Thumping Our Way Through Disneyland.

I could get used to this. I do the chapter, Ponzi breaksdown and Lady H does the callback. Of course the TR is getting close to the end now. Better late than never? :confused3 :rotfl:
 
"I am interested in entertaining people, in bringing pleasure, particularly laughter, to others, rather than being concerned with 'expressing' myself with obscure creative impressions." (Walt Disney)





These are just a couple of the hidden treasures we stumbled upon. To find these hidden treasures, we must go back to the start. Waaaaayyyy back.

The date was Sunday August 26, 2012. It was the 2nd day of our DLR vacation, and our first park day at DL. If you recall in our “Taking Advantage of EMH” chapter; Lady H and I had a one time perk of an Early Magic Hour and we chose to use it on this day.

From this day, I showed you a picture. Ok I showed you several pictures. I’m going to post one of them again in this chapter. This particular picture is of the Disneyland Opera House. The DOH is located towards the entrance of the park. It’s to your right as you’re walking in, your left as you’re walking out; or you can pick if it’s to your left or right if you’re dyslexic. The DOH was not yet open during our EMH hour. We only had 2 lands we could visit during this time: Tomorrowland & Fantasyland. DOH would open with the rest of the park at the official park opening time.

Here it is again: The Disneyland Opera House.


After I discovered that I didn’t have my ID with me, Lady H and I head back towards the entrance. I want to go back to the resort first to see if I left it there. If not, then we’ll come back to DL and see if any has by some chance turned it into Lost & Found. If it's not at either place, then I'll guess I'll have to head back to the resort and head out. I won't be able to board the plane without it. Good thing I still have the rental car. At least I have a way to get home. Lady H on the other hand can still board the plane and fly home if she wanted to.

Now that I think about it,:scratchin may not be such a bad thing. I can make a pit stop in Vegas. :rolleyes1 I'll have a hefty fee though, for returning the car to a different location.

As we get to the front of the park, we notice the DOH is now open. Not a lot of people going in. We haven’t been in here yet, and since it wasn’t that busy, we decided to go in. I’ve been without my ID this long, surely I can wait a little bit longer.

We walk in with the intent of seeing/hearing the Voices of Liberty and to see what Great Moments Mr. Lincoln was going to talk about.

As you walk in, this is one of the first things you see.



The inscription on the plaque reads ”The actual park bench from the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round in Los Angeles where Walt Disney first dreamed of Disneyland.”

We make our way to the right and come upon some more Disneyland history. I think we stumbled upon a mini Disneyland museum here. There are models, drawings, paintings and pictures of how Disneyland came to be.





One of the pictures from this collage look familiar?


INSPIRATION: Walt Disney loved trains - a passion he shared with Disney animator Ward Kimball. He even built a scale model locomotive in his backyard and dubbed it the Lilly Belle, after his wife Lillian. To Walt, trains meant adventure, excitement, and the optimism of America. And although his for a new kind of “family park” would change many times, one thing was always certain - it would be surrounded by a train.”

Lady H and I found all these to be fascinating. It’s as if you’re right there with Walt as he’s dreaming of this magical place.






How would you have liked to go to DL back when it first opened for only 10 cents? If you look at the ticket in the front right hand corner, it says "EXCHANGE FOR ONE 10 CENTS ADMISSION." (I had to spell out cents, because there is no sense symbol on the keyboard, You would think it would make cents to add it.)


Some of the tickets in this picture are up to 35 cents.


Of course it would’ve been a little more than that. Back then you had to trade your ticket for a choice of the following:

Main Street
Tomorrowland
Fantasyland

You didn’t pay one price like you do today, to see the whole park. Then again, the little ticket stub (at the top of the most recent pic) says 60 cents. I wonder if this was the beginning of the multipark ticket? And of course, back in those days, 10 cents was a lot of money. I don’t even think you can buy a thought for 10 cents now a days. Instead of a penny for your thoughts, inflation has raised them to at least a quarter.

