Once Upon A Dream Come True: Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios February 2008

[Sleepless Knight]

Ladies and gentlemen, Knights and Princesses, once again the time has come for you to gather round the warming glow of your computer, or maybe even your cell phone, settle in with a refreshing dessert of your choice and prepare to be amazed (or not) by yet another harrowing tale of my adventures in Los Angeles traffic as I regale you with the tales of my once in a lifetime trip. Now anybody who has read my prior trip report is probably asking themselves (and rightly so I might add) how yet another trip to Disneyland, especially considering that I was just there a little over six weeks ago can be a once in a lifetime trip. Should you choose to venture on with me dear reader, I will tell you why.

Inasmuch as this trip literally features a cast of thousands(or at least 28 by one count), I'll introduce you here to the key players.

:chewy: That's me. Mild mannered accountant/tax preparer by day, Jedi Knight looking for his Princess Aurora by night.

My friend Doug. I know him from the store that you'll hear more about as the report progresses. A huge Donald Duck fan and my roommate for this trip.

My friend Alec. I also know him from the store. A huge Stitch fan who is very well versed in the parks, especially Disneyland.

Cindy: The owner of the store. In many ways the story of her life is similar to Cinderella. Her passion for Disney is unrivaled and her knowledge of her customers taste is matched only by her kindness. An amazing woman who has battled cancer for years.

Rick: Cindy's husband. Has a great sense of humor. Because of Cindy's health struggles, Rick doesn't get to go on very many rides when he visits Disneyland.

Marty and Linda: An older couple who I also know through the store. Very fun people who have made friends with a few of the cast members at Disneyland. I must try doing that as often as I'm down here.

Prologue: A Cinderella Wedding

Having made it this far, you're now probably asking yourself why I'm talking about Cinderella wedding. Have I betrayed my beloved Princess Aurora? Never. But it is Cinderella that helped make this dream come true. Some of you may know that I am a Disney fine art collector, and I have acquired almost every piece in my fine art collection through my friend Cindy. She owns a Disneyana store near me called Where The Magic Begins. Cindy credits her faith in God for helping her make it through the incredible trials she faces with a small assist from her love of Disney. Well, Cindy has always had one dream. She wanted a Cinderella wedding. So, this past October, she and her husband renewed their wedding vows in grand Disney style. The backdrop was a humongous banner of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World and Cindy and her husband were dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming. One of the guests at Cindy's wedding was none other than Disney artist Harrison Ellenshaw(the son of long time Disney artist Peter Ellenshaw) who did an event at her store earlier that day in connection with the wedding. As it turns out, one of Cindy's friends who could not make to the wedding that day is a former bigwig at the Walt Disney Company who now works for the fine art company that does most of the Disney fine art, including the pieces you see in the park art galleries. Unable to make it to the wedding, he promised Cindy to make it up to her. And so a few weeks later, he came to town and asked Cindy to invite some of her friends because he was going to take us all out to dinner. Little did any of us know what would take place that night.

Imagine if you will a gathering of about 20 Disney fans. We come from various walks of life, some young at heart, some still in high school, some married, some still looking for their true love, but all united by our love of Disney and our propensity to spend money on fine art and other assorted items of Disneyana. On this night as we all sat around enjoying a hearty meal and one another's company, the former Disney bigwig had an announcement to make. After toasting our friend Cindy, he informed us that he would like all of us to come down to Southern California to tour the facilities of the fine art company he now works for, and get a special tour of Disneyland. But that's not all. As part of this trip, we would not only get a special tour of Disneyland, but he would talk to some of former colleagues at the Walt Disney Company and get us a tour of a very special place, where legends walked the grounds, where the rooftops of London came to life, and the place where dreams are born. The Walt Disney Studios.

At about this time, I dropped my fork. I also had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I could not believe what I was hearing. I would get to tour the Walt Disney Studios?!!? Walk the same grounds that Walt Disney himself walked. See the very place where some of my all time favorite films have been made. Forget a golden fastpass or even a night in the Walt Disney Dream Suite. Visiting the Walt Disney Studios was safely filed away under lock and key in my wildest dreams. It wasn't going to happen, not in my lifetime, and yet I am hearing that I've been invited to see the Walt Disney Studios.

There was just one tiny problem. The tour was going to take place in February and I'm a tax preparer. Talk about the worst time of the year to have an opportunity like this come up. You don't just leave work for 4 days in the middle of tax season to visit Disneyland, especially when you hold an annual pass. Fortunately for me, my boss is also very much responsible for my Disney obsession. You see, I work for my father, and it was he and my mother who put that fateful Mickey Mouse poster in my nursery before I was even born. It was they who bought me a plush Mickey Mouse that I would toss out of my crib and cry forlornly before my friend was returned to me, at which point, I would toss him out again. It was they who took me to Mickey's 50th Birthday party when I was but two years old. And it was these same loving parents who took me and the siblings who later joined me to Disneyland on a regular basis, and almost every single Disney movie, both classic Walt Disney re-releases and the newest Disney film in theaters(and aside from Star Wars, these were the only films they took us to see). Knowing that this trip could not be taken in May, he let me take the time off, both of us knowing full well that I would be chained to my desk in the office upon my return. It was a tradeoff I would happily make again.

Chapter 1: On the Road Again

And so, on the morning of February 12, I hit the road at 7:45 am, a whole fifteen minutes earlier than my last visit down. I'm trying to determine the best time to leave my home in northern California so I can minimize the time spent in Los Angeles rush hour and obviously get to Disneyland earlier. On this visit, I will learn the true genius of Walt Disney's accomplishment and why no matter what Walt Disney World has to offer, in many ways, Disneyland is still the best park Disney has ever built.

The irony of this visit is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. On my visit in December, the sports radio station I listen to was abuzz with the pending release that day of the Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball. And on this morning, the same sports radio station is abuzz with the pending testimony of Roger Clemens in front of the U.S. Congress about steroid use in baseball. All in all, I make really good time. For whatever reason, the extra fifteen minutes actually saved me about an hour as I arrive the Tropicana Hotel right across the street from Disneyland around 1:45 pm. I get the key to my room, drop my stuff off, and then head right across the street, where it will be my joy to stand in line for about half an hour. While the park is still semi-crowded from crowds associated with Abraham Lincoln's birthday, I really have to wait in line to buy my annual pass. My old had expired, and since I knew this trip may be coming, I had opted to wait and renew my pass instead of letting it run unused for six weeks or so. Only this time I have learned my lesson. When buying an annual pass to Disneyland, there is only way to go, and that's premium. With all the discounts you get on food and merchandise, not to mention the complete lack of blackout dates, the premium pass more than pays for itself. And now, in order to pick up my pass, they send me to the one place where there's sure to be no one for miles around(at least until they open Toy Story Midway Mania and the other mega attractions following as part of the 1.2 billion dollar makeover), Disney's California Adventure.

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Since the line for Tower of Terror is longer than I would like, I decide to hit Muppet Vision 3-D. Opting not to repeat my childhood feat of tearing an entire book of little rainbow construction paper into confetti to celebrate going to see the Muppet Movie, I head over to meet the muppets. One of my favorite parts about the DCA queue for this venerable attraction is the plethora of muppet parody posters. I really think that this attraction would have much higher attendance numbers if people knew who the muppets were.

Only a true genius like the Great Gonzo could survive a stunt like this

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Insert theme music from The Godfather here

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Protecting the Old From the Young of the Universe

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After hearing Statler and Wahldorf heckle their way through yet another performance(it must be difficult being bolted to the floor), I head out only to hear the Muppet Show Theme in stereo. After a moment's hesitation I realize that in addition to the music playing as I leave the theater, my cell phone is ringing(gotta love that Muppets ringtone). Doug is returning my call and he's going to meet up with me.

Frumpy Old Men

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I'm not so sure about a pig as a Bond girl(guess I'd better duck after that comment)

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L.A. Traffic can sure drive me crazy

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This is punderful (get it?) on so many levels

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After heading over to Monsters, Inc I head back to Off the Page, where I've decided to meet Doug. While waiting for my sketch to finish up, Doug and I admire the wonderful art located in Off the Page. As art collectors, we discuss which ones we like, but don't have the room to display.

I planned on putting my new discount to use in Off the Page anyways since I'd had my eye on one of those custom sketches that the artists do. These sketches are kind of fun. Disneyland, unlike it's Florida counterpart offers not one color, but two colors in the sketches in addition to any custom text that you desire. After some deliberation, I finally decide on the sketch I want. As I'm buying this sketch with birthday money from my mother, I want this to have some meaning to me. For the text I've chosen a scriptural reference to putting on the armor of God, a passage that reminds me of the climax of Sleeping Beauty where Prince Phillip, armed with the sword of truth and the shield of virtue, must battle Maleficent and all the powers of hell.

And then I encounter a disappointment. They're completely out of the frame I want, but not wanting to wait, I decide on another frame, until that old Disney magic strikes again. The sketch artist overhears the conversation and informs the cast member assisting me that the very frame I want is sitting on her artist's desk for display purposes and that I can have it if I want after they swap the display sketch out. I readily accept, especially since the frame has Mickey Mouse drawing in the corner, so now I have something with both Mickey and Sleeping Beauty on it. In the end, it's little touches like these that make Disney special. The sketch artist didn't have to tell the cast member that the very frame I wanted was on her desk. She could have kept it there to show other guests. And in order to give the frame to me, they had to swap out the sketch in there already and put it in a new frame. It's little things like this that keep me (and my money) coming back to Disney.

The finished sketch that now hangs on my wall

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With the sketch taken care of(boy do I love that Premium AP discount), Doug and I head off to hit some more attractions. Single rider line reduces our wait time for Soarin' substantially. After that we decide to attempt Mulholland Madness. With the rumors that this will become Goofy's Sky Skool, I have but one request. They need to make the ride vehicles friendlier. In short, I'm wookie sized and I have a hard time getting in and out of this ride. I feel sorry for guests who are larger as I can't imagine how hard it is for them.

With that we head over to California Screamin' and I once again admire the wonderful facade being built for Toy Story Midway Mania. I think this has substantially improved the look and feel of Paradise Pier. It's beginning to feel a whole lot less cheap than it used to.

After picking up my sketch, we decide to head over to Disneyland and finish off the day there. Plus, I have work to do. You see, tomorrow is my birthday. That's right, I'm going to be in Disneyland on my birthday. I couldn't quite believe it back in January when Cindy told me that we would be touring Disneyland on my birthday with Harrison Ellenshaw. So, once in the park, I head to City Hall and pick up my birthday button for tomorrow, at which point they tell me something about a phone call that I need to receive tomorrow. Sounds cool.

Seeing as how I'm a Disney art collector, there is another piece of art I need to get. I recently discovered a piece by Disney Imagineer Larry Nikolai. I had the privilege of meeting Larry last June when I bought a giclee of a painting he did called Aurora. It's beautiful and I recently discovered a new piece Larry did. Flying to Fantasyland is beautiful. It depicts the characters from the opening day Fantasyland attractions flying around the top spire of Sleeping Beauty Castle. What seals this piece for me is that if features a sweet scene of Dopey giving Princess Aurora a rose. No word yet on how Snow White feels about this. Fortunately for me, Disney has released this piece in deluxe print form, so this isn't very expensive, and we're on our way.

Seeing as how it's not May and I went on this trip in February, I can't remember what we did for the remainder of the day. I know we hit a few rides and visited a few of the shops, but that's about it. Tomorrow is a big and exciting day. Up next a tour of Disneyland with artist Harrison Ellenshaw, the son of one of the 3 original artists who helped Walt build the park, Peter Ellenshaw.

[momto2nenas]

WooHoo! Your latest report!

[tofubeast]

Ok...I am in.

I absolutely cannot wait to read your Studios tour report!! Keep em coming!

:banana: :banana:

[Sleepless Knight]

Because I knew that visiting the Walt Disney Studios is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I preserved my camera memory and battery power(since I don't trust my camera batteries) to make sure I had plenty of room and battery power for the studios, which I did.

[Daisybelle]

I'm hooked! popcorn::

I enjoy your writing style! I look forward to reading more. :thumbsup2

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks. I want to get going on my most recent report, so hopefully I can finish this one up fairly quickly.

[daisy_77]

Wow!! You are so lucky! I would love an opportunity to see inside the Walt Disney Studios.:goodvibes
I am loving this report! I love the movie posters at the Muppet 3d show.:lmao: They are hilarous!
That is a lovely sketch. I still haven't checked out Off the Page. I passed it at least 5 times on my last trip too. Oh, well. There is always next time.

I am looking forward to more!popcorn::

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm a Disneyana collector(as you may have guessed) so I love Off the Page and Disneyana on Main Street. Both places are worth checking out just to see the artwork and big figures in each store.

[wendylady36]

If you don't mind me asking, where abouts in Nor Cal do you live?

I'm green with envy about your once in a lifetime chance.

I was on the Disney movie rewards page and saw they put this up: The Walt Disney Studios: Deluxe Private Tour for 2 - 20,000 Points. I'm only 16,975 points away! :rotfl2: I only have to buy about 230 more movies :lmao:

I'm really enjoying your report, I can't wait to hear more!

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm in Pleasanton. My friend Doug was also saving up for the tour, but then this opportunity came up, so he now has those points to use for other things.

Adventures by Disney also has an option up where you get a backstage visit to Disneyland, a tour of the Walt Disney Studios, a tour of Imagineering, and some visits and dinners in assorted parts of Hollywood. I think it was around $2500 per person. If you're a big enough Disney fan and can afford it, it's worth saving up for. Being on the backlot was incredible, and I took lots and lots of pictures, which you'll see sometime in the future.

[KCmike]

My wife found you back a year ago under the disneyworld part of these pages when you were sleepingjedibeauty and she absolutely loves your writing. I just found you again and was looking through all your posts. My wife and I love to read your trip reports. Now all we look at our Disneyland posts.

We have been to Disneyworld seven times. We went to disneyland for the first time back in Oct. of 07 and just went back last week in the first week of June. Disneyland is now our favorite park by Disney. Disneyworld was our first and probably our home park because it was our first and where we first saw our first parade (Mainstreet Electrical Parade) and then Spectromagic. We are now totally in love with Disneyland. The detail, the rides, the magic. There is something so special about it all. Remember dreams comes true is my favorite fireworks show as well. Fantasmic is by far better at the land too. I could go on....

