Parking Lot Views
Everyone loves the old Disneyland parking lot! Acres of asphalt. A congregation of cars. This first scan is from sometime in the 1960s - with the Anaheim Convention Center visible in the distance, we know that it is from after July, 1967 (when that opened). The photo was taken from the Monorail as it shooshed back to the park from the Disneyland Hotel.
I'm afraid Nanook has passed out - don't worry, buddy, I don't expect you to ID all of these!
Next is this picturesque view looking toward Main Street Station from the parking lot, circa August, 1971. The sun is almost down, you can see the cool glow of the fluorescent lights beneath the Monorail track. I think that might be "Big Blue" overhead. I love the mood of this photo.
EXTRA! EXTRA! GDB friend MS sent along this scan showing the cover of the 1995 Souvenir Guidebook. Check out THE DENT!
EVEN MORE EXTRA!
There was a lot of discussion about extinct sodas on Wednesday - including one called "Simba". Here's a photo of my family at Calico Ghost Town waaaay out in the California desert. We're watching somebody pan for gold (I assume). That's my grandma with the stripes, and that's me to the right of her with the green shirt (you can just see part of the Hang Ten logo), clutching a cold can of Simba! I see another couple of Simba cans too. My mom appears to be holding a bag of dirt "salted" with gold dust, to pan when we got home.
16 comments:
Major-
"I'm afraid Nanook has passed out - don't worry, buddy, I don't expect you to ID all of these!"
Oh please, Major... I know them ALL. (But I'm afraid it'll have to be my little secret-!)
With so many cans of Simba on display - now I'm thirsty.
Thanks, Major.
In the seventies, eighties and nineties, that section of parking lot visible in the first photo, was for employees only. Maybe KS will chime in today, and tell us if it was also "employees only" in the late sixties.
THE DENT! I have that souvenir guide, and never noticed it. It looks like both dents are showing up. Or do we now call them "sags"? Or maybe even AFTRAs?
I love that pic of you and your grandma, Major! Did you call her Major Grammy? Or would she have been a General? Even though the drink was called Simba, I know have the theme song to "Kimba the White Lion" playing in my head.
Thank you, Major (and MS)!
Acres of asphalt.
A congregation of cars.
Plethora of parkers.
Disneyland drivers.
[Hey, you started it, Major.]
Thanks, MS, for sharing the guidebook cover. The Dent in all its glory!
And, thanks, Major, for sharing your family photo.
(For those of you who have never met the Major, he still looks exactly like that - only taller. Much taller.)
TM! Bite your tongue! Once "The Dent," always The Dent.
Thanks, Major.
Major, you weren't kidding about the bugs. I stopped counting at 11. I'm sure there are more.
I wonder how the owners of those three red cars (Slug Bug!) managed to park next to each other? The red color really stands out in this crowd of cars. That's an interesting color on that pickup. Is it blue, or green? Seems to be an equal mix of both. It also looks like a DIY paint job.
Wow, MS's Castle photo really shows The Dent! There's also some sort of 'buckling' just below The Dent that I never noticed before. Looks like this is an early morning shot; I guess this lighting is the best time to see The Dent.
I'm also noticing the Carousel through the archway. It looks like a big blue monster with two eyes, a nose, a white mustache, and a huge toothy mouth, waiting to gobble any kid who wanders close enough! If the Swans don't get 'em, the Carousel will!
Looks like blond hair runs in your family, Major. I've never heard of Simba (before Wednesday). There is a lion on the can. One is tempted to assume that the soda (pop!) inside is 'bodily fluids' from a lion. I said that one is tempted, I would never think such a thing! What was the flavor, by the way?
Sue, A slew of Slug Bugs!
Somebody give Nanook some smelling salts! (Is that still a thing?) Thanks, Major and MS.
^ Good one, JB!
Transportation of Tourists
Rows of Rides
Sue.....tongue bitten!
A Plethora of Pontiacs.
Never heard of Simba soda. However, my grandpa used to add a splash of "Wink" to his gin. Grapefruit flavor, I believe.
