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View Full Version : Did Anyone Go to DL for the Bicentennial?



Klutch
12-15-2002, 05:37 PM
I was recently recalling the time I went to Disneyland on a school field trip for the Bicentennial (that was 1976 for you youngsters). :-)

I couldn't believe we actually got to go to DL for a field trip! The rides were limited to "educational" experiences: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Sailing Ship Columbia, and I'm pretty sure we did "America Sings". There was also a parade.

The official rules said, "Do not bring money. You will not be permitted to buy snacks or souveniers". Fortunately, my fifth grade teacher Mr. Herendean was WAY cool and asked everybody to bring a dollar. He collected our dollars and bought us each a root beer candy stick and an ice cream to enjoy while we watched the parade (yes, he obviously pitched in some cash himself).

Even though the rides were limited, I had a great time at Disneyland with my classmates. That was a particularly dreary year for me (divorcing parents) so the trip was extra special.

Does anyone else remember a Disneyland school field trip for the Bicentennial?

merlinjones
12-15-2002, 07:28 PM
I went that year. Had a great time at Disneyland but didn't much like the widely hyped Bicentennial spectacular "America on Parade" (kinda ugly characters... WAY too long... not up to the then-new and thrilling MSEP, which was put on haitus for AOP).

SimpTwister
12-15-2002, 09:36 PM
I was there in '75. I still have the DL Guide booklet with America On Parade on the cover...

HBTiggerFan
12-15-2002, 09:51 PM
Originally posted by Klutch
I was recently recalling the time I went to Disneyland on a school field trip for the Bicentennial (that was 1976 for you youngsters). :-)

Dang, that was one whole year before I was born! YAY I am not old to some people! :D

cemeinke
12-15-2002, 11:13 PM
I remember seeing the America On Parade, but it wasn't for a school field trip. Rather my class went to see the Freedom Train when it came through Capistrano. Your field trip sounds like more fun.

Klutch
12-16-2002, 05:39 AM
The Freedom Train!

My dad took us to see it when it stopped at Anaheim Stadium. The line was about 3 miles long so we left.

Interestingly, when the Freedom Train ended its tour of the US many of the artifacts onboard were missing. Seems a few unscrupulous collectors and attendants conspired to steal a bit of American history.

hbquikcomjamesl
12-16-2002, 07:23 AM
I was there, too. If I remember right, the DRR and CBJ were also included. Somewhere, I still have the tour tag and the certificate.

It was because we'd already been to DL for the Bicentennial School Program that my 8th grade class voted to go to MM for our graduation trip instead. Found the place boring, and never been back.

mad4mky
12-16-2002, 08:04 AM
Originally posted by Klutch
The Freedom Train!


I went to Disneyland in 1976...
And our 4-H club went to the Freedom Train when it was in Sacramento...that was the longest line I ever saw...but we got in and loved it.

As for Disneyland...I was a Jr. in high school...I went with a friend and his family that year...
:)

RStar
12-16-2002, 09:38 AM
I went, and I remember seeing the parade. Wasn't real impressed myself. It was summer, and real hot. It was our last trip before my parents divorced as well. I was 17, long enough that I don't remember much else. I went once a year, so the trips kind of run together now. I have a picture of my Mom next to a light pole with the American decoration on it.

glfnetm
12-16-2002, 11:34 AM
Klutch -

I had a math teacher by the same name. You didn't happen to go to elementary school in SoCal, did you?

Klutch
12-16-2002, 03:28 PM
Originally posted by glfnetm
Klutch -

I had a math teacher by the same name. You didn't happen to go to elementary school in SoCal, did you?

By golly, I certainly did. I moved around Orange County several times back then. For fifth grade I attended Frank Vessel, then Miller Elementary schools. I don't mind saying I hated that school. I liked Mr. Herendean a lot; the school itself was a different story.

Herendean wrote the math book we used. It was called "The Math Pad" and featured characters called "Adam Up" and "Gazinta". That book was the only math book I ever learned from.

So, you too were a Herendean student at one time?

glfnetm
12-17-2002, 07:20 AM
I was a couple of years behind you (3rd grade that year). You may have known my brother (JG). I hadn't thought about Adam-up and Gazinta in a long time. I sure wish I would have saved those books to use with my kids. That was the most fun I ever had in math.

HBTiggerFan
12-17-2002, 07:33 AM
How cool is this??? Two people who live in different places had the same math teacher and found each other on a Disney board!! Its a small world after all (pun slightly intended) :eek:

RStar
12-17-2002, 08:00 AM
That is cool:cool:

We did a search to find an old friend on the internet. The web is great!

I hope these guys chat off line to relive old school memories (even if they didn't know each other).

kennyhues
12-17-2002, 08:58 AM
My dad has always been a photography buff, and during a trip to Disneyland in 1976 (my first - we were adopting my little sister from a foster home in LA and the DL trip was just for me, to make sure I knew I was still special) he took a slew of pix of AOP. He shot on slide film, so they're still in good shape, having been stored away from light. I keep meaning to dig them out and scan them for Werner Weiss' site, but I don't have a convenient way to do it.

I remember liking that parade, and the thing I took away from it (owing to the way my parents -and Disney- framed it) was an intense love for this country and our patriotic traditions. The national anthem often makes me tear up. Flag retreats are very moving for me. Something of Wal's intense patriotism was still embodied in Disneyland in 1976, and I got the full dose. Still carry it to this day.

stinkerbell
12-17-2002, 09:52 AM
I loved America on Parade and I believe I had the record or something as a souvenir. My mom just rolls her eyes when she mentions this. I also loved America Sings and we spent A LOT of time there, too.

I was three. And we have a ton of pictures from that particular trip, so that's how I know. :) That, and my mom and dad don't let me forget it. They assumed I'd want to spend all my time stalking Mickey and Pooh or riding the Carousel. Wrong! I sang patriotic songs and was obsessed with all things red, white and blue!!!!!

Morrigoon
12-17-2002, 11:25 PM
The bicentennial, eh?

I was *ahem* born exactly 7 months later :D

Trintara
12-18-2002, 11:15 AM
I was born a few years later....like seven. maybe I can go to the tricentennial. I'll only be about ninety, my family is long lived, and with advances in medicine.... haha

AlanaP
12-18-2002, 03:05 PM
We went! I was 6..all I remember is a bunch of legs..but I was there! I vaguely remember the parade..with Mickey, Donald & Goofy..doing the 3 soldiers thing??

Alana

tod
12-18-2002, 03:29 PM
The one thing I remember from the Bicentennial was that the Disneyland gardeners planted two red-white-and-blue Bicentennial star emblems, one on each side of the Mickey parterre. (Go here (http://www.unicover.com/EA1CAIID.HTM) to see it: It's the star emblem on the stamp.) They were five feet high and looked great.

--T