A Very Lurkyloo Christmas is FINISHED! New 3/16: Last Day of the Trip!

Carrieeeee, where do you find out about these D23 special events? Aside from the expo, I didn't find any info on fun 'members only' events on the regular D23 website! (Or else I'd consider it myself - since I, like you, originally thought it was just access to expensive goodies ;))
 
I did not post it there.

That's where I saw a picture of it first.

Do you think I should post it?

I say sure! People always wanna know "Where'd you get it? How much did it cost? How did it taste?" so if you feel like sharing, I'll bet they'd love it! It's also helpful b/c - even though there are other pix of the Mickey head cake in that thread - I've noticed that no one reads back more than a few pages, so they tend to get lost.

OO I was way behind.. but just caught up :thumbsup2:

I'm glad you liked Bakerella.. and I'm excited to see the D23 stuff! I joined but since I'm over on the East Coast I haven't been able to get all the benefits.. I don't know if I'll renew it next year.

Yeah - I feel bad for people who don't live in New York, Orlando, or LA, since those seem to be about the only places you can go to D23 events... *if* you can even get into them...

Can't wait to hear the D23 trippie! popcorn::

It's coming up in, like, 30 seconds!

Carrieeeee, where do you find out about these D23 special events? Aside from the expo, I didn't find any info on fun 'members only' events on the regular D23 website! (Or else I'd consider it myself - since I, like you, originally thought it was just access to expensive goodies ;))


Here's the page where they listed all the events (since they're over, they're not on there anymore, though...): http://d23.disney.go.com/expo.html

If you follow MiceChat on Twitter, they usually announce when new events are released: http://twitter.com/DatelineDisney You can also follow D23, but they don't Tweet very often... http://twitter.com/DisneyD23

The thing is, just cuz you hear about them, and just cuz you're a member, doesn't guarantee you can actually get into them (there's a bit of a bitter ramble on this subject in my trippie). So far I have been shut out of registering for everything I've tried for except the studio tour - they are free events and usually VERY low capacity, so they fill up within seconds... :sad2:
 
Can't wait to read it!! :banana: I'm back from WDW (and back at work :( ) with requested pics AND a pic of a box of chocolatey treats from the bakery in France which I will share when I get home :) (the pic that is, as said treats have been fully digested by now). And the two delicious fudge cookies we had covered in Reese's Peanut Butter cups from Goofy's Candy Co., sadly, did not get their photo's taken.

Oh, and as an FYI to anyone interested, they only allow ONE chocolate dipping, ONE topping, and ONE drizzle now at Goofy's for anything dippable (as opposed to unlimited before, although I wouldn't want anything to taint the peanut butter good ness anyways ;) ).
 
OK, I know I said this was gonna be a mini trip-report-within-a-trip-report, but as usual we took a TON of pix, so it might go long…

We were VERY lucky to make it into one of D23’s tours of the Walt Disney Studios. In fact, I am expecting it to be the only D23 event we ever get into, if they keep doing everything first-come, first-served on the Web for 20,000 members. Every other event I’ve tried to get into has sold out before my computer even brought up the link to click on, but on this occasion they accidentally posted the link 3 minutes early and I saw it in time to make it onto a waiting list. When they decided to add more tours each day, we got in!

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Ooooh! Parking lot! Behind it is the building where all the animation takes place today – we didn’t go there

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We arrived at the studio at 11:30am for our 12pm tour. They had us park and walk over to what is sort of the “show” front part of the studio, near the gym, the commissary, the conference rooms and the company store.

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(If the photo is bad, you’ll know it came from my iPhone)
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They’d set up a check-in point where we showed our ID and D23 card to get a wristband, a D23 Expo pin (they are pushing that thing hard!) and a color sticker indicating our tour group.

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The family of four ahead of us was trying to get the son and dad into the tour even though only the mom had registered for the event (and her daughter got to be her one guest), but Disney stuck to the rules and told them they couldn’t come. DH told me if he’d been the dad, he woulda made it up to the son by taking him over to Griffith Park to see the carousel and Walt’s Barn, and then visit Travel Town. I think they went to Starbucks instead.

As we waited for the tour to begin, some of the blue-shirted D23 staffers took groups to the bathrooms at the commissary. It was fun to chat with them and find out what their jobs were, because they were real-live D23 employees who workon the magazine. I got to be obnoxious and tell them their copyediting needs work – tee hee!

