Fantasmickey Good Time…
That was about the fastest week on record. It’s amazing how quickly the Micky Mouse Club march of time happens when you are having such a lovely experience.
This trip has done something for me… I went thru this period where I threw rocks at Disney (not Disneyland, mind you)… where I saw Disney (the whole entity) as The Evil Empire with mouse ears. BUT, having worked at the park, DisneyLAND has always had a soft spot for me… and I always separated it from the other hands of Disney. This adventure has made me step back a little and think better of the mouse.
How is that, you ask? Well, we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which was a superb experience. Newly remodeled and full of concept art and old photographs of celebrities and Disneyland Past, I found it a wonderful experience filled with great service and Disney charm. It didn’t hurt that we had a great view of the pool, close proximity to Trader Sam’s Tiki Bar, and the overall cleanliness and fun that you expect from Disney.
I have also become fascinated by the Imagineering Dept. and their “can do” spirit. That branch of Disney has always been interesting to me… and on this trip I bought “The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland,” a book that points out fun facts about rides and attractions… and it also shows you concept art and such. Judy happened to have a great book at home about Disney Imagineering… and I have been studying it.
Harold, too, had an amazing time. And he wound up with a new outfit (it’s time for a bigger wardrobe)… complete with ears! He 
was quite taken aback by all the fun rides and fireworks and such. He even has a new pal… which I might ad, I won in California Adventure’s Paradise Pier game area. I have always had a knack for shooting water into a clown’s mouth… this game was a variation. In any case, Judy loves Dumbo… and so….
Mom came out and joined us as well and we had a wonderful dinner at Carthay Circle Restaurant (a recreation of the movie palace where Snow White premiered) in Calif Adventure… and how FANTASTIC was that! The food, the service and the atmosphere was above 5 star in my book!
So much to to tell… don’t wanna bore you. I still have tales of Trader Sam’s… next blog entry.
Still uploading to Flickr… I took a lot of pics.
I’ve never had a poor opinion of Disney as an entity. Certainly nothing as negative as most people have had. I learned a lot when I worked at Disneyland, and followed the company along from that point on. Individuals in the company? Sure there’ve been a few… uh… without Walt’s vision and purpose.
Glad you guys had a great time!
Pete… I credit Disney with loads, too… the Park and animation (via books, etc.) but the Disney STORE left a bad taste in my mouth. The business practices made me irritated (back in the early to mid 90’s) and down on The Mouse. My guess is Eisner’s influence took it to an ugly place. Maybe it was just my spin… but it FELT like I worked for a huge cutthroat corp. But not when I worked at the Park I have never had anything but praise for the Park!!!
Yeah, I can understand that. I was on the graveyard custodial back in the early 80s and there was a real sense of “What would Walt do?” that was instilled in us. We took great care in making things as clean and shiny as possible for the next morning. I worked Main Street, so the guests saw our work first!
And still… it was a Mickey Mouse union I was in – pun intended. The union rules kept us from getting more work done. I can’t tell you how many times I was yelled at for working too hard and too fast. It eventually got to me and I gave my two weeks notice after a couple years. But it was an otherwise happy experience.