Ok. Out of curiosity, is there anyone on these boards that visited DL when it first opened?
Anyone visit within the first year it opened?
Anyone remember when it first opened (not necessarily visiting)?
It would be interesting to hear your thought about DL at the time.

As we looked around, we came across more artifacts stating some of the facts for some of the attractions that are still around today. And that’s a bonafide fact.

Does this one look familiar?






How about this one?


This one I found the most fascinating?


For a brief moment, I had forgotten that Walt lived at DL. How cool would it have been to live in the happiest place on earth? I wonder what I have to do for a chance to stay in the Dream Suite the Imagineers have created. I can only dream of staying in that suite. If I wish upon a star, I hope my dreams come true.

Another thing we found interesting (that was not related to DL but more to Mr. Lincoln), was a replica of the State Capitol Building.



Does anybody remember why we came in here the first place? Oh yeah. We wanted to watch the Voices of Liberty and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We got so enthralled with the history of DL, that we never did see either one of those.

I hope you find this just as interesting as we did. If you’re ever at DL, take some time to take a ride through history with Walt and Mickey.




We spent about a half hour in here and could’ve very easily have stayed longer, there was still so much more to see. There is a matter of a possible lost ID I needed to tend to.

Lady H and I make our way back to the bus and eventually back to our resort. We climb MORE stairs and get back inside our resort. Man it’s hot in here. The darn maintenance people must have come in and turned off the a/c. I turn it back on and look at the last place I left my ID. My heart dropped and I could’ve cried. I was so happy and relieved to find out that I left it here. Now I don't have to drive home. There's goes my plan for stopping in Vegas. While we’re here, Lady H and I take some time to make a Simply Lemonade for the ride back to DL. Which is a good thing we did. We had a little bit of a wait at the bus stop. By the time the bus came I had finished my Simply Lemonade. By the time we had to go through security again, Lady H finished hers. Talk about timing.

We’re done with DL for the moment. We’ll have to eventually go back for the shot glasses, but I can still hear the call of California Screamin’, which Lady H will take you through.

I think.

She’s been really busy at work lately and I hog the computer at night. J/K. I give her about 30 minutes to do what she has to do before I scooch her over. Hey, she has a Kindle that gets internet and one of the latest and greatest smartphones. All I have is a “take me out and shoot me now” smartphone.

Ok ladies, no need to get hostile. I don’t really scooch her off the computer. I try to be fair with the computer time. Since we both work on a computer all day, sometimes neither one of us wants to turn it on when we get home.

Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.

I don’t really have a song this time, but its time I stop rambling on. I need to talk to Lady H to see if she’ll have time to live up to her end of the TR. Now that we’re getting close to the end, one of us will get another chapter up soon. Hopefully it will be her as this the last time she'll get to talk about our DLR trip. After that, you're stuck with me.

Have a great weekend all.
 


Your walk through the Opera House was cool! Nothing like a little Walt Disney to get your Disney geek on.

:thumbsup2
 
Very good Ponzi. You get a gold star!

Oh boy! I haven't gotten one of those since the 4th grade.



so... it's been a while.

They use cattle prods on bunnies?
Only when we don't behave. ;)

So.... often then.

Color me impressed.
What color would that be exactly?

Puce. With a hint of ochre.

I love it! And actually, the first thing i thought of when I saw that was the carousel scene in Mary Poppins, right before her big win at the horse races. For some reason that just made me think of that.

Good. 'Cause I thought the same thing.

When I was a little girl, my mom would play a game with me called "go find Heather." and I would search everywhere to find her and eventually find her in the mirror or mom would find me, and we would laugh. I think this was her way of keeping me occupied while she actually did some house cleaning or resting. Well one day, I couldn't find Heather. I looked everywhere and finally stopped in the middle of the room and cried. When mom came to ask what was wrong, my reply was..."I'm lost!"

:lmao: Love it!

I'll take Emperor then... or perhaps "Supreme Ruler and Overlord".
Do we have to call you that in public?

Yes. Of course.

In private too.


Nah, I like a challenge. I jumped.

