Questions and More Questions...

Today's post is not ticket related so I wont even try to connect it. I have a couple of things in my collection that have been nagging at me to get some answers. So hopefully someone knows something about my two questions today.

First, following up with my Hall of Chemistry post of the other day, here is a Hall of Chemistry souvenir photo mailer thingy. I have seen these before, but I think you the "visitor" is supposed to be in the picture. Any Idea why Luna-Lana is standing pretty all by herself? Could you just buy the photo souvenir without "you" in it? Seems kind of odd to me...

You can't see the whole picture when it's in the mailer, so I took it out and scanned it. Neat stuff on the walls! The back of the photograph only reveals that it is a "Polaroid", it has held up well over the years, anyone want to guess what year this might be from?

My second question is really a set of questions. I've been making a complete list of my Disneyland Guide Books for a friend (Jason, I'll have it done soon I promise). I came across a book that I can't get the exact date, but the stranger part is some of the attraction names are wrong or just weird.

Let's start with what we know. This is a late 1966 or early 1967 guide book. I can date this book as it has the Pirates of the Caribbean coming soon and as you can see, half of Tomorrowland is under construction. All seems well, right means right, left means left.

Here is where it gets weird and my questions begin. #15 lists "Monsanto's Magic Microscope"? I knew that was a preliminary name but wasn't the real name decided by the time the New Tomorrowland opened? Location #10 and #18 list these areas as "Coca-Cola Refreshment Gardens", when was it ever called that? And look at #14 The House of the Future, I have heard it co-existed with the new Tomorrowland for a few months, but it just make this little slice of history even more odd to me.

So we can have order back in the universe, from the 1970 Guide Book. We have Adventure Thru Inner Space and the Coca-Cola Tomorrowland Terrace. The House of the future has turned into a Souvenir stand! Now the guide book shows a real photo of the new Tomorrowland. Notice the 66/67 one above has the wild artist rendering, then the next one has a more tame rendering.

And since this post lacks color, and you know how I am about Color. "The world is a carrousel of Color" Here is a late 70's early 80's post card of Alice and her pals. Hey, Alice has that whole Marsha Brady thing going one, she's cute! Was there a Walrus in Alice in Wonderland?

Tomorrow - we'll get back to some tickets.

Rides Aplenty over at Knott's

It's a warm sunny Sunday in the late 1970's so lets go to Knott's and ride all the attractions as many times as we want. We wont be needing those pesky ticket books, we've got "Rides Aplenty" passes. I'm not sure if just anyone could buy these or if you had to be in a "club" like Disneyland's Magic Kingdom Club?

These are not dated, but I would place them as mid to late 1970's by the fonts and feel, but I have no evidence of an actual date. "SS" and "PP" what do you suppose that means? Notice the little string is missing from the white one. What a bummer if you lost one of these because the string broke!

But wait, fill out the back and I am sure someone will return it if you lose it.

Since it's clear these "Rides Aplenty" tickets did not get you thru the Main Gate, you will be needing this Complimentary Gate Admission. I wonder if this ticket is still valid? There is no expiration date. Ah, "Globe Safety" paper.

The back implies this ticket is still good anytime the park is open for normal business.

Tomorrow it's back to Disneyland!

The "A" Ticket - Part 1 the 1950's - UPDATE # 2

Those faithful readers of my blog may recall when I started back in November I was just getting going on the "A" series when I discovered that the first ticket books at Disneyland actually were not lettered. Please see my prior post so that this post make some sense (link) .

Well, the person who bought the entire set I refer to in my November post is selling some of them on EBay right now! These are truly an original piece of Disneyland History. Once again, I am guessing this will price out way over my head, but I thought I would give my readers a chance to pick up a REALLY Vintage Disneyland Ticket or at least watch and see how much they sell for!

I don't have any idea what the reserve is or what they will actually end up selling for, if it's south of $250 I would be surprised. See EBay Auction number 220193312876



This listing is for all three type of books!!!!! Check out those LOW serial numbers. The seller and I did some math and we figure these are from the first two weeks ticket books were sold at the park, possibly Mid October 1955.

Notice they are NOT on Globe paper, maybe Walt had not decide to give them the contact yet! As clean, nice and RARE as this are, it would be incredible if they had the other tickets (what would become the "B" and "C" tickets), Or better yet, the admission ticket still attached on the front, if that was the case, these would be priceless.

I don't know the Seller other than corresponding thru EBay. I of course may try and bid on these (I am "Rushrules999" on EBay, so watch out, just kidding, I am not one of those big $$$ bidders!).