So anyways where is the report on the Disney studios? The pics?

Can't wait to hear how this report is so magical! So bring it on SleepingBeauty!!!

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks for your kind words about my writing style. Maybe someday I'll finish my WDW 2006 report that got sidetracked because of a move. I honestly still remember quite a few details about it.

I think you raise some interesting points about Disneyland vs. WDW. I honestly love both places immensely, but I think that in park to park comparison, Disneyland is the best they've ever done.

As for the Studios the bad news is that I still have to get to it, but the good news is that a new update is coming later tonight.

[TiggerandTink]

Ok - I'm in. More please. popcorn::

[Sleepless Knight]

Before we begin the next installment of this report, Mr. Peabody is going to instruct Sherman to set the Wayback Machine to June 16, 2007, the day after my little sister's 20th birthday. She had gone to San Francisco for to celebrate her birthday with one of her dearest friends from high school, while I was heading to Cindy's store where I would meet none other than Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy and Pluto. Let me tell you that's it's incredibly fun to just be talking with Bill and all of the sudden, you're having a conversation with Goofy. It's almost unreal. Well, as I was talking with Bill I had an idea. Since Goofy is my sister's favorite character I asked Bill if he wouldn't mind calling her and wishing her a happy birthday. So I called my sister and when answered I handed the phone to Bill. He called her by name and started talking to her about her birthday. How I wish I could have seen the look on her face. Apparently she started jumping up and down in the middle of San Francisco and proclaimed that she was talking to Goofy. Her friend gave her a confused look wondering what in the world my sister was talking about. When I got the phone back, my sister couldn't quite believe that she had talked to Goofy.

Now what does this story have to do with this Disneyland visit? Well, today's date is February 13, 2008, or in other words, my birthday. Now, I've never been a huge birthday person, but I must say that being in Disneyland on your birthday is awesome. Inside City Hall, they tell me there's a phone call for me. So as I pick up the phone, who should I hear singing happy birthday to me, but the one and only Goofy. Never did I dream last June that as Goofy wished happy birthday to my sister that on my next birthday I would be in Disneyland hearing Goofy sing happy birthday to me. :yay:

In the Emporium looking for an autograph book in anticipation of meeting some artists and possibly some Disney celebrities on this visit, another CM sang some sort of Spanish birthday song to me and handed me the phone where I got to hear Goofy again. It's just as great the second time. Having eventually settled on a cheap book and a nice Disneyland pen with Mickey and friends on it, we headed to the area near the flag pole on Main Street. At 10:30, we're supposed to meet up with the rest of our group for a very special tour of Disneyland. Our guide for this tour will be none other than Harrison Ellenshaw.

For those who don't know, Harrison Ellenshaw is an accomplished artist in his own right. He's worked on such films as Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back among others. He's also done some remarkable paintings of nature, Star Wars, and of course, Disney. Harrison's father Peter Ellenshaw was a very prominent artist who worked with Walt Disney on many projects including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Along with John Hench and Herb Ryman, Peter Ellenshaw was one of the 3 main artists responsible for the design of Disneyland.

This is actually the second time I've met Harrison Ellenshaw. The first time was last October when he came to Cindy's store for an art event and her Cinderella wedding. I was able to spend quite a while talking with him about working on Star Wars and about the process he goes through when he paints a painting. On this day, he was also hand enhancing one of his giclees called Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty that he painted with his father Peter before Peter's passing. It was cool when Harrison recognized me from that day. At the same time it was quite mind boggling that here I was in Disneyland with Harrison Ellenshaw, the son of one of the 3 artists who designed the park.

Harrison Ellenshaw embellishing my painting of Once Upon A Dream.

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Me and Harrison Ellenshaw with the final version of my painting

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When you really stop to think about it, that's what makes Disney different. Most parks are built by engineers, but Disneyland was designed and built by artists. It's why the park is so elaborate. It's why the park has this incredible and magical ability to transport you from the middle of southern California and the snarling traffic of Los Angeles into a fantasy world. When you look down Main Street towards Sleeping Beauty Castle, you really feel like you're in an entirely different place, where time seems to stand still. One of the big differences between Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in WDW is Main Street itself. In Disneyland's Main Street, the buildings are much smaller and the street itself is more narrow, thus more accurately capturing the feel of turn of the century America. Furthermore, because of the sheer size of the castle in Florida, Main Street has to be a little bit bigger so as to not be completely dwarfed by the castle. The end result is that Main Street USA in Disneyland has a bit more charm to it. As a side note, I love how one of the windows in the Emporium is actually decorated like a real turn of the 20th century storefront window. And I absolutely love the elaborate window displays that have been a part of so many visits to Disneyland as a child.

The detail on these window displays is simply wonderful. :love: They even got the dress color right.;)
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As we wander down Main Street, Harrison tells about some of the names on the buildings and their contribution to Disneyland. For anyone who may not know, the proprietors of the assorted business names on the windows of Main Street contributed in a unique and special way to Disneyland and it's history. At the very end of Main Street, right next to Photo Supply is a very special window. It's the Plaza School of Art and it's directors are John Hench, Herb Ryman, and Peter Ellenshaw.

Harrison Ellenshaw, a fine artist in his own right, and the son of one of the directors of the Plaza School of Art

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From there we head over into Adventureland and learn about the different stories and architectural style that Disney was hoping to achieve. After that we wander over to the Rivers of America where Harrison tells us stories about what this all used to look like back in the days when Disneyland first opened. Harrison vividly remembers walking through the park with his father and suddenly running into Walt Disney himself. Walt spent a lot of time in Disneyland even after the park was open. I've often said that while some parks may be built on a much larger and grander scale, Disney has yet to even equal Disneyland because it's the only park in the world where Walt Disney himself actually walked and it has his personal touch all over the place. I wonder what Walt Disney World and Epcot would have been like had Walt Disney lived to build them.

At the Rivers of America

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Next it's over to Fantasyland where Harrison tells us stories about working as a cast member in his late teens on assorted Fantasyland rides like the skyway and some humorous stories involving scaring the living daylights out of teenagers who liked to spit out the buckets on the skyways since Disneyland employees can see many things. They would quite often have the kids get out of the bucket and then have them stand against the wall for a few minutes, doing and saying nothing to them, which had the effect of making these kids fear what was going to happen. Then with a very stern warning about what would happen if they dared try some stunt like that again, they let them go.

Fantasyland is one area that really sets Disneyland apart from the Magic Kingdom in WDW. Where the MK has highly decorated boxes with paint on them separate from each other, Disneyland has elaborate show buildings that somehow blend in with the feel of Sleeping Beauty Castle, while also being uniquely themed to the locale where the attraction itself takes place. Snow White's Scary Adventure blends masterfully in with Sleeping Beauty Castle, while also being in the style of the architecture seen in the film. And then it subtly transitions into the Italian feel of Pinocchio. Across the way, you see the rooftops of London for Peter Pan's Flight transition into Toad Hall. If you've never been to Disneyland before, take the time to appreciate the marvel of Fantasyland. Each show building is almost an attraction in and of itself, and that's especially true of the currently closed It's a Small World.

As we head off to Tomorrowland, Harrison tells us about walking through the old 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction(not the subs) that was in Tomorrowland at the beginning. He also tells us stories of going of family vacations with his dad that somehow ended up filming one American location or another to see how it would work in CircleVision. He even tells some stories about working on Star Wars with George Lucas and also ironically thinking that Raiders of the Lost Ark had too much action in it when George Lucas showed him the script. Having finished up our tour, Harrison Ellenshaw politely spends a few minutes signing our assorted books(I chose one with tear out pages so I could later put them into a photo album) and chatting with us before going on his way. After managing to collect some of our group after they scattered, we did manage to get a group picture in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Part of our group in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. If you want to know who's who, just ask.
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Coming soon to a trip report near you: A birthday lunch and the great sweatshirt debate.

[Disneygrl36]

So glad I found this.
I am fascinated by your story so far. Getting to meet Harrison Ellenshaw must have been incredible & that is so cool that he took the time to emblish your painting & that is one that he worked on with his Dad. I :love: Peter's work from Mary Poppins.
Can't wait to read more.
See my ticket below......DH & I are going on the Backstage Magic Adv. by Disney in December.......I can't wait!
P.S. Does your friends store have a website?

[Sleepless Knight]

The neat thing about Harrison Ellenshaw is how down to earth the man is. Here's an artist who has worked on some of the most well known and popular films ever. His father is a legend who helped design Disneyland and worked on one of the most beloved films of all time in Mary Poppins. And yet, Harrison Ellenshaw is more than happy to talk with you and tell you about what he tries to capture when painting.

He once told me that his father would destroy an entire painting if it didn't look right, nevermind that Harrison thought the work was stunning. Likewise, he told me that his father was always hurt when somebody bought a painting of his and then sold it. He felt like he didn't do his job right since the person who bought it grew tired of the painting hanging on their wall. That tells me a lot about the time and effort that were put into the painting.

Now your backstage magic visit will be an exciting trip. I'd love to visit Imagineering, but after seeing the cost of that trip and since I've been to the Walt Disney Studios, I don't know that I'll ever take it. Have fun and hopefully we'll get a trip report from you as well.

Yes, my friend's store website is Where The Magic Begins (http://www.wherethemagicbegins.com/). In fact I'm going there tomorrow to meet Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy again. That is such a treat. One minute you're talking with Bill and the next minute, you're talking with Goofy. It's awesome!!

[Disneygrl36]

Fascinating stuff.....It is so cool to me to hear about Disney Legends like Peter Ellenshaw. Hope you had fun talking with Goofy again. :goofy: The only Disney Legend I have had the pleasure of meeting is Don "Ducky" Williams whom I met on our Disney cruise last Halloween. He has a wonderful story & is a delightful man who gave us a thumbs up on our Mary Poppins & Bert costumes that ended up winning us the Most Disney category in the costume contest.

I am very excited for the ABD trip & I will be doing a trip report as well.

Can't wait for more about your trip.

[Sleepless Knight]

Congratulations on winning the costume contest. That must have been really fun. Talking with Goofy again was a blast. It may be a few days befor my next update. I've got a real busy week coming up, but I'll see what I can do.

[wendylady36]

I'm in Pleasanton. My friend Doug was also saving up for the tour, but then this opportunity came up, so he now has those points to use for other things.

Adventures by Disney also has an option up where you get a backstage visit to Disneyland, a tour of the Walt Disney Studios, a tour of Imagineering, and some visits and dinners in assorted parts of Hollywood. I think it was around $2500 per person. If you're a big enough Disney fan and can afford it, it's worth saving up for. Being on the backlot was incredible, and I took lots and lots of pictures, which you'll see sometime in the future.

When I first heard about the Backstage Tour I about fell off my seat. I really really REALLY want to go on it. I would love to do any of the other Adventures by Disney too...except the ones with the spider warnings. :lmao:

The painting of Aurora and Prince Phillip is beautiful. I am SO excited that Sleeping Beauty is going to be the first to come out on Blu-Ray...I got rather excited about that one too and almost jumped out of my chair in excitement.:rotfl: Aurora was always my favorite, her story is so magical and I love the songs.

Great trip report! :thumbsup2

[Disneygrl36]

Congratulations on winning the costume contest. That must have been really fun. Talking with Goofy again was a blast. It may be a few days befor my next update. I've got a real busy week coming up, but I'll see what I can do.

Thanks. It was very fun. Take your time. We'll still be here waiting to hear about your adventures.

[Sleepless Knight]

Having survived a tempermental internet connection and seeing a sneak preview of WALL-E at Pixar, I have at long last returned. The question is if any readers wish to continue on with me since you've likely found better things to do with your time than wait for me to update my trip report. :lmao:

After our tour of Disneyland with Harrison Ellenshaw, our group tended to scatter somewhat. However as it was around 1:00pm we were definitely starting to get hungry. So part of our group decided that the best place to eat would be Cafe Orleans. So, after meandering our way over to New Orleans Square, we managed to snag seating at 2:00pm. When lunch arrived, I was quite starving on account of having eaten nothing all day and wandering around Disneyland. I do not recommend this course of action seeing as how I was quite famished. However, now seated, I decided to order a soup and the famous Monte Cristo. Unfortunately, I don't remember for sure which soup I got. I think it was the gumbo, but either way it was very good. The Monte Cristo was also excellent. Some of our table ordered some of the garlic fries as well and they were quite delicious. However, be forewarned that these garlic fries are very heavy on the garlic, which was fine with me, but others may not share my tastes. And since it is my birthday, the waiter brings me the famous Cafe Orleans dessert, one of the Mickey shaped beignets. Very good. Remember that if you're in Disneyland on your birthday, you often get all sorts of things from assorted cast members.

Happy and full, I decide to head back to the hotel to pick up my sweatshirt as the weather has started to get much cooler as the day has continued on. Fortunately staying at the Tropicana meant that the walk wasn't far, so not too much valuable park time was lost. This visit was unique in that I wouldn't be spending every waking minute of my time in southern California in Disneyland itself. I'm also not used to visiting during slow times, so the park closing at 8:00pm is unusual. So here I am at 3:00 in the afternoon and have yet to go on a single ride today. Definitely not a norm for me. As much as I love to soak up Disneyland's atmosphere, I like to soak it up on rides as well.

Well, it's time to remedy that. A few of us, myself, Doug, Alec, and Rick meet up near the Partners statue and decide to head over to Tomorrowland. On my birthday of all days I want to ride Star Tours. So we do. It's great as usual except my geek out moment of seeing R2-D2 and C-3PO is magnified since I never dreamed that I would see them “live” on my birthday. In case you can't tell, I'm still geeking out about spending my birthday in Disneyland. I have no idea how I'm going to top this.

From there we head over to Space Mountain. This is an interesting visit for Rick since he usually doesn't get to experience rides on account of his wife's health, but since she's shopping with friends, Rick gets to do some rides with us. As it nears our group's turn for Space Mountain, Alec and I realize something. It looks like we're going to be in the front row. I've never ridden Space Mountain from the first row before. I almost did a couple of years ago, but as tends to happen at Disneyland my sister and I struck up a conversation with the mother and daughter behind us. When my sister and I were assigned the front row, the mother and daughter were disappointed at having come so close. I decided to offer them the front row. They happily accepted and my sister and I had the second row.

