My grandparents got to go visit my Aunt Donna and her husband Jack in the late 1960s when I was 4 years old. They brought back to Nebraska a guide book from Disneyland featuring the Haunted Mansion. I pored over that guide book so many times I practically had it memorized. A few years later I saw Ruth Buzzi and Sandy Duncan playing cat burglars on a Disneyland television special dashing through the Haunted Mansion. They stole some jewels and then as they tried to escape, they ran into the guy in the coffin in the first hallway and saw the floating candelabra. I also remember them running through the graveyard scene. As Halloween was always my favorite holiday, I was hooked.
Then in the mid 1970s, my grandparents went out to California again, and this time, Grampa brought back a stuffed bear called Big Al (from the now defunct Country Bear Jamboree) and put him on top of the Zenith TV console. He said that Big Al was his favorite character in the whole park, and he sang “Blood on the Saddle.” That was too much! That bear taunted me, and I continued to beg my parents to take me and my little sister to Disneyland.
Finally, for the Christmas of 1980, my sister and I took our very first airplane trip to Los Angeles to spend Christmas in California. It was Christmas Eve and we knew we were going to go to Disneyland soon, but we weren't sure when. We unwrapped a very small box from Aunt Donna and Uncle Jack. It was a pass to Disneyland! This meant we could get into the park and all the rides would be free! (that's how my mind worked, of course) We were told to get a good night's sleep because we were going to Disneyland on Christmas Day. This would be my best Christmas ever.
I don't think we took a single picture, but my aunt was an Annual Passholder… and she taught me well. Very well.
She taught us that you had to be in the park at rope drop. That was tantamount. The first thing on the agenda was to go straight to Big Thunder Mountain. This was the newest attraction in the park… just barely a year old Aunt Donna told us the plan is to get to all the long wait rides pronto (remember, these were all before Fastpass). So we hit that attraction first and then went to Space Mountain. That was the second newest attraction. I remember the old escalator/ramp that was definitely not handicap-friendly and the queue weaving around the top deck and inside. That was mind-blowing.
Then off to the Matterhorn. It wasn't as cool as the other two, but Aunt Donna carefully explained to us that this was the first rubber-wheel roller coaster and that Walt Disney rode it himself. She was careful to let us know the history, too, and that gave us a great appreciation. Plus, it had the Skyway passing through it. I remember being amazed at looking all over Disneyland up in those buckets.
Mom, Dad, the author, Aunt Pearl, and Gramma Elsie in front of it's a small world… the only picture from entire trip. Photo by sister Tracey Pickering.
Some of the highlight of my other memories of that first trip include:
- As much as the Haunted Mansion was (and still is) my favorite attraction; initially I was very disappointed that I could not walk through it like Ruth Buzzi and Sandy Duncan had done.
- We saw a Christmas show in an open-air theater where Captain Eo would eventually go. At least I think it was a Christmas show. There was definitely a show there.
- The Christmas Parade had the toy soldiers and the snow men that still perform to this day. At least that is what I remember.
- I have no recollection of the old Fantasyland. Was the Chicken of the Sea Pirate ship still there? It had to be, right?
- There were legit shops in New Orleans Square and my mom bought a jacket or sweater at the Pendleton Shop that was still in Frontierland, as it was indeed cold, even though we were in California.
- Big Al was the best performer out of all of the Country Bears. I think they should bring him back at the Hungry Bear Restaurant.
- I have no recollection at all of the ticket booths that were around the park but they had to be there, right?
This article is dedicated to Uncle Jack and Aunt Donna, who may well have been one of the very first Annual Passholders. Uncle Jack was newly sober and they were very sad that they couldn't go dancing, as he didn't want to be around alcohol for at least a few months. They found out about the big bands at Disneyland and gave it a try. They loved it. Once a week without fail, they would go dancing at Disneyland. They told me how there were lots of retired big band musicians who could no longer stay out all night that had actually played with some of the great band leaders like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller playing up on that stage. And even though he didn't mind being around liquor soon enough, they continued going until he passed away about 20 years ago.
I still enjoy sitting in on at least one set and even asking someone to take a swing with me on the floor. It is fantastic that Disneyland still has the bands to this day every Saturday night at what is now the Princess Fantasy Faire stage (formerly the Carnation Plaza Gardens).
My Aunt Donna was my first teacher of Disneyland. We went again in 1985 and took a few pictures this time, and that 1985 guide book, I remembered to save.