Disneyland's Super Summer 1970

I know, its the middle of winter, but today it's "Disneyland's Super Summer"! The picture on the front of this July 27 - August 2, 1970 gate handout is supposed to be blurry, it's not my new scanner (btw, how's are the scans looking?). "Show me America" was part of the parks 15th Anniversary celebration according to the Disneyland Collector Series Cards (link). I find it odd there is NO mention of the 15th Anniversary anywhere in this gate handout. Ten days after the Anniversary and it was done. The 50th, well, is it still going on?

Man oh man Disneyland used to ROCK OUT! Check out all the entertainment. Conway Twitty! My Grandma used to have his 8 track in her car! The Fantasy Ballroom with the Harry James and His Orchestra sounds dreamy. And I'd love to dance with those hip girls at the Tomorrowland Terrace while listening to pleasuring sounds of Sound Castle, Ltd!

Check out the back, there is even MORE to see - Parkwide Entertainment and Nighttime Magic.

And here is a May 1970 Junior Ticket book. It's full except for the admission on the front. I bet this teenager had so much fun with all that dancing and entertainment shown above, they didn't have time for the ticketed attractions.... Nah.....

It really is amazing to me how much entertainment Disneyland used to have. And this is when you could buy a general admission ticket for a couple bucks! That was a true value. That was Walt.

POP near its end - RIP

This is a special post for my neighbor and grand fellow blogger Jed over at Vintage Disneyland Goodies. He mentioned on his latest post that he may want to stare at photos of POP in ruins. Well, here you go! My dad took me to see POP from the street around the same time as these photos. It freaked me out on the one hand, but on the other hand, it may have sparked my theme park hobby (obsession).

I got these a few years back from a Coast Study website, they actually had current photos of the same area, but I can find the link! POP - RIP

*** I found the website, it's a great site, lots of coastal pictures - now & then. This one above are from 1972! Here is the link: California Coastal Records Project ******

Here is a current photo of the same area in September 2006:

Hall of Chemistry - 1956?

This just in…. I got this from a win on EBay as part of a bunch of things from the late 1960’s. This looks older than the rest of the stuff, codes on the back may place it in 1956, anyone know?

What does this have to do with Vintage Disneyland Tickets, well, not much! This was one of those attractions that was included with a general admission purchase. So, since you did have to buy a Vintage Disneyland Ticket to get in the park, by association, this brochure fits in my blog. Boy was that some twisted logic or what?

It’s a weird shaped brochure, folded in on itself and it has an irregular top cut. I got a new scanner last night so I thought this would be a good way to test it. It’s still a 9” x 12” scanner, so I had to break it down to usable chunks.

Here's the whole thing, enjoy.

This should satisfy those (like me) who have been missing posts from my friend over at Vintage Disneyland Goodies, he'll be back soon! If you have not been there, go, it's a great blog!

Star Tours - January 16, 1987

Please set your time machine back exactly 21 years ago today so you can use one of these tickets to see the new Star Tours. Of course you have to actually work for Disneyland in order to attend this Cast Premiere event.

Star Tours opened on January 9th, 1987. The "Cast Premier" was held January 12-16, 1987 - 7pm to Midnight. These are "Airline" style tickets, with Boarding Pass and Jacket.



Inside there is a boarding pass for each night of the Cast Premiere. That was nice of Disneyland to give Cast memebers one for each night. Then again, they probably had to work some of those nights so they couldn't use them all!



Here is today's ticket, we traveled to 1987 remember!

Here is a great full length video of Star Tours on YouTube.

Last today, lets pay tribute to a former occupant of the Star Tours attraction building. Adventure Thru Inner Space had a very popular run from 1967 to 1985, it was one of my childhood and teenage favorites. I went to the park one day in October 1986 (see my rainy day post) and I discovered it was closed, forever. That was a sad rainy day.

This great "Castle Paper" Adventure Thru Inner Space ticket is from early 1968, I bet the attraction still had that "New Attraction" smell. The message about not being accompanied by an adult is so weird to me!

According to Wikipedia, Star Tours II is in the works:

"In April 2005, at the Star Wars Celebration III, Star Wars creator George Lucas confirmed that a Star Tours II is in production. This new ride will apparently be prequel-oriented. In a concept release, the sequel is described as being based on the Pod Racer sequence in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.[citation needed] The new ride system will consist of a glasses-free 3-D High Definition screen and an improved motion simulator."

