I have fond memories of feeling as if Disneyland was a small town. Your visit might start the day walking down Main Street, saying hello to a few friends or employees. The Disneyland Band would be playing at Town Square. The Millers would be found eating at 'Town Square Cafe'. 'The Captain' could be found on the porch smoking his pipe. Familiar faces would be seen enjoying the Sax Quintet.
Rod Miller in 1987You would of course have to make a stop at the piano. Not only to see Rod Miller, but to see who else was in the park. If your friends weren't around the piano, it was a guarantee that Rod would know who had already arrived. At Rod's piano everyone always had a smile and a friendly greeting. It use to feel like the TV show 'Cheers', "where everybody knew your name".
At Disneyland you could find many non-Disney wonderful characters. There was Julie or George Washington as everyone from guests to cast members called her. You had the Bird Lady, she would sing like a bird. The gutsy Suzanne "Dancing Mama", she also had a wild outfit and could dance up a storm with the best of them. And who could forget Arthur!
In 1986 Disneyland was completing celebrating the parks 30 year anniversary. Each guest received a ticket at the turnstile as seen above). Most winners on the tickets received a pin from one of the lands. The coveted pin was the "Mickey Drummer". Main Street had one pin with Mickey riding a old-time bicycle. Fantasyland, Bear Country and Adventurland also had one pin. Tomorrowland had two pins, both with Donald floating through space. Rumor has it there was a point on the space ship of the first pin. The second pin came out with a round space ship so children would not poke their eye. Frontierland also had two pins in the shape of a Sheriff star. The first pin had the stars pointed, so they became round. Of course, these 1st pins became very valuable. New Orleans had three pins, all with no points. The 1st pin was purple with Brer Fox playing the sax. When the park changed to the new design the "purple New Orleans" became very collectible. They were hardly given out to begin with. The new design with Mickey blowing the trumpet had no color lettering of New Orleans, it was a mistake. Later the 3rd pin came out with the same design with Red lettering of New Orleans. The first two very desirable, but everyone still wanted the "purple New Orleans", the most. About 6 months after the giveaway was over, I was walking through the Emporium. Sitting on one of the counters was a jar of "purple New Orleans" pins. The park found some sitting in the back.
The present up-to-date passes were preceded by a laminated photo pass. At this time there was only one passport. The photo was on the front, with the name, valid date and bar code on the back. The original passes did not have bar code. The date on the pass was checked by a cast member.
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The photographs on this page and on my other pages I have taken over the years. And of course, I am not affiliated with Disney in any way.