Airlines and the Magic Kingdom

Today’s post it a tribute to the Airline Industry. We just lost a couple more airlines last week, Aloha and ATA both gone, shut down virtually overnight. Let’s take a look back to some brighter times.

It’s May 6, 1972 and Eastern Airlines is the Official Airline of Walt Disney World. Hand written tickets on the great messy red carbon paper, what a way to fly! Eastern was once a big player in the airline industry, they ceased operation in 1991. Eastern and Disney parted ways in 1989.




Who remembers flying with all this stuff? "Ticketless Boarding", never heard of it in 1972!







1983 and Eastern is the “Official Airline” of EPCOT too!





Don’t forget Disneyland!!!! United Air Lines of course, whew, at least they are still around! Check back Sunday for the full post of the neat travel guide. You have until then to decide if you want to rent a Pinto or a Torino. (the Torino is $10 more)





Now as we veer off the Disney sky’s altogether, lets take a trip back a little further into the airline industry. From June 1959 an American Airlines Ticket packet. “First with jets across the U.S.A” Just six months into domestic “jet” travel, these are a neat look back at a simpler time.





“707 Jet Flag Ship” The plane that started a revolution in air travel. A 707 was the first plane I ever flew in, and it will always represent the “Jet Age” to me.







Now we have really traveled back into time. “New York Central Airlines” This odd ticket is not dated, but there is a reference to the safety record of 1929! Note: “No stunt Flying allowed” forget it, now I don’t want to go…





On behalf of Aloha, ATA, Eastern, United, American and New York Central Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to see you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day.

Knott's Berry Farm - The "B" Ticket Part 3

If you missed part 2 of this series, you can find it here (link).

Today, part 3 will take us from 1979 to 1981. From some point after June 1981 Knott’s went to a “Password” unlimited ride system. I don’t know the exact date of this switch, if anyone has information please pass it on. (Same thing with Disneyland. Although I can pin-point that date in 1982 a little closer – future post alert).

From April 1979 this Child “B” ticket actually has no changes from the May 1978 Adult “B” ticket in part 2, but this “orange” Globe Paper is so vivid I just had to post it.






March 1980 has a new attraction on in its Roaring 20’s section; “Wacky Soap Box Racer (Summer 1980)”. Missing and not on any other ticket: Independence Hall and Henry’s Auto Livery. Independence Hall is still there; maybe it went to free admission at this point? “Henry’s Auto Livery” is this when it was removed?








On the Knott’s “A” ticket post (link) I was not very kind to the “Wacky Racer” or it’s first incarnation the “Motor Cycle Chase”. Well, after doing a little more research, maybe I was wrong. I never rode the “Wacky” version, but according to Rollercoaster Database, the “Motorcycle” version went 40 mph! The “Wacky” version was slowed to 30 mph. Both much faster than I thought. Here are some Wacky guests having a great race!





This attraction had an odd track system and cycles or racers. It’s kind of a “monorail” with the smaller lower rail keeping the whole thing upright. Check out more photos on the Rollercoaster Database website (link).





I rode Motorcycle Chase when it was brand new. I swear it seemed slow and kind of boring. Maybe I was traumatized because I had just rode the “Parachute Sky Jump” and almost fainted, twice!





Fiesta Village gets a new attraction on this December 1980 "B" ticket; The “Dragon Swing”. This ride is still at Knott’s today, or at least it’s on Knott's website (link).







The Dragon Swing in full swing!





December 1980 is also when Knott’s started to put the date codes on the tickets themselves, something Disneyland never did. Here is the back of the December 1980 “B” ticket above, the bottom left corner has “8012”. They started this a little late in the ticket game don’t you think?







Last of the line, this March 1981 Child “B” ticket has only one attraction change from December 1980. The Whirlwind is being renamed “Greased Lightning – Open Summer ‘81". Same ride, new theme.








March 1981's other change is when Knott’s downsized the tickets, Disneyland did this in 1974. Shown for size comparison: Top – March 1981 / Bottom – April 1979.







And last for today, a nice “Welcome” brochure. It’s not dated, but I would put it around 1981.












Tomorrow: Where is this slogan from: “'Love to fly and it shows”

More Knott’s Berry Farm Maps & Sunday Bonus

If you missed the Knott’s Berry Farm Map Comparison Post from earlier in the week, you can see it here (link). Today's post is technically part two.

Today we have 5 great map scans that were donated to the blog. This is so exciting to be pulling this information together from various sources. This is at the core of why I wanted to start this blog.