Wikipedia (link) actually has some great information on Star Tours. I did not know it was originally going to be based on Disney's 1979 "The Black Hole". I can see why they changed that idea. I paid to see that movie and I still want my money back!

Please stand by.... Part 2

Once again, due to circumstances beyond our control today's regularly scheduled post is delay until tomorrow. Please accept this February 1977 Readmission ticket to re-join us tomorrow.



OK, so the circumstance was that I watched part 1 & 2 of the new Fox Series "Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles". I think it was excellent, I recommend it to any Terminator Movie fan, it weaves itself between T2 and T3 in a unique way.

New Post tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by....

Skyway to Fantasyland - One Way Ticket

This is the first post where we will examine the "stub" style of Vintage Disneyland Tickets. These tickets are like the old movie theater tickets. Measuring a nice and neat 2" by 1". The big hole in it is so it can feed through the ticket dispenser.

These were used for a couple of reasons. (1) Some are so old they pre-date October 1955 when the first ticket books went on sale (link), therefore each ride had to have its own tickets. (2) Guests that purchased General Admission tickets or guests that ran out of tickets from the ticket books still wanted to enjoy some attractions so they needed a ticket.

These type of tickets were printed for specific rides (like today's post) and also for lettered attractions (Printed A thru E, I have a few to post later). This style was also used for General admission tickets and other "special" tickets. These were sold directly at attractions that had their own ticket booths (Matterhorn, Train Stations) and at the main ticket booths in each realm. I do not believe this style of ride and A-E tickets were sold at the Main Gate, anyone know?

Today you are looking at a "Skyway to Fantasyland" Ticket. 35 cents please. I would date this in the early 1960's based on the "D" ticket price in the ticket book (link), however, the ticket price on these "standby" tickets is sometimes a little higher than the tickets from the book. You should have listened to the little message on the tram about the value of ticket books! This ticket is in nice condition except for a staple holes someone put in it!

Because these were always bought in the park and with the intent to use it within seconds, not many remain. They are the rarest of Vintage Disneyland Tickets. As much as I treasure this ticket, I would give it up in 1/2 a second to RIDE the Skyway once again. Can you hear me Jay, Tony, Ed, anyone, Walt?

Weird message (warning) on the back, this isn't on the tickets from the ticket books. I think maybe this is a standard "Globe Ticket Co." message that is on all their ticket stock.

Here is a picture I took in January 25, 2007 of the ticket display Disneyland had in the waiting area of the Opera house. Wow are these nice, look at those low serial numbers!!!!! They are killing me! Wait, did you notice my ticket above is a low number also? Sweet!

We'll visit these types of tickets again soon. I don't have a lot of them, but I have some good ones. And I have an AMAZING source of scans and information on every type of these tickets Disneyland sold, so we'll have plenty to look at.

Knott's May 1971 - Gold Nugget "A" & Silver Dollar "B"

"Howdy Friend!" Since our last post was Disneyland in May of 1971, let's visit Knott's Berry Farm, circa May 1971. I'll try to keep this post "text light" since it's "scan heavy". Also see previous Knott's Post "Sunday Brunch at Knott's"

While Knott's ticket books at this point were the same size as Disneyland's, they have lettered tickets, a welcome message and Globe paper, there are some significant differences.

First you'll notice The welcome message is of course more "Old West" style. It encourages "Good American Fun" I like that message!




Knott's only had two lettered tickets in 1971. This is the "A" ticket or "Golden Nugget" ticket. This is the better of the two tickets, Knott's lettered ticket values were always the reverse of Disneyland. Isn't the prospector cute? Or is he scary?

The "B" Ticket or "Silver Dollar" Ticket is for all the "lesser" value attractions.

Inside of the back of the ticket book. Not just an attraction list like Disneyland, but you get a mini map, which is not really to scale, but you get the general locations.

Back of the back. I love that family, dad's cool with his pipe. Date code of "715" on the lower right.

Here is the guide map that shows the same price as the Ticket book. It's not dated anywhere that I can find, but it must be around 1971.

It opens up to a large map, so I scanned it in two parts. It's a weird map because the orientation is with North at the top (which is how most maps work) but the park looks sideways to me like this, the entrance should be at the bottom (like Disneyland maps). It is fun to look however!

And just because I like these old post cards of the "Gold Mine" here you go. Hey Knott's experts; What time period are these from and are they both the same place just different angles?

I enjoyed our little Sunday trip to Knott's, I hope you did as well.

Back to the park tomorrow.