On Sunday, Brian organized a fun Disneyland day for us. It started out with a brief notice he found, stating that author David Koenig was going to be signing his book and then doing a short history tour after the signing. All we had to do was show up, buy a book, and pay attention. We could do that. Kelly noted that Disney had been cracking down on "rogue" tours and after additional inquiry, we found out that David had a back-up plan, so we were in. The focus of the tour would be what was still orginal in the park from the day of the July 17, 1955 opening.
We started out early and picked up our passes and then headed on over to PCH Grill for breakfast. It turns out that it was hosted by Lilo and Stitch, so we had morning entertainment and were sent packing with souvineer buttons. After that it was on to Compass Books to buy our selection and wait for David. As we waited, we contemplated the usual - Star Wars, baseball, Trek, and remembered to think about Disney once in a while.
David arrived right on time and we had our books signed and then a short time later, it was off to the park. Our group of 10 (9 plus our guide) headed on inside the Magic Kingdom. It turns out that two employees had already approached David earlier in the day so we were on alert. As soon as we were inside, I started learning more about the history of the park than I had ever paid attention too, and it really was quite fascinating. There was stuff that I had forgotten as a kid and stuff that had disappeared before I was ever born. Who knew that Main Street was such a cool place?
After 5 minutes we were scene (actually the cameras probably picked out David as we stood in line) and I got my camera ready. After all, if I was going to lose my guide, I was going to document the process. We hustled off and stopped a few feet away as we contemplated the parade and more Main Street history. It was about at this point we were really being checked out and the Disney tour guides came over to find out what was going on. Brian and I started taking photos and you can see by the averted heads, how much the employees loved that. It turned out that they didn't know what to do with us, so they let us continue on with our tour.
I have never really thought about what was printed or engraved in the Main Street windows. I've read them without thinking over the years. But if you look and pay attention, you can find clues as to what the original building were. For example - the big clock on Main Street? It used to be the Timex shop. The wooden Indian outside a building? The old tobacco shop. Disney even used to have shops selling corsets and swimsuits! Now for true Disney addicts, I'm sure this is old news but for the casual fan, I never really noticed before.
Our tour took us around a circle through the park and I now know to look up and look down for clues. Changes in the floors or the walkways show new from old. The big hole in the dirt wall? The original mine train tunnel. The stagecoach just sitting there? Original to the park. Throughout the one hour tour, David kept us on a brisk pace and filling our head with info. When we finally stopped at Star Tours, we had been around the park and back. We said good-by to David and hit Star Tours and Haunted Mansion before going to take a last look at Main Street and try to process everything we had just learned.
Lilo & Stitch host breakfast.
There are rogue tours of the park.
I went on one.
I learned stuff.
Disney security is everywhere. (I think we all knew that)
I ate too much for breakfast.
David knows his stuff.
Buzz Lightyear was a 4 hour fastpass wait.
That pretty much covers the day. For more info check out
"Mouse Tales. A Behind-The-Ears Look At Disneyland" by David Koenig.
We started out early and picked up our passes and then headed on over to PCH Grill for breakfast. It turns out that it was hosted by Lilo and Stitch, so we had morning entertainment and were sent packing with souvineer buttons. After that it was on to Compass Books to buy our selection and wait for David. As we waited, we contemplated the usual - Star Wars, baseball, Trek, and remembered to think about Disney once in a while.
David arrived right on time and we had our books signed and then a short time later, it was off to the park. Our group of 10 (9 plus our guide) headed on inside the Magic Kingdom. It turns out that two employees had already approached David earlier in the day so we were on alert. As soon as we were inside, I started learning more about the history of the park than I had ever paid attention too, and it really was quite fascinating. There was stuff that I had forgotten as a kid and stuff that had disappeared before I was ever born. Who knew that Main Street was such a cool place?
After 5 minutes we were scene (actually the cameras probably picked out David as we stood in line) and I got my camera ready. After all, if I was going to lose my guide, I was going to document the process. We hustled off and stopped a few feet away as we contemplated the parade and more Main Street history. It was about at this point we were really being checked out and the Disney tour guides came over to find out what was going on. Brian and I started taking photos and you can see by the averted heads, how much the employees loved that. It turned out that they didn't know what to do with us, so they let us continue on with our tour.
I have never really thought about what was printed or engraved in the Main Street windows. I've read them without thinking over the years. But if you look and pay attention, you can find clues as to what the original building were. For example - the big clock on Main Street? It used to be the Timex shop. The wooden Indian outside a building? The old tobacco shop. Disney even used to have shops selling corsets and swimsuits! Now for true Disney addicts, I'm sure this is old news but for the casual fan, I never really noticed before.
Our tour took us around a circle through the park and I now know to look up and look down for clues. Changes in the floors or the walkways show new from old. The big hole in the dirt wall? The original mine train tunnel. The stagecoach just sitting there? Original to the park. Throughout the one hour tour, David kept us on a brisk pace and filling our head with info. When we finally stopped at Star Tours, we had been around the park and back. We said good-by to David and hit Star Tours and Haunted Mansion before going to take a last look at Main Street and try to process everything we had just learned.
Lilo & Stitch host breakfast.
There are rogue tours of the park.
I went on one.
I learned stuff.
Disney security is everywhere. (I think we all knew that)
I ate too much for breakfast.
David knows his stuff.
Buzz Lightyear was a 4 hour fastpass wait.
That pretty much covers the day. For more info check out
"Mouse Tales. A Behind-The-Ears Look At Disneyland" by David Koenig.
I'm missing something here. What did security say or do to this David guy? If the tour continued then he must not have been escorted from the park.
ReplyDeleteIt's an unauthorized Disney tour.
ReplyDeleteYOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME!!!!!!! i would have TOTALLY gone with y'all! then again, you don't have my number, huh? oh, well! i still wish i could have gone :) is the book any good?? have you read it yet??
ReplyDeleteI'm about 1/2 way through the book. Some of it is very entertaining, some of it is history that I can breeze through. I'm more interested in the behind the scenes stuff, such as the underground buildings built to service the park and the employees.
ReplyDelete