Thursday, December 31, 2015

John Lennon ride the Monorail

I have mentioned many times that my two favorite things are the Beatles and Disney Parks so whenever I can mix the two together, I am a happy person.

We have always known that John, May and Julian went to Orlando, Florida in December 1974 and went to Walt Disney World.   At that time there was only one park on the property, The Magic Kingdom.   They stayed on site, at the Polynesian Hotel.    To get from the Polynesian (both then and today) to the park, the best way to travel is by Monorail.   The train stop is actually right inside of the hotel so that guests do not have to go outside to enter the train.  

Here is what John's room at the Polynesian might have looked like

Photos found at http://www.tikimanpages.com/poly/history/1970s



A couple of shots from 1974 of the monorail entering and exiting the Polynesian


So obviously John and his crew took the Monorails to get to the Magic Kingdom.   Below is a story that I have heard for years about what took place by one of the cast members.


"I met John Lennon at Disney World while working as a monorail operator. He, Julian and May Pang
rode in the front of the monorail on two different occasions with me. I allowed him and Julian to operate the train. The second day John
 came out to the station and actually ask if I was working. He and Julian waited until I arrived in the train and again rode with me and
 drove the train. May Pang took a lot of pictures that day. As they left the train that day John ask if I would like to take some pictures and
 waited while I retrieved a camera. I have a great 8×10 of John Lennon and I together." -Cast Member Hal East


And thanks to the wonderful folks at the John Lennon Lost Weekend Facebook page, that photograph has magical appeared!


You see cast member, Hal standing there in his monorail costume and who is most likely Adam Levey in the background.  Perhaps May Pang took the photo?

May has an interesting tidbit of a memory on one of the rides back to the Poly during that trip:
Riding the Disney World monorail back to our hotel, I overheard a father tell his son he had heard a Beatle was visiting. “Which Beatle?” The father said, “George Harrison." I burst out laughing. John asked why. We then all started laughing so hard that the Dad turned around. It then registered which Beatle was at the park that day - and why we were laughing. “It’s O.K.," John jokingly said, "we all look alike.” -- May Pang

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm, that may actually have been John's room. The 6-pack of Dr. Pepper is a clue. ;-) Love little tidbits like this one. Have a Fab 2016, Sara!!

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    1. Yes, I noticed that Dr. Pepper 6-pack right away and it made me laugh!

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  2. Love it! Thank you for putting the photograph into context.

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