The mother and daughter were very excited, and even more so when we all got off the ride. Since that time, I wondered what I had missed out on. That said, I never regretted the decision. And now having experienced the first row for myself, I'm even happier that my sister and I gave up our first row seats that day. The first row of Space Mountain is AWESOME! It was insanely fun(and as we all know Space is really fun anyways. So I was glad that day to give someone a wonderful experience. I'm firmly convinced that when we seek to do nice things for others, especially at Disneyland, that our kindness will return to us.

After sufficiently celebrating and reveling in the first row of Space Mountain, it's time for a little bit of a break and Buzz Lightyear works great for that, even if Alec absolutely destroyed me in the game. At this point, we managed to meet up with Marty and Linda while having to say goodbye to Rick, and it's off to do more rides. We hit Big Thunder and Pirates, which are fun as always. Now that I've spotted the real hidden Mickey on POTC, I ask people if they want to know where it was(it's not the cannonballs at the beginning).

The time for the parade is drawing nearer and since it's my birthday there are two Disney characters I really want to see. The Mouse and the Princess. Not wanting to deal with the insane crowds in ToonTown for the Fantasy Faire, that leaves the parade as the best place to do so. And I don't mind not getting my picture taken with the characters. I really just want to see them. So Alec and Doug agree to humor my crush on Sleeping Beauty(did you really think it would be any other princess?) and watch the parade me with me.

Here's the great thing about the Parade of Dreams. It's almost two totally different parades. It is really a beautiful sight all lit up in the evening with the lights and everything, especially the Beauty and the Beast float with the recreation of the ballroom and the chandeliers. Unfortunately, my camera is not the best for night shots, so there aren't many pictures here and they certainly don't do the parade at night justice.

Tale As Old As Time
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/batbfloat.jpg

A word to those visiting Disneyland during the off season when the parade can be seen at night. Do so. Even if you've seen the parade before, it's really worth seeing it all lit up at night.

I'm guessing the Mad Hatter won't like me too much today.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/alicefloat.jpg

No need to worry about new management and Tiki Birds at Disneyland
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/tlkfloat.jpg

And so we watch the parade, and I always get excited for the final float. I mean it's got Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, Princess Aurora, and Sleeping Beauty Castle all rolled into one.

Isn't she lovely?:cloud9:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/aurorafloatnight1.jpg

She waved at me!:love:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/aurorafloatnight2.jpg

And to think that it all started with a mouse.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/mickeyfloat.jpg

Now having seen my favorite two Disney characters, we decide to hit more rides so it's off to Indiana Jones. At which point Alec tells us about one of the more interesting aspects to Indy. If you want the bumpiest ride possible, hope for the third row. It's much wilder than the first two rows. Well, we get the third row and yes it is bumpy. It's all good though. Well, once we get off the ride, there's not enough time to do anymore rides, so Alec, Doug, and I decide to walk through Sleeping Beauty Castle for the first time all day. I love how When You Wish Upon A Star plays quietly as you walk through the castle. It's such a great Disney touch.

Now, as we are all collectors, and since my collection focuses on Sleeping Beauty, we all stop to admire the statue of Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora behind the castle. As we look at it, Doug starts to tell us about his Donald statue that's a replica of the one over by the Partners statue. I comment about how I would like to have this very statue of Phillip and Aurora in my house, which leads to a wild conversation which involves a description of me and Alec attempting to casually walk down Main Street USA while lugging this very heavy statue like nothing else is wrong. Now, please don't misunderstand me here. I would never even consider doing something like this. We just got a good laugh out of how silly and stupid we would look attempting to leave Disneyland lugging this incredibly heavy statue that has just been separated from it's base. And since on my last visit I had to make my way out of the park while carrying a big fig box, I know how interesting it can be to haul a very large box around Disneyland.

And with that, my day at Disneyland has come to an end. Tomorrow is going to be a non-Disneyland day as we're going to visit Collectors Editions and see all their brand new artwork.

[kaoden39]

I'm glad I saw you on one of the threads I visit. I had kind of lost you around the time you went to Disneyland on your last trip. Well this trip report is really enjoyable like the last one. Good luck on the Jedi Princess search.:goodvibes

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks for your kind words. Sometimes I feel like nobody's reading my reports(but then I see the numbers keep climbing, so I appreciate comments. It motivates me to keep writing them in the hopes that they may be of use (or at least entertaining) to someone else.

[wendylady36]

I love that statue of Aura and Phillip! I took a picture and made it into a mouse pad, it always made me smile.

Sounds like you had a great birthday! I love celebrating my special day at Disneyland.

Thanks for the update! :goodvibes

[Sleepless Knight]

Me too. I meant to post a picture of it that I took in daylight, but I guess I'll just have to include it in a future update. The impressive thing about these statues is the detail on the characters and so forth.

[Disneygrl36]

I'm still here too.
Great update & it sure is fun to celebrate your Bday at Disney. I have been at WDW on one bday & on DCL on another. Never enough magic in life & being at Disney on your bday just adds that extra special touch of pixie dust.
Can't wait to hear more & especially about the studios.

[Sleepless Knight]

With my birthday behind me, the next day dawns early. Whereas my birthday was a day of Disneyland, today will be a day of fine art. Today, our group is headed up to Collectors Editions. For those of you who don't know, Collectors Editions is a fine art production company that handles the Disney Fine Art Account. If you've ever stepped inside the Disneyana store on Main Street, Off the Page in DCA, or have fond memories of the Disney Gallery, chances are very good that you've seen some of Collectors Editions artwork.

And now it's time for a crash course in fine art, so you the reader may pretend to impress your friends with your knowledge of fine art(or at the very least have an idea of what I'm talking about).

Original: The very canvas used by the artist to paint. It will have all the brush strokes on it and so forth. The original can be purchased, but usually costs thousands of dollars to do so.

Giclee: A French term that apparently means sprayed on ink. The original painting will be scanned into a computer and then printed onto either a canvas or paper and then sold. A giclee is much more affordable than the original, but is usually smaller than the original.

Artists Proof: After the original is scanned, the artwork is then printed onto the canvas. The artist will come and examine the first few prints off the machine to verify that the colors match the original and that the canvas print looks the way it's supposed to. An artists proof should always have A/P written somewhere on the print.

In the last couple of years, I've really gotten into Disney fine art. It probably stems from two sources. First, I've always loved Disney animation since I was little, and second I've always collected something Disney. As I grew older however, I found that my tastes changed. I still loved collecting Disney, but I wanted something that felt more “grown up” if you will. Sketches, lithographs, and artwork became a great way to do that. My first fine art piece is Thomas Kinkade's wonderful Disneyland 50th Anniversary piece that I bought at Disneyland. Little did I know what it was leading to.

A couple of months later I went out to Cindy's store and she showed me a stunning piece of artwork from Sleeping Beauty. Titled The Royal Waltz it was commissioned by Disneyland for the 45th Anniversary of Sleeping Beauty. This one just happened to be an artists proof. Even better, the piece was painted by artist Ron Dias, whose first job in Hollywood was working on Disney's 1959 classic (yes, you guessed right) Sleeping Beauty. Ron even worked on the Aurora unit under the legendary Marc Davis. I figured that owning a painting by an artist who worked on Sleeping Beauty could be the closest I ever come to owning a cel from the film, and if so, I'm perfectly fine with that.

The Royal Waltz by Ron Dias
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/royalwaltz.jpg

What's more, Cindy introduced me to Ron Dias and we became friends. So, from time to time I talk with Ron and he tells me more cool stories about working on Sleeping Beauty and for Disney. Ron has also illustrated many of the Little Golden Books, and did concept art for Tokyo Disney Sea, and The Little Mermaid TV show. For anyone who cares, more of Ron's work can be seen at http://www.rondias.com

Well, fine art has a way of becoming “addicting.” Soon I had added a painting by Mike Kupka called Sleeping Beauty. I had first seen it at WDW and longingly admired it, never dreaming that someday I would own it. Shortly after that, I added a beautiful painting by Imagineer Larry Nikolai called Aurora and Jim Salvati's Singing With The Birds. The in October, I added Once Upon A Dream by Peter and Harrison Ellenshaw.

Sleeping Beauty by Mike Kupka
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/kupk10309.jpg

So this is what it feels like to hold thousands of dollars in your hand. Singing With the Birds by Jim Salvati
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/kd1.jpg

I don't think I've ever held anything worth this much money in my entire life. Peter and Harrison Ellenshaw's Once Upon A Dream
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/ellenshaworigianl.jpg

One of the neat things about getting most of my artwork through Cindy is that I've been able to meet most of the artists who have painted my pieces and quite often learned about the creative process that went into the artwork. It has given me a much greater appreciation for their talent and added some very neat personal touches to my paintings. I remember my mother taking us along when she bought a Kinkade painting and have it embellished by one of Kinkade's assistants. Never did I dream in those days that I would someday have Disney paintings embellished by the artists themselves.

After a lengthy, but stress free drive through Los Angeles traffic, we arrive at Collectors Editions. They've invited us along to see the brand new artwork they've just unveiled to their dealers throughout the country. We are literally among the first in the general public to see the new artwork. As a special bonus, there are quite a few of the artists there today doing live demonstrations of their work and embellishing any of their paintings that we buy. Suffice it to say I'm very excited about this, especially because there are supposed to be 3 new Sleeping Beauty paintings that I've never seen before.

Our guide through the Collectors Editions facility is President/CEO Michael Young. He used to work for the Walt Disney Company and still has many connections with the company. In fact, it was Michael Young who took us out to dinner last November and proposed this once in a lifetime trip to us. Michael is a very nice man who spent much of the day with us, taking around the facility and answering any questions we had. He even told us that we could take picture of anything we wanted to except for the production facilities themselves. He allowed us to roam free in the Originals room where we could admire a huge variety of paintings by so many talented and diverse Disney artists, including some concept art by Ellenshaw for the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disney Sea.

While in the originals room, the moment of truth came. I would finally see Sleeping Beauty painting number one. Cindy told me about the existence of this painting a month or so earlier. She said it was supposed to be phenomenal, but there were some questions about movie accuracy. Some seemed to think that the sleeping princess was merely a beautiful blonde instead of the Princess Aurora. I figured I would probably get it as long as the dress was the right color (not pink). So, the moment of truth came and I saw the painting. And it was something else. Maleficent is in all her dragon glory, fighting a valiant and brave Prince Phillip riding atop Samson, sword in hand fighting for his beloved Aurora. This dramatic confrontation between good and evil is seen through a large window in the castle, where, while the fight rages on, the beautiful Princess Aurora sleeps peacefully. And that's where the painting catches, for Aurora is not in pink, nor blue, but yellow. And since she's not in blue, the painting is, in my mind at least, not movie accurate. Paintings are expensive, and I don't particularly want to spend that kind of money on an inaccurate painting. The piece itself is stunning, but I can very strict about movie accuracy. I even talk over my decision with some friends who understand where I'm coming from. So, no painting for me, right???

Well, there's something you have to understand about my love of the film Sleeping Beauty. I absolutely love the idea of Phillip fighting for the sweet, pure, and innocent Aurora. Phillip's just not going to show up at the end, kiss the girl, and make her dreams come true. Oh no, he's going to fight for her, protect her, and save her. Being the brave, valiant and courageous prince is the stuff my dreams are made of. And well, this painting just that. It now begins to haunt me. I can't stop thinking about it. So I head back to the originals room and look at it again. And I still can't get over the yellow dress. Strange, I know, but that's the way it is. And then I learn that John Rowe, the artist who painted it is at Collectors Editions today. And so as the painting continues to haunt me, I begin to wonder if not buying it is going to haunt me months from now. Since John Rowe is here, I have the opportunity to talk with him about the painting. Simply put, I need to know why I can't get this painting out of my mind.

So I head over to where Rowe is painting and I hear him telling some others about the painting. Turns out that it was very popular that day because people love dragons. I hear Rowe explain that he had his fourteen year old daughter pose as the model for Aurora. He then says two things that make my ears perk up. First off, he made Aurora older than his daughter, and he made her taller than his daughter. At this point, my Sleeping Beauty geek klaxon starts sounding. You see, the film itself references Aurora as being sixteen years old. Second of all, due to the vertical style of Eyvind Earle, Disney made all the characters taller including Aurora. If you see a poster with all the princesses on it, you'll notice that Aurora is the tallest. The height requirements to play Aurora in the theme parks are taller than the other princesses. Why, because Aurora is supposed to be tall. Suddenly, I'm not so worried about my earlier concerns of “movie accuracy.”

As the crowd lessens, I get to speak with Rowe one on one. He kindly proceeds to tell me the story of trying to depict Aurora in blue in her traditional Sleeping Beauty pose, but how viewed with the reds, yellows, and oranges of the fire, it began to look like a stained glass window. And then he offers the piece de resistance. In the midst of all hell breaking loose, with the fire and the dragon and her very destiny in grave danger, Princess Aurora sleeps peacefully. She is calm, serene, and happy, and this is precisely what Phillip is fighting for. He's fighting for peace, calm, and serenity. Life may have more moments of all hell breaking loose, but the moments of peace are what make life worth living and enduring well.

Having at last surrendered to buying this painting, I pose for a picture with the original. As Beauty Sleeps by John Rowe.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/roweoriginal.jpg

And at that moment I knew. Rowe had captured so beautifully and powerfully what Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty means to me. (As a side note here, I believe that Disney's version of the story is the first where the prince has to fight for the princess, instead of merely showing up at the end to awaken her with love's first kiss). Suddenly, I didn't care about the yellow dress. It didn't matter because the painting was movie accurate. Subsequent viewings of Sleeping Beauty have confirmed this for me, especially when I noticed the yellowish hue cast around the castle when the spinning wheels were burned(see I told you I'm a Sleeping Beauty geek/nerd).

Artist John Rowe personally embellishing my painting of As Beauty Sleeps.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/roweembellish.jpg

Although the angle and lighting do not show the embellishments, the painting is absolutely stunning when framed. This is the frame Collectors Editions chose for the painting.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/asbeautysleeps.jpg

One final note here about As Beauty Sleeps. Like I said I was not the only person to buy the painting that day. Many of the others bought it, usually because they love the dragon in the painting. When he embellished their paintings Rowe really toned down the colors around Maleficent, making her really pop from the painting. When I saw my painting, I realized what Rowe had done for me. After we talked for quite some time about the film and what it means to me, I realized that on my painting, he had not embellished Maleficent as much. Instead, he focused on the area around Phillip, making him the focal point of my painting. And on mine as you see Phillip, your eyes travel downward to Aurora, so you see what he's fighting for. And that's the inscription on the back of my painting. “Remember What You're Fighting For.”

