A Pair of Monorail Pix
Recently, I was scrounging through the box that contained the Instamatic negatives that my friend Mr. X gave me so long ago - you saw hundreds of his personal photos. Under one of the folds at the bottom of the box was a single negative, one that I'd missed before. And the picture is a beaut! We're over at the Disneyland Hotel next to the Monorail Station; there's "Big Red", it looks like it has taken on a new compliment of passengers, and is about to zoom back to the park. Nearby is a Hotel tram, which probably didn't see as much use once there was a Monorail to ride.
I may as well stick with the Monorail theme, with this photo from September, 1962. It's a bit more conventional, but still a very nice shot of Big Red as it returned to Tomorrowland from the Hotel. The group of strollers is nothing compared to what you might see today, but it's still more than usual for 1962. Of course, neither the Monorail or the Submarine Voyage could accommodate strollers. Looking up at the Monorail, it appears that the kid in the first window is looking right at us!
15 comments:
Major-
The hotel image is a beauty - even more so from an Instamatic image. That white station wagon appears to be a 1966 Dodge (possibly a Plymouth of the same year).
As for having "... taken on a new compliment of passengers...", I'd like to know just how the passengers in the last car managed to board-! (I imagine the monorail hadn't quite pulled all the way into the hotel station...)
Thanks to Mr. X.
Wow, such a colorful shot; full of action! A tad blurry, but I won't mention that. I know the Monorail is facing away from us, but I'm pretending it's zooming out toward us. I think we've seen a very similar photo (from Mr. X?), only without the tram (I think). I notice that this version of the tram has its seats facing forward instead of sideways.
The Matterhorn is looking very big and majestic here. The kid "looking right at us" from the window has his arm dangling out on the side. Does he keep it? Or does he lose it? "Do ya feel lucky, Punk?" (Not an exact quote, but close enough.) One of the Skyway gondolas has landed on the nose of the Monorail, making it look like a rhinoceros. Like you said, Major, that's quite a lot of strollers for 1962. But it's nothing like the Sargasso Sea of strollers we see today. Poor Matterhorn; infested with Skyway buckets and Bobsleds crawling all around it and through it.
Thanks to Mr. X and Major.
Of course, neither the Monorail or the Submarine Voyage could accommodate strollers.
Well, they could have, if they had just strapped them to the roofs of the Monorails and Subs! It might have also been kind of fun for the kids! They should do it today, but for a $100 upcharge.
Thank you, Major and Mr. X!
I'm glad I got to experience the Monorail in it's prime, and used the hotel station as a way to enter the Park when my stepfather would drop myself and friends at the hotel "because it was easier". I think it was because of the Monorail Bar, but I speculate. That's an "old" tram...but was a tram of my day, and I am enjoying the "free flow" nature before insurance companies took over. There was a certain "sound" to the tram when sitting in the back car...this silent kind of "whrrrrrr" being so far from the tractor at the front. Working in the parking lot: I was only allowed to be at the toll booths and doing cones in the early morning. What a fun job that was! No wonder the P-Lot crew was such a loyal (and tan) bunch. Seeing the National Airlines sign takes me back to the story of how UNOCO (the shops at the Hotel that the Park owned/operated) when I THINK it was Jack Lindquist and Dick Nunis stuck in an airport between a National Airlines gate, and a United Airlines gate merged the two names into the "United National Operating Company". Note: you can see a mansion cupola there in the distance floating above the trees. I like these open landscapes with a "street/city-like" appearance. Quite honestly, the amount of vegetation around the current "Resort Zone" makes me feel claustrophobic. Part of the excitement visiting the park was the approach from all angles....and just bits visible above the berm. I concur that the Matterhorn looks very authentic in this light and atmospheric condition. The camera captures milli seconds in time, and in a minute: this might have completely changed. It's a keeper shot with some careful cropping. Thanks Major for the magnificent Monorail memories!
#2 sure feels like the Monorail attraction poster.
MS
What terrific luck, Major, to find such a great negative at the bottom of the box!
I remember that exact Hotel view, the shop signs are distinctive. They remind me somewhat of LAX at around the same time. Some episodes of the “Perry Mason” TV show have some views of the airport drop-off with signs much like these. Were these a standard type of a single manufacturer, or just the design spirit of the age?
That rascally kid in photo 2 is not keeping his “hands and arms inside the carpet”. He’s going to get scolded by the Monorail Voice. I can almost hear the swoosh and the air horn!
Thanks for the monorail ride Major!
JG
Nanook, I was both surprised and happy to find that Instamatic negative, especially since it is such a beauty.
JB, I think the lack of clarity is due to the cheap plastic lenses on Instamatic cameras; I’m perfectly satisfied with the way that one looks. My guess is that this is from around 1971, by which point there were new, improved trams. I always wonder about the dangling arms from the Monorail, a common issue with the windows that were open. There was probably a spot with a bunch of arms on the ground along the beam way! And yes, the stroller thing has become so crazy that large areas are allotted just for stroller parking, is it just that more people are in the park these days? Or is it something else?
TokyoMagic!, they should have designed the Monorails with roof racks just like old station wagons.
