Interesting. When this question was asked a few years ago 1991 was my answer but today I’m not as sure. You visited Disneyland in the 60s and 70s right? How would you compare the atmosphere, crowds, and customer service from the mid 60s/70’s to the 80’s/ early 90s?
Oh, I am soooo emotionally attached to 60’s/70’s era of DL. So many great family memories. I was just a kid in the 60’s, but I had an older brother who was an early Disney fan, and he shared everything he learned about the park operations with me, which in turn made DL even more fascinating. I can’t give an objective take on the park at that point—as I loved every bit of it—except to say that part of the magic of DL when I was a small kid was the fact that much of it WAS scary and intimidating. It gave the park so much depth and weight. That’s why I can’t stand Enchanted Wish. Kids need safe Scary Adventures to conquer.
In the 70’s, I was spending more time off on my own in the park (mornings and evenings with family, but not going back to the hotel with them in the afternoon— I was 8 AM to 1 AM nonstop every day!
) and paying more attention to the workings and the details.
CMs in the 70’s: I’d say very comparable to today. Not a single bad memory. Wait… okay, one bad memory. But she was tired and I was being a smart-alec teen calling her out for lying to my face about why the Matterhorn line was closing early (there was a special event scheduled that—I guess—CM’s weren't allowed to discuss). I quickly backed down.. the look she gave me!
Operations: Far superior in the 70’s, IMO. I don’t remember EVER seeing a nonfunctioning AA. That would’ve been unthinkable back then. And part of the park’s magic was that, except for the canoes, keelboats and island, everything ran full blast from opening to closing. This meant that you could head to the quiet areas of the park (mainly Frontierland, New Orleans Square and Bear Country), and sometimes nearly have the attractions to yourself. I rode Pirates late at night as the only passenger in the boat, and there was no one in the boat ahead of me or the boat following behind. It was great!
Disney, back then, seemed willing to spend the money on wages to keep everything available for every guest… even a 7th grader who loved being the only guest in the stretching room at midnight.
The one exception: the FL dark rides in that era didn’t seem to get all the TLC they deserved. I loved the dark rides and rode them a LOT in the 70’s, so I noticed when something was amiss. Sometimes an effect wouldn’t work, sometimes a pop-up character… wouldn’t. My pet peeve was when, for whatever reason, not enough time was allowed between vehicle dispatches, so you’d enter rooms and see effects resetting and crash doors closing, only to activate for you before even getting a chance to completely settle. Aargh. More than once, this completely ruined the screaming door hallway for me on Alice. What a strange specific childhood memory!
Atmosphere: Similar but more relaxed. And people were in a better mood because prices were reasonable, crowds weren’t as crazy, and there was more live entertainment everywhere. At night though, much more varied in the best way: Peaceful relaxing strolls along the Frontierland riverbank, energetic pop music in TL, Big Bands at the Plaza Gardens… and an uncrowded, colorful Fantasyland.
I feel very, very fortunate that my family and I got to vacation at DL during those decades.
So to me, that timeframe is what made me fall in love with Disneyland.