Coming soon to a trip report near you: The Second Great Art Debate of the Day.

[Disneygrl36]

Wow what an incredible experience to be able to see all that Disney art & meet the artists too.
I am glad you got the painting & that it was embellished by the artist in a way that makes it even more meaningful to you.
Can't wait for more. popcorn::

[kaoden39]

All of the art work is just amazing and what a great way to spend your birthday. I bookmarked your friends website and I plan on looking at it in a minute. I can hardly wait if I see something I want it isn't too far away. Yay! Have a wonderful day.:goodvibes

[KCmike]

Love the reports. Loved your painting as well.

[toocherie]

Wow! Can't wait to see more of the artwork! Great report-

[toocherie]

And since on my last visit I had to make my way out of the park while carrying a big fig box, I know how interesting it can be to haul a very large box around Disneyland.



LOL--when I read this I really thought you had a box of "figs" and was wondering--hmmmm. I love figs. Where are they--in one of the sweet shops? Then I went to your friend's website and realized you meant big "figurine"!

Also--please tell me where the Hidden Mickey is on POTC--I know of one--wondering if it's the same.

Do you know where the one is at Pinocchio?

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks everyone. The artwork holds a special place in my collection, and yes there is more to come.

Note to self: from now on refer to the 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall resin recreations of Disney characters as big figures so as to not confuse people wondering how big the ODV cart selling 1 figs is.

The POTC hidden Mickey is on one of the armor plates near the end of the attraction. It can be spotted, but sometimes the light has to hit it just right to see the Mickey.

Remind me where the one on Pinocchio is.

[kaoden39]

Thanks everyone. The artwork holds a special place in my collection, and yes there is more to come.

Note to self: from now on refer to the 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall resin recreations of Disney characters as big figures so as to not confuse people wondering how big the ODV cart selling 1 figs is.

The POTC hidden Mickey is on one of the armor plates near the end of the attraction. It can be spotted, but sometimes the light has to hit it just right to see the Mickey.

Remind me where the one on Pinocchio is.

Ooh reminds self. I must look in September. Not for anything will I miss POTC.

[Sleepless Knight]

Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, it's time for another update. Note to readers: I knew of the phrase huzzah long before Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl made in famous. This is what happens when you spend the hours between midnight and 2:00am watching the brilliant Mystery Science Theater 3000.

All that debating in my mind and talking about the painting with John Rowe has made me very hungry(well that and the fact that I'd only had a small muffin or two to eat). Bless their hearts, Collectors Editions is providing both lunch and dinner for us. During lunch we got to speak with Harrison Ellenshaw's daughter, who's recently been doing some research on her grandfather's artistic legacy. Incredibly neat stuff, especially considering how much art Peter Ellenshaw did for the Walt Disney Company. I'm having a hard time remembering what I ate for lunch way back in February, so if you really wanted to know, I'm sorry. Suffice it to say it was very good and I was no longer hungry. Which of course means that I now have to confront the second great art debate. Remember how I told you there were three Sleeping Beauty paintings? Well, lucky for my wallet(but possibly unlucky for me) there was actually only As Beauty Sleeps. The other new piece was actually for Snow White. However, there is a semi-new piece that I've only seen on the internet before.

I've learned a valuable lesson about buying art over the internet. In short, try not to do it. It's not that you could get ripped off, but the bigger issue is actually one of appearance. In short, most pictures of fine art posted on the web do not begin to do justice to the actual piece once you see it. So today is also my first chance to see a piece titled Briar Rose by artist Trevor Carlton. For those who aren't familiar with Trevor Carlton's style, he's described it as pop nostalgia. He wants his work to look like it was discovered in a vintage movie theater closed long ago. In short, his style is very large and very fun and somewhat whimsical.

Trevor Carlton applying his craft with the one and only Mickey Mouse
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/ce3.jpg

And thus we come to the second great art debate. The issue I'm grappling with here is do I really want to spend even more money on another piece of artwork? So the debate goes back and forth in my mind for a few minutes. At one point I head over to Trevor and just start talking with him to get a sense of who he is and how his style works. Very quickly I find that Trevor is a very nice guy and a lot of fun. He loves to paint to rock and roll music and puts on quite a show. On this day, he's working on a Mickey Mouse painting, so it's very fun to see his style and how he applies different materials and textures to “age” the painting. As I watch Trevor paint, I come to a realization. This is a unique opportunity. If I buy the painting today, it will be embellished by the artist and thus become a unique one of a kind painting.

Once again a picture of me holding thousands of dollars in my hands
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/briaroriginal.jpg

So, I head off to find a Collectors Edition employee to see if I can get a giclee on canvas of Carlton's Briar Rose. When I do, the employee asks me if I want to come back into the “secret” location where all sorts of “secret” stuff is hidden. Well, the word secret just makes it sound cool, so I happily agree. It turns out a few others hear the word secret and they want to come to. So about five of us venture into the top secret room full of, drumroll please, shelves and shelves and shelves of unstretched artwork. But of course, this is somehow really fascinating, most likely because it's a top secret location. Maybe they're hiding the holy grail back there, but we just didn't see it. It gets even funnier when Linda Martin notices a very rare and nearly impossible to find Donald Duck painting. Her husband Marty collects Donald, so this could be huge. After checking with Mary Laskie, they learn that this painting is not damaged, so it is for sale. Happy day for Marty!!

Mary takes me over to the shelf where the Carlton paintings are and hands me a Briar Rose. The first thing I notice is the sheer size of this painting. It's something like 24x24. What makes this stand out for me is that all of my Sleeping Beauty fine art has so many elements to the painting that Aurora is but a part of it. In this painting, it's just Aurora. So it's really nice to have a huge painting of just Aurora. So once again, I'm sold. And this is where the fun begins. I go out again because I want to have my picture taken with Trevor and my painting. He won't be able to embellish it today, but that's okay. Anyways, I find Trevor and the wheels in his head start spinning.

You see, Trevor has yet to do any embellishments on this specific painting, so he's starting to come up with all sorts of ideas, at which point he describes himself as a mad scientist trying to figure out how he's going to to make this painting pop. Suffice it to say, this promises to be interesting and quite fun. The next challenge I face is coming up with something humorous and funny to say on the personalization, which will occupy my mind off and on for the next couple of hours.

Trevor Carlton cooking up some sort of mad scientist scheme for embellishing my painting
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/carltonbriar.jpg

So, after watching more artists do some work, including Harrison Ellenshaw, the time comes to take a tour of the production facility of Collectors Editions. Now a few years ago on a family trip to Disneyland, we toured the facility where my parents motor home was built. My brother the RV nut found this tour incredibly fascinating. As for me, I was still thinking happy thoughts about my time spent in Disneyland. Well, seeing the production facility was fascinating for me. One great thing about Collectors Editions is the protective process. When Michael Young took us out for dinner back in November, he actually showed us what happened to a Collectors Edition giclee when you pour some water on it. Well, nothing. He accidentally showed us this on a piece done by another art company and learned that their pieces do not repel water. Remember that you get what you pay for.

So we see the production, where the original is scanned and then printed out for the artist to approve. Once it's passed the artists test, it's onto production where the appropriate colors are sprayed on to the canvas or paper in the right place. Somewhat technical stuff, but inasmuch as I have a few pieces of fine art, I find this incredibly interesting. I enjoy seeing the process behind creating these works of art that I enjoy so much.

Up next comes the hardest part of the day. If you guessed leaving Collectors Editions, you'd be wrong. But if you guessed paying for my artwork, you'd be right. Actually it worked out great since Cindy gave us a discount and Collectors was giving us the “pre-release” price, so all in all it was a happy day. Besides that as it turns out, I may have spent the least that day since I only bought two paintings. My Disneyana collection is focused on two characters, Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty. Of course, there's so much Mickey stuff out there that I've decided to narrow that focus to Mickey in Star Wars, and I don't think I'll ever see fine art of Mickey in Star Wars.

Of course a few minutes later I would face a threat to my collecting focus (from a certain point of view). A forthcoming park exclusive painting. A park exclusive is pretty much like it sounds meaning that you can only get it in the park(akin to the Thomas Kinkade painting of Disneyland for the 50th Anniversary). This forthcoming painting is by Manny Hernandez and it's a beauty. It's titled The Happiest Street on Earth and features 106 Disney characters on Main Street USA with Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background. Manny was kind enough to show me quite a few of his character sketches for the painting and the work in progress original. He also showed me where a certain princess(you all get one guess and only one guess) is going to be in the painting since she hadn't been added yet.

Well since a few months have passed since I first saw The Happiest Street on Earth, more information has come out about it. It's going to be released on July 17, 2008 (an appropriate day to release a painting if I ever heard of one) exclusively at Walt Disney World!! (Ha, ha, ha, fool you). It's being released at Disneyland. On that day, those in the park can see a presentation with Manny and get their painting signed. Of course this is assuming they have any left by the release date. Disneyland, in a move that makes me very happy since there's no way I can be in Disneyland on the 17th, is making the painting available for purchase via Disneyland delivEARS. It became available yesterday, and yes, I bought it. I've convinced myself that because it features both a certain princess and the world's most famous mouse(and my oldest friend in the world, remember my mother put a Disney poster in my nursery before I was even born) at Disneyland. As an added bonus, it will be embellished by Manny himself even though Disney Gallery's website does not specifically say so. Manny came up to Cindy's store a couple of weeks ago and as we were talking about the painting, he told us that he would be doing some embellishment on every canvas edition of the painting. So knowledge can be a wonderful thing. Now I get to play the waiting game. While Homer Simpson would rather play Hungry Hungry Hippos, I have no choice. Disneyland told me the painting is being shipped in mid August, mere weeks before my next visit, but alas they can't hold it there for me so I have to pay for shipping. But courtesy of the premium annual pass, I did get a 10% discount. (And thus my premium AP has now officially already paid for itself over a deluxe).

The Happiest Street on Earth by Manny Hernandez
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/HSOE_Framed_27_36.jpg
Please note that this painting comes from the official Disney Gallery website. To see how the other editions look and some of the character sketches, click me, click me (http://www.register123.com/event/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x127396e3d7)! If you want information about the actual relase and info to contact Disneyland about, visit the Disney Gallery web page (http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/disneygallery/dlr_manny_hernandez_artistsigning.html).

And thus ends our day at Collectors Editions. Michael Young then takes us all out to dinner to celebrate our visit. During dinner the wheels in my head turn and I finally come up with the appropriate personalization for my Briar Rose painting by Trevor Carlton. I'd like to think that it combines my sometimes off the wall sense of humor with my love and knowledge of the film Sleeping Beauty. “May you find the love of your life while she's wandering through the forest pretending to be a peasant girl.”

The finished version of Briar Rose by Trevor Carlton. Note the brush strokes by the bird. And though it's difficult to see, he also embellished her hair band, shawl, berries, and the black part of her skirt with some sort of sparkly glitter type paint. It looks really cool.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/briarembellished.jpg

After dinner, we go our separate ways, ready to head back down to Anaheim to get ready for the big day. Yes, tomorrow my dream comes true. I will be visiting the Walt Disney Studios.

[lotsofboys]

What a great report......thanks for sharing!

[tofubeast]

Wow, such lovely art you were able to pick up! Your home is going to become a museum!

Looking forward to reading your next posting on the Studios! I hope you are busy writing it right now!! :rotfl:

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks. If all goes well, I'll start writing the Studios portion tonight.

[Daisybelle]

That was very educational! I've wondered what some of those terms meant but never got around to looking them up. I can see where art collecting would become addictive. How awesome to get the privilege to meet artists first hand and have them embellish your pieces. Very cool

[KCmike]

This was a great read. It is very interesting. Loved the paintings. Can't wait to hear about the studios. My wife noticed on a prior reply somewhere that I incorrectly stated your name on the boards and I apologize. I think I put SleepingBeautyJedi and of course it was SleepingJediBeauty. Sorry.

Again can't wait for the the studios. Do you have lots of pics from that?

[Sleepless Knight]

It wasn't until I asked Cindy about the terms that I knew what they meant either. I figured that I should know what these terms mean since I was now doing more than just admiring fine art. :rotfl: Better to be an educated consumer than an uneducated one.

Now, I'm just trying to figure out why the lower numbers are more sought after. I was told it was because the lower numbers were printed first, so their quality was better, but that was apparently back in the "old days" of fine art. Not that I mind much. I'm just happy to get a painting I like.

As for my old username, I don't even remember which order it was in. I just figured that Sleepless Knight makes more sense. Perhaps in a future TR I'll explain that origin. As for studios pics, I have a lot of them. I don't fully trust my camera(which you'll hear about more in a future TR) on account of it's annyoing proclivity to be fully charged one instant and completely dead the next second. Furthermore, it can run for weeks on a fresh set of recharaged batteries or it won't run at all on a fresh set of batteries. And it eats up supposed long lasting digital camera batteries at the same rate it eats up regular batteries. So, I didn't take very many pictures of the first 3 days of this trip because I knew that seeing the Walt Disney Studios is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wanted to take lots and lots of pictures. If I miss a pic at Disneyland, I can get it again without much trouble, but the Studios are a different matter.

Suffice it say, my camera chose to cooperate this time and I got a lot of pictures, which I will be sharing. After all, what fun is a Walt Disney Studios backlot visit without taking lots of pictures to remember it? And let's face it, it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining to read about it if you couldn't see what I'm talking about.

[Disneygrl36]

Another great update. You really are a great storyteller & I starting to become jealous of your personally embellished Disney fine art collection.:thumbsup2

I can't wait to hear/see all about the Studios. I agree with you 100% in that I think a good story needs lots of pictures to help tell it right. That's why we all love Disney so much isn't it because of the visual images they use to tell us the best stories. :lovestruc

[Sleepless Knight]

You hit that right on the head. I think a major reason why Walt Disney was so successful is because he always looked for new ways to tell a story. When you look at his classic films, none of them looked alike. Each film was distinct visually from the story that preceded it.

[Sleepless Knight]

Well, now that you've stuck with me through weeks of sometimes sporadic updates and even occasional postings on my pre-trip report comes the moment that you've all been waiting for, but of course what trip report would be complete without some sort of moment of truth and/or crisis, which you're about to hear about next.