Hurt myself a little, though.
Poor Ponzi...But all you had to do was scroll...just sayin'

I've told you... I don't scroll, I sashay.


stroll

During every announcement of the princesses, the lights get dimmed and start to twinkle and all the "princesses" in the room are asked to wave their wands (you get them when you sit down at your table). And then you have to say the magic word "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" and they announce the new princess.

They definitely did not do that. I just remember having breakfast and every now and then a Princess (or Mary Poppins) would show up at your table and bother us while we were trying to eat. Well the DDs didn't seem to mind, so I guess it's okay.
 
From this day, I showed you a picture. Ok I showed you several pictures. I’m going to post one of them again in this chapter. This particular picture is of the Disneyland Opera House.

Yup. I remember that one.

It’s to your right as you’re walking in, your left as you’re walking out; or you can pick if it’s to your left or right if you’re dyslexic.

If you turn around to see where you came in as you entered, it's to your left and if you turn around for one last look at the castle before you leave it's to your right. If you're Nebo and you've had a few too many Sunny Ds, it's somewhere over your head as you lay prone on the pavement. After you leave Disney and fly back to your homes, it's below you.

Now that I think about it,:scratchin may not be such a bad thing. I can make a pit stop in Vegas. :rolleyes1 I'll have a hefty fee though, for returning the car to a different location.

Who cares about the fee? Your winnings will take care of that.

We haven’t been in here yet, and since it wasn’t that busy, we decided to go in. I’ve been without my ID this long, surely I can wait a little bit longer.

Man, I just could not do that. If Ruby suggested a pit stop on the way out, I'd be, "Okay, See ya! Bye!"

As you walk in, this is one of the first things you see.



The inscription on the plaque reads ”The actual park bench from the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round in Los Angeles where Walt Disney first dreamed of Disneyland.”

That is just about the coolest thing ever. Man that is History right there! Imagine him sitting there, watching his girls on the Merry-Go-Round and idly dreaming about how he could do something like that himself. It just boggles the mind, doesn't it?

I presume it's roped off, but even if it wasn't, I don't know if I could sit on it. It would seem almost... I dunno sacrilegious?

Lady H and I found all these to be fascinating. It’s as if you’re right there with Walt as he’s dreaming of this magical place.

It's all pretty cool. :thumbsup2 And I can't wait to show the DDs Neuschwanstein castle and now I have an extra bit of trivia for them.

How would you have liked to go to DL back when it first opened for only 10 cents?

Nope. Looked up in Wiki. Apparently they referred to that day as Black Sunday. Not an all round great day apparently.

If you look at the ticket in the front right hand corner, it says "EXCHANGE FOR ONE 10 CENTS ADMISSION." (I had to spell out cents, because there is no sense symbol on the keyboard, You would think it would make cents to add it.)

¢ signor.

Of course it would’ve been a little more than that. Back then you had to trade your ticket for a choice of the following:

Main Street
Tomorrowland
Fantasyland

You didn’t pay one price like you do today, to see the whole park.

So they must've had ticket booths or ticket takers at the entrance to the lands. Can you say 'bottleneck'?

I don’t even think you can buy a thought for 10 cents now a days. Instead of a penny for your thoughts, inflation has raised them to at least a quarter.

Nah. My thoughts are still worth only a penny. Actually, they're pretty much worthless, really.

Ok. Out of curiosity, is there anyone on these boards that visited DL when it first opened?
Anyone visit within the first year it opened?
Anyone remember when it first opened (not necessarily visiting)?
It would be interesting to hear your thought about DL at the time.

Nope. Before my time.

But....

I do remember watching "The Wonderful World of Disney" (on a black and white TV with rabbit ears antenna) and watching an episode where they were showing what Disneyworld was going to be like. It was either just before it opened or just after. That got me (and my DSis) all excited about going to see it. We finally did about 6 years later, not too long before EPCOT opened up, so there was just the one park.

Back then you could refer to MK as Disneyworld.... and you'd be right!

Does this one look familiar?

Space Mountain?
No, wait! EE?

jk. I know it's POC.



