Power Rangers’ Followers Battle Mighty Lines : Kids Wait Hours in Anaheim for Fast Peek at Super Heroes

ANAHEIM — For a fleeting glimpse of a tornado kick and pink spandex, the ardent admirers of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would have braved any hazard--perhaps even the monster army of Rita Repulsa, Empress of Evil.

Instead they confronted gridlock and line-jumpers, boredom and balky cameras, two-hour delays and the factory-line efficiency of security guards who droned their own version of a Gregorian chant: “Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.”

“I asked them for an autograph,” fumed Kimberly Salsbury, an Anaheim mother who brought her children to the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday to salute the Power Rangers, “and they wouldn’t give me one because I’m an adult. I stood in line for two hours! I deserve something.

“This is terrible: For two hours of standing outside we get two seconds?” As television super heroes met their super fans, the quick karate kick and greet never seemed to last long enough for the faithful followers of Tommy the Green Ranger--played by actor Jason Frank--and Kimberly the Pink Ranger--in reality actress Amy Jo Johnson.

When the doors opened at 10 a.m. for the Power Rangers’ appearance at the 1994 Kids Stuff Expo, the line of ticket holders was about 2,000 long, wrapping around the convention center and wandering a block down an asphalt truck-loading lane behind the exhibition halls.

Bellflower resident Hannah Reid, her 10-year-old son, Joshua, and his friend, Christina Elliott, 7, had staked a spot in line at 5:15 a.m.

“I would have stayed in line all night if my husband could have been with me,” Reid said. Last month, Reid and her son never even saw the hem of a spandex spacesuit after the evil forces of traffic ended their quest to see the Power Rangers at Universal Studios.

The estimated crowd of 35,000 that day broke attendance records at the theme park and snarled traffic for nearly eight miles into downtown Los Angeles.

“We got pretty close to the off-ramp,” recalled Reid, “but that was it. (Joshua) was crushed.”

Saturday’s super hero crush was considerably more subdued, although doting fans still encountered some traffic delays. Anaheim traffic Sgt. Steve Walker said the busy tourist area was more crowded than usual as the 20,000 spectators for the expo and Rangers joined an estimated 60,000 visitors headed to Disneyland.

“It’s been pretty well gridlocked,” Walker said. “But they have been getting everybody in, even if there has been a bit of a delay. For the most part, people are being patient.”

Originally, Rangers “Tommy” and “Kimberly” were scheduled to make their back flips and kicks from a booth in the main exhibit hall. But after the expo’s organizers saw what happened at Universal Studios, they shifted the stars to a separate arena, where two more Rangers are also scheduled to appear today.

The $7 admission included entrance to the expo and a viewing of the Rangers, which for some fans seemed about as brief and impersonal as passing a toll collector.

For the first hour, families had 10 seconds each with a Ranger for a greet and photo snap. Then organizers tried to speed the line by circling the Rangers with barriers to discourage contact.

Several people complained that they had to contend with line-jumpers edging into the endless queue. Exhibitors in the Kids Expo complained that the Rangers drained attendance from their educational exhibits.

“I think people brought their kids only to see the Power Rangers,” said Julie Cole, who was selling felt storybooks at the expo. “It’s a little disappointing, since the organizers told us only to bring educational material.”

Randy Fielden of Long Beach gauged the stamina of her 3- and 5-year-old children as she inched 100 feet in a half-hour. Five-year-old Felicia Fielden seemed perfectly content to pass the time talking about bad guys, dinosaurs and Power Rangers.

“It’s really more a question if we have the sanity,” Fielden said.

Times Staff Writer Greg Hernandez and correspondent Jim Washburn contributed to this report.