I would have to say that it all started in 1961. James W. O'Connor, 25, born in London England, recently having finished service with the U.S. Airforce in Alaska, married Eleanor R. Babson, 25, born in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, on December 16 in Richmond California. For thier honeymoon, the newlyweds first drove down the coast to visit Hearst Castle in San Simeon. From there, the couple continued down to Southern California to enjoy a few nights stay at the luxurious Disneyland Hotel. At the park, Jim and Eleanor saw such marvels as the Monsanto House of the Future, featuring such innovations as all-plastic construction, two-way video telephones, and microwave cooking! Also, December of 1961 was the one and only time that the Matterhorn was topped by a giant illuminated star for the Christmas season. Now thier son, James C. O'Connor was not to be born for another 18 months, but the roots of a Disneyland Collector had been established in the O'Connor bloodline.

The groom: James W. O'Connor

For my 6th birthday in June, 1969, my mother took me to Disneyland!
"Mom. How long is the plane ride going to take?" I innocently inquired.
"Oh, about as long as Captain Kangaroo," she answered as we departed from the Oakland Airport.
"How long is the bus ride going to be?" I asked about an hour and a half later at the Los Angeles Airport.
"Oh, about half as long as Captain Kangaroo," my mother patiently answered.
At this time in my life I didn't yet understand the length of an hour, so all time was measured by the length of the original Captain Kangaroo (A one hour program back then).
We stayed in a room at the Grand Hotel, just a block from the Disneyland entrance. My father chose not to join us as my sister Elaine had been born just a few months before in March and my parents decided against trying to drag a 15-month-old baby around Disneyland.
In our room was a small advertiseing card promoting Disneyland's newest attraction: The Haunted Mansion. I remember being somewhat nervous of the the two photos on the card. One side pictured three hitch-hiking hosts, the other side featured a little old man sitting in a coffin dringing tea with a veiled lady and a buggy driver. At the Grand Hotel, I remember being introduced to a new dining entree called the ground beef steak. It was just like a cheese burger, but without the cheese and without the bun! Wow! A less appetizing discovery was Southern California water dispensed by the drinking fountain located in the hotel's lobby.
My memories of the park include playing peek-a-boo with Pinocchio while trying to get a photo with him, and being attacked by Winnie the Pooh at the Main Entrance. (The Pooh costume of the late 60's precluded the young kids trapped inside from seeing much of anything through the little honey pot atop the bear's head.) I fell in love with The Enchanted Tikiroom, but was a little nervous sitting next to wooden faces that moved and talked.
In New Orleans Square, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and I tried in vain to get Baloo to come over and have his picture taken with me. I bravely entered the line for the Haunted Mansion, which snaked for half an hour (half as long as Captain Kangaroo) outside of the building's gates, but just befor we were to enter the grounds, I chickened out and we worked our way out of line.
In Fantasyland, we rode the obligatory rides, Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr. Toad, and at "It's a Small World", my mom bought me a great necklace with a little version of the surfer doll from the Small World Clock. My last , most vivid recollection, is the Journey Through Inner Space and having a giant eye looking at me after entering a mighty microscope.

Dale and me in Fantasyland. (I'm the one in the blue shirt)

DOUBLE THE FUN For whatever reason, my memories of my second trip to Disneyland in 1974 are somewhat limited. Again, we stayed at the Grand Hotel, this time with both my parents and my 6-year-old sister Elaine. Memories include the new Contry Bear Jamboree, finally making into the Haunted Mansion, and Elaine banging her mouth into my back as we came to an abrupt stop after riding the Matterhorn (back then the bobsleds and seating arrangements were different with my sister, the smallest, sitting between my father in the back and me in the front). Other items of note was buying a Haunted Mansion Magic Book from the Magic Shop on Main Street. I vividly remember there being an illusion available for sale in the far back corner known as "The Zig-Zag", where a woman would have her midsection pulled out to the left. Two other books that were purchased for me were about the making of "It's a Small World" and Pirates of the Caribbean. These books were to become the foundation for a fascination that would forever alter the course of my life.

My sister Elaine kissing Practical Pig.

It Begins... The souvenier booklet pictured to the right basically is what got me started. The book not only pictures the highlites of the popular attraction, but also features a look at the making of the show. In particular, I was most interested in the technology known as Audio-Animatronics. Visiting the local Pinole Library to learn more about the robotic pirates, librarian Cherrie Kerry found for me a large book, The Art of Walt Disney, by Christopher Finch. I fell in love! (with the book, Cherrie was a bit too old for me) However, like most good library books, many of the pages had been torn out of the edition. For my birthday in 1977, my grandmother gave me my very own copy of the precious tome. In the Autum of my third year as a Physiology major at U.C. Berkeley, in 1984 I found I needed to fulfill my bredth requirements. To satify the sociology requirements, I signed up for a class I thought would be an easy A - The Anthropology of Tourism. Having aced the midterm, I was allowed to do special interest research in lieu of having to attend the second half of the class. My paper was entitled "Corporate Sponsorship at Disneyland: No Way to Walk Out on the Commercials." In my research I had the opportunity to interview officials representing various Disneyland participants and even the V.P. of Participant affairs for Disneyland. What fascinated me was how the park changed over the years to meet the ever-evolving tastes of the American public. This eventually lead me to focus my Disney interest on the park in Anaheim.		Pirates of the Caribbean Guidebook, 1974 Mark J. Williams, Pilot of the Mark Twain.
PASSING THE TRADITION Two summers ago I was able to fly my nephew Mark down for his seventh birthday. He has a few items from Disneyland to start a small collection. But the one thing that would never leave his grasp the entire trip was a plush Bre'r Fox I bought him our first morning in the park. That fox went down splash moutain with us, had it's own seat at all meals and sat between us with it's own seatbelt on the plane trip back up to the Bay Area.

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