Disneyland Goes All Out for Katerina

There, atop her head, sat the symbol of all that is American--Mickey Mouse ears.

Carefully sewn in yellow thread across the back of the cap: Katerina Lycheva.

The 11-year-old Soviet schoolgirl is not a household word yet, not even on the final day of her visit to the United States. But on Tuesday, she received a top dignitary’s salute at Disneyland.

Her trek to the Anaheim theme park followed a morning visit to Los Angeles City Hall, where Katerina--carrying a yellow rose--echoed the same message of peace that she has repeated since her tour began 10 days ago in Chicago.

“The most important thing of all is for us to have peace, and for that we need friendship,” Katerina declared.

In true Hollywood fashion, the always-smiling emissary also played the role of a movie director at City Hall. She yelled “action” and “cut” to actors of an ABC television pilot that was being filmed near Mayor Tom Bradley’s office.

With Bradley out of town Tuesday, Katerina was welcomed by City Council President Pat Russell, who handed the Russian girl a red visor and white sweatshirt imprinted with the city’s tourist slogan: “L.A.’s the Place.”

The visor, however, came off and the Mickey Mouse ears went on less than an hour later when Katerina arrived at Disneyland--her final U.S. destination.

Katerina, who appeared fatigued during much of her four-hour romp through the park, was scheduled to leave Los Angeles at 1 a.m. today for Mexico City, where she was to catch a connecting flight to Moscow. But not before a visit to the Magic Kingdom that came loaded with reporters’ questions--and few answers.

“What about those Mickey Mouse ears?” a reporter asked. “Do you feel comfortable wearing a set of ears linked to the heart of American values?”

Katerina was clearly puzzled by the question, which a translator refused to repeat to her.

“We have festivals like this in Moscow,” she said, as a Mickey Mouse character placed his arm around her. “I like these festivals.”

Reporters were allowed only a brief period with Katerina before she toured the park. They were not permitted to question her afterwards as to her general reaction to Disneyland.

However, Tuesday’s “festival” at Disneyland was as carefully crafted as a Russian novel. More than three weeks of planning, scheduling and special preparations preceded Tuesday’s visit, according to park officials.

Hundreds of details were worked out ahead of time, from the prime rib and fresh fruit crepes Katerina feasted on at lunch, to the Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, Mickey Mouse wristwatch and Mickey Mouse ceramic statue she received as gifts from park officials.

The four suitcases full of gifts that Katerina has received in this country will later be placed in a Moscow museum, said Pat Montandon, founder of the Children as the Peacemakers, the nonprofit San Francisco group that planned and paid for Katerina’s trip.

Like Head of State

Katerina’s whirlwind visit to Disneyland was “comparable to a visit from a head of state,” said park spokesman Bob Roth. A previous Russian head of state, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, was denied entrance to the park in 1959 when police said they could not ensure his safety.

Security was also a problem for park officials Tuesday afternoon, with park security guards aided by members of the Anaheim Police Department and the Secret Service. However, security guards spent most of their time protecting Katerina from reporters and photographers--not tourists.

Ike Issacson, manager of security at Disneyland, would not comment on the park’s unusual safety measures. Dozens of Disneyland guards were spotted patrolling the grounds during the Russian girl’s visit.

Many tourists admitted that they did not know who she was. But others were eager to greet Katerina--with a protest message.

Minutes before the blue Dodge van carrying the brigade of Soviet and American visitors pulled up to the front gate, a dozen protesters--most of them children--caught Disney security officers off guard. The children, the youngest of whom was 6, began to distribute letters from the Free Afghanistan Alliance, a Los Angeles-based, nonprofit organization that wants Russian soldiers to leave Afghanistan.

‘The Place to Start’

“If the Russian leadership is sincere about peace, the place to start is in Afghanistan,” said Asad Farhad, a director of the organization.

Shortly after signing the park’s guest book, Katerina was escorted into an antique car that wheeled her down the park’s Main Street and dropped her off at the gates of Adventureland. Beside her sat her translator, her mother, and her American escort--12-year-old Star Rowe of San Francisco. A Mickey Mouse character also climbed aboard.

Curious tourists, most of them armed with cameras and foreign accents, besieged the slow-moving vehicle. One man literally shoved his son into the antique car.

The wide-eyed boy pushed aside a security guard and ignored the Russian visitor in favor of the one face that he did recognize. “Look, Daddy,” he said. “It’s Mickey Mouse!”