Simba: translated to English means strength and power, and in Swahili means Lion. The Bantu languages are very interesting I've found as I went down that rabbit hole this morning. I've never seen a Simba Soda...and am curious to the flavor. Is it like Inca Cola? Called Cola, but nothing like Cola? I do like a cool Inca Cola with spicy Peruvian food. That GREEN SAUCE! I love it. Inca Cola hits the spot after that....but lets talk about the magical Disneyland Parking Lot! I can smell the rubber and the asphalt through the photos. Also the heat rising from it...the heat was even better when you left, as the asphalt would still be hot...and the heat was subtle, but still there. It was so quiet out there most of the time...just the sound of the wind really. You can still experience "Parking Lot Vibes" at Walt Disney World. I do think that they add to the "total experience" of a visit to a theme park....the anticipation going in, and the relief and after glow going out. As you approached the gate: the train, Monorail, the Jack Wagner spiel and "Me old bamboo" playing. That number in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is quite muscular: the "other" version of "Step in Time"....although visually Step in Time is much more dynamic. I get tired just watching those guys. At one point in my life I would be up for it. I forgot about those fluorescent lights below the Monorail. I hate that color and look but on the Monorail, it actually works well, and provided a memory of finishing a busy day at the park with no tickets or money left, feeling a "good" tired, and you mosey'd out to the lot: feeling the warmth of the parking lot against your Keds, with the quiet "hmmmm" of the Parking Lot Tram in the background. Thanks Major!
Yes, the Parking Lot was really the first attraction, er, ride. Even if you walked to the ticket booths, it was still a ride. Occasionally in DCA, I stop to think if I’m walking over a spot where the family parked in 1965? Such great photos of this lost feature, and the Power Lines too!
Yup that’s a Dent all right! Thanks MS! Once you see it, can’t be unseen. Has it been repaired or replaced with pink and gold glop in the Kim Irvine Reign of Terror?
Major, nice family pic from you, thank you! I vaguely recall Simba, but can’t recall ever having had one. I missed most of the recent soda discussion, but our summers were mostly Shasta soda, occasional Cragmont, and when camping, Cactus Cooler. The Cactus Cooler seemed to be available only in the Cedar Grove campground store. It was a unique flavor, kind of lemon, lime and orange all at once. I think this soda was revived briefly since some of the Scouts had it on road outings 40 years later. Rarely had Coke, Pepsi, RC, Dr. Pepper, Frosty Root Beer, or any of the mainline brands at home, but occasionally when out and about. A&W was only available at the drive-in, no cans or bottles. I remember opening cans with a church key opener when you punched the holes, needs two for proper air flow, my first introduction to physics. The pop-top was a fantastic innovation. Once they were pulled completely off, you had TWO pieces of trash. Kids used to collect them and make necklaces with them. The packing house where we sold our fruit in the summer had a reach in ice box with a horizontal lid, this was usually NEHI or FANTA in various fruit flavors, bottles loose in the ice.
I rarely drink soda now, so this is a treat to hear from everyone. Thank you GDB, and Major.
JG
Nanook, can’t you just ID 20 or 30 of the cars? I wish I remembered “Simba” better, but I do recall that I liked it.
TokyoMagic!, “employees only”? I thought it was “clothing optional”. My mistake, Mr. Security Man! Maybe The Dent actually got worse over time, maybe on hot summer days it slowly sagged even more? My dad always called my grandmother (my mom’s mother) “the Grand Czarina”!
Lou and Sue, a Volume of Volkswagens? I don’t look quite look like that old photo anymore, though I *am* taller.
Lou and Sue, I think I got up to 18 or so!
JB, I’m sure the 3 red cars in a row was a mere coincidence, even though it seems purposeful. I’d call the color on that truck “turquoise”, or maybe “aqua”. Now that we know how shoddy that one spire has been for decades, America will never be the same. Boy, you are so right, looking through the tunnel really does look like a fierce monster! COOL! All four kids in my family were blond at one point, especially then when we went to the nearby beach all the time. Nowadays, let’s call it “silver”! “Bodily fluids”, yuck.
