L. U. 441, SANTA ANA, CAUf. — Disneyland continues to be the most spectacular of all the "happylands" in the universe. Its impact on the phenomenal growth of Orange County is still a miracle.
Even as Walt Disney's "Magic Kingdom" was celebrating its first anniversary this summer, hotels, motels and restaurants were growing up out of the ground as fast as we could build them — all with an eye to capitalizing on the huge crowds that are swarming into this fabulous playground.
You have met Walt Disney on your TV screen. We have met the man as he has walked among the many of us construction workers, watching moro of blossom into reality, and perhaps dreaming bigger dreams. Walt says that Disneyland will never be completed. It will always be growing and changing.
This summer another two million dollars was spent on the Mine Train Ride, Rainbow Desert, Tom Sawyer's Island, and Storyhook Land. Storybook Land is the cutest of all with miniature Geppetto's Village, Three Little Pigs, and some 18 little cottages, all alive with the voices of their inhabitants through the miracle of sound.
But perhaps most popular of all is the Skyride. Walt went to Switzerland to purchase it. Forty-four baskets, each carrying two passengers, stream overhead some feet in the air between Tomorrow and and Fantasyland.
The job of keeping the construction going on schedule is no easy task. And this lot has fallen to the "Near sighted Mr. Magoo," Tommy McGraw. Tom is general foreman. Fred Johnson of Johnson Electric has the construction contract. Ol' "Dad" Johnson is a former member of 477.
Naturally all this electrical equipment requires constant maintenance. This burden is in the competent hands of John Bondick. John has a regular
crew of a dozen men split between two shifts.
On top of this pyramid of the "wheels" sits the director of directors, Ray Burnell. Ray is the engineer and in charge of all operations electrical.
After 15 months three days and eight hours, we decided to "boom" the county again. Many large jobs are in progress, Kimberly-Clark, Rheem Mfg., and just getting under way will be the 100 million-dollar Edison Steam Plant.
We are off to a vacation in the Pacific Northwest and West Canada.
Dick Klaus, P.S.
Scenes from Enchanting Disneyland
[img]If you peer closely through the stuff dreams are made of, yoe may catch a glimpse at members of Local 411, Santa Ana., Calif., at work in the ever-growing and improving premises of Disneyland. At left, Storybook Land offers a pleasant journey on these canal boats though the lovable tales of a child's fancy. Kids fish from the docks of Tom Sawyer Island, right, Motor-driven rafts carry the passengers to and from the Island.[/img]
[img]Left: Members are still at work on the gold mining town, entrance to the Mine Train Ride and the Rainbow Desert, Rainbow Desert is nearing completion, right. Note the lifelike cactus, a product of the craftsmen at the Walt Disney Studios.[/img]