Christopher Merritt sent me the first three scans on today’s post. Christopher has a new Knott’s book coming out soon that I can’t wait to read!

A 1971 large size souvenir "fun" map by Paul Butler.

Another “fun” map, this one is from 1979 and by Bob Bates. I really like the art work on this one, the boarder is so "fun" to look at.





“For extra fun, here's a map of the long lost Jungle Island drawn by Robin Hall just prior to its demolition.” WOW, now that's rare! Thanks Christopher!





Chris Jepsen over at “O.C. Historical Roundup” (link) donated these next two rare scans from the Orange County Archive (link) a place I plan to visit soon! Thanks for the maps Chris!

From Chris “I think the attached 1953 map may not have actually been released. Note that edits are faintly visible on the street names. (They got Grand and Hwy 39 mixed up.)” – Full Map Scan (link)






Halloween 1976. Did you know “Knott’s Halloween Haunt” started in 1973? I sure didn’t. Check out the “history” tab on this neat website: http://www.ultimatehaunt.com/. - Full Map Scan (link)





Did you notice the Knott’s Bicentennial Logo on the 1976 map above? It’s also featured on the Independence Hall page of the 1976 Souvenir Guide book at the end of this post. This logo looks great, it’s official and classy.





Now as promised on Monday’s Knott’s “B” ticket post (link) today's Sunday Bonus is the entire “Knott’s Souvenir Edition” guide book. TRUST ME, this has got to be the finest guide/magazine that Knott’s ever put together. It’s got tons of original photo’s that are outstanding, be sure to checkout the food sections near the end, yummy....

The text is an easy ready and very informative. IMHO, this guide captures Knott’s at its finest hour. It still had all the great original charm and attractions, plus so many new and exiting things; this was a fun time to be at Knott’s. 36 all color pages cover to cover, this full "magazine size" guide makes for a big PDF file, well worth the download I guarantee it!

Knott’s Souvenir Edition Guide Book 1976 (93mb)

What? You haven’t had enough Knott’s yet???? Tomorrow: Knott's Berry Farm - The "B" Ticket Part 3.

Find Out What's Gotten Into The New Matterhorn

“Find out what’s gotten into the New Matterhorn” It really was a great upgrade; I haven’t heard too many people that beg for the “old” version to be put back.

Gate Flyer from September 3-9, 1978.






Main Street Electrical Parade, Count Basie, The New Mousketeers, “Magnificent Music ‘N’ Motion Machine” (see back page below for details of this disco dream) and so much more entertainment! What was “Kids of the Kingdom” all about?





Facts & Features:





“A summertime show you’ll never forget” Anyone remember?





Here is your guide complete guide in PDF format for your visit to 1978. Enjoy.

Disneyland Guide Book Fall/Winter 1978-79 (21mb)






Tomorrow is Knott’s Bonus Sunday!

What's gotten into the Matterhorn at Disneyland?

Mickey sure looks apologetic on this 1978 “Admit One” ticket. He’s got his sad face on and his hands are out; even his tail is tucked behind his shoe… Expiring December 15, 1978, this ticket was to make up for the Matterhorn being closed for a major refurbishment and update.

From MousePlanet.com: “The publicity for the revised Matterhorn centered around "something has gotten into the Matterhorn." The television commercial started with a fog-shrouded Matterhorn, and then it showed different glimpses of the new icy blue cave areas inside. "What's gotten into the Matterhorn at Disneyland? Glistening crystal ice caverns, howling winter storms… and something else." At this point you saw the two glowing eyes of the abominable snowman and heard his echoing growl. Then the commercial ended with a view of the Matterhorn through the fog again and the words, "The New Matterhorn…It could only happen at Disneyland.” Wouldn't it be cool to see this commercial?

It looks like the “New” Matterhorn took longer than expected. I’ve tried before to look into why there was a delay but I couldn’t find anything and I still can’t. I think the reason I can’t find anything on the web was explained very eloquently in a post at “Disneyland Nomenclature” (link). It’s all about “Folksonomies” (also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging). Apparently no one has tagged this subject.

To me there is a subtle irony with this ticket. Disneyland gave you this ticket because you (the guest) must have been expecting the New Matterhorn to be open (all those ads!). This ticket would “Admit One” to Disneyland. I guess the intent was that the Matterhorn would be open at a later date. But this ticket only gets you thru the front gate in 1978, you will still have to purchase an “E” ticket for the "New" Matterhorn!






The cover from the Fall/Winter 1978-79 guide book. The guide is effective September 10, 1978, The “New” Matterhorn must have been open for business by then. Check back this weekend for the entire guide book.