Lou and Sue, look what I’ve started.
TokyoMagic!, a Mess of Mustangs? I only see one Mustang though, it looks like yours!
Steve DeGaetano, I only know of Wink soda because of a little tin badge I have showing the Wink Gink, their mascot.
Bu, naming a soda after lions is a choice. Maybe “Sprite” is Swahili too? From what I’ve read (since I don’t remember), Simba was a lemony citrus drink. My brother still buys Squirt sometimes, and I quite like it. Grapefruit soda, very refreshing, and I am not that fond of grapefruit. There is a Facebook group dedicated to the Disneyland parking lot, I expect to see today’s photos on it one of these days. Will they crop my watermark off? Probably. I never really thought about parking at WDW, but with so many huge parks, they must need many acres of parking. At least you can then hop on a Monorail or a nice boat to get to your park entrance. I always thought it was weird that a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song was used at Disney parks, even if the Shermans wrote it. But there is precedent, other movie tunes were used. “Footloose”. (Not really). I generally don’t care for fluorescent lights, but I agree with you, seeing them on the underside of the Monorail track is OK. I wonder if I fell asleep in the car on the way home when I was a kid? It wasn’t that far, but I’m sure I was exhausted. I once went with a friend and her two kids, and they were so tired that they started crying.
JG, you posted while I was commenting! I’m not sure I appreciated the parking lot much as a young’un, but it was exciting to be “so close”. Plus there was the tram, which was fun. The spires seem to have been replaced with extremely blue versions that have no dents. I know I used to see Cactus Cooler on occasion, but never had it. I would have liked to try it - does it still exist? Probably not. One drink that I loved is when my grandmother (my *other* grandmother) would mix orange juice and Hi-C fruit punch, I thought it was the most delicious thing. I also loved it when my mom would mix lime sherbet with Seven-Up (maybe happened once or twice). Yum, I wish I had some right now. A&W Root Beer was a favorite when we could go to an actual A&W stand and get those big frosty mugs. We’d have a car hop bring us burgers and onion rings too (set on a tray that hooked on to our side window), it was the absolute best. The last time I went to my grandparent’s home town, the A&W had been torn down, which was painful to see. I gave up soda for a while, but after a heat wave last year, I got back in the habit of keeping some Coke Zeros in the fridge.
So fun to see your grandma and junior Major! Yes, Cactus Cooler is still here in stores in LA. I actually like it, an orangey pineapple. Refreshing on hot days on ice of course. Squirt was another grapefruit soda. Fresca. But corn syrup killed all sodas for me.
That dreamy parking spot…back when it was nice to take a break back at your car….not at any price now.
Nice recollection of those vibes Bu…when even icky lighting was somehow cool at Disneyland.
MS
TokyoMagic!, yes that aerial shot is indeed of the Employee Lot. So, all those vehicles represent the commuter cars of their time. And a darn good reason for all those Bugs, and a few others which I would say were not suitable for long distance driving. Sorry to be so late today. I had a date with the farrier. KS
Major, same with A&W. We would go occasionally, probably a couple of times a year. The ladies would bring out the order on that tray that hooked on the car window. The root beer tasted better than the canned version that was later available. I remember the fries were particularly good, different somehow. Probably made with library paste.
A&W is long gone, but the location is still a drive-in with good reviews.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/R5iVENjzGPiThc3T8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
The crazy thing, the old A&W sign is still visible in the aerial view. I think it is laying flat in a fenced area behind the restaurant.
JG
KS, thanks for confirming that that was the employee lot, even back in the 1960s.
I also loved it when my mom would mix lime sherbet with Seven-Up.
Major, it wasn't on the menu in the Ice Cream Parlor at Knott's, but I discovered that putting a scoop of boysenberry sherbet in a glass of Mountain Dew was really good. It was even better when Knott's swapped out Mountain Dew for Sprite! We did have Pepsi and Root Beer floats on the menu, and I suppose that a customer could have had a float made with Mountain Dew or Sprite, but nobody ever asked for one, and I never suggested it. It was just something I occasionally made for myself when I was on a break.
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