Bu, I’m sure that it would have been pretty easy for somebody to drop people off at the Hotel, compared to the front of the park! And when you were going to work, what a way to arrive in style. As a guest, I still prefer to the intro to Disneyland by walking up Main Street, but it is a different experience to start smack-dab in the middle of Tomorrowland. Working the parking lot does not sound like much fun, but somebody has to do it. Maybe some people like it? Or else hopefully they can ask for a transfer at some point. I don’t remember reading the name “UNOCO” before, but maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. I noticed the Mansion cupola too, and would have been thrilled to see that as a child. I can’t complain about too much vegetation, given the alternative. At least it feels somewhat clean and nice, as compared to just hot and yuck. Glad you liked these!
MS, you are right!
JG, of course I had to immediately look to see if I’d missed any *other* negatives in the box. No such luck. Those hotel shop signs are very similar to airport signs, I wonder if that was intentional? We’ve seen so many photos with people’s arms hanging out of Monorail windows, I guess they did not enforce the “keep your head, hands, arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times” thing.
Just to clarify the "fun" in the Parking Lot...it actually WAS fun :) and the employees working there were generally long term....it was a great job for A type personalities: and those Parking Lot People generally were of that ilk. I was an interloper when they went on the '84 strike, and actually it was kind of a blast (if you don't mind a farmers tan...) Ironically, at the time, Parking was .50 and guests still complained about it....along with the $12 Passport price...and to add to that...there were still comments about Walt spinning in his grave about this that and the other.....in 1984. The guy must be super dizzy now. Call it Dizzyland.
Wow, two of my favorite rides, the tram and the Monorail, haha! I always hear the horn and 'whoosh' when I see the Monorail, and sometimes even when I don't. The Monorail was fascinating as a kid. I still remember my first ride in the 50s before it learned how to get to the Hotel.
There were fewer strollers in those days because we were expected to walk, for crying out loud!
A great pair of pics so thanks to you and Mr X.
Zach
That first image has to specifically be 1968. It features the “new” 1968 tram …. But shows a Mark II RED Monorail ….. all four Mark III Monorails were in full service prior to Spring break of 1969 …. BLUE and GREEN being the only 2 not operating in winter of 1968 …GREEN being the last to complete its testing trials.
BU ….. I thought that cupola was the haunted mansion too … but it is square/ rectangular so it’s the one over New Orleans Square that normally flies the Louisiana State flag. The Haunted Mansion’s cupola would be blocked from view by the Monorail platform.
To the images far left you can see the windows to THE MONORAIL BAR.
Great pictures! Thank you, Mr. X and Major.
If I'm reading the Monorail correctly, it states "Disneyland U.S.A." It's the "U.S.A." part that I'm not positive of. Sort of like branding a cow, so everyone knows where to return it when it wanders off. At that time, there was only one 'Disneyland,' so they probably could've left off the "U.S.A." and still easily found the Monorail's owner.
Seeing that first picture makes me feel happy....the start of the day in Disneyland.
That second picture is a beauty, too. The red Monorail was especially lovable, as you can see it 'canoodling' with the gondola here--and also in my avatar picture [when you click on "Lou and Sue" above]. Maybe that's why they had to brand it...it would wander and go home with anybody.
Major, I suspect the seas of strollers are a result of Disney's pricing. When you paid a small admission charge and then by the ride, you didn't feel like you lost out if you only stayed as long as the kids could walk. With the triple digit prices for a day in the park, you wheel the kids around with an expedition's supply of provisions to maximize your time in the park. On some trips I've only gone into the park in late afternoon and you can see the exhaustion even on the parents' faces.
Bu, ha ha, did the Type A personalities have to yell at people? It might be fun for a while, but I’d get exhausted. It’s crazy to look back at the prices in the 1980s, and people complained about the cost. Little did they know! I remember considering getting a Passport, but didn’t think I’d want to make the drive to Anaheim enough to make it “worth it”. So crazy!
zach, it’s true, the Monorail has a very distinct and unique sound, and I like it when the pilot “honks” (toots?) the horn. Which sounds like an ocean liner’s whistle to me a bit! I do think that you are right, people, even kids, walked a lot more.
Mike Cozart, ah, that’s good detective work. Mr. X gave me a general estimate of 1971 for these, but I do think he worked there for three years or so (I’ll have to ask him).
Mike Cozart, funny, I thought it was the cupola above “Pirates” at first, but convinced myself that it was the Mansion. Oh well!
Lou and Sue, yes, it says “Disneyland USA” on the rear cone of the Monorail. Not sure if it was also on the nose cone (maybe it just said “Alweg”). “Disneyland USA” also appears on the Mark Twain, so it was a thing for some reason. When the 50th anniversary came around, lots of products were sold, including a beautiful model of the Monorails. Even though the blue model was rarer, I bought the red one, because that’s how I always see that ride in my imagination.
Dean Finder, that’s a pretty reasonable theory, I know that for me, I want to get there when the park opens, and stay until practically the last person is out the gates, to get the most for my buck. Still, there are SO MANY strollers!!
Sue, nowadays the Monorails are all microchipped, so it's easier to re-unite stray Monorails with their worried owners.
Major, definitely a "honk" rather than a "toot", IMO.
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