America Sings - 1974

"American Sings" one of my personal Disneyland favorites. As a kid I thought the building was built for America Sings, I guess I never noticed the Old Carrousel of Progress. This attraction was so fun and so creative, boy do I miss it.

I am unable to get an exact opening date for America Sings, only "2 weeks before July 8th, 1974" (according to Wikipedia). This Summer Press Party ticket would support that date. Does anyone know that actual opening date of America Sings? I wonder if any collectors have the Special Souvenir Gift memento?

"America Sings" first appearance on the Guide book, this one is from the Summer of 1974.

I have a bunch of these "Mini posters" These are the like "Attraction Posters" for us ticket collectors, only a LOT cheaper! These were used at the credit unions and other local unions to advertise thier special "Family Party" night at Disneyland. I really love the art work on these.

Here is a video of the complete show. It’s from the mid 1980’s, it’s dark and grainy, but the sound is good. If you have ever seen the attraction, it will bring back memories. If you have never seen it, sorry about this crummy video, the attraction was way better than this looks! Notice the people really get into the show, it was hard not too.

There was a complete sound track available on LP (not sure about CD?) of the audio portion of America Sings. In fact, I just checked and there is one on Ebay right now (Link), I want it, looks like this post might cost me...

I know this attraction was getting old by 1988, but I wish it was still there. The patriotic spirit of this show could sure be used now. I like the way the building used to be a giant stylized American flag, it just made you feel good to look at it as it turned slowly all day long...

One Price Buys the Mountain - Early 1970's

Here’s a great little Tri-fold brochure from Magic Mountain, before it was “Six Flags” and before it was roller coaster-land.

No date on this, but judging by the $5 price for an adult I would place it around 1973/74. It's after the opening day of May 29th, 1971 (Inaugural Day Guest Preview link) and before my 1975 post from last month (link) where the price was $5.95.

The characters used on this brochure are a little different than the usual “Trolls and Wizard” seen on most of the paper items and souvenirs of the 1970’s. These guys don’t look like Bloop, Bleep or Blop?

Do you think they are trying to stress “Family Fun”? Mom, Dads, Sisters, Brothers, Grandpas, Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, 3rd cousins twice removed!

This map shows its age, folks around here will notice the 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway) is missing.

I think I’ll use my BankAmericard!

I hope you enjoyed our little detour to the Mountain today, tomorrow it's back to THE park.

Spring 1976 Disneyland Guide Book - Complete

For your leisurely weekend viewing pleasure, today we present a Spring 1976 Complete Disneyland Guide Book!

First However, take this 11 Adventure book with you, be sure to make wise choices, over forty attractions and you only get eleven.

Ok, some of you may notice this is a June 1976 ticket book with a 50 cent higher price than is listed in the Spring 1976 Guide. Oh well, I didn't have a complete April 1976 ticket book and I wanted to be sure you had a full book of tickets for your adventure today.

This person obviously had more than 11 tickets, plus the book is full still??? I bet they had a passport or another ticket book.

This little guide book came to me (via EBay) in mint condition. It looks like it was printed yesterday. The paper is bright white and all the print is shinny. These usually start to get yellow after a few decades, but someone must have kept this one sealed up tight.

WOW, that was fun!!!!

I have finally started to get my website together. It's not even close to ready yet, in fact all I have done is register the name (http://www.vintagedisneylandtickets.com/) and pay for a years worth of hosting. I'll post on my blog when there is actually something on my website, it's just blank for now...

I will be working on it in the next couple months. In addition to putting up all my tickets, I am going to create a section just for Guide Books, and I will scan all my guide books in there entirety. I don't think anyone has done that yet? I will post a list of all the Guides I have soon, I am missing some. I will be taking any and all scan contributions of Guides and Tickets, thanks for viewing my blog!

Main Gate Complimentary Tickets

Happy Friday! Well I spent a couple of hours last night hooking up and playing with my new scanner. It is of course totally different that my other one, so I am learning again. Therefore, Today's post is simple but sweet.

Three Main Gate Admission tickets for your viewing pleasure. These are all "Complimentary" and two of them are "Special".... (I think they are all special)

First up is an oldie, exact date unknown, early 60's would be my guess... Too bad someone folded it!