Well, as everybody knows, Disney has billed 2007 and 2008 as the Year(s) of a Million Dreams. When looking at all the dream prizes being awarded, I can say that many of them don't strike me as a “dream.” Sure there are some fun prizes in the there, but I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade any of the year of a million dream prizes, for what I will see today. Yes, today is the day that I get to tour the backlot of the Walt Disney Studios the very place where so many of my favorite movies were created. You see of all the places in the world where I would love to someday visit the Walt Disney Studios are at the very top of the list, right ahead of Lucasfilm/ILM, and Pixar Animation Studios. On my many trips through southern California on my way to Disneyland, I would often wonder just where the Walt Disney Studios were in Burbank. I never ultimately really wanted to know though because of how badly I wanted to go there. Better not knowing just how close I was, while still being so very far away.

And yet now the day has come. In the months leading up to this trip, I'd been very quiet about. I guess I was afraid of somehow jinxing it. I told my family, but that was about it. I didn't tell any of my friends until about a week before the trip when I knew it was happening. It's unique experience waking up the morning of something you've dreamed about all your life, but never actually believed it would happen. This morning was nothing like the excitement and anticipation of visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World simply because this opportunity will likely never come again.

With our tour beginning at 10:30, we left Anaheim at 8:00am giving ourselves plenty of time to deal with rush hour traffic through L.A. Well, as it turns out, we didn't leave nearly early enough for on this morning the traffic was beyond horrible. It moved v e r y , v e r y s l o w l y. It was horrendous. As the minutes grew into hours, the fear began to mount. In short, there was too little time until our tour started and we were still too far away. In those anxious and fearful moments I began to fear that my dream was about to die in the horrendous traffic of Los Angeles. I don't think I've ever hated and loathed traffic as I did in those anxious hours. And yet from this I would learn a lesson.

You see I'm a very religious person. I served a mission for my church in Moscow, Russia for two years, beginning to learn Russian only after I accepted the call to serve. And now another piece of the puzzle becomes clear. Looking back on my life, I realized that God was preparing me to live amongst the Russian people through the films of Walt Disney. Why? It's already quite apparent that I've loved Sleeping Beauty since I was a little boy. Where did the music in the film come from? Piotr Ilych Tchaikovksy, the Russian composer. I also have very clear memories of Fantasia and the short Peter and the Wolf, which both featured extensive use of, you guessed it, Russian classical music. So, growing up in the end of the Cold War, I was exposed to the Russian culture in a small way through the films of Walt Disney. Long before I went to Russia, I had an appreciation for Russian culture. I clearly remember buying an old audio cassette(that seems like forever ago) in Moscow of music from the Sleeping Beauty ballet because I knew that the Sleeping Beauty waltz contained the music for Once Upon A Dream.

And so fearing that my dream was about to die, I began to pray, that someway, somehow, we would make it on time to the Walt Disney Studios. Well, we didn't, but through the wonder of cell phones we were able to call others in our group and let them know that we'd be a little late. To make matters even crazier and more stressful, we had been given bad directions to the Studios once we arrived in Burbank, so the stress mounted. So close and yet so far. Well, in the end we arrived. We were finally here. And in looking back, I realized that in spite of the incredible fear and stress of that nightmare of a morning, I had a sense of peace. God may not have helped us arrive on time, but he did grant me a sense of calm and serenity to deal with the stress.

But now the long nightmare of a morning's drive through Los Angeles had ended. I was actually at the Walt Disney Studios. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw the Sorcerers' Hat by the new animation building. I couldn't quite believe that I was actually seeing it for myself, live and in person. As we left the parking structure, we noticed the large stained glass windows the parking structure building. I suspect that all parking structures have elevators, and some even have stained glass windows in them, but I somehow doubt that those stained glass windows have portraits of Goofy, Donald Duck, Pluto, and Daisy.

Yes!!! We finally made it! The Walt Disney Studios!
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/wdc.jpg

How cool is this for a parking garage?
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/ds5.jpg

And then off in the distance I see it. The famous Walt Disney Studios water tower. Again, I can't quite believe it. I'm here on the backlot of the Walt Disney Studios. See over there is Jiminy Cricket as well.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/ds4.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/wdstudios.jpg

And so our tour begins as we walk past the soundstages, including the very famous Stage 2. Many, many years ago, Stage 2 was home to the rooftops of London where Mary Poppins came flying down into London to be a nanny for the Banks children. Mary Poppins was filmed entirely in stage 2. Love to laugh, here's where it happened. The chimneys were swept here, the birds were fed, and yes even kites were flown here. But Mary Poppins isn't the only film you've seen that was filmed here. In more recent years, stage 2 was home to cursed Aztec gold and a fateful confrontation between one Captain Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa. Yes, the final battle scene from Pirates of the Carribean was filmed here. The swamps from Pirates of the Carribean 2 were also filmed here on stage 2.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/stage2.jpg

More Disney history took place in the sound stages. I still remember growing up and watching old reruns of The Wonderful World of Disney and World of Color on The Disney Channel back in the days when the Disney Channel actually showed Disney programming as opposed to endless repeats of High School Musical: 25th Reunion or something like that. You know I miss the Disney Channel. I wish the channel bearing Walt's name would actually air programs featuring Walt and some of his wonderful characters as opposed to 24/7/365 tween hit of the day. Okay, enough of my rant about the channel bearing Walt's name(they don't even deserve it). Anyways, back when you could see programs that proved Walt Disney was a real person, and an amazing one at that, they would show footage from the classics. Even wondered why Sleeping Beauty and other classics looked so lifelike? Well, they would film live actors acting out scenes from the movie on these soundstages for the animators to study their performances and their movements. On a soundstage is where the old black and white footage of Phillip and Aurora meeting once upon a dream was filmed. Here on a soundstage, Phillip fought Maleficent to save the life of the girl of his dreams. So much history, and here I am, right in the middle of it.

Never before have I found some plain looking building so exciting.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/stage1.jpg

And so having seen the soundstages we turn the corner and come to a very famous street sign. Mickey Avenue. If you've been to Disney's Hollywood Studios, you've seen a street called Mickey Ave., but this one right before is the real Mickey Ave. I can't believe I'm here. Some people have replicas of this sign hanging in their homes. I loved Mickey Mouse my entire life. I could spot him from a hundred yards away when I was little, and yet now, here I am, standing on Mickey Avenue itself, right underneath the sign. Look carefully and you'll also notice Pluto's Corner, and yes, it's right next to the fire hydrant.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/mickeyave.jpg

Perpendicular to Mickey Avenue is another famous sign, this one paying homage to the film that quite literally built this place. Dopey Drive. Using the profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt and Roy Disney built the Walt Disney Studios. You know I think of all the Seven Dwarfs, Dopey is my favorite. And it's fitting and appropriate that we're on Dopey Drive now. For just down the street a little way is the original Legends Sidewalk. Here is where many of the Disney Legends put their hand prints in cement. Here you can find the signatures of the Nine Old Men, Peter Ellenshaw, Annette Funicello, Fess Parker, and Julie Andrews, among others.

It takes one to know one.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/dopey.jpg

Some of the Nine Old Men and other famous Disney legends.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/9oldmen.jpg

Marc Davis, the lead animator for such memorable characters as Tinker Bell, Cinderella, Maleficent, Cruella De Vil, and of course a certain princess with gold of sunshine in her hair and lips that shame the red, red rose. Davis also helped imagineer Disneyland's Pirates of the Carribean.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/marcdavis.jpg

And right across the street from Legends Sidewalk is the place where legends are born, where dreams begin. For here, in this building is where Briar Rose first danced off the page and into my heart with Prince Phillip once upon a dream. In this building, Peter Pan first flew off to Neverland with Tinker Bell. In these hallways, Dumbo learned to fly, and Bambi became twitterpated. Here is where Cinderella first tried on the glass slipper, Lady and the Tramp shared that romantic kiss on a bella note, Pongo and Perdita ended up with 99 puppies, and Baloo taught Mowgli the Bare Necessities. In later years, here is where Ariel would take her first steps on land, Belle would learn to love a beast, the Genie would be freed so he could visit Disneyland, and Simba would become The Lion King. The Animation Building. Here, the nine old men became, well, the Nine Old Men.

Our tour guide telling us about the history of the animation building. He skipped the part about the history and process of hand drawn animation because he knew that we already knew how it was created. Yes, I'm a certifiable Disney geek.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/oldanimation.jpg

In around 1995, the animation department moved to the new animation building with the Sorcerers' Hat, and the old animation building was turned into an office building. Today notables such as Jerry Bruckheimer and Terry Rossio(screenwriter for Pirates of the Carribean) work in this building. But as a tribute to the original purpose of this building, the walls of the first floor hallway are lined with various scenes and stills detailing the creation of an animated feature film or short and the process of how it leaps off the paper and comes to the silver screen.

It may have all started with a mouse, but this is the man who created the world's most famous mouse
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/walt.jpg

And here's the mouse who started it all
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/steamboat.jpg

A really neat thing about the layout on the walls of the old animation building. The drawings, sketches, and complete cels are grouped together by the part that each represents in the process of the drawing becoming the finished cels. For that reason, these pictures on the walls are not grouped together by film, but rather by what each one represents.

Concept art from Bambi
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/bambi.jpg

Rough animation and clean up animation on the Beast.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/batbsketches.jpg

Sketches of Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasia
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/fantasiasketches.jpg

Eyvind Earle's background painting of King Stefan's throne room from Sleeping Beauty. This film is unique in that prior Disney films saw the characters drawn first, and the background made to fit them. With Sleeping Beauty, Walt had Eyvind Earle create the lush and detailed backgrounds and then made the characters fit the background. This is part of why Sleeping Beauty the film is so consistent in appearance throughout. Some have also argued that Sleeping Beauty is the most realistic of the Disney films as they were hoping to create a moving illustration.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/earlethrone.jpg

Finished cels from assorted feature films and shorts. While I wanted Mickey to be clearly visible in this picture, you can also see Winnie the Pooh and The Jungle Book.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/mickey.jpg

I interrupt your visual tour here to interject that we even got to visit the famous underground tunnels that connected the animation department to Ink and Paint. Back in the old days before all hand drawn animation was inked by computer, each drawing had to be hand inked. In order to protect the drawings and the newly inked cels from occasional bad weather even in sunny southern California, the tunnels were constructed. Legend has it that Disney animators even used the slope of the tunnels as a slide using * gasp * some of the hand inked cels from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs since they didn't fully realize what they had accomplished with that film.

The front and back of a painted cel featuring Flora from Sleeping Beauty. By the way, Flora is still wrong.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/flora.jpg

The construction of one of the most breathtaking animated scenes ever done, the ballroom scene from Beauty and the Beast.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/batbprocess.jpg

A close up of the finished cel from Beauty and the Beast.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/batbcel.jpg

A finished cel from one of my other favorite Disney films, The Lion King.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/lionking.jpg

Showing the process of effects animation from one of Disney's most famous visual effects scenes ever, the dragon transformation and battle from Sleeping Beauty. Most of the films then record $6 million cost was spent on this scene. Small wonder that some historians believe that Sleeping Beauty was highly influential on Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/maleficent.jpg

To honor the past meeting the future, here are some scenes from Pixar's 2007 release Rataouille. It's worth noting that Pixar animators were heavily influenced by the Disney classics, with John Lasseter and Brad Bird having studied at Cal Arts. In Bird's films The Iron Giant and The Incredibles Frank and Ollie make an appearance. They're the gentlemen talking about how they did it old school at the end of The Incredibles.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/ratatouille.jpg

Coming soon to a trip report near you(at least in this thread): Legends Plaza.

[Mickey714]

Keep Updating

[Daisybelle]

That is just too too cool. I'm really enjoying your report! And it helped me get back into my Disney mood while getting through my work day! ::MinnieMo

[Sleepless Knight]

Glad I could help you get back into that Disney mood.

[mommaU4]

Those pictures were great. I especially liked seeing the one of the front of the studios. We used to live in Burbank so it brought back memories. Of course, we never toured the studios. ;) Very cool.

[Disneygrl36]

You made me nervous.......I bet you were reallly worried that you would miss this once of a lifetime experience. STUPID TRAFFIC. Glad everything worked out ok.
Great descriptions & pictures of the Studios........you are making me feel just like I am there. I can't believe that I will be there in December. I just can't wait.
Ready to see & read more.

[toocherie]

Thanks everyone. The artwork holds a special place in my collection, and yes there is more to come.

Note to self: from now on refer to the 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall resin recreations of Disney characters as big figures so as to not confuse people wondering how big the ODV cart selling 1 figs is.

The POTC hidden Mickey is on one of the armor plates near the end of the attraction. It can be spotted, but sometimes the light has to hit it just right to see the Mickey.

Remind me where the one on Pinocchio is.

the one on Pinocchio is in the carnival scene on the floor at the popcorn box.

[toocherie]

.


Of course a few minutes later I would face a threat to my collecting focus (from a certain point of view). A forthcoming park exclusive painting. A park exclusive is pretty much like it sounds meaning that you can only get it in the park(akin to the Thomas Kinkade painting of Disneyland for the 50th Anniversary). This forthcoming painting is by Manny Hernandez and it's a beauty. It's titled The Happiest Street on Earth and features 106 Disney characters on Main Street USA with Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background. Manny was kind enough to show me quite a few of his character sketches for the painting and the work in progress original. He also showed me where a certain princess(you all get one guess and only one guess) is going to be in the painting since she hadn't been added yet.

Well since a few months have passed since I first saw The Happiest Street on Earth, more information has come out about it. It's going to be released on July 17, 2008 (an appropriate day to release a painting if I ever heard of one) exclusively at Walt Disney World!! (Ha, ha, ha, fool you). It's being released at Disneyland. On that day, those in the park can see a presentation with Manny and get their painting signed. Of course this is assuming they have any left by the release date. Disneyland, in a move that makes me very happy since there's no way I can be in Disneyland on the 17th, is making the painting available for purchase via Disneyland delivEARS. It became available yesterday, and yes, I bought it. I've convinced myself that because it features both a certain princess and the world's most famous mouse(and my oldest friend in the world, remember my mother put a Disney poster in my nursery before I was even born) at Disneyland. As an added bonus, it will be embellished by Manny himself even though Disney Gallery's website does not specifically say so. Manny came up to Cindy's store a couple of weeks ago and as we were talking about the painting, he told us that he would be doing some embellishment on every canvas edition of the painting. So knowledge can be a wonderful thing. Now I get to play the waiting game. While Homer Simpson would rather play Hungry Hungry Hippos, I have no choice. Disneyland told me the painting is being shipped in mid August, mere weeks before my next visit, but alas they can't hold it there for me so I have to pay for shipping. But courtesy of the premium annual pass, I did get a 10% discount. (And thus my premium AP has now officially already paid for itself over a deluxe).

