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From a facebook MiceChat group discussion 5/12/20I'm so glad my parents took me there more than once (at least twice when I was 5-6ish)--I ! loved ! it! -- and at least a couple more times in Jr. High and High School. And for the latter visits they let me wander by myself, as long as I made our prearranged check-ins. I ! loved ! it! And in those early years, Disneyland began to fill my heart.
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| One of at least 2 times in '61-62 when I was young. (I know, because I have photos w/2 sets of clothing and 2 hairstyles! Here, me in blue with long braids. Sisters holding hands with Dad also and with Mom.) |
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| With my great aunt and uncle, looks like. [unedited] Look at all the crowds!.... not! Why am I always looking backwards over my left shoulder? From shadows, nearly midday--where'z da peoples at? |
In high school, I was lucky enough to travel on our speech and debate team for invitational tournaments and the coaches allowed us to come here, at least twice during high school. Holy mickey! I ! Loved ! It! Thus ended my not-legally-adult visits. And by then, Disneyland fully inhabited my heart and has stayed there ever since.
My college freshman year, came with friends. My junior year, came with the Cal Band. SO MUCH FUN! By then, I knew my way around like the back of my hand; knew the ins and outs of getting in to Blue Bayou; knew the routine for which rides were popular... all of it.
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| February 1977 - just missed 20th anniversary year (by a few months) Me in brown pants and sunglasses |
I started taking photos more seriously when we visited right after the all-new Fantasy Land opened. The changes blew us away, and I realized that I had NO PHOTOS of the "before"! (I look back at the "lot more photos" and there are maybe a couple dozen a year? back then, compared to hundreds and hundreds per trip now!) Sometime later, had a season pass for a year when it cost less than two weekend passes, and visited maybe three times that year. Since then, averaging roughly once every year and a half to 2 years.
I ! Love ! It!
The other person's facebook post reminded me of my multidecade journey, always starting exactly as they described it: going through the security line, walking under the bridge, and onto Main Street. (Well, except before 9-11, I don't recall a security check.) And, yes, nearly EVERY SINGLE TIME after I pass under the bridge, I find things to take photos of right there at the beginning of Main Street.
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy".
- Walt Disney, 1955
Now I'll share selected photos from Disneyland anniversary years (mostly) with my traveling compadres. Just those years. Not all the ones in between (wellllll with a couple of exceptions).
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| 1990 35th anniversary-- might have "35th" photo with actual Disneyland sign somewhere, not yet scanned? Or magnet or mug or clothing... |
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| August, 1995 - 40th anniversary |
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| Feb 2000 - 45th anniversary Me in the middle; my ex and my sis |
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| Feb 2006 - 50th anniversary (note "50" in flowers for 50th anniversary) (Linda's eyes blinked, sorry, sis! Me on end, same sis and bro-in-law) |
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| November 2009. OMG did I really not go during its 55th anniversary year?! (2011-mid-2012?) Me on left, same sis and bro-in-law and her friend from Australia |
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| Sept 2012! Apparently we completely surrounded the 55th anniversary without going during that actual time! Ratz! :-) (My friend Les came with us but preferred not to be in the photo, so there ya go.) |
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| November 2015 - 60th anniversary For a change of pace in the group photo |
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| Nov 2017 -- just because it's the biggest group we've been with at Disneyland --technically in Downtown Disney, because only a couple joined us in the actual park. |
I didn't get there in 2019, which would've been the 65th anniversary, but had expected I'd go this year while they're still celebrating. But no: thanks, COVID. [grumble] And thanks, hip and knee, for keeping me home. [I don't exactly mean that, either.] I *did* have an opportunity a couple of days after we got back from Walt Disney World, but turns out I had made a couple of commitments for that time (oh, and also ended up with a nasty cold, so really good that I didn't go then).
Had been doing so well on anniversaries! Well, if they reopen soon, mayyyyybe they'll still have "65th" up. But more than likely they'll take this opportunity to decommission it. Still, hoping there will be many more anniversary years for visiting Disneyland.
And I did go to DisneyWorld during the Disneyland anniversary year, so that counts for something!
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| Nov 2019 - Disneyland 65th anniversary year But this isn't actually Disneyland. It's the Magic Kingdom. You can hardly tell. can you! |
I grew up in Orange County, so we went a lot in the 70s and early 80s when I was young. I've only been back once since moving permanently away from home, though, and that was in the mid 90s, around the time they put Star Tours and splash mountain in. I was amused to see many of the old "America Sings" animatorinic animals recycled into that attraction.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of the early rides sponsored by companies, like the McDonnell Douglas "Rocket to the Moon," later "Mission to Mars," and the Monsanto "journey through inner space" and the "GE World of Tomorrow," which occupied that big carousel theater they later put "America Sings" in. Also, there was some inside joke involving the "Enchanted Tiki Room" with my dad and his sister we kids never quite "got," aside from its being really hokey.
We were kinda sorta planning to go down to Disneyland with one of my sisters in laws family this summer, but that's going to be on hold now, obviously.
Thanks for your memories! I lived in SoCal -- Santa Monica -- for only a couple of years when I was young; otherwise, out of the state, across the country, for a total of 10 years. So, for me, at the time, that was most of my life. We moved back to Silicon Valley, which is too far (for me, anyway) to go to Anaheim often, but my sister is avid and can usually talk me into joining her.
DeleteI laughed the first time I, too, when I saw the America Sings characters in Splash Mountain. I never much liked America Sings--probably spoiled by Carousel of Progress! I liked the music at least. Yes, I did the Mars and the Inner Space and the World Of Tomorrow which for the most part was a dud. Inside jokes--so many opportunities when you go places with family or friends, especially the same places over and over. :-)
Bummer with the quarantine for all of us who were hoping to go there--and to other places--this year. Weird world right now. Good luck to you!