Next up, same design but now it's "Special", date unknown, my guess - 1970. The train station image is similar to what was found on the admission tickets from the booklets at this time.

And last up, from June 14 1973 (the date is stamped on the back) New style, I like it, but I like the older ones better....

And of course, the back side of the tickets!!!! Kind of neat how the message remained identical over the years.... HEY, these are still valid today! No expiration date that I can see!

Tomorrow I will be putting my new scanner to the test. I have MINT Spring 1976 Guide book I will scan in its entirety and post for your weekend reading!

Loose ends to tie up!

Since I was not able to get a replacement scanner yet, today's post will consist of a little desk cleaning.

First up, This poor torn ticket has been begging me to post it, it just keeps looking at me and wont let me file it away. So, from 1965 (most likely May) this "E" Ticket is I believe from part of the Starlite Nights series. The ticket book included two admission tickets and I think 10 tickets (2 each, A thru E). These use the same blue ink as the Date Nite Series (link). Mr. Lincoln opens July 1965! How about a ride on the Flying Saucers? You better, they wont be there much longer.

The back is not the same as the generic "E" ticket. This ticket is not good during all regular hours. In fact, it's only good after 5:00pm and it self destructs after the summer season.




I have no idea where on the net I got this picture, but I think this is the type of booklet the "E" Ticket above came from. This book is a 6:00pm book however!

And for all my Castle Paper fans, here it, yes ladies and gentlemen, the "Back side of Castle Paper".....

Last up today, this little item keeps asking for post time too. It's a decal from the late 60's / early 70's? To me, Mickey looks cool here and you gotta love the stylized "D".

Tomorrow, I face the return desk at Fry's and hope to have new scans to post....

"Stub" Style Tickets - Part 2 Ride Tickets

Today lets take another look at the "stub" style of Vintage Disneyland Tickets. My first post regarding these tickets took a close look at how these were used and a close up of my Skyway to Fantastyland Ticket. Since my collection is lacking with these type of tickets Major Pepperidge over to http://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/ was kind enough to scan and share these from his personal collection, Thank You Major!

Check these out, Major has some NICE samples here. All are extremely rare. Any of these tickets that are not "torn in half" are valuable just because they were never used. Think about it, these were only purchased inside the park and with the express intent to use them right away. Unlike leftover "A" tickets in a used ticket book, it would be rare to bring these home, most I have seen are just the 1/2 you get to keep after you use it.




Some of these have very low serial numbers. They may have "reset" the numbers for each roll of tickets or each ticket booth, but still, low serial number just do IT for me....

Here is a close up of Major's Monorail stub ticket. Interestingly, the "260" on the bottom back of the ticket does not mean February 1960. I have seen the "260" on lots of these tickets and Disneyland Parking tickets, not sure what it means, but it's not a date code. What do you think the "H1" was for?

Here is a scan of one of my little stub tickets, this one is similar to Major's Monorail ticket above with the exception of the left side, it's an "Exchange Ticket". What does that mean? Exchange for what? And who's idea was it to use red ink on red paper!!!!! Oh and what does "H2" mean?

My new scanner is still DOA, it just blinks and clicks, I have to return it to Fry's today, wish me luck!

See you on tomorrows post!

Guided Tour - Part 1 1958

Today's post is short and late because my new scanner decided to stop scanning! So we're back to the old scanner, with is reliable, but the scans are not as vivid as the new scanner (when it worked!)

From 1958 we have a portion of the ticket that was used for the Disneyland Guided Tour. These tickets were long and had many sections; Main Gate, Guided Tour, and 1 or 2 of these tickets so you could have some fun after the tour. (I have a full one of these from the 1970's - I'll post it when the scanner gets fixed/replaced).

Ah; Wavy Green Globe Safety Paper (insert Homer Simpson Drool sound here)

These little tags are fun! You tie this to one of the buttons on your shirt to identify yourself and where you are from. Do they still do this? That's kind of fun to see where everyone else on the tour is from. I have a few more of these little tags, they are different colors and have names and towns on them, but this one came with the ticket above.

I have never taken the Guided Tour at Disneyland, some Disneyland fan I am huh? I always figured I could manage those 3 or 4 hours better myself. Now they have 23 different Guided tours so I couldn't even decide which one to take!

