Disneyland 1985

 

I was reminiscing a bit about when my oldest daughter was about 5 and we had a family vacation to Disneyland. The girl, her Mother, and me. We drove from Santa Rosa down to Disneyland in a Datsun 310 hatchback with one of those containers that you can put on the top of the car for all of our necessary stuff. No A/C in that car. Not back then…..And it wasn’t really expected.


It was a long drive, and at some point, my daughter began figiting about the extended car ride, She wound up in the front seat, and my (then) wife retired to the rear. My daughter finally had enough of the drive, and the heat (it was summer time in Southern California) and while on the freeway she opened the passenger door of the car to get out.


I was really busy for a short period of time.


When we finally got to the Disneyland area, we got to our hotel, which was nearby. We had 5 day passes that included a “Magic Morning Breakfast” with the characters, and an early entry. It was spectacular. I’d built this trip up in my daughter’s eyes that everything at Disneyland was both magic and real. Since I was her Dad, she believed me, and for that I will always be grateful.


The whole thing made for a fine happy recollection. The price didn’t break the bank, we had the time of our lives. This was, probably, 1985. I had been to Disneyland once before in my life for a single day when I was about 8 or 9. Went to Fort Wilderness and saw Indians in Frontier Land. Not that any of that is available now.


Later in life, after I was mostly retired, I moved to Bakersfield, California, and purchased Annual passes for my younger daughter, who lived with me, and myself. Also bought an annual parking pass.  That parking pass allowed you to park the car and ride a shuttle all the way into the entrance to the park.  That shuttle is now non-operational, so even if you pay the $45 American to park, you've got to walk about a mile to the entrance.  What a grand deal.  There was a “Southern California” discount for annual passes, and daily entrance in those days. Made for an easy thing to afford. I lived about an hour 30 driving time from Disneyland and would sometimes just go down there to have breakfast by the Rivers of America, then go home when the park started to fill up.


I won’t really get into today's prices, but suffice it to say it now costs more. In 1985 the cost for a Disneyland admission was $16.50.


I understand that times have changed. Regular folks seem to be priced out of going, Annual passes have been curtailed, Southern California discount, likewise. The “Magic Morning Breakfast” and early park admission that was always the best part of the day have also been curtailed. No room for that sort of nonsense in a modern Disneyland.  I wonder what Walt would think about what has happened to the " Happiest Place on Earth".


I’m just glad that I got to bring my kids there when it counted, and I’m more than a little sad that they can’t do the same for theirs.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Very Simple Request

In the late 1970s (that would be during the Carter administration and THAT gas crisis), I drove a Datsun 1200 for a while.   It was a good, small, simple car, and I could afford it even though I had virtually no money. As I recall, it had 12 or 13 inch wheels, no power anything, a four cylinder engine, and a four speed manual transmission.   It was light weight with no amenities.   None.   It had an AM only radio and a tinny little speaker.   No air conditioning either—can you imagine?   No AIR??   On the freeway, when larger cars would pass, the jet wash would buffet the car slightly after the larger car passed.   It was orange, and it routinely got 35 to 50 MPG.   40 to 50 on the freeway and 35 to 45 around town.   When the tires wore out, it was about as expensive as putting new tires on your bicycle.   If it needed brakes, it was about as expensive as putting brakes on your bicycle.   Did I just repeat myself? Here's w...
Read more

Karma

I see that the Marlin's Scott Cousins has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with a "lower back strain", and has been replaced on their active roster by Hanley Ramirez.  And that the Marlins are 3-18 since leaving San Francisco. Karma's a bitch.
Read more

For Love of the Game

  OK then. Baseball is finally over for my beloved Giants. Thank goodness. This leadership pair of Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler has created a baseball team and method that’s just pitiful. It’s painful to watch. And boring. Tedious. A struggle. Never knowing from day to day who is going to be on the club as players or where they might be in the batting order or what positions they might play. No stars. The way Kapler handles pitchers makes it even worse. One result of the inconstancy in player positions is that the Giants lead all of baseball in errors committed in an era of lower error rates in baseball. I can’t be the only one who sees the problem and the source of said problem. It’s no puzzle why the Giants find it impossible to sign truly first rate talent. I’m a big fan of Mike Yastrzemski and Brandon Crawford, but, other than that…….Who would want to subject themselves to that nonsense, anyhow? It’s no wonder that the ballpark is habitually empty, or nearly so. ...
Read more