Monthly Archives: August 2011

Just the ticket!

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Back in April this year I visited New York for the first time. During my visit I really wanted to seek out some flea markets; I’m not sure why, I just had this feeling that I might stumble across a rare find.

We found a flea market taking place in an old dark and dusty multi storey car park. Yes, a strange venue and it seemed to make the vendors seem stranger too! The majority of stalls were selling antiques and collectibles, and most of it was priced accordingly.

After walking around for a while we found a guy who was selling various old dusty antiques but on one side of his stall he had a load of old Disney items. It was one of those moments when you get excited and frustrated at the same time! Excited because right in front of me were old Disney toys, Disney Hallmark cards, postcards, maps etc. But frustrated because I don’t know enough about Disneyana to know if any of it was rare, overpriced, or something that every Disney collector already has in their collection.

So as I flicked through the items and tried to organise my thoughts I decided just to treat myself to something that I liked, rather than buy something for what it ‘might’ be worth. And that’s when I saw something that I knew I had to have; because of the history it had attached to it and how it instantly made me think of Walt and where it all began….

That’s right, it’s a Disneyland Coupon Book complete with one remaining B ‘ticket’!

This is the back cover:

And the inside back cover:

I’ve been really interested in determining the age of this book as I’m fascinated by Disney history, and it plays a big part in my Disney reading and research.

After checking several websites I’ve discovered that the word ‘ride’ was changed to ‘coupon’ during 1956 so I know I haven’t got the earliest version! Also on the reverse of the tickets in 1956 it stated ‘All coupons in this book are good any time during 1956′. Over the next couple of years this was replaced with ‘All coupons in this book are good at any time’, the same as on the back of my ticket.

The welcome message from Walt was moved to the front of the book around 1958 / 59. The ‘E’ ticket was introduced in 1959 and Sleeping Beauty Castle was moved to a B ticket in 1959. Although I only have one ticket remaining in my book I can see the edge of the other tickets left in the spine, and there are only four different coloured pages, confirming no place for an E ticket.

So taking these little clues and comparing it to photos I’ve seen on-line I’m dating my ticket book as around 1958, which is so exciting!! I’ve love to hear from anyone that has more definite information about the age or value.

For me it’s really great to look at that ticket book and imagine the guests who would have been using those tickets at the time….venturing into Disneyland, maybe for the very first time, stepping into Walt’s world of magic and dreams :)

Expo exposure

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Well unless you’ve been living in a cave these past few months (without your iPhone) then you’ll know that the second D23 Expo took place in the Disneyland Resort last weekend. Now to music fans, comic book geeks, film nerds etc etc, conventions aren’t a new concept. Disney fan conventions aren’t a new concept either but up until 2009 those conventions had always been organised by the fans for the fans. The birth of D23 changed all that and the rest as ‘they’ say is history!

This post isn’t about reporting all the goings on from this past weekend, but more of an opportunity for me to say thank you to the people who attended and shared as much as they could with my Disney friends and I who were unable to be there. And this is where living in the UK makes it even more frustrating for me. It would have taken a lot of planning for me to be at this event and it would have probably cost me the price of a ‘real’ holiday travelling from the UK to California. I would have had to sacrifice leave days and paid for various expenses. Fine if this is going to be your annual holiday, but a little too much of a stretch for a ‘fan event’. And because of this the internet became my Expo exposure.

As the days progressed last week I started to read more and more tweets from the ‘Disney’ people I follow, each finishing work, packing, travelling to airports, and eventually arriving in California. It felt like everyone was there apart from me. I expressed this on my Twitter feed and had other friends who could also not attend rally round and let me know I wasn’t alone. We all knew that from Friday until Sunday our Disney friends in Anaheim would bring us as much of the D23 Expo as they possibly could.

Using my world clock I found out that the UK is 8 hours ahead of Anaheim, therefore I knew that the Expo wouldn’t be kicking off until 4 or 5pm each day. This meant that I could lead a ‘normal’ life during the day and then be attached to the internet from 4pm onwards! And boy was I attached!

The ability to obtain news, photos, video, and blog posts covering the Expo events was immense. Lou Mongello was broadcasting live each day which meant we were there ‘in the box’. We could watch discussions while they were happening, wander the Collectors Forum, take a look at the Carousel of Projects, and interact with Lou’s interviews of various Disney dignitaries, including the Disney Geek Jeffrey Epstein.

