Disneyland Train and Monorail SOLD! (& Mickey Too!)

Today, we have another vintage newspaper clipping. This is among one of the oldest in my collection. I don't have an exact date, but I think I cut this out of the newspaper sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. I remember being confused at the time about why the family owned only the train and monorail and not the rest of the park and also why they were willing to sell them and Mickey Mouse. Perhaps after reading this, someone out there will be able to pinpoint the exact year this all took place.

Just in case anyone is curious, here is the back of the clipping. I did a little research using just the names "Dood and Elrod" that appear in the middle of the artwork, and it appears that this is a piece of the "Mark Trail" comic strip. A bit of trivia: Mark Trail began in 1946 and is still in syndication today.


Since my last post included a personal Disneyland souvenir, I thought I would include another one from my collection. This book of Disneyland "Hi-Lites" measures approximately 4" by 3" and was purchased for me during an early childhood visit to the park.....probably around 1969 or 1970.

I always loved the way the pages in this book were glossy and trimmed with a white border as if they were actual snapshots that you had taken yourself.

Halloween at Disneyland - 1996 (or "Farewell to Tomorrowland")

Well, it's Halloween Time again at the Disneyland Resort! Last year I did a Vintage Disneyland Trip Report from 1995, the very first year that the park decorated for Halloween. Today, I have a few pics from the following year, but not really enough pics to warrant a full blown vintage trip report. So, how about a mini trip report to Disneyland in the Fall of 1996?

Once again, the Maleficent balloon that was originally used to promote Fantasmic in 1992 was resurrected in the fabulous Disneyland Parking Lot. The banner for "Mickey's Halloween Treat" is actually covering the original Fantasmic promo. Artist, blogger, and former DL employee Kevin Kidney coordinated the construction of this mega-Maleficent!

I wonder what happened to this inflatable? Is she being used somewhere to sell cars? (I know... Disney wouldn't allow that!)

This particular year, the floral portrait of Mickey had been reworked and given a "face mask". And look, the Kalamazoo Handcar is parked out in front of the train!

The flowers at the entrance to Tomorrowland were also changed to more of a Fall-ish color palette. (In today's Tomorrowland, the flowers have been replaced with brown concrete rocks.) Yay, the Rocket Jets are exactly where they should be in this picture! Notice the construction wall off in the distance. Work had already begun on converting the wonderful 1967 Carousel Theater building into.....well, nothing.


If we pan just a little to the left, we see that there was a special Hunchback of Notre Dame display set up just for Halloween. The Disney animated film had been released earlier that year. (For the previous Halloween, a Goofy topiary stood in one of the Tomorrowland planters.)

Note the crane on top of the Matterhorn in the photo below. In the nineties, the Matterhorn was undergoing a major renovation that took place every Winter over the course of several years. Actually....is it still shutting down every Winter for major refurbishment?

Hey, there's Phoebus signing an autograph for a fan!

He must have been heading for a break, since it looks like he's signing "on the run."

Coming Soon: A Very Brown Tomorrowland. This sign was located underneath the PeopleMover track at the entrance to Tomorrowland. It turned out to be a very cruel joke, however. The sign should have read "Tomorrowland - Lack of Imagination and Beyond! - The Future Ends Spring 1998" I know, not too clever but hey I'm a little bitter.....YOU DESTROYED MY FAVORITE LAND, DISNEY!!! Okay, I feel better and I'm over it....for right now, anyway.


That's it for the 1996 Halloween pics. The park's Halloween decor was not yet at the level that it is today. It would still be a couple more years before the Haunted Mansion would get it's first holiday overlay and another thirteen years until Space Mountain's "Ghost Galaxy."

Alice Behind Bars....and the Kalamazoo Handcar!

This is a Friday the 13th "mini" trip report from The Happiest Place On Earth. I stopped by the park yesterday after work, and found the Alice In Wonderland exit leaf/track outlined with some very ugly railings. Evidently, this is something that OSHA is making Disney do for the safety of the employees when they have to perform evacuations of the attraction.

Don't worry, the "path to Wonderland" will eventually reopen and when it does, it will be safer than ever before.

Some of the new railings can be seen in the top portion of the photos above and below. There are also tarps hanging below the track.

Too bad the leaves that are "stuck" to the railings aren't the same quality or color as the original ones. Those leaves are actually hiding the areas where the bars are joined together.

Lovely!

Actually....UGLY!

In the close-up shot below, you can see what looks like a walkway and stairs to the right of the track. I believe this continues around the entire track.

Right now, there is sort of a "portico" built over the track near the loading area. I wonder if this will be permanent or if it's just temporary while the construction is taking place.

On a happier note, I also noticed that the Kalamazoo handcar was back in front of the Main St. train station. I'm not sure when it first reappeared, but I know I was just pointing out to a friend two weeks ago that it was gone and that it had been missing for quite some time.

The handcar sits on a spur of the track that was once used by the Disneyland trains for passing each other if needed.

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!