The Mad Tea Party Game - It's Kid Tested!

Today we have another item from my childhood.....The Mad Tea Party Game, made by Whitman (It's Kid Tested!) in 1972.

 

  Here's a pic of just the game board pieces.

 

And here's a pic taken after assembly with some of the playing pieces displayed on it.

 

The instructions are printed on the inside of the box.

I don't remember playing the game according to these instructions. Did you ever alter the rules to a game when you were a kid? I don't think that we did it on purpose, I think we just read the object of the game on the cover of the box and then assumed that we knew how to play. From what I remember, we piled ALL of the game pieces onto the turntable, spun it, then grabbed at whatever flew off and whoever collected a complete set first, was the winner. KIDS!!!

To view another 1970's vintage Disney toy from Whitman, click here: America On Parade Puzzle

Summertime At Disneyland! - 1986

Just a quick post today. This Disneyland advertisement is from the Los Angeles Times and is dated July 20, 1986....25 years ago!



I'm a little confused by the text at the bottom, stating that Magic Journeys was still playing. I know that Captain EO premiered at Disneyland in September of 1986. According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong!), Magic Journeys closed in January of 1986. This makes sense because time would have been needed to build the new Magic Eye theater for Captain EO (Magic Journeys was only shown outdoors on the Space Stage after dark). Does anyone know if Magic Journeys was actually still playing at Disneyland in the Summer of 1986? Could it have been moved to a different location? Videopolis, perhaps? This was a time when I was not going to the park very often, so I don't have any old Disneyland guides to go by.

Disneyland's 25th Birthday Parade!

For Disneyland's 56th birthday today, I'm posting another Disneyland souvenir from my personal collection. Back in February of this year, I posted a similar Tomorrowland postcard book. Well, today's postcard book was sold in the park during Disneyland's 25th Birthday celebration in 1980 and featured photos from the "Family Reunion Parade" (in the Disneyland entertainment programs, it was always listed as "Disneyland's 25th Birthday Parade"). Once again, all the postcards in the book except for the one on the front cover included a mini version of the postcard as well.



This first postcard (actually the back cover of the book) shows part of the "Main Street" unit of the parade. Note how the Horse-drawn Trolley vehicle in the background has been adapted into a parade float. It's also being pulled by two horses instead of one.



Next, we have the Adventureland unit of the parade......



....followed by the New Orleans Square unit.

Unfortunately, the book skips over the Bear Country, Frontierland and Tomorrowland units of the parade, but has two postcards representing Fantasyland.



I believe this glass carriage is still around today and used for Disney weddings over at the hotel.....but don't quote me on that.



This restored 1907 calliope had been used in Disneyland's opening day parade as well as in the park's Mickey Mouse Club Circus back in 1955. I wonder where it is today?



The last postcard shows the final float (Casey Jr.?). The train engine was pulling several large blue and silver packages containing helium filled balloons which were released at different points along the parade route.



You can watch the entire parade below, in two parts. These were the good old days at Disneyland when the parades had many floats, lots of live musicians, and tons of parade performers. This particular parade also featured quite a few horses...twenty one to be exact. In Part 1, note the Tahitian Terrace hula dancers in the Adventureland unit!





In Part 2, note the "Liverlips McGrowl" and "Terrence" costumed characters from Bear Country and the Golden Horseshoe Can-Can dancers as part of the Frontierland unit. There is also an authentic Stagecoach vehicle from the former Frontierland attraction!





I remember really liking this parade, but I thought they kind of dropped the ball on the Tomorrowland unit.....a Roller Disco future??? How about a mini TWA Rocket or a mini Space Mountain? I did like the giant mirrored letters spelling out Disneyland towards the end of the parade.....and the "Disneyland Is Your Land" song that went along with them. (Incidentally, that song was translated into Japanese and used again three years later for Tokyo Disneyland's first parade in 1983.)

To see more birthday-related Disneyland posts, click here:
Disneyland's 25 Hour Party - July 17, 1980

And here: A Vintage Disneyland Trip Report - July 17, 1981

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!

Knott's Calico Log Ride - 42nd Anniversary!

In honor of the 42nd anniversary today of Knott's Berry Farm's and Bud Hurlbut's Calico Log Ride, I'm posting a souvenir from one of my childhood visits to the park. It's a postcard booklet dated 1970.....one year after the attraction debuted.

July 4, 1977 - Space Mountain & New West Magazine

Today, I have a different kind of July Fourth post for you. This is an issue of New West Magazine that came out on July 4, 1977....thirty four years ago. My mom subscribed to this magazine and I saved this issue because of the Space Mountain article inside.



Space Mountain had opened at Disneyland about a month earlier, but I had not been on it yet. My first ride on Space Mountain would come just two weeks later.



I believe this is the model of the track layout that we have seen on display in various Disney art exhibits. I remember looking at the smaller photo (inset) and wondering where the track was. This was my first time realizing how Disney will doctor photographs and film footage so that an attraction appears in a way that is much more flattering than the way it actually appears in person. Don't get me wrong, I love and have always loved Space Mountain. I'm just saying.....



The sun'll come out.....Tomorrow! The article on Space Mountain continues below:



How do you like that? Space Mountain "just is!"

I'm including this article from the magazine about "The Joys Of Summer."





