BACKSTORY (1955—Present): Designed by Imagineer Harper Goff, Disneyland City Hall was inspired by the old courthouse of his home town Fort Collins, Colorado. City Hall functions as Disneyland's Guest Relations department. Cast members answer all kinds of questions here as well as with maps in English and a variety of other languages, entertainment schedules, special assistance passes for guests with disabilities, and directions to attractions outside the Resort. The hosts/hostesses can make a guest's visit even more special by allowing them to talk with Disney Characters on the Telephone, dial up a special Disney character for a child's birthday, and get autographed photos of characters.
Back in the day, guests might have heard:
"[insert name], Please call the Disneyland operator".
"[insert name], Please call the Disneyland operator".
One reader recalled hearing that over the PA system in the park, but had no idea what it referred to.
Thanks to Cox Pilot, the mystery is solved:
Those "names" were actually codes for security and cast members to set situations or alert security to go to a certain area. Security did not have radios the early days days.
Many thanks to Cox Pilot for another great story from Disneyland's history!
Daveland reader Lynda recalls the day that The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, visited Disneyland in 1961:
It was a beautiful. warm day. There was security, but it didn't interfere with people moving about as normal. I remember being fascinated by the whole thing. Imagine, seeing Mr. Disney (as if that wasn't exciting enough) but a world leader from a far away land as well. The world was a much larger place back then. Indira Gandhi was there as well. We saw them several times, through the day. I remember that we heard a full band playing Dixie on the Mark Twain riverboat, and there standing on the deck were Walt Disney and Nehru waving to everyone. My dad had his tripod along with him that day (much to my mom's annoyance) and we had to stop while he got some footage. It appeared that Mr. Disney saw my dad and gave him a wave, at least by Dad's account.