The Happiest Street on Earth by Manny Hernandez
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/HSOE_Framed_27_36.jpg
Please note that this painting comes from the official Disney Gallery website. To see how the other editions look and some of the character sketches, click me, click me (http://www.register123.com/event/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x127396e3d7)! If you want information about the actual relase and info to contact Disneyland about, visit the Disney Gallery web page (http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/disneygallery/dlr_manny_hernandez_artistsigning.html).



Sleepless Knight--why did you have to go and make it EASY to inquire about the Happiest Street giclee? Why? Why? Why? You are totally evil--trying to get other people to go down the same collecting road as you . .. . sigh . . . . yes, I just called Deliverears and ordered it . . . .sigh. . . you're just trying to get people to share your pain (and joy!)

[Sleepless Knight]

I don't now if I should congratulate you on getting such a beautiful piece or console you :lmao: Either way I think you'll be very thrilled with it.

Before I answer your question, I have to ask one of my own. Did you get either a premium AP discount or Disney Visa discount? They do give you those if you order through delivEARS. I'd call back and see if they can do it if you didn't. When I ordered mine, I told the CM I would be paying with a Disney Visa(not thinking about the discount) and asked if my premium AP discount is honored over the phone. She told me that the discount is the same, so she made applied the Visa one(as it was easier than having me read off the AP number).

Now to answer your question, I'll quote one of my cinematic heroes, albeit out of context, "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will."

Yes, high end collectibles are addicting. If you choose to go down that path, I recommend choosing one or maybe two themes and then adhering very strictly to those themes. In other words, choose a favorite film or character and then set your limits.

If you, like me, are someone whose themes tend to be fairly popular(mine are Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty), set rules and limits and then adhere to them. Any Sleeping Beauty item must have Aurora and/or Phillip in it before I'll even consider it. Once it passes that test, than it has to capture in some way the personal meaning the film has for me(see my thoughts on the As Beauty Sleeps painting. High end Mickey items must depict Mickey in Star Wars. I'm not so strict on pins and plush toys, but the strictness helps me keep things under control.

[toocherie]

I don't now if I should congratulate you on getting such a beautiful piece or console you :lmao: Either way I think you'll be very thrilled with it.

Before I answer your question, I have to ask one of my own. Did you get either a premium AP discount or Disney Visa discount? They do give you those if you order through delivEARS. I'd call back and see if they can do it if you didn't. When I ordered mine, I told the CM I would be paying with a Disney Visa(not thinking about the discount) and asked if my premium AP discount is honored over the phone. She told me that the discount is the same, so she made applied the Visa one(as it was easier than having me read off the AP number).

Now to answer your question, I'll quote one of my cinematic heroes, albeit out of context, "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will."

Yes, high end collectibles are addicting. If you choose to go down that path, I recommend choosing one or maybe two themes and then adhering very strictly to those themes. In other words, choose a favorite film or character and then set your limits.

If you, like me, are someone whose themes tend to be fairly popular(mine are Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty), set rules and limits and then adhere to them. Any Sleeping Beauty item must have Aurora and/or Phillip in it before I'll even consider it. Once it passes that test, than it has to capture in some way the personal meaning the film has for me(see my thoughts on the As Beauty Sleeps painting. High end Mickey items must depict Mickey in Star Wars. I'm not so strict on pins and plush toys, but the strictness helps me keep things under control.

Yes, I got the Disney Visa discount (I could have also gotten the PAP discount, but as you noted it is the same)--thanks for reminding me though.

Great collecting tips--the only other high end Disney thing I've bought is a set of Shag prints depicting various lands in Disneyland that I got when I was lucky enough to go to Company D (the castmember store) and they had two sets left at half price. Of course, that was back in April and I have made no moves to get them framed--which I need to do. My office landlord (who is also my best friend from law school) has been after me to put up artwork in my lobby--I have these big expanses of white walls. I don't know whether to put these items here or in my house. I have actually been looking for higher end artwork depicting either the Grand Californian or Wilderness Lodge themes because my lobby furniture is Mission style. So I'm not really sure the Happiest Street/Shag prints will go well with it. (Which means they would go in my house instead.) Decisions, decisions.

So, I would suspect my "theme" will be more Disneyland Park rather than a specific character. Which is where my heart is, anyway--I love it all!

And I am thrilled . . . but waiting for it to arrive will be hardest part!

and I think from now on I'll just call you Yoda . . . . . . :laughing:

Cheryl

[Sleepless Knight]

I'd go for your house since I think you'll enjoy it there more. I do have a small giclee of Bambi in my office that Collectors Editions gave us on this trip that works great. You can tell that it's Bambi, but it's not very "cartoony." I love the cartoony style, but not necessarily in an office.

One of the aspects I really enjoy about fine art is how it's an adult collectible. Over the years I've collected all sorts of things from Star Wars action figures to Disney fine art and I reached a point where I felt out of place collecting small things made of plastic. Artwork though has a timeless quality to it that means it never goes out of style.

[Phalene]

What a great report, I can't wait to hear more!

[toocherie]

I'd go for your house since I think you'll enjoy it there more. I do have a small giclee of Bambi in my office that Collectors Editions gave us on this trip that works great. You can tell that it's Bambi, but it's not very "cartoony." I love the cartoony style, but not necessarily in an office.

One of the aspects I really enjoy about fine art is how it's an adult collectible. Over the years I've collected all sorts of things from Star Wars action figures to Disney fine art and I reached a point where I felt out of place collecting small things made of plastic. Artwork though has a timeless quality to it that means it never goes out of style.

I'm thinking my bedroom so that every morning when I wake up I get to see the Happiest Street on Earth! (not sure what BF will think though!)

[travelmel]

Hi SK,
I'm really enjoying your TR! Thanks for sharing everything.

The Happiest Street on Earth reminds me of the back side of a Little Golden Book. I used to love to study those and ponder my next trip to Disneyland!

Melissa
P.S. I once had a priceless piece of personalized fine art! It was my personalized copy of how I, MISSY SCOTT, helped the dwarves figure out the exact combination to a locked door (my birthstone and birthday!) and RESCUE Snow White! OMG it was the BEST. I wish I could find a similar copy... or at least somebody who had it. I think I still have mine somewhere

[Sleepless Knight]

Cheryl, your bedroom is the perfect place for the Happiest Street on Earth. It's such a wonderful and fun piece.

Melissa, was it on a little golden book or something like that. I may be able to put you in touch with somebody who might be able to do something like that for you. Let me know if you want more information.

Phalene, thanks for your kind words.

[luvmyboys]

This is a fantastic report! I've spent waaay too much time this morning reading it through-- and can't wait for the rest!

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I spent some time last night working on the next update, so look for it later today.

[Sleepless Knight]

And so our time in the original animation building came to an end. From there we headed over to the new Legends Plaza and the Team Disney Building, which houses the office of CEO Bob Iger. The Team Disney Building is most famous for its' roof, or rather who is holding the roof up. Yes, I'm talking about the 7 Dwarfs, upon whose foundation Disney animation is built.

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And now we're on Legends Plaza. Once a year, the Walt Disney Company confers the status of Disney Legend upon a select group of individuals in honor of their contributions to the Walt Disney Company. The legends come from all walks of Disney life, including actors, animators, artists, musicians, voice actors, and even former Disneyland cast members(more on that later). At the Disney Legends ceremony, each newly inducted Legend is given a small replica of the Disney Legends statue. There's a fun note about the statue. Since it's themed to a certain mouse, the sculptor of the statue thought it would be fun to hide two other mice in the statue itself. So if you ever get a chance to see the Legends Statue, make sure to look very carefully at the back of the statue and you might be able to catch a glimpse of the mice who made Cinderella's dream come true when they rescued her from her mean and wicked stepmother. That's right, I just said the Gus and Jaq-Jaq had more to do with Cinderella's happy ending than Prince Charming. No wonder Disneyland had to remove the princes from the Parade of Dreams. The two Charmings must have felt rather silly next to Prince Phillip.

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As you see pictures of the different Legends plaques, you'll notice that some have the logo and others have the handprint of the Legend. If the Legend is honored while still alive, they'll put their handprint in the plaque. If it's a posthumous honor, then Disney just has the picture there. There are a whole lot of Legends honored on Legends Plaza, so I tried to seek out the plaques for Legends who in some way contributed something meaningful to my Disney fandom. Along the way I found quite a few whom I didn't know were Legends, but certainly contributed a lot.

While most people are familiar with Menken and Ashman, Frank Churchill wrote the songs in Snow White and George Bruns did many, many projects for Disney, including adapting Tchaikovsky's ballet for Sleeping Beauty.

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Mary Costa provided both the speaking and singing voice of Aurora. She credits the film with launching her distinguished opera career. Walt called her happy bird because she was always smiling.

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Richard and Bobby Sherman provided the music for such classics as It's a Small World and Mary Poppins.

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Walt's nephew Roy was the son of company co-founder Roy.

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Pinto Colvig and Clarence Nash did the voices for Goofy and Donald Duck.

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Although I remember him more for being wild and crazy, singing about King Tut and being The Man With Two Brains, Steve Martin got his start at Disneyland.

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Now, this was the Mickey Mouse Club

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Partway down Legends Plaza we see two very nice tributes to the wonderful men who built the Walt Disney Company. The first is the statue of Roy Disney sitting on a bench talking with Minnie Mouse. For anybody who's ever been to Walt Disney World, this is the same statue that sits on Main Street. It was placed there as a tribute to Roy, whose perseverance and love of his brother drove him to ensure that Walt's dream to build a park in Florida didn't die with Walt.

No word yet on how Mickey feels about Rick Russell taking Minnie's nose

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The other statue is the famous Partners Statue found in all Magic Kingdom parks save Paris(which for some reason moved the statue to the Walt Disney Studios Paris park. It's really neat to see this statue very close up and actually touch Mickey's hand. There's a nice dedication plaque at the base of the statue from Michael Eisner talking about what Walt's Legacy means to the Walt Disney Company. It was placed there on the 100th anniversary of Walt's birth, December 6, 2001.

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Our group in front of the Team Disney Building. This is the only size I've been able to get a hold of to this point

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/clip_image006.jpg

[Sleepless Knight]

With 32 pictures in chapter 7, I had to break this up into two posts. Enjoy, won't us. . .

After being given some time to explore Legends Plaza, we then head to the Frank G. Wells Building. Frank G. Wells was an important contributor to Disney's success, especially in the years immediately following Michael Eisner becoming CEO. Wells died in a tragic helicopter crash in 1994. Naming a building after Wells isn't the only tribute on Disney property to the man. Since he was an avid mountain climber, Disneyland placed a tribute to Wells in the Matterhorn. So if you didn't know beforehand, now you know just what the mountain climbing gear marked Wells Expedition means in the Matterhorn.

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Now, there are two very exciting things to see in the Wells Building. The first is a place I only dreamed about seeing. The Walt Disney Archives. Inside the Archives are all sorts of amazing displays, some of which rotate on a regular basis. On this day, we saw a collection of different products featuring Donald Duck, which made my friend Doug very excited.

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The archives also had on display a copy of assorted mementos from Walt Disney such as his birth certificate and passport. And while looking at these mementos, something caught my eye. An actual cel from an animated Walt Disney Classic. And this one made me very excited because you see, it featured a certain peasant girl dancing in the forest. This peasant girl has gold of sunshine in her hair and lips that shame the red, red rose. And dancing with her in this scene are the woodland creatures. I can hardly believe what I'm seeing now. Not only is this an actual cel from Sleeping Beauty, but if features one of my favorite scenes from the film. This is truly exciting.

Once Upon A Dream

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A birthday portrait of Mickey Mouse by John Hench. Note the Epcot Center plans behind Mickey. Lillian Disney once said that following Walt's death, it was so hard for her to see Mickey because he reminded her so much of Walt.

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With all due respect to Bill Murray, Star Tours, talkin' 'bout Star Tours

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There was also one very interesting item on display. An old bird. But this isn't just any old bird. This bird was purchased by Walt Disney himself during a visit to Germany. And as Walt played with the mechanical workings of this little bird, he came up with an idea that would change the parks forever. And thus Walt Disney gave his Imagineers the task of creating a much larger version of this little mechanical bird, one that would move, talk, and even sing. And so, this little bird became the inspiration for Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which in Disneyland remains under the same management as it always has.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/tikibird.jpg

Now, anyone who's been to Walt Disney World since 2005 may recognize what we saw near the entrance to the Archives, only there's one major difference. The wardrobe you walked through to enter the Narnia attraction was a replica. This door, right here, is one of two actual wardrobe props from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The detail on this door is amazing. It's so cool to see it close up. And the statue of Mr. Tumnus is the real thing.

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Upon exiting the Archives immediately to your left is a remarkable piece of Disney history. The multiplane camera. For those who don't know, the multiplane camera was invented by Walt Disney as a way to allow for more depth than had ever before been possible in animation. In short, the size of the multiplane camera is impressive. Each level of the camera contains a different picture of the final version you see on the film.

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After admiring the mulitplane camera used on the film that started it all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, we leave the Wells Building and head over to stand in front of the Animated Shorts building. Well, this building obviously housed the artists who created what the name implies. But something even more significant was in this building. The second floor of the Animated Shorts Building housed the office of Walt Disney himself.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/waltoffice.jpg

It is however highly encouraged to feed the chipmunks, though it appears those two little rascals are off torturing Donald Duck.

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With that we head over to lunch in the Studios Cafeteria. While it's very much like just about any other cafeteria building you'll find in the world, this one does have a major difference. The safety cards reminding you of workplace safety feature the fab five in case you forgot just where it is that you are. Anyways during lunch, we got to meet Disney Imagineer Larry Nikolai. Now, this is actually the second time that I've met Larry. I first met him in Disneyland last June when Cindy told me about a Sleeping Beauty painting that he had done that just so happened to be released in Disneyland when I was down there. So, I get to spend some time on a Saturday morning in the Disney Gallery before they converted it into the Dream Suite and admire so much artwork there. Since Larry was there for an artist signing, I got to talk with him for probably 10 minutes or so about the painting and what he was attempting to capture. And of course, there's a tremendous amount of symbolism in it. The painting is called Aurora.