:rolleyes1:

For a brief moment, I had forgotten that Walt lived at DL. How cool would it have been to live in the happiest place on earth? I wonder what I have to do for a chance to stay in the Dream Suite the Imagineers have created. I can only dream of staying in that suite. If I wish upon a star, I hope my dreams come true.

I've wondered if it would be a good thing or not. How great to be the last person in the park... and the first person too! But.... I don't really want to see Main Street with workers all over it replacing bulbs, etc. Takes away some of the magic for me.

Does anybody remember why we came in here the first place? Oh yeah. We wanted to watch the Voices of Liberty and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We got so enthralled with the history of DL, that we never did see either one of those.

:rotfl: But I don't blame you. That was all really interesting.

I hope you find this just as interesting as we did.

::yes::

The darn maintenance people must have come in and turned off the a/c. I turn it back on and look at the last place I left my ID. My heart dropped and I could’ve cried.

Usually when people describe "heart dropped" it means a bad thing has happened. Then you add in you could've cried. Plus you mention someone was in your room.....

But glad to hear (minus the disappointment of Vegas) that you found it.

We’re done with DL for the moment. We’ll have to eventually go back for the shot glasses, but I can still hear the call of California Screamin’, which Lady H will take you through.

I think.

I foresee hearing the lament of the "dumb wife".

I give her about 30 minutes to do what she has to do before I scooch her over.

Seems fair to me.

All I have is a “take me out and shoot me now” smartphone.

:lmao:

Ok ladies, no need to get hostile. I don’t really scooch her off the computer.

Noticed how you only apologized to the "ladies" there.

You knew that all the guys are going, "Yeah! All right, man. You show her! You the MAN!!" All while puffing out our chests and strutting self-importantly to and fro.... until our DWs tell us to settle down, get the dishes done and get off the computer 'cause they want to use it....


yes dear.

Have a great weekend all.

Thanks Mike, thanks for the chapter! :goodvibes
 


Will Thumper Man jump in the car and head out?

Will Lady H ride California Screamin by herself?

Maybe they are staying at Hotel California, and they can never leave!

Stay tuned! popcorn::
 
Lady H,
Totally off topic here but my son came home from an anime convention the other night and this one of the pins he bought and was proudly wearing:



I immediately thought of you! Had to share. I'm slowly getting caught up on all my subscribed threads after my DIS absence but every time I think I've caught up I find everyone has posted again. Still loving your TR!
 
Terrific pix, T-man! My hubby would be all over that exhibit. The one time we made it out to DLR we had very limited time (one afternoon/evening in MK), so we didn't see many things like this. He has a big collections of books on Walt, the parks, etc, so I'm sure he's seen pix of all these... but to see the actual items and models, he would love it!!

Oh, and Alt key + 155 will give you a ¢ symbol. :thumbsup2 I also use Alt + 0176 to get ° symbol for "degrees" as in temps.
 
Lady H,
Totally off topic here but my son came home from an anime convention the other night and this one of the pins he bought and was proudly wearing:



I immediately thought of you! Had to share. I'm slowly getting caught up on all my subscribed threads after my DIS absence but every time I think I've caught up I find everyone has posted again. Still loving your TR!

NARF!!!! That is too funny. I absolutely love it! And I love it more that you thought of me. To go along with the theme of Disney...I saw this and thought it was perfect.
disney__s_pinky_and_the_brain_by_ginger_roots-d30jfr9.jpg


I'm glad you are still enjoying it. I will hopefully get a chance to start on the next chapter soon. Work has been burying me lately and I barely have a chance to catch up on the chapters T-Man posts, let alone post my own. :rotfl:
 
WhooHoo! I threw T-Man off the computer for a few minutes. Don't know how long I have, so I'll try to make this quick...

Oh boy! I haven't gotten one of those since the 4th grade.



so... it's been a while.

Couldn't have been that long. That silhouette of yours didn't look older than 35...:thumbsup2



So.... often then.

