April 2010 ABD Backstage Magic : California Here We Come!!!

[aspen37]

I was doing the happy dance in the living room when Dodie called.


I have never been to Disneyland and have been wanting to go so bad. I cannot think of a better way to see DL for the first time, celebrate my B-Day and spend my vacation with some good friends.

Thank you Dreams and ABD for doing this!

I've never been to Disneyland either and can't wait to see it with the Pros!!!

Hi Kathy and Tonya!
You'll both love Disneyland. Having the crew will be so great! I can't wait to call Nancy and let her know I'll be coming. I hope we have a meet with the DL correspondents.

And we have our official Kim of the trip!

I am so grateful to Kim letting me be her roommate.

Bring the hat and it will be gone in the first hour.

Ssshhhh...

I thought I saw you on the upper deck waiting for the fireworks during the cruise in a big hat with balls attached to strings hanging off the hat all around. The description does not do this hat justice! So was this you Kevin?

Now I just have to decide if I want to arrive a day early or just arrive the day of.

I'm really excited as well!

I mentioned to some folks on the podcast cruise that I was booked on a Celebrity Solstice Caribbean cruise for April 2010. But if the podcast team announced something really cool, that cruise was history. When this trip was announced during the live podcast taping, my heart just about stopped. I told Anna (aspen37) that it is very expensive and I shouldn't go and hopefully they won't talk me into it. Then later I changed my ranting to, I will probably go. Was there ever any doubt. Well the Celebrity cruise went bye bye earlier today. Perfect timing. I love ABD tours and all my podcast friends. This trip is a much better fit for me.

What did I say to you? I think it was something like "I will not be doing the ABD trip" I was sooo wrong!

I just heard they are adding something new to this adventure in 2010....wait for it.....

A 30 minute visit to the Disney Archives in Burbank!!!

Kevin is freaking out!!!!!

yay!

Wow that is great!!!

We have to practice our distraction techniques Jason.

"HEY!!!! Is that the ghost of Walt hovering in the corner?" <quick, get the Mary Poppins hat in your pants before they turn around>

I'll be going on the trip as well. I've actually been to the Walt Disney Archives many times in the past. The offices (if they haven't moved out of the Roy O. Disney building) are quite small, and a lot of the materials are stored offsite. Dave Smith is a great guy (though he was quite old when I first met him in High School, so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get into the office as much now). This was back when I was planning on becoming an Imagineer and he was something of a mentor, though I ultimately went in a different career direction. He put me in contact with a lot of folks at WDI, and I even got to handle several of the original items reproduced in the Disney Treasures books. It was pretty casual back then. I'm thinking they might be a little more security-conscious now.

I look forward to meeting you and the rest of the group as well (at least those I haven't already met on the Podcast Cruise). I do have a lot of interesting stories, having attended both the 35th and 50th anniversaries at Disneyland and the 15th at Paris and the 1st at Hong Kong. (I still have yet to make it to Tokyo, though I will have by the time of this trip.)

I ended up going into E-Commerce Risk Management Software (ie: I make it harder for criminals to use your credit card online.). This is actually a little funny/sad because one of the folks Dave put me in contact with was Van France, the founder of Disney University (predecessor of sorts to the Disney Institute). Van and I became pen pals and he (being something of a technophobe, he typed all his letters on an old Royal manual typewriter) was happy at the time that I was headed for a career in the arts as opposed to a more conventional tech job. I always felt a little guilty about not following through with that, but I enjoy my work, and I still find time for Disney.

I can't wait to meet Derek. I love hearing your stories Chris. You are so full of Disney knowledge. I enjoyed the first day of the cruise just sitting and listing to your stories. I can't wait to hear more of them.

I'm Kim - tickledtink33

Many of you know my roomie who I'm sure will post soon. She went to visit family after the podcast cruise.

Lisa, John made the first post on this thread so Kevin probably can't update it with our names. We will be a small group. I'm sure we will get to know each other quickly.

I've finally found a little bit of time to read this thread and start posting.

If you like/don't mind, you may add Susan (MerriePoppins) and me to the list.

We're still dancing with excitement. Under 11 months to go...

Hi Jason and Susan! We are going to have a great group on this trip.

