I guess I should start off by saying that this whole “Disney”-Magazine-is-ceasing-publication thing still has me rather depressed.
By that I mean: Like many Disney dweebs out there, I grew up reading the “Disney News.” I’d eagerly await each new edition, then read the thing cover to cover once it arrived. Trying to learn everything I could about upcoming Disney films and/or what the Imagineers had planned for the theme parks.
There was one issue — I believe it was from the Summer of 1970 — that I found particularly fascinating. For it had this great article about all the people who worked on third shift at Disneyland. “The Charge of the Flashlight Brigade,” is what (I think) that story was called.
Anyway … That “Disney News” feature really intrigued me. It’s where I got my first real hint that there was this fascinating world behind-the-scenes at the Anaheim theme park. Where people toiled tirelessly through the night to make sure the “Happiest Place on Earth” would once again be ready to entertain guests when morning arrived.
As the years went by, I found myself pulling out that particular issue of “Disney News” over & over again. Re-reading that “Charge of the Flashlight Brigade” article and thinking: Wouldn’t be cool if I could actually get the chance to do that someday? Stay in Disneyland after it had closed for the night, then follow the third shift workers around as they got the theme park ready for the next day’s business.
Little did I realize that — nearly 20 years later — that I’d actually get my wish.
To this day, I don’t know why Disneyland publicist John McClintock ever agreed to do this. Maybe John just thought this would be the only way that he could stop this very young & extremely obnoxious reporter from New England from continually harassing him by phone. But — when McClintock learned that I’d be back out in Southern California during the Summer of 1989 — he said the magic words:
“Meet me at Harbor House at 1 a.m. on such-and-such-a-night. I’ll then walk you around the park, let you see for yourself what really happens at Disneyland during third shift.”
For a hardcore Disney dweeb like myself, this was better than if someone offered me the keys to Fort Knox. The very idea that I’d finally get the chance to live out my “Disney News” fantasy. That I’d actually get to follow the “Flashlight Brigade” as they made their way through the theme park at night, as they got Disneyland ready for the next day’s business.
And — of course — I brought my Kodak Instantamatic along with me. And took dozens of photos that night … Only to have these pictures suddenly disappear sometime during the mid-1990s.
I thought these one-of-a-kind images had been lost forever. Until just last month, when I was out in Fallbrook, CA. helping my former father-in-law unpack a storage unit. When a cardboard box came tumbling off the top of a very tall pile … And what should come slipping out of that box but a handful of images from that very memorable night I spent wandering around Disneyland after dark.
So my apologies if this all seems somewhat random. But it’s been nearly 16 years since my after-hours tour. And things seem now somewhat blurry.
But — as I recall — our tour actually started deep inside the park. When John and I followed one of Disneyland’s lead electricians down into the bowels of Tomorrowland, where he showed us the various circuit breakers & power couplings that kept “Space Mountain” & “Star Tours” up & running.
Photo by Jim Hill
Then it was off to Main Street U.S.A. Where one of the park’s bakers prepared dozens of pasteries. Which would eventually be served to guests once they arrived at the theme park in the morning.
Photo by Jim Hill
Then it was out to the park’s entrance area. Where Disneyland’s dedicated janitorial squad steam-cleaned every inch of the pavement. Making sure that the place would once again be spotless before the next guest arrived.
Photo by Jim Hill
Meanwhile, out in front of the train station, gardeners labored in the dark. Making sure that Mickey’s smiling face would be full of fresh new flowers by the time the sun came up.
Photo by Jim Hill
But perhaps the high point (and I mean that in a figurative as well as a literal sense) came when John led me back to the Matterhorn. Where we first watched the attraction’s maintenance team run systematic safety checks on each & every one of the bobsleds.
Photo by Jim Hill
Then McClintock & I entered the mountain itself. And — after boarding an elevator (As well as making a brief stop at the infamous half basketball court) — we were a hundred feet up in the sky. Wandering around behind a member of the Matterhorn’s maintenance crew as he slowly made his way along the track. Making sure that this Fantasyland attraction’s electrical system was A-OK.
Photo by Jim Hill
As well as using a handmirror & a flashlight to make sure that there were no cracks anywhere in the Matterhorn’s pressurized track.
Photo by Jim Hill
Perhaps the oddest moment of the night came after we made our way slowly along the still-wet & slippery track and encountered … The Yeti!
Photo by Jim Hill
For years, I’d seen this AA figure from a distance, whizzing by 30 miles an hour. So it seemed somewhat strange to be standing just five feet away from the robotic beast. His roar silenced.
Unfortunately, the photo that John took of me standing right next to the Yeti has yet to surface. Plus so many of the other great pictures I took that night. Like the guy who spent his entire night on King Arthur’s Carousel. His broadly smiling face hidden behind a gas mask. Which this Disneyland employee was forced to wear in order to keep from breathing toxic fumes.
“What toxic fumes?,” You ask. Well, the fumes that come from having to work with Brasso for six solid hours. As you polish the brass pole that sits atop every one of the 72 horses that spin around the Fantasyland carousel.
As the darkness all too quickly faded away, John & I watched as gardeners added some new flowers to decorative planters over by Videopolis.
Photo by Jim Hill
We also stood by as a fleet of modern trucks zoomed up & down turn-of-the-century Main Street U.S.A. As box after box of new t-shirts, hats & plush were delivered to restock the Emporium’s shelves.
And then — all too soon — it was dawn. Time for McClintock and I to go home so that Disneyland could finally get ready to greet the first guest of the day.
As you can tell by this overly-moist prose, that night made a profound impression on me. I got my first real taste of what it was like to actually go behind-the-scenes at the Magic Kingdom … And — to be honest — that’s what I think inspired me to write all of these cockamamey stories for the Web about behind-the-scenes stuff that happens at Disney. So that I can give you all a taste of what it was like for me. Back then on that all-too-short night in 1989. When I stood on the Matterhorn’s track and looked down into Disneyland at all those twinkling lights in the dark.
And — to think — that all of all this was inspired by one little article in an old issue of “Disney News.”
Which (again) is what’s making me sad today. The idea that “Disney” Magazine is now going away. Which makes me wonder: What’s going to inspire the next generation of Disney dweebs to wonder what actually goes on behind-the-scenes at the Magic Kingdom?