In addition to the live feed, I was attached to Twitter and struggling to keep up with the tweets from attendees! Sometimes it even felt like I was getting more information about the various presentations than the people who were there in person…and I didn’t have to stand in any of those LONG queues!

I must confess that I didn’t sit up all night watching and reading the coverage like some people I know ;) but that may have mainly been because of technical issues rather than me being sensible! All I know is that because of the effort that everyone put into sharing their Expo experience those of us who were not able to attend didn’t feel like we missed out.

Of course I would have preferred to attend in person if I could have done. Of course I would have loved to hear Dick Van Dyke performing live with the Vantastix. Of course I would have loved to have shaken John Lasseter’s hand (if I hadn’t dissolved into a nervous geeky mess), of course I would have loved to have seen some of the awesome costumes that fans had taken the trouble to make, and of course I would have loved a bit (okay, a lot) of Disney shopping. But because of my Disney friends I had the next best thing, and I had a blast. THANK YOU for the Expo exposure :)

Are you guilty of attraction neglect?

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When I heard about the fire and then the subsequent ‘temporary’ closure of the Enchanted Tiki Room at Walt Disney World back in January this year I felt guilty. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but I can assure you that I was nowhere near WDW the day of that fire ;)

I felt guilty because as a Disney fan I’d neglected that attraction and in that moment I realised that because of my neglect if they closed that historical attraction forever I would not get to experience what others had seen and heard behind those automatically opening doors.

As Disney fans and WDW regulars I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Whether you get to visit the World every week, a couple of times a year, or maybe once every two years, you will have your ‘must do’ attractions. Mine are the TTA Peoplemover and It’s A Small World (yes, I’m being serious). I cannot even contemplate starting a visit to Magic Kingdom without those two attractions being first on my list. But then there’s the attractions that I’ll go on if there’s time, or if there’s no queue…..and then there are the attractions that I don’t really factor into my visit at all…and I feel ashamed….for I am guilty of attraction neglect.

And right now, to all my readers, I am going to confess to not only neglecting the Enchanted Tiki Room but also the Country Bear Jamboree. I haven’t seen these attractions for years. It’s been so long that I can’t even remember if I have ever seen them. But I wasn’t worried because they’ve been there for years and surely they’ll be there for the next visit or the one after that, right?

Well, who can say for sure, especially at this time of great change in the parks? The Enchanted Tiki Room has been given a new lease of life since the fire and thankfully has reopened this week to guests queueing to see the reimagined show. And I promise here that on my next trip I will visit my neglected attractions and appreciate them still being around.

So now I’d like you to confess and share your own neglected attractions. Maybe some of you don’t bother with It’s A Small World (although I cannot understand how anyone can find that song irritating?!). Is anyone guilty of neglecting Peter Pan, Stitch’s Great Escape, or maybe Splash Mountain? Just take a moment to see if you can find time to fit that attraction into your next visit….you never know how long it will be around ;)

It’s the Disney countdown!

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** Update – Unfortunately the Disney Vacation Connection ceased to operate from February 2012…I think Disney has other things planned for us when it comes to counting down to our vacations! **

 

Us planners love a good countdown. Whether it’s on our desktop, on our forum signature, or just a good old paper calendar on our wall at work, we love seeing how many days we have left until our next WDW trip.

So many websites offer desktop countdowns but the one that I like most is the official Disney version. Not only does it feel safe (no threat of any nasties crawling into your computer) but it has lots of options in addition to the actual countdown.

It can be downloaded via www.disneyvacationconnection.com and then displayed on your desktop screen or the system tray at the bottom right of your screen.

The actual image shown on your desktop is a suitcase. It can be opened for additional Disney information or left closed to display your own personal countdown. Once opened there are various tabs across the top that show ‘Home’, ‘My Destination’, ‘Events Calendar’, ‘Trip Tools’, ‘Help’, and ‘My Settings’.

‘Home’ shows Disney information, sweepstakes (unfortunately for US residents only), and various Disney videos (to make you feel the magic!).