 

[challer]

I am very much interested in this trip, but I have one question that will make or break this for me.

Does ABD do anything about kosher dietary needs? I know a large part of this is the dining, and I wondered if they can do anything about this.

I've had the kosher meals in the parks. I believe that they do the same for DCL, which would keep me away. Can't eat that stuff every day.

Would appreciate the info.

 

[tickledtink33]

Hi everyone! I can't wait for this trip.
I want to thank Kim because if it were not for her I would not be going! You are so awesome Kim!!!

Kevin, please add me to list. Thanks for doing this for us Kevin!

You're welcome Anna

 

[miss missy]

Only 324 days nope not at all looking forward to this

 

[DisneyKevin]

I am very much interested in this trip, but I have one question that will make or break this for me.

Does ABD do anything about kosher dietary needs? I know a large part of this is the dining, and I wondered if they can do anything about this.

I've had the kosher meals in the parks. I believe that they do the same for DCL, which would keep me away. Can't eat that stuff every day.

Would appreciate the info.

Hey Challer...

Adventures By Disney works on west coast time and they close for holidays, unlike WDW and DCL.

As soon as I am able to speak with a live person, I will get an answer for you.

Currently...all I have is the very non-helpful blurb from their website....

Can special dietary needs be accommodated?
Adventures by Disney will make a reasonable effort to accommodate some special dietary needs at no additional charge. Unfortunately, we may not be able to accommodate all special dietary needs requested. Please contact us in advance of departure to advise of any needs.

I realize that this is at best..vague, but it's all I can get until the ABD offices re-open.

Kevin

 

[stenogoddess]

Please add Lauren and Jeri to the list. We're very excited!

 

[DisneyKevin]

Please add Lauren and Jeri to the list. We're very excited!

Lauren and Jeri...you are now officially "on the list".

 

[tickledtink33]

Please add Lauren and Jeri to the list. We're very excited!

Hi

This is your cruise tablemate Kim, it will be fun having you both on the tour.

 

[stenogoddess]

Hey Kim! It'll be good to see you again.

 

[klam_chowder]

Wow, this looks like a fab trip (insert green-eyed emoticon here ) - have a great trip all!

cheers,

 

[ragtopday]

I want to do this SO BAD (badly?) I can taste it.

Alas, this time anyway, it is not to be.

I am really hoping something like this is done again that I can do. ABD, of any flavor, is on my wish list for sure!

 

[Carolinagal]

Lots of spoilers, but great pictures too:

http://www.maxtaw.blogspot.com/

http://barbnefer.blogspot.com/2008/05/adventures-by-disney-backstage-magic.html

http://www.mousefancafe.com/category/destinations/adventures-by-disney/

http://www.stitchkingdom.com/abdblog/

 

[Dodie]

I'm still !!!

Our little group is growing! Yay! This will be such a BLAST!!!

 

[kab407]

I'm still !!!

Our little group is growing! Yay! This will be such a BLAST!!!

I think we need to talk Jeff and Val into coming along.

 

[Dodie]

Everybody - check out my new obsessive, insane, signature countdowns. SHAMEFUL!

 

[DisneyKevin]

I think we need to talk Jeff and Val into coming along.

I've been thinking along these same lines.......

Aaron and his family as well......

Hmmm...great minds?

 

[Dodie]

I've been thinking along these same lines.......

Aaron and his family as well......

Hmmm...great minds?

I know from reliable sources that Aaron is, indeed, very interested in this trip. Now we just have to push him over the edge.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I'm still !!!

Our little group is growing! Yay! This will be such a BLAST!!!

I've said this before but I've never been above repeating myself.

One of the amazing things about an ABD trip is that the group has so many shared experiences, that it's almost impossible not to really bond and this is when you start out as strangers.

I dont know if ABD is ready for a group that already has this much in common.

California...here we come!

 

[DisneyKevin]

I know from reliable sources that Aaron is, indeed, very interested in this trip. Now we just have to push him over the edge.

We have you covered Dodie....start pushing.

 

[macman752]

Greetings fellow ABDers!

I'm Dave (macman752) and together with my DW Sally we'll be joining you on this adventure. We are looking forward to meeting you for the first time and to what will be our second visit to Disneyland!

Kevin, you can put our information on the first post.