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Oooh! Vintage phone booth!
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Last time I was at the Studios, I got to eat at the commissary – the food was really good, unlike the food at the faux commissary in DHS...

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D23 had put out big photos at some of the tour stops. This one at the beginning of the tour shows the studio in the ‘60s.

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“What? You gonna let some dorky little sign tell you what to do? C’mon – gimme that burger!

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When the tour started, we were split into two groups. Ours went on the studio tour first, while the other went to see the Archives first. Our tour guide was so funny – she told us we could take as many pix of her as we wanted as long as she wasn’t talking, because the day after the last round of tours, she’d found unflattering mid-sentence pix of herself all over the Internet!

The first area we saw was the last remnant of the permanent sets on the lot, a single row of storefronts. They used to have a Wild West town, a small Mexican village (for Zorro), and someplace that I can’t remember what it was but they used it for “Darby O’Gill and the Little People.” (Soon to be screened at the D23 Expo – get yer tickets NOW!!!)

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Across the way was the back of the Ink & Paint building, which our guide painted as kind of a women’s ghetto, since it was the only department they were allowed to work in and their amenities consisted of a break room and, uh, a place to drink tea (wait til you hear what the men got in their building…).

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We continued down this sort of back street behind the soundstages and stopped at the one where WED Enterprises built lots of the vehicles for Disneyland, including the train, the monorail and I think she said this is where the Mark Twain was built.


...Perhaps the hippos were built here too?
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As we walked down the bland back street past empty soundstages and anonymous warehouses, it struck me what a terrible idea this would be for a theme park! :p

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Our next stop was Soundstage 3, which is not quite as famous as Soundstage 2, where Mary Poppins was filmed and which has been dedicated to Julie Andrews. That stage was being used for some TV show that I can’t remember what it is. Soundstage 3 was built to shoot the classic squid attack scene in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – they actually dug out the floor and filled it with water!

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If you can see the blue tape lines on the floor – that’s where the tank was for 20,000 Leagues

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Next we headed back the way we’d come and turned down a side street near the old film vaults.

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Now that the animators and, well, everybody, it seems, has moved over to new buildings across the street and around Burbank, all of the buildings are used for something different than what they were built for. These film vaults were built like bunkers because the old kind of film stock, nitrate, was highly combustible. I don’t remember what these fireproof vaults are used for now – maybe they keep Zac Efron here...

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This is the only building where they still do what the sign says, except that in the year 2009 those crazy kids do a different kind of “cutting” here...

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Our tour guide was good about stopping us in shady places. We paused on the steps of the next building because it was the best place to get pictures of the water tower. She told us that it was built with six legs instead of four in order to withstand earthquakes (the hope was that it would collapse straight down instead of tipping over). It used to hold the water needed to heat and cool the entire studio, and at one point Walt wanted to see if it could be turned into an employee pool! No dice...


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I forget what the first building we went in was for originally – maybe Camera? Now its sole purpose is to house the stuffed carcass of Gus, The Football-Playing Mule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_(film)

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The next place we went was the Animation Building. It was built in a sort of E shape so that every office had a window, enabling the animators to draw with natural light.

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All the windows except those facing north, which naturally get the best light, had louvered shades that lighting could be adjusted.

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Here our guide also told us all about the good-life enjoyed by the male employees of the studio. Although the building was 3 floors around the perimeter, the center had a fourth floor that housed a private club for men only. There was a restaurant, a sauna and I think an exercise room where the animators could go unwind. (I should prolly be verifying all of this online, but let’s just assume the guide knew what she was talking about!). I dunno if it’s all still up there – I would have loved to see it!

Instead, I give you a picture of a hall:

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We walked down the center of the building and were allowed to take pictures of the concept art lining the walls, including...

Backgrounds from one of my childhood favorites, “The Cold-Blooded Penguin,” about a penguin who dreams of moving to a warmer climate.

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... and concept art for The Princess & the Frog
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Someone’s going to have to help me out with this one – is it from Bambi?

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At this point our guide stopped us and said “Walt Disney World likes to brag about its Utilidors, but *we* were the first to have them!” She told us about the tunnel from Animation to Ink & Paint that kept cells from getting wet in the copious amounts of rain Burbank gets. And then she took us down into it!!!