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What's really neat about the painting is how everything is leading Aurora towards her final destiny. Notice the darkness over Forbidden Mountain and the sun rising on yonder topmost tower of King Stefan's Castle. Look at the light shining on Briar Rose from the direction of the castle. There are smaller details like how her skirt and hair is going towards the castle. And see if you can find the symbolism in the branches just over her head. Even though bad things happen in our lives, a way has been prepared for us to pull through and find a happy ending.

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So, it was nice seeing Larry again and talking with him about the refurb of DCA. As it turns out, he worked on the Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue attraction there and told us all about how the assorted CDA agents used to be very famous celebrities. Am I the only one who finds this funny? Talking with Larry also gave me a different perspective on some things. In discussing how Disney was now having to fix the mistakes made with DCA, Larry commented how he had worked with Pressler and Harris. He told us that while he realized they made some mistakes and some very bad decisions, their hearts were in the right place. Now, I'm not saying here that we should gloss over the fact that some people in high up positions at Disney have made some bad decisions that had negative impacts on the company, but we should remember that we all make mistakes and hopefully we learn from them.

After saying goodbye to Larry, our day at the Studios was nearly complete. We headed over to the Walt Disney Studios company store, which despite the fact that it is located in Burbank, California is owned by Walt Disney World, which means they probably have more WDW merchandise than Disney Studios merchandise. So while I was unable to find a Studios T-shirt that I liked, I was ecstatic to find a Jedi Mickey DefendEARS of the Kingdom laser cel from Star Wars Weekends. I remember seeing one in WDW when we went 2 years ago, but since the SWW hadn't started yet, I could not get one. Well, now I got one, so that was exciting. I mean, it's artwork of Mickey Mouse holding a lightsaber. How cool is that? I also picked up a couple of pins that were special to the Walt Disney Studios, one from Valentines Day(we visited on February 15th) and one from opening day of Enchanted, which managed to entertain me quite a bit when I saw it in theaters.

With our day at the Walt Disney Studios now concluded, we said our goodbyes to some in our group who were heading home to northern California that night, as the few of us staying in Anaheim prepared to make the drive back to Anaheim. On the way out, I insisted on snapping a picture of the humongous WALL-E promotional poster on one of the buildings there. Little did I dream on this day that nearly 4 months to the day I would be touring the Pixar Animation Studios before seeing a special Pixar screening of WALL-E a week and a half before it was released in theaters.

The best movie of the year.

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I also decided to snap a couple of pictures of the new animation building with the famous Sorcerer's Hat. I'm not too disappointed that we didn't get to see it. The Disney movies that I really love were almost all made in the old animation building and I got to see that.

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And now came the moment that we had been dreading ever since arriving at the Studios harried and stressed over being late. Leaving and heading back into the mess otherwise known as Los Angeles traffic, especially on a Friday afternoon. So while we didn't have a deadline, it was still not fun sitting in traffic again, especially after the stress of that morning. All in all, we spent nearly 4 ½ hours in traffic that day(or about an hour less than how long I spend when I drive to Disneyland from northern California. You know what though, this traffic experience made me appreciate Disneyland even more than I already did. At about 5:00pm, Doug and I walked through the entrance gates of Disneyland, and at that moment, all of the anxiety and leftover worry from the nightmare of that morning when we feared we might miss the Walt Disney Studios washed away. And that's how special Disneyland is. At Walt Disney World, Disney has complete control over you. Once you step off that plane in Orlando, they've got you and can completely immerse you in the magic. In short, it's much easier to create the magic since they control your surroundings.

But Disneyland can't do that. They can't control Los Angeles traffic. They can't take over an area the size of Manhattan and turn it into a playground. And that's what makes Walt Disney's achievement with Disneyland so impressive and amazing. Even with the outside world right across the street, when you walk onto the esplanade and through those gates, everything changes and you're immersed in Disneyland. Walt's statement about leaving the world behind and entering a realm of fantasy and the future were never more true than when spoken about Disneyland.

Doug and I met up with Marty and Linda Martin and we just wandered around the park for the evening. We took in a few attractions, enjoyed a quite ride aboard the Mark Twain at night since Fantasmic wasn't showing, and ended the night off right, finding a spot in the hub to watch Remember Dreams Come True. . . If you haven't seen this amazing spectacular you're missing out. It's so impressive as to how Disneyland transforms the night sky and Sleeping Beauty Castle into such beloved park attractions and the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, Fantasyland, and of course Star Tours. I couldn't believe how much I smiled the first time I saw fireworks timed to the music from the Star Wars main title theme in Disneyland during the 50th anniversary.

And with that a magical day came to an end. With the crowds still being much heavier than normal after the fireworks I decided I'd rather sleep and be fully rested for tomorrow. I still have the long drive home ahead of me, but starting Monday I knew I'd be chained to my desk for two months(a trade off I was more than happy to make), so I wanted to get a few more hours in Disneyland before returning to the real world.

[travelmel]

Cheryl, your bedroom is the perfect place for the Happiest Street on Earth. It's such a wonderful and fun piece.

Melissa, was it on a little golden book or something like that. I may be able to put you in touch with somebody who might be able to do something like that for you. Let me know if you want more information.

Phalene, thanks for your kind words.

Nope, it was one of those personalized books that you sent away for with an ad from a magazine circa 1975/76. It came looking like a real book but it was typed on a type writer with my name and my friends names and my address and my birthday used IN the story.

I actually got a SIMILAR type book for my daughter a couple years ago at a mall kiosk but it wasn't as detailed.

What you might know about the old style of book I'd be interestd in hearing :)

ALSO: Boy - o - boy they picked the RIGHT guy to invite on this Studio (the real Hollywood studio's) tour! How cool for you! I'm really happy you had such a great time.

Was wondering... any details on the "mistakes" that he thought they made on DCA?

[Sleepless Knight]

As far as the old style book goes, I don't really know much. From your description I wondered if you may have been talking about the Little Golden Books. I know a former Disney animator and artist who worked on Sleeping Beauty, worked for Hanna-Barbera, and did work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid TV series. So, if you were looking for something like a personalized Little Golden Book, he might have been able to help.

As for the DCA mistakes, what I'm saying next I did not hear from Larry Nikolai. I want to be perfectly clear that he did not tell me this. Somebody else did, whose name escapes me. Apparently, Imagineers who worked on both DisneySea and DCA knew what was coming before the respective parks even opened. Simply put, one was built on the grand lavish Disney scale we've come to expect, and the other was built on the, to quote Michael Eisner "If it's good enough for Six Flags, it's good enough for Disney" mentality. I think that sums up DCA's problems. Simply put, they attempted to build an amusement park right across the street from Disneyland.

And now that Bob Iger is leading Disney, he's working on mending fences and repairing the mistakes that Eisner made(see Pixar, ticking off George Lucas, and building DCA on the cheap).

[KCmike]

Really enjoyed the report...the pics were fantastic.

[tofubeast]

Wow, that was SO well worth the wait. Thanks for taking LOTS of pics at the Studios to share with us! When I lived in L.A. I used to drive by some of those buildings while on the freeway. It was nice to see them up and close in your report. Sounds like an amazing time. I am also in shock you got to see Pixar too.... hasn't 2008 just been THE year for you!! :thumbsup2

[Sleepless Knight]

2008 has been quite a ride, that's for sure. I have some friends that went to Club 33 in June and they were ecstatic. While I was quite happy for them, I can honestly say that I've been to two places that mean a lot more to me.

Thanks for the kind words, KCMike. I still have more update on this one to go.

[Disneygrl36]

Wow great updates!!!!!!
I hope my time at the Walt Disney Studios in December is half as magical as yours was. I don't think we get to go to the archives, so I was very excited to see that & I would love to have a replica of the Narnia wardrobe wouldn't you? It looks amazing even in a picture.
I can't wait to look for Gus & Jaq on the legends statue....thanks for that little tidbit. I am so looking forward to seeing my favorite Disney Legends honored there.......got to find Frank & Ollie, Peter Ellenshaw & Julie Andrews first.
I like what you had to say about Disneyland having to work harder to make you forget reality because reality is so much closer there. Something to really think about. I have only been to Disneyland once & it was just a quick 2 day trip & I was with my Mom & my two brothers who were in their late teens at the time who were just not as awe struck as I was at being in the place that Walt really built & where he walked. I cannot wait to experience it again with my husband & experience the real MAGIC that Disneyland has to offer.
Can't wait for more.

[Sleepless Knight]

So you don't lose precious time, Frank and Ollie, Peter Ellenshaw, and Julie Andrews have their handprints in cement over by the old Animation Building on Dopey Drive. Have fun finding Jaq and Gus Gus. And one more thing. Make sure to find Peter Ellenshaw's name on the window in Disneyland. That's a nice little tribute as well.

Here's the ultimate conclusion I've come to about the Disney west coast vs. east coast debate. If you go to Disneyland expecting Walt Disney World, you're going to be very disappointed. And if you go to Walt Disney World expecting to find Disneyland, you're also going to be very disappointed.

For the myriad attractions and similarities the two destinations share, they are also very different. As I said, WDW has the illusion of control. I absolutely love that. Disneyland has Walt's personal touch and a special charm about the place. I think that Disneyland's ability to place you in another place is more impressive because it cannot accomplish the whole immersion thing even if you stay onsite.

[Sleepless Knight]

And so the final day of my dream come true visit to Disneyland has arrived. In truth, it won't even be a full day since I'm driving back to northern California, but truth be told, Monday morning and extra long hours in tax season are going to be upon me before I know it, so I'm determined to enjoy my last free Saturday. And what better place to do it at than Disneyland?

And so, I sleep in until about 9:30 or so. I know the park is going to be insanely crowded today since Presidents Day is Monday, but I just want to get a few rides in, do some shopping, and just generally soak up the park atmosphere. After all, the real world is returning soon enough.

And so after packing my car up, I drive over to Disneyland and learn the first real lesson about the importance of arriving early. Even though I was staying at the Tropicana, it probably took me 30 minutes from my hotel to arriving in Disneyland because of the traffic trying to get into the park. So once I finally made it into the Lion King parking lot, I prepared for the short walk to the monorail station since I figured that this could be a fun and cool way to enter Disneyland for the day. Along the way, I saw a minivan that changed my life. Well, not really, but if I ever own a minivan, I want it to look like this.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/potcminivan.jpg

Upon arriving in Disneyland, a CM helpfully tells me that I should just stay in the park all day as it's going to get more and more crowded. So yes, the crowds are nuts, which brings me to a helpful observation about touring Disneyland when it's crowded. Always use half park days at the end of your visit for hitting the highlights again. It's hard to effectively use FastPass with high crowds and early departure times. I do manage to get a ride in on Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Matterhorn though so that's good. At 11:00am, the line for Nemo is already insane, which brings me to another random observation about the Nemo submarines. If you want to experience this ride, do it very early in the morning. And if you hear that the line is only one hour long, get in it!! The way Nemo works, that will end up being a very reasonable wait time. Whenever I overhear people say “I want to ride Nemo, but an hour is too long to wait, so I'll see if it gets shorter” I want to say “get in line now since you're not likely to see that line get shorter.”

From Tomorrowland, I wander over to Fantasyland, and in the hub, I hear one of those comments that just grates me. “Wow, the castle here at Disneyland is so small and pathetic.” Now, don't get me wrong as I love WDW and think Cinderella Castle is beautiful. But I really get defensive when people start tearing down Walt's castle. It's all I can do to not turn around and inform these park guests about one of Walt Disney's reasons for making Sleeping Beauty Castle smaller. Instead, I'll vent here, so it's time for everyone's favorite random trip report game show “Random Trivia About Disneyland!” In today's edition we learn that in medevial times also known as the historical period in which people actually lived in large castle like structures, the large castles were used to intimidate and put down the lower classes. Now, Walt Disney, being well, Walt Disney wanted none of that in his Magic Kingdom, so he deliberately built Sleeping Beauty Castle to be more charming and intimate so it would feel like a warm and inviting place to a park guest.

Along the way I take a few pictures, including my traditional Partners statue picture and Sleeping Beauty Castle shot. As I walk through Fantasyland, I soak up the atmosphere there and notice something that really gets me excited. Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure I present a square tree!!

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/square.jpg

Now, why is a square tree so exciting? It's simple. This is Disneyland after all and we're looking at the back of Sleeping Beauty Castle. In the 1959 Disney classic, Eyvind Earle, the artist who designed the look and appearance of the masterpiece film painted square trees as part of the film's distinctive design. This is yet another impressive little detail about Disneyland. When you look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, you see so many small and subtle details from the film including the forest creatures on the castle itself, the medevial tapestries(which heavily influenced Earle's design of the film, considered by some to be a moving illustration) hanging on the castle, and the aforementioned square tree.

I also have to take a picture of the nice little statue that was the topic of a silly conversation a couple of nights ago because my sense of humor is random like that(and I love the film Sleeping Beauty, but I think you knew that already).

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/statue.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/partners-1.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/castle.jpg

Now, I decide to head over to the Frontierland area of the park and I make a shocking discovery. I see a pin on a lanyard. Now, I've collected pins for a few years and have a fairly narrow focus to my collection. One theme is going to absolutely shock and surprise all of you, but I'll give you a hint just in case. Hint: it features a film about a princess with hair of golden sunshine, lips that shame the red, red rose and a valiant prince who fights a dragon to save her. The other theme is Mickey Mouse, but since there's probably kajillions of Mickey pins out there, I like to focus on Mickey in Star Wars. And I think I see a new Jedi Mickey pin. Well, I'm not sure about it, so I head over to Splash Mountain. And while the line is long already, I'm traveling solo, so I use the wonderful single rider line, which is much shorter. So, on hot days and long lines, do Splash Mountain single rider if you can stand to possibly split your party up.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/splash.jpg

And on exiting Splash Mountain, I see another park guest with a lanyard on that confirms what I thought I saw earlier. It is indeed a new Jedi Mickey pin, with him in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. And if that's not enough, the pin says Disneyland Year of a Million Dreams 2008 on it. Now, considering that just yesterday I realized the Disney dream I never thought would come true, this pin is perfect for me. I ask the gentleman where he got it and he tells me that it was in Frontierland. So, beginning to hope against hope, I head over to Frontierland's pin shop to inquire about my newest dream pin. Once there my dreams die. The cast member is not sure what I'm talking about, but being helpful she calls a few stores and learns exactly what pin I'm looking for. And guess what, it's a travel package pin only. The only way to get it is to trade for it. She tells me it should be easy enough to trade for, but I have a problem. I'm literally leaving in a few hours and don't yet know when my next visit will be. I thank her for her help and leave, disappointed.

