The 1985 Disneyland Lock-Out

In August 1985, the family traveled to Southern California for Disneyland's 30th Birthday celebration. Dad wrote that "the 30th Birthday celebration is really drawing people in" and the park was "incredibly crowded". Their friend Sharen met them there.

When the family planned to stay in the park from opening until midnight, one parent would take the little ones back to the van for an afternoon nap. This year, it was Dad's turn with two-year-old Dana.

The walk to the parking lot was long and hot. When they finally reached the van, Dad discovered a catastrophic problem: "We got out to the van, after a long walk in the hot sun, with Dana tired, her diaper wet and the nap long overdue, only to discover that the van's key was in the ignition and the van was locked". They were stranded in "a vast sea of empty cars at 1300, not a trace of shade anywhere, with Dana exhausted and hot and crying inconsolably".

Dad considered his options. Lugging Dana back into the park to find Mom on such a crowded day was "a bleak prospect". Breaking in seemed like a better plan, so "I selected cracking the right wind wing". His only tool turned out to be "the steel rod that supports the hood when you lift it up," which he described as "a sturdy bit of steel" that "probably weighs over a pound".

He started hammering the glass "without, I might add, any discernible effect". Then things got worse: "the horn of a car parked a few feet away started to blast".

Meanwhile, "Dana, all the while, was screaming at the top of her lungs and the afternoon nap and the whole day seemed to be going down the tube".

In almost no time, a young security guard did show up. The steel rod had quietly disappeared by then. When Dad asked if the guard could call a locksmith, the response was a pleasant surprise: the guard simply asked Dad to fill out a form and then "produced a large case of burglary tools, apparently standard issue for Disneyland parking lot security, and went to work".

Just as their hopes were high (and Dana, "fascinated instead by the man's tools," had finally quit crying), the guard's tool got stuck in the door, which was still locked. He radioed for his supervisor, "who said he would send Bob, who could open any car". Dad described what happened next: "Bob, a middle-aged gentleman with a large pouch, was there in forty-five seconds and could not have spent fifteen seconds before the van was open. Kind of scary".

The rescue was a success. "Thus was Dana's (and Daddy's) nap rescued," Dad concluded. "We met Dina and the others at 1800 as appointed, and Dana enjoyed Disneyland until almost 2300 before falling asleep in the stroller".

The next day, the family hit Zuma Beach, "a few miles up the road from Malibu". Dad "had not taken a swimming suit, planning only to wade with the kids and build sand castles, but next thing that you knew I was in the water, fully clothed, up to my neck. It will take weeks to get rid of all of the sand".