Tinker Bell and Me
Adventures of a Disneyland Dresser #1
I was employed in the Wardrobe Department at the original Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California from December of 1977 to August of 1985. During that time I worked in many areas of the department dressing performers in parades, stage shows, and other entertainment venues throughout the Park. But one of the most interesting assignments I ever got handed was the summer I was tapped to dress Tinker Bell every night before she was pushed off The Matterhorn.
It was the summer of 1983, and as I had done every summer since I’d started at the Park, I was working as a wardrobe crew member on The Main Street Electrical Parade. The parade crew reported for work at 4:00 p.m., changed into our costumes (ugly blue polyester pant suits), collected a couple of bins of freshly laundered sweat socks, T-shirts, and towels, loaded them into our utility truck, then drove via the backstage perimeter road to the parade warehouse where the floats and costumes were stored.
At the parade warehouse, we would put away the laundry, then begin handing out costumes to the parade performers as they began arriving. About 30 minutes before the parade began, the performers boarded trams and were driven to the “step off” area which was backstage near the It’s a Small World attraction. Once the performers were dropped off, they…
