Autopia Employees 1974

Three photographs of employees working the Autopia Ride in 1974. I distinctly remember these blue and yellow outfits as the Autopia outfits. There was also matching jackets that were cut like gas station attendent jackets. This was a time when individual rides had themed costumes for the employees. In the 1990s, in order to cut costs, many lands went to a generic costume. The generic costumes were awful as the specific theming of costumes helped to create a feeling of reality amongst the fantasy. Also most of the unique badges and patches for the costumes were done away with. The Submarine Voyage felt like a real voyage due to the cast members appearing to be part of a distinct Navy with its own insignia and clothing. The Jungle Cruise skippers were a unique band with their safari style hats, and the Matterhorn cast members appeared Germanic in their Lederhosen. The Autopia crew appeared to be part of a race car pit team. Thankfully, attraction specific costuming is making a small comeback as the last time I was at Disneyland the Enchanted Tiki Room cast members now wear shirts with drawings of the tiki gods on them including a nice rendition of Pele.

Oh- check out the back end of the green Monorail and the nice signage in the second photograph. I also like the blue autopia car as it looks like the car body in my collection.