Before we went into the tunnel, she said that poor Jennifer Garner must’ve run up and down these halls hundreds of times for Alias.


The glow of the Coke machine cleverly distracts the bad guys chasing Jennifer Garner...
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When we emerged in the Ink & Paint building, we got to look into the main paint-mixing room and saw some of the original bottles of the stuff! Apparently it lasts forever.



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On the way out, they had a photo of the original Hyperion studios for us. Some of the buildings were moved to the Burbank lot, but the rest were demolished, and today the site holds a Gelson’s supermarket.

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Back outside, our guide pointed out Walt Disney’s office for us. They also had a picture of the interior. Today it’s being used by Shaun Cassidy. Apparently he’s one of the more reverent tenants the space has had, but it amazes me that they don’t hold Walt’s office out of the pool of rentable space and do something special with it.


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At some point we saw the big fancy building Michael Eisner had built. Maybe on the way back into the Animation building to walk down more halls?

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More halls!


I’ve always loved the backgrounds in Lady & the Tramp

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The “Hall of Kings” where Frank, Ollie, and many of the other most famous Disney animators had their offices.

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LOVE the 101 Dalmatians concepts!

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Next we briefly backtracked toward the front of the studio to talk about the Hyperion Bungalow, which is from the original lot (I’ve heard it’s the oldest building at the studio) and is now a conference room.

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And the Mickey topiary. There was a funny story about how Disney World sent this topiary to the studios as a gift, and there were originally to be a bunch of them, but this one is having so many problems staying alive that they had to scrap the plan.

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You’ve prolly seen the corner of Dopey Drive and Mickey Avenue a lot. The sign was created for the “documentary” The Reluctant Dragon and it’s still here!

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Pluto’s paw prints are in the asphalt here...

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Tomorrow: Part Two – Touring the Disney Archives with Dave Smith!
 
Can't wait to read it!! :banana: I'm back from WDW (and back at work :( ) with requested pics AND a pic of a box of chocolatey treats from the bakery in France which I will share when I get home :) (the pic that is, as said treats have been fully digested by now). And the two delicious fudge cookies we had covered in Reese's Peanut Butter cups from Goofy's Candy Co., sadly, did not get their photo's taken.

Oh, and as an FYI to anyone interested, they only allow ONE chocolate dipping, ONE topping, and ONE drizzle now at Goofy's for anything dippable (as opposed to unlimited before, although I wouldn't want anything to taint the peanut butter good ness anyways ;) ).


Welcome back! Thanks for the great reporting - personally, I don't have an imagination big enough to think up more than one dipping/topping/drizzle, but what's up with adding limits? It's not like those things are cheap!

Can't wait to see pix!
 
Amazing!

I so wish I could go!

But I've never been to California.

If you can't attend any special events from D23, do you think it's still worth it?
 
Great TR!! The pictures were fantastic, it looked like so much fun, I am so jealous :goodvibes.
 
Amazing!

I so wish I could go!

But I've never been to California.

If you can't attend any special events from D23, do you think it's still worth it?

That's a good question.... Supposedly they will be adding more special events in more places around the country soon, so you might wanna just hang on until you see one coming up that interests you. You should get your member number right away when you buy, and then you can use that to register for whatever the event is.

Now why haven't you been to California yet? :cutie: We've got DISNEYLAND....!!! :banana:

Great TR!! The pictures were fantastic, it looked like so much fun, I am so jealous :goodvibes.

Hey, thanks! The second half is still to come, hopefully tomorrow!
 
I know. But for some reason it's more expensive for us to go from Montreal to California, than Montreal to Orlando.
 
The Dwarves building! That's the one that has always meant "Disney Studios" to me, because you can see it from the freeway as you drive past :goodvibes

Once, when I was younger, my Dad was doing some construction there, and when we went to pick him up we had to park outside the lot and wait - but I was so excited anyway! :rotfl:

Oh, and I also can't believe Walt's office is being used by someone. What the heck??
 
I know. But for some reason it's more expensive for us to go from Montreal to California, than Montreal to Orlando.

