April 27, 2007: Other Lands

[youcancallmechris]

Anyone remember the Godfathers Pizza buffet? $3.99 11-2 and pretty decent stuff I remember Wonder Bowl across from Wonderland- I grew up on Ninth right past Walnut. My mom was in a league there until it closed then she started going to Garden Square in Garden Grove until that closed too. Marri's Pizza has been a favorite since I was a kid too- I still go there now. I use to be friends with the owners of Wonderland Liquor until it was sold to a Korean family in the early 90's. Stovall's Inn right behind that place was my favorite way to sneak a free ride to DL- (one of the drives was my best friends brother). I even lived in the Golden Forest Motel when things weren't so good financially in my family but that all settled through. The former Shell station on the corner of West and Katella is where I bought my first pack of cigarettes when I use to smoke (don't ever start!). Golf n Stuff (I believe was the name) was also a great place to remember. There was an arcade you could go to if you didn't feel like spending an arm and a leg at any of Disney's arcades. When I was a teen and a "local" I learned of this thing called "The Wall" which was a random 4 block room with no roof you could sneek into- this was where a lot of...bad things would occur. Watching a guy get hit by a car J-walking to get to McDonalds ended my days of J-walking forever.

Monorail Cafe and the Neon Cactus certainly bring a tear to my eye, I rememer my first at the Cafe, and I remember their final day of operation- that brings back the old Disneyland Hotel- taking the Hotel tram to and fro DL, sometimes that gate thing wouldn't respond to the remote on the Tram so they'd have to run it- always an intense moment wondering if the Driver was going to get struck by a flying piece of wood! The Country Music and line dancing at the Cactus was fun to watch. I was a minor at the time and this would always happen past 22:00 so I would have to watch from outside, but how entertaining is it to watch from a distance- a bunch of drunk middle aged folks try to learn Line Dancing?!

Most of the things I remember (with the exception of Wonderbowl- which was gone LONG before the expansion) died with the DCA expansion and Resort District refurbishment. The best of all memories was when Food 4 Less first opened (on Katella and Euclid) and I entered my mom's name in a contest and we won a 3 day stay at the Disneyland Hotel along with Admission and a small spending amount (given to us in food vouchers). They messed up our first reservation so they gave us 9 more tickets (3 days for my mom, sister and I!). We ended up in the Oriental Gardens Hotel (torn down in late 90's for DCA DTD expansion) and it was indeed (though well aged) a beautiful experiance. We used the other 3 days on random events each an awesome memory forever! This area has change so much since I was a kid- it's nice to see those photo's! I still live in the area and plan to the rest of my life so long as it doesn't get plowed over by Condo's and Townhomes- still on the original suburbs of the mid 50's living nicely in- what I believe still is the best City! Thanks for sharing your photo's and flashing reviving a great area in my memory!

[lisah0711]

Thanks Werner! I grew up in Anaheim and remember many of these places. I even worked at the Fox Theater in the late 70's before I went across the street and worked at another Yesterland Place . . . The Character Shop!

[mhinrichs]

Originally Posted by NemoVir

Here in Phoenix we have a "Biddoffland" or sometime like that. I remember the billboard has the name in the same style of letter as Disneyland's. Damn thing was a car dealership!!

Biddulphland!

They used to advertise on the huge diamond-shaped billboard off I-17. Yeah, as a kid I too was disappointed that it was just a crummy car dealership.