Fantasy On Parade 1981 - Part 1 (The Disney Classics Units)

This is a follow up to my "I Was A Teenage Christmas Tree" post from December of 2010. In that post, I included some personal items that I had saved from my short stint of working in the Christmas parade at Disneyland back in 1981. Now we will take a look at the actual parade, in it's entirety.

I took all of the "backstage" pictures in today's post. The photos of the parade on Main Street were taken by my grandfather, who came to see me in one of the parade performances. I have some additional photos that were given to me by "Knott's Illustrated", who's personal collection of theme park pics just happened to include several of "Fantasy On Parade," from the very year that I was in it. Those photos will be the ones that were taken in the Plaza, with the Tomorrowland entrance and palm trees in the background. Thank you, "Knott's Illustrated"!

"Cinderella" had just been re-released in theaters for the Christmas season, so the parade started with the Cinderella unit. The photo below, shows the "Knights on Horseback" leading the parade.

Next, is the "Fanfare" section of the Cinderella unit.

Following the "Fanfare" trumpeters, was the "Pumpkin Coach". This picture shows it backstage, behind It's A Small World. I wonder if that warehouse is still standing? There were actually two "Cinderellas" that rode in this coach at the same time. There was a curtain running down the middle of the coach and there was a different Cinderella sitting on either side of the curtain. The idea behind this was so that each Cinderella could give her full attention to one side of the parade route, for the entire duration of the parade. I have seen a photo of this same coach being used back in the sixties with just one Cinderella sitting inside of it.

The "Court Dancers" followed Cinderella's coach. They are shown here getting ready to "step off" at the parade gate in Town Square. The gold colored building in the background is the Administration building which housed offices as well as the Primeval World diorama for the Disneyland railroad. The beige building next to the dancers is the side of the Main Street Opera House. I remember running into the guy in the purple costume in the employee cafeteria at Knott's a couple years later. He had been hired as a stuntman-cowboy. Or maybe he was a train robber?

Last up in this unit was the "Castle Float". This float had been used one year earlier (with a different paint job) in the Fantasyland unit of Disneyland's 25th Anniversary "Family Reunion Parade".

As a parade cast member, we had all been given schematics showing every unit of the parade. This first one shows the Cinderella unit.

Next in the parade, was the Pinocchio unit and it began with Geppetto and Pinocchio riding on the "Workbench Float". You can just make out the head of Figaro behind Geppetto. There was a puppeteer under the float that operated Figaro and next to him you can see part of the fishbowl that Cleo was swimming around in. Cleo was actually a small figure connected to a wire that allowed her to circle around inside the bowl.

Following Pinocchio and Geppetto was the "Village Float". The Blue Fairy was at the front of that float and while I don't have any photos of her, she can be seen in a video that I have provided a link for at the bottom of this post. Foulfellow/Honest John and Gideon could also be seen dancing around on this float.

The next float was "Stromboli's Wagon". The person dressed as Stromboli actually drove the float, which included several stages with dancing puppets (these characters can also be seen in the video at the end of the post). Jiminy Cricket was on the rear of the float, standing in the middle of an oversized "Official Conscience" medal.

The Pinocchio unit schematic:

The Jungle Book unit was next. Here we see Mowgli, King Louie and Baloo, along with some of Colonel Hathi's herd of elephants. Also in the distance, we can see a thatched roof of the float carrying the "Jungle Band" that played "The Bare Necessities" and "Colonel Hathi's March" on horn instruments.

Herbie, The Love Bug came next. There was a stuntman-cop that drove around on a miniature motorcycle and interacted with Herbie. One of the stunts performed, was Herbie "swallowing" the cop and then spitting him out onto the ground through one of the side doors.

The Jungle Book and Herbie schematics:

The Alice In Wonderland unit began with three large teapots surrounded by dancing "Butterflies and Flowers".

Next, came Alice and the Queen of Hearts with a "Card Drill Team" and "Card Band".

Here are Alice and the Queen right before stepping off in Town Square.

This shows the schematic for the Alice In Wonderland and Song of the South units. I don't have any pictures of the Song of the South unit, but an actor playing "Uncle Remus" rode in a wagon and sang "Zip-a-dee-do-dah", while Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox followed along behind him on foot. You would not see this in any Disney park today! I was even a little surprised to see this at Disneyland in 1981! You can see brief footage of him in the video below at the (2:30) mark.