We just went to a nightclub over the weekend to celebrate T-Man's birthday and we got branded there...:rolleyes:



Puce. With a hint of ochre.

Got it...So basically the color of a fading bruise...:rolleyes1



Good. 'Cause I thought the same thing.

Oh good, I was afraid I was thinking a little too outside the box.




Yeah I think I'm still scarred.



Yes. Of course.

In private too.

I'm sure T-Man or Ruby for that matter wouldn't be too keen for me calling you anything, especially, Supreme Ruler and Overlord in private...But i'll call you anything in public. ;)




I've told you... I don't scroll, I sashay.


stroll

Oh that's right...I forget...




They definitely did not do that. I just remember having breakfast and every now and then a Princess (or Mary Poppins) would show up at your table and bother us while we were trying to eat. Well the DDs didn't seem to mind, so I guess it's okay.

Then it has definitely changed. It's very cute. And the food is delicious. Expensive, but delicious. And since it's AYCE, and you have a selective menu, we all had a different dish, took a bite of each others to see what we liked and then re-ordered. Got to say, the lobster Benedict was delicious :)
 
If you turn around to see where you came in as you entered, it's to your left and if you turn around for one last look at the castle before you leave it's to your right. If you're Nebo and you've had a few too many Sunny Ds, it's somewhere over your head as you lay prone on the pavement. After you leave Disney and fly back to your homes, it's below you.

:lmao:



Who cares about the fee? Your winnings will take care of that.

Good point...Hey T-Man...Next time we are hitting Vegas too. :cool1:



Man, I just could not do that. If Ruby suggested a pit stop on the way out, I'd be, "Okay, See ya! Bye!"

I was thinking in the same lines as you...it was T-Man that suggested the pit stop. Not me...I'm an angel.



That is just about the coolest thing ever. Man that is History right there! Imagine him sitting there, watching his girls on the Merry-Go-Round and idly dreaming about how he could do something like that himself. It just boggles the mind, doesn't it?

I have to admit, it was awesome to see everything and you do sort of get sucked into the nostalgia of it all.

I presume it's roped off, but even if it wasn't, I don't know if I could sit on it. It would seem almost... I dunno sacrilegious

I don't think I could/would be able to sit on it. I don't remember it being roped off to be honest.


It's all pretty cool. :thumbsup2 And I can't wait to show the DDs Neuschwanstein castle and now I have an extra bit of trivia for them.

There you go...nothing is better than educating your children on all things disney :goodvibes



Nope. Looked up in Wiki. Apparently they referred to that day as Black Sunday. Not an all round great day apparently.

Well, you can't have it all...



¢ signor.

Show off...:snooty:



So they must've had ticket booths or ticket takers at the entrance to the lands. Can you say 'bottleneck'?

Right? I can only imagine what the lines were like there. Of course, I don't think back then it was like it is now either. The rides, the crowds, a lot has changed over the decades.



Nah. My thoughts are still worth only a penny. Actually, they're pretty much worthless, really.

At least mine are worth 2 cents...At least that's what I tell everyone when I burst in with my theories.



Nope. Before my time.

But....

I do remember watching "The Wonderful World of Disney" (on a black and white TV with rabbit ears antenna) and watching an episode where they were showing what Disneyworld was going to be like. It was either just before it opened or just after. That got me (and my DSis) all excited about going to see it. We finally did about 6 years later, not too long before EPCOT opened up, so there was just the one park.

Back then you could refer to MK as Disneyworld.... and you'd be right!

See, your not that old...



Space Mountain?
No, wait! EE?

jk. I know it's POC.



:rolleyes1:

Darn...So close...Missed it by that much!



I've wondered if it would be a good thing or not. How great to be the last person in the park... and the first person too! But.... I don't really want to see Main Street with workers all over it replacing bulbs, etc. Takes away some of the magic for me.

I don't know. I would think by the time the park empties and the cleaning crews come in, I would probably be passed out. I mean, even we know that Tinkerbell doesn't swing in and wave her wand to clean up the park or put up decorations. But it is a nice thought instead of the sweepers. Unless of course you have a dancing clean up crew. that could be entertaining and magical.

