The second photo is of the Haunted Mansion prior to it's official opening. The slide is dated 1968 and you can see the famous 999 haunts sign. This sign was reproduced full size after blueprints were found of the design. I enjoy all the incarnations of the Mansion, both the classic and the Nightmare version. However, the bride tableaux leaves me cold and I feel is unimaginative.
How can you avoid the Fried Chicken at the Plaza Inn? It is definitely the best, and even rivals the Colonel! Love the Mansion shot - that is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYou should have saved that great Haunted Mansion shot for Halloween! Unless you have something else up your sleeve... ;-)
ReplyDeleteDave's right about the Fried Chicken,YUM (it's even better than Soylent Green! The Mansion shot is perfect! Is it just my sad collection of is there very little vintage Disneyland Halloween stuff? Seems like DL only started celebrating Halloween recently? Thanks for the nice post!
ReplyDeleteThe Haunted Mansion photo is excellent, and I particularly like the open nature of the Plaza Inn photograph, before everything needed a fence around it.
ReplyDeleteVDT: Offhand I know Disneyland was closed on at least one Halloween in the olden days! It wasn't a real holiday like Veteran's Day or Washington's Birthday that would open the Park on a Monday/Tuesday offseason day.
Progressland is right about the closings on Halloween. Parents didn't consider Disneyland a place to go on that day. They mostly wanted to go trick-or-treating, and Disneyland shops did NOT give out candy for the kids. When going out after dark became dangerous, all that changed, and Disneyland and the Malls became the place to go.
ReplyDeleteLoved the Plaza Inn, and my daughters still refer to it as the "basketti house" because we always would have the spaghetti dinner when we went.
What a great shot of the mansion.
ReplyDeleteWithout all the interior brick walkways and line queue, it looks like a genuine home. Inviting - but creepy.
Just a follow-up... from my still-partial research on Disneyland hours, I know it was closed in 1955 (Monday), 1960 (Monday), 1961 (Tuesday), and 1966 (Monday). Without having done the research, in 1967, 1972, 1977, 1978, and 1983 Halloween also fell on one of the normal winter closure days of the week.
ReplyDeleteHow can you not love the broasted chicken? It's almost as good as Pioneer Chicken. I take my family to the Plaza Inn for dinner at least once every trip we make to the park.
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