Thursday, April 14, 2011

Oh Yeah? BITE ME

I realized that my blog doesn't have enough attitude. To really make a name for myself, I need to take a stance and tell it like it is, no matter who it might upset. For some moral support, I turned to the Parking Lot Cast Members of the mid-1990s. I should explain: When I worked in Guest Relations, the City Hall attic was a dark, scary place. (Did you even know it had an attic?) It was at the top of a rickety staircase and had low light levels and an even lower ceiling. There were boxes and boxes of character photos and some past administrative materials (like reports from Duty Managers). But what I remember most are the piles and piles (and piles!) of slides of Parking Lot Cast Members having fun on the job. They must have been in a box or other container at some point, but I just remember them strewn about on the floor.

When they were renovating the City Hall attic, I grabbed a handful of these slides because they seemed rather humorous (and because, frankly, I'm sure the rest were going to be put in the trash). The slides were all dated November 18, 1996 and will reveal a side of Parking Lot Cast Members you likely have not seen. Because there were so many of them in the attic, I believe they were taken for some team building or group bonding experience, but feel free to speculate in the comments.

They start out innocuous enough; here's a nice view of the Parking Lot entrance:

Walt would have been apoplectic that these cones were not in a straight line (whatever happened to attention to detail?):

The Cone-Temporary Hotel shot is nicely framed to include the Disneyland Hotel:

For these photos, the Cast Members created a cardboard "Oh Yeah? BITE ME" sign that they then affixed to several signs around the Parking Lot. I can only imagine how many of these photos I don't have:

The Cast Members themselves got into the act, too, of course. I believe the following photos document training for those busy times when human speedbumps were required:

It wasn't all fun and games, though:

And I don't even know what to say about this photo (other than to say that the sign's message was undoubtedly true for some Cast Members):

I'll leave you with a nice Disneyland approach photo:

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6 comments:

  1. TokyoMagic!April 14, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    These made me laugh out loud....thank you! I think I see the backside of the Howard Johnson's "Trolley" bus in that last pic (almost dead center).

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  2. ThuferApril 15, 2011 at 6:30 AM

    Oh my, as a 'known' lover of the best 100 acres on earth; this is such a wonderful post. I devoured each and every moment looking at this post. Please continue with this series for as long as you can.

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  3. Major PepperidgeApril 15, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    I am enjoying the sudden flurry of new posts!

    All of the other images that were in that attic probably DID wind up in the trash. It's too bad you couldn't have grabbed them all! I also don't understand why you didn't pick up that box full of mint 1950's ticket books and Walt Disney autographs).

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  4. Lizzy Tex BordenApril 16, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    I would have LOVED to have seen/see the insideof that atic. Great post...

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  5. DavelandApril 16, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    Hilarious post! Great to see the cast members having a sense of humor.

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  6. Jason SchultzApril 18, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    I'm glad others enjoyed the photos as much as I did.

    Thufer - I'm fairly certain these are all the CM Parking Lot hijinks photos I have. I have quite a few of my own photos of the Lot, though, which I'll be posting at future dates.

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