Who Was The First
Lee General To Go To
Disneyland?
Marty Phillips, Class of '66 - Steve and I grew up in Santa Monica, California about 20 miles from Disneyland. The park opened to the public on Monday, July 18th in 1955. I remember that our family went to Disneyland the weekend after it opened to celebrate my 8th birthday.Our family went there numerous times before moving to Huntsville in 1962.
A former LHS classmate, Judy Essen, grew up less than a mile from the Park. She attended Lee from 63-65. Her family moved back to California before she graduated.
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Walt Thomas, Class of '64 if I'd stayed in HSV - Having spent my entire life of 16 years living in Huntsville, it was certainly a thrill (and shock) when my family moved to Southern California during the summer of 1962. I can pinpoint the exact date of my 1st visit to Disneyland as 5 August, 1962. The headlines that morning were of the death of Marylin Monroe.
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Charlie Hancock, Class of '66 - I didn't get there until summer of '68 when I was working at Balboa Hospital in Sandy Eggo. I took a quick bus up, and 4 hrs later headed back to Sandy Eggo. I saw it again in 1988 with my family. They were as let down as I had been. We saw the Disney stuff at Orlando in '92. I guess we're all just not impressed. I'm too old for the cool rides. They'd be no fun now. I don't like going upside down at all after turning 40.
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Polly Gurley Redd, Class of '66 - I know that my family visited Disneyland in the summer of 1962 when we also attended the Seattle World’s Fair. We flew to Seattle and toured that wonderful “space age” place then drove all the way down the coast to go to Disneyland as part of the family vacation. I remember being terrified on the Matterhorn roller coaster, and that doesn’t hold a candle now to the current ones. My father in his rep business had several California companies, and we may have even gone before then as well, but I remember this year particularly. The monorail was also such a new idea for travel. You really made me think this time.
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Cherri Polly Massey, Class of '66 - My parents took us to Disneyland when, I believe, it first opened the summer of 1955 when I was 7 years old. My dad was in the Marine Corp reserves and went to Camp Pendleton near San Diego during the summer for his required training. He was a high school teacher in San Antonio, so he had the summer off. Mother took the 3 of us kids on our first train trip to get there.
The first thing to catch our attention was the large flower display in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head at the front gate. We were appropriately impressed. Once we got inside, we had to decide which rides we would go on. Even though the prices seem cheap today, it was a lot of money for a school teacher's family back then. You would buy A, B, C, and D tickets with the D rides being the most expensive. Many of the rides were still in construction. I particularly remember that the pirate ship was not ready.
The only ride that I really enjoyed was the "Teacups". The "Trip to the moon" scared the heck out of me. And there was no way you were getting me on the flying "Dumbos"! Of course, my younger brother and sister would ride anything. I still avoid rides that go high in the air or anything resembling a roller coaster. I'm more of a bumper car girl.
My parents bought their first movie camera for this trip and I remember some pretty cute movies of Disneyland. I think that my stepmother probably has that footage somewhere in a closet that won't be cleaned out until she passes on. Hopefully, it will be retrieved so that we can relive an experience that most kids have never had.
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Joy Rubins Morris, Class of '64 - Our family visited Disneyland in 1957. We were living in Pacoima, California, at time and I went once with my parents and once as a member of the Girl Scouts. As a matter of fact, I got separated (yes I know if it could happen to anyone it would be me) from my troup and wandered around the park for sometime trying to find anyone I recognized. At that time, it did not occur to me (probaby too embarrassed to admit that a girl scout got lost) to ask for help. Any way, when it was time to board the bus home I could not be found. They called my parents (who were two hours away) and had them scared to death. Finally another scout master found me and brought me to my troup. The ride home on the bus was a long, embarrasing one. I was probably the only girl scout in the history of that park to hold that distinctionr? We went back to Disneyland the summer of 1960 and again in 1966 on vacation to visit relatives in the Long Beach.area I have not been back to California since that time.
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Shirley Jones Moore, Class of '66 - I visited Disneyland in August of 1965, the summer before my senior year. We saw the Hall of Presidents which was a new exhibit, ate pancakes at the Aunt Jemima House, and rode all the scary rides. I had never been that far away from Alabama and did not know it would get that cold in California. My cousin had already graduated from school and he took we around, without parents. He and his friends would all say, "Talk for us, Shirley." One of his friends would not come to meet us because he thought we would be like the Beverly Hillbilly's. When he finally saw us for the first time he said we looked like normal people. He really thought we would be wearing ropes for belts, carry guns and knives, and eat possum. What a laugh we all had over that.
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