Ah, got it! Plane fares are weird! I decided to drive to see my dad next month because a flight from Los Angeles to Sacramento cost the SAME AS A TICKET TO ORLANDO!!! :confused: That's a mental block I can't get past...

Wow, your tour of Disney Studios looked cool! Thanks for sharing your experience and pictures.:goodvibes

It was so much fun! I'm going to post the other half of the report later today! :thumbsup2

The Dwarves building! That's the one that has always meant "Disney Studios" to me, because you can see it from the freeway as you drive past :goodvibes

Once, when I was younger, my Dad was doing some construction there, and when we went to pick him up we had to park outside the lot and wait - but I was so excited anyway!

That is so cute! I always wonder - are the people who work there totally unimpressed by that now? Or are they as excited to come to work every day as we are?

Yeah! What's up with THAT!

I guess it's just business - maybe it would be weird to have a veritable museum set inside what's basically just office space for rent - but sheesh! Even the Jim Henson company reserved Charlie Chaplain's old office on the lot for Brian Henson!
 
Hi, I'm jumping onboard your PTR! Tom and I will be in Disney without the kids December 10 - 14.

Denise
 
Carrie thank you taking us along for the tour! It's so cool to see all the buildings and art. BTW the one you weren't sure was Bambi or not - it is! :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about the Archives!
 
great pictures! i wish i could have gone on that tour. thank you for sharing it with us!
 
Hi, I'm jumping onboard your PTR! Tom and I will be in Disney without the kids December 10 - 14.

Denise

Wow - congrats on the kid-free trip! You guys are so lucky - I'll bet you have a blast! Wanna come to the DIS party at Hollywood Studios on the evening of the 12th? I'm trying to start a DIS-meet-within-a-DIS-meet! :rotfl:

Carrie thank you taking us along for the tour! It's so cool to see all the buildings and art. BTW the one you weren't sure was Bambi or not - it is!

:banana: Good thing I erased my original guess, Fantasia. How embarrassing would THAT have been?!! :cutie:


great pictures! i wish i could have gone on that tour. thank you for sharing it with us!

Thanks for reading along! Here comes the other half of the story....
 
Before we went into the Archives, we made a stop at Legends Plaza, which runs from the Seven Dwarfs building down to the building housing the Archives. Patrick says it used to have a fountain in it, but now it’s just a big patio.

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There’s a ginormous replica of the Disney Legend award in the plaza
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Yikes! Unlike Oscar, this award could KILL you if you fell on it
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Disney gives out Legends Awards to people who have been instrumental in its success, and I guess at the ceremony they put their handprints down the way stars used to put their footprints in the cement in front of the Chinese Theater. We only had 10 minutes here, so everyone dashed about trying to find the prints of their favorites.

We spotted Virginia Davis’ handprints first. I just learned she passed on that very day.
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Dick Van You-Know-Who! (Lousy DIS auto-censor...)


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Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston – Look closely, cuz one of these things is not like the others!
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The Sherman Brothers’ hands!
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At the Archives end of the plaza is another Partners statue. I wasn’t particularly interested in it until someone mentioned it was the closest one would ever get to the Partners’ statue, and then I dashed down there to get an intimate portrait (graciously snapped by the Editor In Chief of D23’s magazine!).

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Finally they called “time” and we were off to see the Archives. I think we managed to read almost every handprint plaque though.


One of the D23 writers pointed out that the film strip overhang above the building’s name appears to come off the reels painted above it.
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We only spent a few moments in the lobby, and I wish we could have been there longer because they had a fantastic display of hats from various Disney movies.

Mary Poppins’ hat!
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My fave, the Rocketeer’s helmet
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Ah, TRON...
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“We did some things/And other stuff/We put things up/And layed them down/We made some costumes/And jumped around/We’re getting ready for yooooooooou!”
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They also had on display costumes from such Disney classics as Hannah Montana and High School Musical XIV: The Reckoning. I took some shots of the curtain dress from Enchanted and the dress Barbossa gave Elizabeth in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but they were really glare-y...

Wow – one of only two or three multiplane cameras anywhere!
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Outside the Archives...
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Inside the Archives
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We were snickering when we got inside because the room is soooo tiny, yet D23’s magazine ran a promo photo of the Archives picturing the place full of people reading, writing, staring thoughtfully into middle space, etc. They must’ve been midgets!
 












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