and the front display case of the “u” shaped counters had a vignette of build up EXINWRST building with sand and small garden center mini cactus. One time at an Anaheim model railroad show and sale I bought a bunch of boxed and sealed EXINWEST building kits all with orange or yellow Disneyland price tags on them … the style of packaging would place them from 1976-1978 . EXIN CASTLES were sold at Tinkerbell Toyshop throught the 70’s , 80’s and till 1998. The mini sets of EXIN CASTLES were sold at SMALL WORLD gifts as well in Fantasyland into the early 80’s .
In the 90’s I was provided input to FINK & CO …. A toy manufacturer and import distributor - their division FNR INTERNATIONAL was the sole USA - CANADA (and for a time MEXICO …that’s a long story lol) distributor of EXINWEST and EXIN CASTLES . When EXIN brothers of Spain went under in 1993 because of labor issues FINK & Co bought all the tooling and right to EXINWEST and EXIN CASTLES … Mike Fink (no relation to the king of the river ) said from 1974 till the 90’s Disneyland and Walt Disney World were sone of their biggest Exin clients . The EXIN CASTLES went into U.S. production almost right away … EXINWEST was tooling and production was being prepared but economic downturns prevented it.
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny I never made this connection until today : MIKE FINK partner and founder of FINK & Co / FNR INTERNATIONAL…. Importer and distributor or EXINWEST toys of Spain … biggest Exin buyer : Disneyland …. Sells them in Davey Crocket Arcade … Mike Fink is also a character in the film DAVEY CROCKETT!!
Fly all the way with LAA....sounds kind of naughty...but I get it. I would have liked to have used this service...seems like a relatively safe way to travel, since there are hundreds of zillions of helicopters flying all over the world. Guess it wasn't. Same thing with the service on top of the Pan Am bldg in NYC. Seems very glamourous. You can still get a helicopter to Catalina, and it's not that terribly expensive: the boat ride is nice though, and is kind of the "Disneyland Parking Lot" vibe, with the anticipation when you see the Avalon Casino approaching in the distance. I'm actually old enough to have been a passenger on the SS Catalina: an old steamship that went across the channel. It seemed to have taken forever. That was the era of sea planes as well...also gone. Avis: they try harder. They have tried so hard I switched to Hertz. FYI: Hertz has special arrangements with airports to be the closest and most convenient. They are: and you pay for it. Don't understand all those sports guys: Perhaps Mr. Wrather owned them in some way (?) Not sure I want to get romantic at Disneyland, but people sure did on Inner Space and the Skyway buckets. I'll stop there. I also miss the "real" Disneyland hotel: there was something more charming about the non-Disney qualities around it. Marcia Miner is MAR-CEE-UH...not Marsha like Marcia Brady. Just FYI. I never was fancy enough to go Japanese Deer Park: but I know I would have enjoyed it and the marvelous FUJI FOLK! Look them up. Thanks Lou and Sue and Major!
ReplyDeleteChuck, I see what you did there.
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, I pray to Mr. Ed every evening.
KS, ha ha, I love the mental image of somebody pouring the ice from their Cokes on their heads! That must have been some heat wave. 15 innings, ugh; I used to love going to baseball games, but at some point, enough is enough… I’d be one of those L.A. people leaving before the game was over. Maybe I’ll beat the traffic!
DBenson, I assumed that the “Forget it!” was supposed to be funny, but maybe not? There’s an ad I see on YouTube all the time for Air BnB, and it essentially says the same thing about sharing a room with kids. You go to bed when THEY go to bed. And now I know that “white space is classy”, I’m sure I will be able to use that! The Pepsi ad is rather barren, but I have to admit that it somehow catches the eye in spite of the lack of frills. All the other ads are so busy!
Mike Cozart, I might have seen photos of that model, I seem to remember a “Spaceship Earth” type sphere, only it was slightly different from the one in Orlando. The buildings at Ellis Island, that’s an odd thing to use as reference. I’ve been there, and it’s neat, but most people would have no clue. Regarding EXINWEST sets, they were pricey, I wonder if that was ultimately the cause of their downfall? My parents would only spend so much on toys. My grandparents were a bit more willing to spend! But even they had their limits. I’ll have to see if I can find any photos of EXIN CASTLES.
Mike Cozart, “FINK & CO”, now that’s a name! Like something out of a cartoon. I’ve seen other toy lines that continue when the tooling and molds are sold off - I’m thinking of those wonderful Aurora monster models from my childhood, later made by a company that called themselves “Polar Lights” (which is sort of clever). It was nice that the kits were still available, and at relatively reasonable prices, since the original Aurora kits can now fetch hundreds of dollars each. And if it’s unopened with the shrink wrap, forget about it!
Bu, I didn’t think it sounded naughty until you said something! I’ve only been in a helicopter once, and it was an amazing experience, but I admit that the thought of them makes me a little nervous. The terrible L.A. Airways accidents were so bad that it isn’t much of a surprise that they company could not overcome the negative publicity. I like the idea of taking a helicopter to Catalina - especially since I have not been there in so long. I wonder how long a flight takes? 20 minutes? I was on the S.S. Catalina when I was a small child (the only time I went to the island), and remember the odd sensation of feeling as if the solid land was rocking beneath my feet after we disembarked. I’m guessing that Wrather let the teams stay at his hotel for next to nothing, if not free, just for the publicity. I’m sure that there were plenty of stories in the media for the All Star game and the athletes. I’m not sure how romantic anybody can get on those ride vehicles, but apparently they tried, and that’s what’s important. Was Japanese Deer Park “fancy”? In my memory it was very humble and cute, more for kids, though not entirely so.