SFBayDon
06-24-2009, 03:24 PM
Greetings All,
It has been so hard to not say anything on the boards, but now that the Blog is up and the show is out, I can FINALLY tell you all how lucky I was. As part of the backstage tour this past weekend, I was lucky enough to be selected to see Walt’s apartment after the group tour. The tour was limited to six people and Pete was nice enough to select me as one of the six. (See I am lucky)
As a kid, growing up in Northern California my family would travel to So Cal every year to visit relatives. If we were “good” then we got to visit Disneyland. Over the years, my love for Walt, the parks, and the logistics of how they do it all so well has grown over the years. As a kid, my class projects always had some Disney elements to them
The backstage tour was amazing. To see behind the scenes of the park while it is in operation allowed me to see more of how the magic is made. The Managers made the tour very special as they had great history they could share about their department or history with the Disney Company.
After the tour when I was waiting for the walk back into the park to go to the apartment, it hit me just how special this would be. For most of my life I have seen the lamp from the park side. Never did I imagine that I would be able to see the other side of the room and the entire apartment Walt used. You could feel the excitement in the group as we started up the stairs and moved into the foyer. We were all very excited for what we were about to see.
After the initial entry into the apartment had settled, we started to look at each other and say things like “this is really it”, “I can’t believe we are here”, and my favorite “How Cool is this.” The tour guides weew pointing out some of the features and history of the apartment, and I have to be honest I only heard about 75% of it because I was so shocked by the whole thing. When I looked at the others on the tour, it was apparent we were all having a moment in our own way. Being allowed to take photos was an unexpected treat. This is probably the most photos I have taken in a short period in years.
There is one story to tell about Pete, other than the bathroom comment he told about on the podcast. This experience was very special to me and to see Pete, the man that works so hard to share his passion with all of us react to being in the apartment was priceless. Pete may have an occasional rant, but what I saw on Saturday was the complete opposite. Not sure, what we would call the opposite of a rant, but this was it. Pete was so excited it was like watching a young man going to the parks for the first time. He was trying to take it all in and also live in the moment. His excitement was so apparent during the tour. As we exited the apartment and walked back out to the front of the apartment, we stopped and took another look, this time from the side we had all seen as guests for years, but knowing just how special it was that we got to see the inside of the apartment.
Some in the DIS community may have won trips, cruises, and many other cool things, but the opportunity to see Walt’s apartment with some very special people make me one of the luckiest DIS’ers.
Don
PS: Thanks again Pete!
It has been so hard to not say anything on the boards, but now that the Blog is up and the show is out, I can FINALLY tell you all how lucky I was. As part of the backstage tour this past weekend, I was lucky enough to be selected to see Walt’s apartment after the group tour. The tour was limited to six people and Pete was nice enough to select me as one of the six. (See I am lucky)
As a kid, growing up in Northern California my family would travel to So Cal every year to visit relatives. If we were “good” then we got to visit Disneyland. Over the years, my love for Walt, the parks, and the logistics of how they do it all so well has grown over the years. As a kid, my class projects always had some Disney elements to them
The backstage tour was amazing. To see behind the scenes of the park while it is in operation allowed me to see more of how the magic is made. The Managers made the tour very special as they had great history they could share about their department or history with the Disney Company.
After the tour when I was waiting for the walk back into the park to go to the apartment, it hit me just how special this would be. For most of my life I have seen the lamp from the park side. Never did I imagine that I would be able to see the other side of the room and the entire apartment Walt used. You could feel the excitement in the group as we started up the stairs and moved into the foyer. We were all very excited for what we were about to see.
After the initial entry into the apartment had settled, we started to look at each other and say things like “this is really it”, “I can’t believe we are here”, and my favorite “How Cool is this.” The tour guides weew pointing out some of the features and history of the apartment, and I have to be honest I only heard about 75% of it because I was so shocked by the whole thing. When I looked at the others on the tour, it was apparent we were all having a moment in our own way. Being allowed to take photos was an unexpected treat. This is probably the most photos I have taken in a short period in years.
There is one story to tell about Pete, other than the bathroom comment he told about on the podcast. This experience was very special to me and to see Pete, the man that works so hard to share his passion with all of us react to being in the apartment was priceless. Pete may have an occasional rant, but what I saw on Saturday was the complete opposite. Not sure, what we would call the opposite of a rant, but this was it. Pete was so excited it was like watching a young man going to the parks for the first time. He was trying to take it all in and also live in the moment. His excitement was so apparent during the tour. As we exited the apartment and walked back out to the front of the apartment, we stopped and took another look, this time from the side we had all seen as guests for years, but knowing just how special it was that we got to see the inside of the apartment.
Some in the DIS community may have won trips, cruises, and many other cool things, but the opportunity to see Walt’s apartment with some very special people make me one of the luckiest DIS’ers.
Don
PS: Thanks again Pete!