And last, I did make it to the Park today. It was a little cloudy but no rain and plenty of sunshine too. I found this neat little spot over by the lagoon, “Fantasyland” Autopia and the Matterhorn. I call this area “Three Fences” Check out the different styles! The left section is OLD and is only about 15 feet long, it's welded to a newer (late 90's?) black section. The green fence on the right looks 2007.

Come back this weekend; we'll have the Guide book above and more Knott's Maps!! And as promised on Monday's post (link) The Complete 1975/76 Knott's Souvenir Guide - this book is incredible!!

Disneyland Parking Tickets - Part 2

Before taking a second look at old Disneyland Parking Tickets, maybe check out the first parking ticket post here (link).

This parking ticket is interesting. "Good Only Thru Jan. 2, 1966" I wonder what the starting date was? "Delco-Remy" General Motors electrical component division, maybe this was part of the "Magic Kingdom Club" program? (Side note: There is a big multi-post coming soon on the "Club") Punched "void", I don't think it was voided because it was used, perhaps it's one of those "behind the scenes" tickets that was saved for some reason?






From 1986, this looks like a "free parking ticket". "Complimentary Parking Receipt" - I guess technically this is not the "free ticket" as the "free ticket" must have been exchanged for this ticket.





This is the ticket in 1985 that Disneyland would exchange for $2 out of your wallet or purse. Don't forget to mark you parking location...





"The Lion King - Parking Lots" That's the sequel that went straight to DVD!





This is that period when the old lot was closed, but the new parking structure wasn't finished yet. I remember seeing the construction walls for up around the "old" parking lot and thinking "WOW, this must be the new Westcot I've heard about" NOT!!!





I just got news I have to work in Orange County this morning. Hmmmmm, if the skies are clear I'm going to the park for lunch! Thank goodness my AP covers PARKING!

Knott’s Berry Farm Map Comparison Post

This post is BIG and has many links to high resolution scans. Eleven Knott’s Berry Farm maps from 1949 to 2005, there are some gaps in time; any and all contributions of the missing years (or the missing decade of the 90’s) will be gladly accepted.

Blogspot seems to compress or shrink the scans that are uploaded. Most of these maps were scanned at 300 or 400 DPI. The original maps are at least 8” by 12” with some twice that size or more, the true scanned file sizes are around 4 to 8mb each. Blogspot does an OK job, but I think something gets lost in the conversion.

Posted with each map is a link to the full high resolution file - should you want to examine them in super high clarity. Most of these maps have a “back side” that I scanned at high resolution too. Those links are also listed with each map.

A world of thanks to two very helps folks. Richard over at "Viewliner Ltd." (link) was gracious enough to donate his talents to stitch together the 1950 and 1953 maps - Wow these are seamless! The 1949 and 1979 map pictures are courtesy of Jay over at "The Knott’s Berry Farm Museum Blog" – check out his incredible Knott’s collection (link). Thanks Richard and Jay!

All right, let’s get started. For a little frame of reference, here is the only aerial photo of “old” Knott’s that I could find. It’s oriented sideways compared to all the maps, but you get a good idea of how rural the place was. “Year unknown” I would guess early 1950’s. Maybe you can date it based on some of the maps in this post.

For these maps I’ll be quiet and just tell you the year and give you the links.

1949: Full Map Scan (link)

1950: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1955?: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1962: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1966: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1970: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1973: Full Map Scan (link) - back side A (link)and back side B (link)






1977: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1979: Full Map Scan (link)






1986: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link) Thanks to Chris Jepsen for the correct year...






2005: Full Map Scan (link)




WOW! If you have spare time, read the backs of some of the older maps - Who knew you could watch wool socks being made on a "very old British Rib Sock machine, it's quite a treat and the socks are lovely too"...

I hope you enjoyed this Knott's Map post, the farm has changed so much it's barely recognizable today. Disneyland almost seems untouched compared to Knott's. Maybe the It's a Small World change doesn't seem so evil after all when you contrast it to the wholesale obliteration that has occurred at Knott's over the decades....

One Ticket for April 1

Not much of a post today, in fact, all you get is this lonely "B" ticket.....

On the glorious "Castle & Star" paper, this would make it late 1966 or early 1967.

I was going to do a funny "April fools day" post, but frankly I am just not that creative..... If you want to see more "B" tickets, check out my prior post here (link)





Tune in tomorrow for the Knott's High Resolution Map Blowout! 1949 to 2005 WOW - I hope you have a fast Internet connection, there are about 100 MB of maps that will load on tomorrows post, please be patient...