These are "C" tickets from Disneyland. Now, most people who remember Disneyland tickets remember the tickets that came from a Ticket Book. These, however, were purchased at a ticket booth. Notice that each has a cost of 50 cents. You were able, for example, to walk over from the attractions in Fantasyland to a ticket booth and purchase tickets, if you were out of the "C" tickets that came with your ticket book (or, if you simply purchased an admission to Disneyland which did not include any ride tickets). I just discovered that I had these, among some tickets that were gifted to me. These tickets once belonged to a dear friend of mine, Beverly Butrum, who last worked at The Disney Gallery, when it was housed above the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance.
This book, "A Brush With Disney", is a collection of the words and artwork of famed Disney artist and legend, Herbert Dickens Ryman (AKA Herb Ryman). The book was edited by Disney Imagineers Bruce Gordon and David Mumford, and was researched by Irene Naoum.
I remember ordering this book from The Disney Gallery at Disneyland, when the primary purpose of the book was to fund a then-new organization called "Ryman Arts". The new organization was to provide free training in drawing and painting to budding artists ages 13 and up, who were in middle school or high school, who demonstrated a interest in learning to master these arts.
This book was actually a gift to those who participated in an event that was to be sponsored by The Disney Gallery in New Orleans Square that year. It was called "Breakfast With The Imagineers", and was to be held at Club 33, adjacent to The Disney Gallery. Club 33 was (and still is) an exclusive, Members-Only (and Members' guests only) restaurant and club. Although it was a private club, that event was open to anyone who wanted to pay. I don't remember the price, but it was well-worth it for a few reasons.
First, we actually got to have a GREAT breakfast at Club 33. I don't remember all of the particulars of the breakfast, except that it was good. I do remember that it was buffet style! I also remember a waiter coming and waiting on us- I believe that was for the coffee and orange juice.
During our nice meal at Club 33, I remember that Cynthia Harriss, the then-President of Disneyland, came by to greet all of us. I remember thinking how thoughtful that was of her. I had met her before at a Disney Stores event when she was the President of Disney Stores and I was a Cast Member for Disney Stores, and I remember that she told me that I should come work at Disneyland! It was a nice surprise to see her.
After the breakfast, we were broken up into 3 groups, and each group was taken to visit with a different Imagineer. The first Imagineer that I met was Sam McKim.
I had always admired Sam McKim's work, even before I knew that it was his work. I finally got to know his name when I saw him being credit for several prints of his planning drawings for Disneyland, which hung at the Disneyland Hotel at the time. I had first met Sam McKim at The Disney Gallery at an event that featured Sam and another Disney artist, legend, and Imagineer: Ken Anderson.
Seeing Sam McKim first was great- I already had met him before, and he relayed some stories to us about working for Walt Disney as we stood in front of the Rivers of America. I got to take a picture with Sam after his presentation.
Next up was Rolly Crump! We were led to Fantasyland, just beside the Alice in Wonderland Attraction, where Rolly told us about making the Tiki's for the pre-show of The Enchanted Tiki Room. Rolly was so full of energy and enthusiasm! I also took a picture with Rolly.
Finally we were led down Main Street to the last Imagineer, Marty Sklar, who was then still the President of Walt Disney Imagineering. I was in awe of Marty, for he actually ran this organization that was responsible for building Disney's parks worldwide! I got a picture with Marty, too!
(*When I can, I will find and then scan the photos of me with Sam, Rolly and Marty!)
When the day was over, we were led back to Club 33 and advised that the book, "A Brush With Disney", was not ready yet for us because they were going to include a special plate. When the book finally was delivered to me in the mail, they apologized for the lateness of the book. However, to make it up, the book was autographed by every single Imagineer at Disney! How about that?
The book that I am showing here is an extra copy of "A Brush With Disney" that I bought for actual reading- I want to preserve the signed copy!
This book is excellent! It's all about the life and experiences of Herb Ryman, whose inspirational drawings for the Disney parks look so amazingly like the finished products! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be an Imagineer, or just a great artist.
Back in 1984 when I was 19 years old, I felt like an odd duck. I loved Disney and I really wanted to work at Disney, although I was kind of frustrated that I would have to wait a few years until I graduated from college. During my Sophomore year at UCLA, while I was at Ackerman Union playing Ms. PacMan and Dig Dug in the arcade room, I ran into someone who had lived on my floor in the dorms (Kevin W.), who had been working at Disneyland for over a year. He told me about the Disneyland Annual Passport, which was only available to people who were members of the Magic Kingdom Club (available through many employers). I had a membership through my Grandmother's job, so I took my card down to Disneyland an inquired about it at Guest Relations. Well, it turned out that the Annual Passport was only $65, and included one full year of admission, plus parking. Sold! they took me into the Guest Relations office outside the gate, took my picture, and I just waited for them to make my Passport and laminate it.
On one of my first days enjoying my Passport (and skipping an Economics class), I remember thinking about how empty Disneyland seemed to me. I felt like I was in one of the best places that a person could be in, and that there was tremendous treasures there that could potentially appeal to more people, and yet, "nobody knows about it", I thought.
Well, two months and 5 days later, Disney hired Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, and they proceeded to mine the Disney gold all over the then-named Walt Disney Productions. Disneyland would soon be open every day. Prices at Disneyland would also go up in the not-too-distant future. All that unknown treasure that I was thinking about and more as I walked down Main Street would soon be discovered by Eisner and Wells, and carefully rolled out and introduced to the masses. Disneyland Annual Passports remained mostly a secret for at least 2 more years, before they started to radically advertise them, and they dropped the Magic Kingdom Club membership requirement (they eventually also dropped the Magic Kingdom Club).
This is a complementary One Day Passport for the U.S. Disney Parks, which was commonly given to Cast Members and, up til about 1990, Disney Stockholders who attended the Annual Shareholders Meetings either in Anaheim or Orlando. I went to 2 Shareholder Meetings where these were given out- one for the shareholder and one for each guest- when I first went you could have 3 guests. At the very last meeting when these were given to shareholders, they only gave it to the shareholder and one guest.
These special passports were also given to Disney Cast Members, usually twice per year, so that the Cast Members could give them out to whomever they wanted as gifts.
The great thing about this particular Passport is that they never expire - they are good until you use them once. When used, they scan the barcode, stamp the date on the reverse side, and tear one corner, so that nobody tries to use it again. This Passport says "Complementary" on the reverse, so it was not intended to be sold.
Another great thing about this Passport is that it is a Park Hopper. That is, you can go between Disney Parks all in the same day. So, if you're at Disneyland Park, you can also visit Disney's California Adventure the same day. If you're at Walt Disney World Resort, you could alternate between the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Disney Studios and Epcot.
Note from the logos on the Passport that only 4 theme park logos are represented. That is because back in the late 80's when this Passport was produced, only those 4 Disney theme parks were in operation in America - Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park did not exist, nor did Disney's California Adventure Theme Park.
Although I could give this Passport to someone to be my Guest at any of today's Disney theme parks, I hold onto this without using it because of the beauty and design of the ticket. Sometimes you want to own things just for that reason alone- for the beauty of it. It looks great, don't you agree?
I love this Disneyland Guide from Fall-Winter of 1972-73, featuring the Country Bear Jamboree. I used to keep these guides and use them to plan the order of riding the rides for my future trips to Disneyland. It lists all the attractions, restaurants, and services. I liked these books, and I have collected a few of them (they don't make them anymore- instead they have a folded informational map now).
Back in those days, I thought that Disneyland was the coolest invention ever. I still do.
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