The Dumbo unit was next, led by the Casey Jr. float. A clown in drag with a baby carriage is cut out of the picture on the right.

The Casey Jr. train was long and included a calliope, some animal cages, and a caboose. In this backstage photo, two half-dressed "monkeys" are relaxing in a cage, waiting for the parade to start. The tall white building in the background was the Global Van Lines headquarters. That is where the Team Disney building stands today. The show building for It's A Small World would have been directly behind the photographer here.

This next backstage photo has a lot going on in it. On the right is the caboose of the Casey Jr. float and right behind it is the Firehouse Float. If you look closely, you can see the head of the Dumbo costume hanging on a hook inside the window of the Firehouse. The two female cast members in the foreground were playing Mickey (on the left) and Minnie (in the plaid on the right). "Minnie" is chatting with a guy that played one of the toy soldiers in the Christmas Finale unit of the parade. In the background we can see Mrs. Claus chatting with a Monk from the Robin Hood unit, and Prince John's Royal Coach. Snow White and one of the Cinderellas are visible just beyond the coach.

Here's a shot of Dumbo riding in that Firehouse float, but this photo is from 1979's Very Merry Christmas Parade.

Following the Dumbo unit was "Goofy's Car". The concept of "Goofy and his Jalopy" had been used before in Christmas parades dating back to the 1960's and had also been used in the traveling "Disney On Parade" stage show.

The Dumbo Circus and Goofy's Car schematic:

Leading the Robin Hood unit, were Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John and Friar Tuck. Following behind them was Prince John in his Royal Coach, escorted by some Royal Elephants, Hippos and Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceri?).

Below is the schematic for the Robin Hood unit. Included on the same page are the "Dog Catcher's Truck" and "Peter Pan" units. I dont' have pictures of these, but the Dog Catcher's Truck was driven by Pete (without his peg leg) and carried real doggies! Pluto would follow along behind and open the door to the truck, allowing the dogs to escape and run around in the street. There was a "dog catcher" stuntman that walked around with a net and would eventually wrangle the doggies back into the truck after performing several comic stunts (including falling on the ground and having all the dogs run over him).

"Mary Poppins" was the last unit before the big "Christmas Finale" unit. Bert and the Penguins are seen here right before they step off at Town Square. (Behind them are the windows of the Mad Hatter Shop just outside of the parade gate.) Note that one of the penguins bent over to show his rear-end just as I was taking the picture.

I took this photo of Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweeps right before the "Rooftop" float left the backstage area to begin it's way down the parade route.

Here's that float parked backstage near the Small World show building. One of Santa's Elves was climbing around on the float and "Chip and Dale" were walking by holding their "heads". We will eventually see why they are wearing aprons and chef hats. The green building on the far right is the "Roundhouse" where the Disneyland trains and monorails are kept when not in operation.

The Mary Poppins unit schematic:

The parade isn't over yet! Part two of this post will include the "Christmas Finale" unit. If you count all of the characters, dancers and musicians just in the units that we've covered so far, you can get an idea how many people were hired for the Disneyland parades back then.....not to mention all of the live horses and canines! Unfortunately, they do not do parades like this anymore! :-(

Even though we haven't finished covering the parade, I'm including the link to the parade footage below. (The Cinderella unit is missing here and the footage begins with the "Village Float" of the Pinocchio unit.) Enjoy!

EPCOT Center's Grand Openeing - 1982

Today is the 35th anniversary of the opening of EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. A few weeks after the park officially opened, the EPCOT Center Opening Celebration aired on the TV show, Walt Disney (formerly Disney's Wonderful World, The Wonderful World of Disney, The Wonderful World of Color, Walt Disney Presents, and Disneyland). Let's take a look at the listing for this TV special, in the October 23, 1982 issue of TV Guide.

Danny Kaye hosted the television special. Wait a minute....."City of the Future?" That's what Walt Disney originally intended EPCOT to be (an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), but that is NOT what was actually built!

The guest stars included Marie Osmond (she's a little bit country!), Roy Clark, Drew Barrymore, Alex Haley, Alan Shepard and Eric Sevareid.

Just in case anyone is curious, here's what else was showing on TV that night:

And here's a sampling of what was on later in the week:

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was having it's thirteenth airing on broadcast television.

Dynasty was starting it's third season.

Friday The 13th was being shown on television for the very first time. (Spoiler Alert: Betsy Palmer did it!)

