Nixon and Disneyland: 2 OC Institutions Together at Last, er, Again

Artist, marketing man and blogger extraordinaire Dave Decaro posts on the Disneyland Art Blog, the Jungle Cruise Blog, the Haunted Mansion Blog, the Pirates of the Caribbean Blog and 2719 Hyperion (for the Hollywood address of Walt Disney Studios). "Yes, I spend way too much time at Disneyland," Decaro notes his mini-profile. Currently, his Daveland Blog features posts based on Richard Nixon's many brushes with the Anaheim theme park, which the Stubbly One and his family visited frequently in the early days. "Nixon was proud that Walt Disney had chosen Orange County for Disneyland, especially since he had grown up only a few miles away in Yorba Linda," Decaro writes in the first of two posts on "The Nixon Family & Disneyland."

Nixon's youngest daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, shared with Decaro--and Daveland--memories of Disneyland and photos the park's executives gave her as a tribute to her father. "Disneyland was a part of our lives," says Eisenhower, who estimates her family visited the park at least once every three to six months between 1961 and 1963. "The major happy feeling that I remember about Orange County was seeing my cousins, which was always tied to a trip to Disneyland." She also comments about meeting Uncle Walt ("He was so kind; really nice and very approachable. He was also a very nice looking man") and Davy Crockett star Fess Parker ("I was in heaven"). One posted photo shows Nixon receiving a key to Disneyland from the-then bearded TV star. Hey, I got sent home for having facial hair when I worked there!

My eyes have now seen everything: Part two includes a photo of Dick Nixon spinning in a tea cup. Certainly there is a joke lost on me there. It's a good thing his many, many political opponents didn't acquire the last black-and-white posted. It shows the future president of the United States in a Snow White's Scary Adventures car named "Dopey." It was probably meant for Bush.