Park Visit and New PC

I just got back from a trip to Disneyland. Absolutely gorgeous weather which also seemed to bring out the crowds too. I also picked up the latest postcard.

Summer 67

Finally!  It feels like an eternity that I've been trying to hunt down this Disneyland guide book.  They do pop-up on eBay with regularity, but most of the time they've been beyond my budget. (Most collectors I know have a "cringe point" - that price point they just can't justify.)

Since opening day, Disneyland had been cranking out annual guide books.  What makes this book special, is that it wasn't sold in the Parks, but rather, was obtained through a mailer in LOOK magazines.

A couple of things surprised me about this guide book. One was the size.  I was expecting a book about the size of a comic book, but this one comes in about the size of a TV Guide.  1967 was a marquee year for Disneyland with the reopening of Tomorrowland after a major remodel. But, the entire section on the new Tomorrowland only consists of concept drawings and models.

What we do get, is 48 pages jam-packed full of great photos. A lot of the standard photo shots are there - interiors of Pirates and small world etc. But, we also get some photos of long-gone attractions: The Adventureland Shooting Gallery, Motor Boat Cruise, Tom Sawyer Island (before it was invaded by Pirates and before the monstrous Fantasmic stage was built), and The Frito Kid to name just a few.  There's also a page of coming attractions featuring the Haunted Mansion (with a great photo of two kids looking longingly through the closed gates), and the Space Adventure that later would be known as Space Mountain and wouldn't open for another ten years.

I have very fond memories of this era of Disneyland as my first trip was in the summer of 1969.