Joanie Loves Chachi was a smash hit. (Not really!)

Dallas and Knots Landing were airing back to back for "Two Stunning Hours!" (Abby wasn't letting anything or anyone stop her from getting Gary!)

On The Greatest American Hero, Ralph was finally getting the instructions to his super-suit.

"TV's most appealing new hero" was Matt Houston. And check out that order form for posters. Like, oh my god....I wonder how many people ordered the "Valley Girl" and "Valley Lingo" posters?

Speaking of Valley Girls, Elvira was and forever will be, the reigning Queen of "B" Horror Movies. Like, T-O-O-O-T-A-L-L-Y! Both Elvira and her Movie Macabre, had celebrated their one-year anniversaries about a month earlier.

Here is the cover story article on Joan Collins.

And if anyone would like to watch, EPCOT Center: The Opening Celebration, here it is in it's entirety:





Happy 35th anniversary, EPCOT Center!

A Clean Sweep at Disneyland - 1981

From 36 years ago this month, we have a Los Angeles Times article about the Disneyland Custodial Department:

A quick search online reveals that custodial manager, Ray Sidejas, retried from Disneyland in 2011 after 46 years of service!

Incidentally, The Fantasyland Theater, which can be seen in the background of that photo above, was torn down just about four months after this article ran.

Portions of that "loose-leaf notebook" which was given to newly hired members of the custodial crew, can be seen here on the "Jungle is 101" blog: Disneyland Custodial Dept. - Welcome To Our Custodial Team.

Skyway alert!

Haunted Mansion Model Kit Series - 1974

In honor of today being the 48th anniversary of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, I am posting another Haunted Mansion-related item from my childhood. This is the box for one of four models from a series that came out in 1974.

This one is called, "Play It Again, Sam." Incidentally, that line is a misquote from the film "Casablanca." Humphrey Bogart never said "again", he just said "Play it, Sam!" Ahhh, but I digress! I saved this box, but I'm not sure if I still have the model or not. I want to say that I did save it and that it is in my mom's garage. I guess I will say that.

Hey, what's up with that mummy coming out of the organ? A mummy is only seen in the graveyard section of the Haunted Mansion attraction!

This side panel explains, "Zap/Action!" There was a series of Pirates of the Caribbean models made by the same company, that also had "Zap/Action!"

I also had the "Escape From The Crypt" model, but I know for sure that I didn't save that one. The box may still exist, but I haven't seen it for years. Now I'm thinking if I had saved the box, it probably would have been kept together with this one.

I think it's odd that there weren't more of the ACTUAL scenes from the attraction that were recreated for this series. The vampire scene is especially annoying!

I really should have looked to see if I could find this model, but I know if it does still exist, that it will have a horrible paint job! As a kid, I wasn't very good with a paint brush. Wait, I'm still not!

Happy 48th anniversary to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion!

Freefall at Magic Mountain - 1982

On June 18, 1982, Six Flags Magic Mountain opened their newest ride, Freefall (an Intamin first generation "freefall" drop tower ride). However, the grand opening had originally been announced for a date prior to that.

I had gone to Magic Mountain with friends on that original opening date. When we entered the park, we immediately headed over to Freefall which was located on the far side of the park.

There were employees posted at the ride's entrance who told us that it would open later in the day, but they couldn't say exactly when. We were advised to check back "in a couple hours." Well, we did just that and we were told basically the same thing....that they didn't know for sure when it would open, but to keep checking back. We ended up doing this all day long and at some point, we were told that it would definitely be opening before the park closed. It never did!

When I got home, I wrote a letter to the company, stating my frustration at how our day was spent running back and forth to Freefall to check and see if it had opened yet, but that it never did. They sent the following reply, dated July 11, 1982 and postmarked the following day.

And here is one of the "Courtesy Half Price Rain Checks" that they sent me.

I remember going back fairly soon with the same friends and using these, but they had sent me extras so I had some left over. I used one of the tickets 12 years later in 1994 and I remember the attendant in the ticket booth having to call for a manager because she had never seen one of these before and she didn't know what to do with it. I remember the manager stating that he had also never seen one before, but I guess he could tell it was real, because they accepted it. Now I just have this one ticket remaining and even though I have been back to Magic Mountain since then, I have never tried to use it. It doesn't have an expiration date, but I wonder what their response would be if I tried to use it now....almost 35 years later! I guess I could take the letter along with me and show it to them. They'd probably think I was crazy.