Have you heard about the new "ultimate" tour where you go INTO Walt's apartment? I am not even sure what to make of that, you? It seems altogether wrong, but intriguing at the same time.

The "A" Ticket - Part 1 the 1950's - UPDATE # 3

Well, well, well.... If you've been following my posts regarding the sale of these "first style" of tickets books sold at Disneyland, you might find this fascinating. I predicted these late 1955 ticket books would sell for over $250. I predicted this price based on the fact that the seller just bought them on eBay a few months back for around $350 (actually that auction came with a couple other early 1956 tickets too).

This auction closed last night for $1,125.00!!! That's right, One thousand Two Hundred twenty Five dollars! See for yourself: (EBay Link)

I've seen some high prices for Vintage Disneyland Tickets before, $300+ for super rare. But this seems way out of line. Eight bidders placed 26 bids to bring this auction to stratospheric levels.

I know you slide collectors have paid well over $200 for some classic sets (Hey, I watch that stuff on EBay too!) But this has to "take the cake" for Disneyland stuff that Walt didn't actually sign himself!

A good blogger buddy of mine sent me a scan of a Complete 1955 Ticket Book that his has (I will post it if he says its OK or maybe he will post it on his blog). A suggestion for my buddy; put that ticket book in a safe deposit box and insure it!

While we are on the subject of EBay, does anyone know if this is a legitimate Disneyland Press ticket?

This is currently listed on EBay (180210599334) and is at $20.00. This ticket looks pretty simple and easy to duplicate. Has anyone every seen these before?

Thanks for indulging my EBay hobby (lets not call it an "obsession" even though it is!). If this EBay stuff bores you, just remember, that's where 90% of my collection came from.

Tomorrow we'll get back to some stuff that is actually IN my collection.

Knott's Nickelodeon Music Souvenir Recordings

Here's an odd little Knott's Berry Farm Souvenir Record. I can assume there was a series of these as this one is "No. 402 - Tunes Unknown" Maybe the other tunes in the series were known! This item is not dated, if I had to guess I would say late 50's/early 60's, does anyone know when these where sold?

The back of the record sleeve has a picture of the "Band Piano". I seem to have a vague memory of there being a player piano at Knotts' around 1969 or 1970 (it's about as vague of a memory as the Chicken that played a song on a tiny piano for 25 cents!) Does anyone know where at Knott's this machine was located (the music hall?) and when was it there or was it even there at all?

Here is the record itself. Yes it's on that famous label "Frank Kappler". I love 45's, I have about 600 of them!!!

I know you are just dying to hear what this gem sounds like, so here is the first half of the record. Fortunately I have an old needle for just such occasions. I couldn't figure out how to post "sound"only so you can amuse yourself and watch the record spin around as you listen.

That was funky indeed. I like little odd collectibles like this, I hope you enjoyed it as well.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin - World Premiere Invitation

Fourteen years ago today - January 26th, 1994 - One year (and 2 days) after Mickey's Toontown opened, the new Land finally got an "E" Ticket attraction. OK, a "D" Ticket, maybe a "C". But at least it was an attraction! This Invitation is HUGE, just like Toontown's opening ticket, only one inch shorter. The one time I rode this attraction I thought it was fun, it seemed like a mix between Mr. Toads Wild Ride and the Tea Cups!




This is the part the didn't fit in my scanner. It not a tear-off, it's just kinda there.

The back is interesting. Apparently you had to RSVP for this grand event. Your special visit included; "A whirlwind celebration that gets hopping in the morning" I wonder what that consisted of? AND "A Sneak peak at What's Upcoming at Disneyland Park" Hmmmm, what did people get to see there? "You wont believe what our Imagineers are creating" Anyone know what was on display in this "private preview"?

Looking at the fine print it appears that if you lived out-of-town you got complimentary air fare and hotel accommodations! I wonder exactly how you got invited to this thing anyway?

Did Disney really think Roger Rabbit was going to be the next Mickey Mouse? The movie was good, but, something about it seemed uninspired to me. I think that uninspired feeling translated right into Toontown and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Alright, I'll take my amature movie critic hat off now.