Those are punching balloons being sold at Magic Mountain. Do they even still make things like that for kids today? I remember Miss Mary Ann used to have the kids on Romper Room work out with those.



The Jolly Monster ride! Why did Magic Mountain get rid of their "octopus" ride, anyway? And their Crazy Barrels? And their Metro Monorail? BRING BACK THE METRO! (That was for you, Vintage Disneyland Tickets!)



Here's footage of the Jolly Monster right before it was removed from the park in 1981. About two minutes into the video, there's some footage that was shot while actually riding in one of the cars and towards the end of the video, there's a still photo showing the ride being dismantled. This YouTube user has some other cool Magic Mountain videos including the train ride to Trollywood (which I mentioned in my last post) on it's last day of operation.





Getting back to the magazine, here's a two-page Ford advertisement. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Pinto Cruising Wagon.





And here's a perfume ad with actress, Shelley Hack. Before she was one of Charlie's Angels, she worked for another "Charlie."



Just for fun, I'm posting a couple vintage Charlie commercials that featured Shelley Hack. This first one has Bobby Short singing the product's jingle.





This next one features Mel Torme singing the Charlie song.





I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Vintage Magic Mountain Trip Report & Colossus Opening - 1978

Are you ready for something completely different here at Meet The World? It's my very first Magic Mountain post, and it's all about my very first Magic Mountain trip! The year was 1978 and I had just graduated from eighth grade (and had recently gone on the school's Eighth Grade Graduation Trip To Disneyland.) Up to that point, I had been taken on many family trips to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Marineland, Universal Studios, Japanese Deer Park, and Busch Gardens (Van Nuys), but for some reason (probably distance), we had never gone to Magic Mountain. Well, as an eighth grade graduation present, my mom decided to take me to Magic Mountain.....probably because I had been asking her.....A LOT!



My mom even took this pamphlet and wrapped it up as one of my graduation gifts. I was very excited. I had been wanting to go for a long time, but even more so now because this was the summer that Colossus was opening. The model for Colossus was pictured in the pamphlet along with a description of the "greatest rollercoaster in the world."




Here are some other pics from the pamphlet.



I'm flipping this one pic around to show what's happening to the two kids in this photo. This exact same thing happened to me the first time I rode Revolution. When we went through the 360 degree loop, my head was forced down into my lap. I remember it kind of screwed up my neck for the rest of the day. They hadn't installed the headrests on the cars yet, so I don't know if that is what made a difference or if it was just being kid-sized, but I went back about a year later and the headrests were there and I didn't have the same problem. Did anyone else have that happen to them while riding Revolution?



And here are the only four photos that I shot that day. The first one shows Revolution's loop. I had actually rode Revolution one year earlier...."virtually," that is. It was featured in the 1977 Universal film, "Rollercoaster." I remember really liking that movie. The tag line was something like, "This summer, watch for the man watching the Rollercoaster!" If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It stars George Segal, Henry Fonda, Helen Hunt (before she won her Oscar), Richard Widmark (after he signed Lucy's grapefruit), and features guest appearances by L.A. radio disc jockey, Charlie Tuna, and the band "Sparks." The real star however, is Timothy Bottoms (before he hilariously played our nation's former president in Comedy Central's "That's My Bush!") as a young man who travels around the country blowing up amusement parks. The film was one of only four that were filmed in "Sensurround."



Colossus had already opened before our visit. In fact, it opened on June 29th..... 33 years ago today! But as with many new rides, it was experiencing some technical problems and when we got to the park, we were told that it probably would not be opening until sometime in the afternoon. We did get in line for it later that day....I believe even before it opened, because they had announced that it would be opening for sure. I took these next three pics from the Colossus observation deck while my family held our place in line. Note the dirt and the trucks at the base of the structure.



Just on the other side of those trees was "Trollywood," home to the Magic Mountain Trolls. This was sort of Magic Mountain's version of "Storybook Land" and was only visible while riding the "Train to Trollywood" (see the map below).




Here's the parking ticket from that day.



And here's the park map and entertainment schedule.





We had seen people in the park wearing these buttons, but when we went to purchase one at the Colossus merchandise cart, they had sold out.



When we got home, I wrote a letter to the park asking if it was still possible to purchase a button. They sent the following response.





So I sent them the money and I did end up getting an "I RODE IT!" button.

One other memory from that day is that my aunt and my grandparents went along with us on this trip. Actually my grandfather is the one that drove us all up there. He also rode on every ride that day with my brother and me, including Colossus. I remember the ride operators on Colossus warning him about removing his eyeglasses, so he took them off and put them in his shirt pocket and buttoned the pocket up. Well, on the very first hill, the button ripped right off from the force of the glasses which flew straight up out of the pocket and into the air. I remember feeling really bad about him losing his glasses.

When I think about it, my grandfather was always such a good sport. He was also the one that sat next to me the very first time I rode Space Mountain. In my Father's Day post last week, I thanked my dad for taking us to many of the different Southern California theme parks throughout my childhood, but my grandparents also took us on many of our fun theme park outings....including my one and only trip to the Long Beach Pike! I'd like to take the time now to also thank my grandparents for all the wonderful memories they gave my brother and me......I love and miss you both very much! And thanks to my mom too, for such a cool graduation present!