Freefall remained standing until 2008, but there was a period of time between 2005 - 2006 when it was not running. If you are interested in watching some short on-board ride footage, here are a couple video clips:







If anyone is interested in seeing another letter that I received from Magic Mountain from 1978 (with the Trolls and Wizard on the letterhead), you can click here: Vintage Magic Mountain Trip Report from 1978.

And for anyone interested in owning a "Freefall" souvenir from Magic Mountain, this button is currently available on ebay. (This is not my item or auction!)

Father's Day In The Parks (And My 400th Post!)

Well, it's been six years since I've done one of these Father's Day posts. Where does six years go? I don't even know where the last year went! And by the way....this is my 400th post! Okay, here we go. Today's photos were all taken by my dad at various tourist attractions throughout Southern California.

First up, we have Universal Studios. The first pic was taken in 1988 during the the tram tour of the studio backlot. This was the "Burning House." According to "thestudiotour.com," it was originally located adjacent to the Universal Amphitheater. It was moved to the location below in 1982, but was eventually demolished to make way for the Jurassic Park ride and a new fire station. (And that website didn't miss pointing out the irony there!)

The next pic was taken in the early 1970's. This was Universal's "Wild West Stunt Show." Note the man that is horizontal in mid-air to the right of the light blue building. Also note the two men lying on the floor of the arena in front of the Silver Slipper Saloon. According to "thestudiotour.com," the stunt show was only in this location from 1970-1972 and at the end of that period, this arena was expanded and turned into the Universal Amphitheater (which originally was an outdoor venue). At that time, the stunt show was moved to another location in the upper lot, where it would stay until closing permanently in 2002.

This shot from 1990 shows the western stunt show in it's upper lot location, just after it had received a renovation and a name change to "The Riot Act Stunt Show." The renovation included a new collapsing facade on one of the buildings. During the show, a stuntman would sit on a crate in the middle of the arena, while an explosion would cause the front of the building behind him to fall forward. One of the windows would line up perfectly so the building would fall down "around him"....which is what had happened just seconds before my dad took this picture.

Our next stop is at Knott's Berry Farm. This first photo was taken in 1974 at Knott's Lagoon, which was located across the street from the main theme park. The locomotive was one of the many miniature trains manufactured by Bud Hurlbut. This one is reportedly in a private collection today, but Bud's miniature train from the original Santa's Village (in Sky Forest, CA) can be found today at the Santa Ana Zoo in Santa Ana, California. And another one can be found at Castle Park (formerly owned by Bud Hurlbut) in Riverside, CA.

In this shot from 1966, Chief White Eagle places a feather headdress on a guest in Ghost Town. The Old Knife Shop which used to be located just south of the Miner's Bank, can be seen in the background.

This Polaroid is from the mid-1970's and was taken on the front porch of the Gold Trails Hotel in Ghost Town. In the early 1940's, Walter Knott acquired pieces of an old hotel in Prescott, Arizona (including the two doors in the background) and used them on what would be one of the very first Ghost Town buildings at the Farm. The hotel housed the Covered Wagon Show which told the story of his mother's and his grandmother's journey out west in a covered wagon. Unfortunately, the show was removed and the hotel was torn down. A recreation of the hotel stands in the same spot today with the show being replaced by a souvenir shop.

I'm pretty sure that the musician on the left is "Fiddlin'" Charlie Ware. And I believe the guitarist's name is "Mamie," but I don't have a last name for her. If anyone knows, please feel free to chime in below in the comment section!

Last up we have three shots from Disneyland. All of the photos feature characters that we don't see walking around the park anymore. The first one is of Br'er Bear, who could often be seen in New Orleans Square, along with his pal, Br'er Fox. The photo was taken in 1982.

Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book could often be seen hanging out (usually with King Louie) in or around Adventureland. This shot is also from 1982.

And this final pic of Snow White, Dopey and Sneezy(?) in front of Tomorrowland, is from April of 1971. Snow White can still be seen greeting guests in the park today, but it is rare to see any of the Seven Dwarfs unless it is in a parade or show.

I hope everyone enjoyed this little trip through some of Southern California's theme parks. And an early "Happy Father's Day" to all of the dads out there!

(***BONUS!!! I happen to have three vintage Disneyland postcards, featuring the same characters seen above, so I am including them below.)