Sorry...lack of sleep and brain overload at work...don't mind me.



Usually when people describe "heart dropped" it means a bad thing has happened. Then you add in you could've cried. Plus you mention someone was in your room.....

But glad to hear (minus the disappointment of Vegas) that you found it.

Usually is your key word there hun...T-Man doesn't do usually. He walks to the beat of his own drum. :yay:



I foresee hearing the lament of the "dumb wife".

I see your fortune telling skills are improving.


Noticed how you only apologized to the "ladies" there.

You knew that all the guys are going, "Yeah! All right, man. You show her! You the MAN!!" All while puffing out our chests and strutting self-importantly to and fro.... until our DWs tell us to settle down, get the dishes done and get off the computer 'cause they want to use it....


yes dear.

Speaking of. Better start typing a little faster. I am pretty sure I've been on here longer than my allotted time.
 
Will Thumper Man jump in the car and head out?

Will Lady H ride California Screamin by herself?

Maybe they are staying at Hotel California, and they can never leave!

Stay tuned! popcorn::

You did that perfectly. I could hear the announcer voice and everything. Like I was listening to an old radio show. Hopefully I won't have to make you wait too long to find out. But then again...:hourglass
 
Apparently Mr. Pkondz is questioning over on another TR that there is apparently this castle worth $5,000. Apparently I need to set the record straight here. It is actually worth $6,800. I was apparently a tad bit off, so now we know the exact price.

How do we know you ask? Good question. You can buy this castle from the online Disney Store.

Here is the picture I took:


Here's the link to buy it: Small Castle You can see for yourself that I'm apparently telling the truth now.

Since I am making clarifications on the prices of the castles, I need to clarify that I was WAY OFF on the price for the larger castle displayed in the window. I stated earlier I thought it was about $10,000. It is actually $37,500. You can also buy this from the online Disney Store.

Once again, here's the pictures I took:




Here is the link for the Disney Store: Large Castle

There's only 50 of these available, so you better buy yours now while you can.
 
Couldn't have been that long. That silhouette of yours didn't look older than 35...:thumbsup2

Only the shadow knows...
Shadow_Death_From_Nowhere.jpg


I'm sure T-Man or Ruby for that matter wouldn't be too keen for me calling you anything, especially, Supreme Ruler and Overlord in private...But i'll call you anything in public. ;)

:blush:

Right? I can only imagine what the lines were like there. Of course, I don't think back then it was like it is now either. The rides, the crowds, a lot has changed over the decades.

Apparently, Black Sunday's attendance was about 28,000. Compared to today's capacity of 85,000 or so, I wonder how bad the lines were.

No fastpasses of course. No crowd dynamics studies, blah, blah, blah.



Apparently Mr. Pkondz is questioning over on another TR that there is apparently this castle worth $5,000.

Nope. Not so much a question as a lack of trust with the memory banks.

Apparently I need to set the record straight here. It is actually worth $6,800. I was apparently a tad bit off, so now we know the exact price.

So....


you lied.


check.

Here's the link to buy it:

I don't need the link. It's apparently being bought for me.


what? no?

You can see for yourself that I'm apparently telling the truth now.

I dunno dude... how can we ever trust you again?

I mean, if I was you and you were me would you trust you?

Since I am making clarifications on the prices of the castles, I need to clarify that I was WAY OFF on the price for the larger castle displayed in the window. I stated earlier I thought it was about $10,000. It is actually $37,500.

See? More lies. And bigger lies, too.


plus you haven't phoned yet.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should call off the wedding.

There's only 50 of these available, so you better buy yours now while you can.

Got it covered. Supposedly being mailed on Monday.
 
orangecats2 said:
Yeah, no kidding.

They have time to go to a casino this weekend but not to update!!! :headache:

Damn skippy! Just kidding. I'm working on the chapter. Just decided to get my butt kicked by a bunch of horses this weekend instead. I should have stuck with working on the chapter :-(.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top