So, I hit a few more rides. I think I worked a ride on Pirates of the Carribean and the Disneyland Railroad in there and found myself wandering back near the hub when I happen upon a pin trader setting up shop. I ask if by any chance she has the Jedi Mickey pin and she responds with a no, but then looks closer at her pins and discovers that she does! Now, this may be my lucky day, except there's one little problem. I don't have any pins to trade. I explain to her that I would love this pin, but the best I can do is a pin off the rack, so I ask if there is one she would like. She thinks about it and then proceeds to give me a detailed description of a Finding Nemo pin. I thank her profusely and tell her I'll be right back. She then puts the pin away and I jet on over to Store Command where I find the Nemo section, and lo and behold, there it is. I happily buy the pin and head back to the trader and happily make the trade. So, once again thanks to a wonderful trader who made my day.

Well, now it's lunchtime and I'm getting hungry so I head over to Redd Rockett's and have lunch. I like this place for a couple of reasons. First, the portion sizes on the pasta are very large and they have free refills on your sodas. I love these sorts of places because it offers you a nice way to rehydrate and get a nice rest. I'm almost at a point where I only eat in free refill places at Disneyland.
Well, I'm really starting to get tired and I have a long drive ahead of me, but I refuse to leave Disneyland yet. I've decided that I want my last Disneyland memory from this trip to be Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. I first actually came up with this idea a few years ago on a family visit during Christmas time. We actually ended up leaving on December 24th, and while I wanted to leave right after the parade, my family had already declared that we would be leaving earlier, but ever since I came up with this idea, I've wanted to try it. Well, this time I control my schedule, so I've decided that I'm going to do it.

Determine to see the parade, I decide now to do some shopping. For you see, at this very moment while I am in Disneyland, my sister-in-law is having a baby shower in my parents home since they're expecting a baby girl(who would actually arrive one month later exactly). Now, in keeping with my tradition(I picked out a stuffed Mickey for my nephew), I have to find a suitable girl plush toy for my niece. After doing some searching, I across a cute little baby Minnie complete with pink blanket. And now comes another plush toy search. Back in November, my little sister who is now attending my alma mater picked up some apparel for me at a sale, thus meaning that I didn't have to pay for shipping. Well, after I refused to give her a Goofy Christmas Tree plush toy gift before Christmas, she and my mother conspired against me and informed me that to help pay for the shipping costs that I didn't have to pay in November I would have to get some “super cute stufftie” on my next visit to Disneyland.

And so a new hunt begins. Only this one is much, much harder. You see we all knew that this visit would be around Valentines Day so it was assumed that it would be very easy to find at least one “super cute stufftie” for my sister. Right? Well no. Either Disneyland sold completely out of all Valentines Day related plushies before I arrived on the 12th or else the only plush toy they made was the one of Mickey. Well, that doesn't quite work since my sister specifically wanted Goofy. But there is no Goofy. So, I do the logical thing and call my sister. Except she's taking a nap, so I end up with some sort of muffled response along the lies of “I don't care, but I'll very unhappy if I don't get my “super cute stufftie” on this visit. Eventually I come to this conclusion. I'm going to buy a stufftie and if it's not “super cute” then my sister is just going to have to live with it. I eventually settle on Minnie Mouse as an Easter bunny, though I'm still baffled as to why there is but one Valentines Day plush toy in the park right around Valentines Day, yet there are many variations for Easter which is around 6 weeks away. Maybe Disney was holding back on the supply in anticipation of Love Day(okay name that pop culture reference).

And so the parade time marches ever closer. I head over to get some ice cream to enjoy before the parade. After getting my ice cream, I sit over by the Partners Statue and just eat my ice cream while looking at the castle and the hustle and bustle of the hub. I really enjoy taking some time to simply experience Disneyland. It's a beautiful day outside, I've had an absolutely unbelievable visit, but it's sadly coming to an end.

My ice cream finished I head over to pick my spot for the Parade of Dreams. What can I say about the Parade of Dreams that begins to do it justice in my mind? Well first off, I love how it's so themed to Walt himself and Disneyland. The only three films to appear in the parade that were not made by Walt are The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, all wonderful additions to the Disney classics. You'll find no replacing Peter Pan for Pochantas in this parade. I mean seriously, how could you put Pocahantas in place of Peter Pan in Fantasmic at DHS? But I digress.

If you're familiar with the Disney classics, this parade is a joy to watch. The 3 Good Fairies from Sleeping Beauty are spot on. They've got the mannerisms down and know their stuff. If you ever want to have some fun, make sure you loudly proclaim “make it blue” in front of Flora or Merryweather. If they hear you, then you too can say that you started a fight between two cast members in Disneyland. Perhaps this is why Aurora's dress is lavender in the parade instead of it's proper blue. . . And so the parade continues until my favorite float comes up.

Two castles for the price of one
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/castleparade.jpg

In the end, this final float really captures what Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams is all about. It's a remarkably detailed recreation of Sleeping Beauty Castle. I love how it incorporates the Partners Statue in a stained glass archway. And I think it's a great touch to have “Walt's princesses” on the castle float. Which brings me to another random comparison about Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/podglass.jpg

Now the purpose of this comparison is not to extol the virtues of one park over another, but rather to point out an interesting observation I've seen regarding two princesses, Cinderella and Princess Aurora to be specific. There are a lot more references to Aurora in Disneyland than in the Magic Kingdom. And conversely, there are a lot more references to Cinderella in the Magic Kingdom. Take for instances the carousels. In Disneyland, the carousel though named after King Arthur, features artwork from Sleeping Beauty. The carousel song on the official Disneyland album is, you guessed it, Once Upon a Dream. In the Magic Kingdom, the carousel features artwork from Cinderella. All of this leads up to my final observation. When you watch the Parade of Dreams, note what happens during the final float. The musical loop features themes from all 3 Walt Disney fairy tales. (Well, when the parade first started, it also featured the princes, but I think Disneyland management felt sorry for the two Charmings since they didn't even really get a name, nor did they have to fight a dragon).

Lucky Chipmunk. It appears as if Clarice has competition
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/luckychipmunk.jpg

During the music from Snow White and Cinderella, all 3 princesses share the stage, but when the music from Hail to the Princess Aurora plays, Snow White and Cinderella curtsy before Aurora and then move to the bridge while Aurora has the stage to herself. Considering Disneyland's history with the film Sleeping Beauty, it's a nice touch. And then, my heart begins to swell because the show stop has come and the castle float is right in front of me. Now,while the show stop dialogue is the same no matter where you're at, it carries deeper meaning to me with this float. For me, this float is symbolic of where my Disney fandom begins. There's Walt Disney welcoming all who come to this happy place. Up top, presiding over the festivities is Mickey Mouse, my oldest childhood friend in all the world. Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, and Chip and Dale, who along with Mickey, starred in some of my all time favorite cartoons that I still enjoy as an adult are all part of the float. The film that really changed film history, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is part of this float. Cinderella, the film that saved the Disney Studios from going under after World War II, is also prominently featured here.

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/startedmickey.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/podaurorabanner.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/tomservo1976/Disneyland%20February%202008/auroraparade.jpg

And of course, the Disney film that means the most to me is prominent. Sleeping Beauty has been important to me in so many different ways. As a little boy, it ignited my imagination and reminded me that the weapons of righteousness will triumph over all the powers of hell. The music of the film instilled in me a love of, and appreciation for, the Russian classical music of Petr Ilych Tchaikovsky years before I would live among the Russian people. And now, the film reminds me that there may be dragons to slay, but good will triumph in the end. Dreams do come true.

Epilogue:

And so I followed the parade down Main Street. As always, I veered to the right to stop and admire the window display, taking a final look at the castle as I always do before turning right. Then, I look up at the firehouse window, and silently thank Walt for sharing his vision and creativity with the world. And with that comes the walk that I do not want to make, but I must. The walk back to my car for the long drive home.

As I knew they would be the next 2 months were very challenging. That first week back, I began working nearly 60 hours a week right up through April 15th. To top it off, I got sick a few days after getting back, but didn't really have time to be sick, so I continued working 10 hour days all the while. It was remarkable to see how much more I could get done at work once I was healthy. And yet periodically I would steal a glance at a mug sitting on my desk. The mug featured a unique Mickey Mouse crest with the words The Walt Disney Studios. I put it there to remind me of where I had been and the experiences I'd had. As it turns out, my sister loved the Minnie Mouse Easter bunny plush toy, and the baby Minnie I'd bought for my niece ended up becoming a surrogate baby sister for my nephew in the month leading up to my nieces' birth. When it came time to read my nephew a story, he wanted Minnie to be there with him. He also wanted to help change Minnie's diaper. When he went for a ride in the new 2 child stroller, Minnie went in one seat and he in the other. In a small way, I guess that Minnie helped prepare my nephew for the baby sister who would come.

I knew the months ahead would be insanely stressful and busy. I knew that free time would be minimal. I knew that there would be sacrifices that I would have to make. And so it was. And you know what? I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. But as it always does, tax season comes to an end. And after we've made it through the insanity of another tax season, we always take a well deserved vacation. Can you guess where I went?

So, while this trip report comes to an end, another one is yet to come, to tune in soon for Searching for Sanity in the Happiest Place on Earth.

[reyasmommy]

Thank you for sharing!! Loved reading your TR! Can't wait for the next one. :goodvibes


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/DaBaron/MickeyMouserestingonaThanx.gif

[Sleepless Knight]

Thank you. If all goes according to plan, than I'll actually finish it up before my visit the end of this month. :goodvibes If all goes according to plan, that is :rotfl:

[travelmel]

Nice reflections, great trip report! Thanks for sharing. :thanks:

[wendylady36]

Wow, what an amazing trip! I really enjoyed reading about your adventures. :goodvibes

I thought I'd contribute an Aurora picture:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a268/wendylady36/Disneyland/DSCN0297.jpg

I've always loved the part in the movie where she is dancing in the forest, this picture reminds me of that.

[Sleepless Knight]

Of course I'm biased, but that's a great picture. And that scene is easily one of my favorites in the movie. How many princesses are equally at ease dancing with the forest creatures or the prince? :rolleyes1

Maybe one of these days Disney will surprise me and have Briar Rose wander around the parks. Now that would be cool;)

[wendylady36]

Of course I'm biased, but that's a great picture. And that scene is easily one of my favorites in the movie. How many princesses are equally at ease dancing with the forest creatures or the prince? :rolleyes1

Maybe one of these days Disney will surprise me and have Briar Rose wander around the parks. Now that would be cool;)

AGREED on all accounts! SB is the best princess ever!

I'm glad you liked the picture! :upsidedow

[stitchon]

I have a feeling the next report will feature the number "42" if you know what I mean....


And I'm actually the Alec in question on this report, but prepare for a different Alec in the next report.

[Sleepless Knight]

I was wondering when you'd find your way over here. And yes, 42 will play a prominent role in the next TR.

[Daisybelle]

I finally had a chance to catch up on this trip report. Excellent Excellent Excellent! It's so nice to hear tales about places I'll likely never get to visit myself. I even got a little misty eyed at the end! :thumbsup2
<sigh> Now I need to stop thinking about how soon can I get back to Disneyland and actually pay attention to my job so I can make money to afford to go back. :surfweb:
Thank you for sharing!

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Part of why I wanted to share these pictures is because some people may not get a chance otherwise to "see" these things.

[Disneygrl36]

So you don't lose precious time, Frank and Ollie, Peter Ellenshaw, and Julie Andrews have their handprints in cement over by the old Animation Building on Dopey Drive. Have fun finding Jaq and Gus Gus. And one more thing. Make sure to find Peter Ellenshaw's name on the window in Disneyland. That's a nice little tribute as well.

Here's the ultimate conclusion I've come to about the Disney west coast vs. east coast debate. If you go to Disneyland expecting Walt Disney World, you're going to be very disappointed. And if you go to Walt Disney World expecting to find Disneyland, you're also going to be very disappointed.

For the myriad attractions and similarities the two destinations share, they are also very different. As I said, WDW has the illusion of control. I absolutely love that. Disneyland has Walt's personal touch and a special charm about the place. I think that Disneyland's ability to place you in another place is more impressive because it cannot accomplish the whole immersion thing even if you stay onsite.

Thanks for the info......now I won't have to waste time. I will be looking for Mr Ellenshaw's window. Are there any other really cool windows I should be on the lookout for--having only been to DL one day & it wasn't even a whole day, I didn't get time to notice the details like that.

Loved the parade photos & that you chose to end your trip like that. Do you know if the Parade of Dreams still shows in December or is it replaced by the Christmas parade or do they do one of each? I so want to see some of those really cool floats from the Parade of Dreams.

Thanks so much for your great report-I really enjoyed the detail & your observations. I will be looking forward to the one for your August trip.

[Sleepless Knight]

I have bad news and possible good news on the parade front for you. Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams is replaced in November/December by A Christmas Fantasy(which is another enjoyable parade). The possible good news applies if you regularly visit WDW because the rumor mill says the Parade of Dreams is going to head to the MK around 2010.

In case I didn't tell you, Peter Ellenshaw's Disneyland window is at the end of Main Street right above the Photo Supply store on your right as you face Sleeping Beauty Castle. Another cool thing to look at is the pavement. Notice how the pavement changes in each land to reflect the place you're supposed to be. There are even horsehoe prints in the Frontierland pavement.

Speaking of thematic elements in the different lands, pay attention to how the show buildings in Fantasyland both blend in appropriately with Sleeping Beauty Castle while also staying true to the architecture of the area where the story originated(German for Snow White, Italian for Pinocchio, English for Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, and Alice).

I'll see what cool windows I can tell you to look for when I go down in August, but before I write the August TR, I have to write the June one first.