‘My Destination’ gives you pre-arrival tips, a checklist for Disney things to do before your trip (like booking dining reservations and pre-ordering your Disney Photopass cd), and magical messages. All of these items have a link to the main Disney website for more information. The other section under My Destination is Fun Polls and Quizzes. Here there will be a daily Disney related question which if you answer right you will score points. These points can be exchanged for downloadables, skins, wallpapers and printables. I used 1000 points to change my default ‘suitcase’ design to a Disney Princess version :)

In ‘Events Calendar’ you can get Events and Park Hours for various destinations and dates (as and when they are published by Disney).

‘Trip Tools’ is very similar to the ‘Home’ tab; you’ll see some tips, links, and interesting videos.

Now the most important tab is ’My Settings’. Here you can add the date and details of your next vacation, and additional info about your favourite Disney destination, DVC etc. If you add a US Zip code it will give you the weather forecast for that place in addition to your destination; for UK visitors I suggest just using the zip code of your hotel / resort. Once you’ve completed those details the countdown to your next trip will show on your desktop every time you start up your computer.

Now you’re ready to ensure all your friends and family know EXACTLY how many days you’ve got to wait until you get back to WDW!

Oh, and don’t forget to click on the ‘Magic’ button on the left hand side. Obviously I’m not going to spoil it for you….but it’s amazing how far away from WDW that pixie dust will work ;)

You can never have too much stuff!

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I think I have an addictive personality. I will discover something and obsess about it. Obviously my main addiction is Disney but that covers all manner of things that I obsess about. I’m really fascinated by the Walt Disney Company; its past, present, and future. I really love coming across old memorabilia from the parks and how it makes me think about Disney history. The items don’t necessarily have to be specific souvenirs, it can be anything collected from a park; such as a leaflet, receipt, resort map, just anything giving me a window into a moment of time. So that’s where this category of posts come in; I’d like to share some of the things that I’ve kept, found, or been given for my collection of ‘Disneyana’. Some of it may be worth nothing but it’s all priceless to me.

The first collection I want to share is important to me because it was given to me by a colleague at work. Now this person isn’t a Disney nut but I think she just about ’gets’ the Disney thing. I think she understands my passion, understands that there are lots of us Disney geeks out there, and understands that we take our hobby and holiday planning seriously! Not only has she taken the time to pull out newspaper and magazine articles for me about Disney holidays, Disney cruises, and even Celebration (she’s knows I have a soft spot for the place) but a few months back she gave me a collection of park items from Disneyland that she had kept since her visits in the 1980′s. Even without a great deal of knowledge about Disneyland through the decades I think these items are amazing and I can’t wait until my first visit so that I can compare these items against the current ones from the parks today.

Hopefully these items will trigger memories for you if you visited Disneyland in the 80′s or remind you that you have an old ticket stuffed in a drawer some place. If not, then I hope you enjoy the little snippets of Disney history that these pictures may provide.

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I’m going to tell you a secret….

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Today I’m going to tell you a secret…..I’m obsessed with planning….okay, so it’s not that much of a secret to those who know me, but I do have an unhealthy obsession with lists. I always have a list on the go; things to do today, things to do this week, weekly shopping list, Saturday shopping list, things I need to look up on the internet, and now…a list of things I want to blog about!

Being a Disney fan and vacationing at WDW means that I get to feed my obsession all year round. If I haven’t got a WDW holiday booked then I plan and list details for booking that trip. Once I’ve booked my next trip then I start making lists of everything I need to research and plan….I have been known to make lists of lists that I need to make!!!!

For this first post in my ongoing Planning series I thought I’d share where I think this obsession all began. I think it began with my family trips to WDW and my mum reading a book called ‘Brit Guide to Orlando’ by Simon and Susan Veness.

Now when we first discovered this book for our trips to WDW in the 90′s we didn’t have the internet in every household, and we certainly didn’t have the social media we have today. So when we discovered this book we thought we’d found the holy grail of planning, and even better, it was written by Brits for Brits, giving us that extra special insight into planning for a trip to Orlando!! I can remember my mum sitting and highlighting every bit of information she wanted to remember….see, that’s where I get it from!!

These books are still produced every year and I would recommend them to anyone who is visiting WDW for the first time, or the second time if they feel that their first trip was (shudder) an unorganised nightmare! I couldn’t imagine going to WDW without some of the knowledge contained in these books.

The book covers planning before you leave the UK, travelling from the UK and whilst in Orlando, accommodation, the parks and other attractions (should you wish to leave the World), dining, nightlife and shopping. It has maps, at-a-glance facts, useful telephone numbers, and website addresses for further details. For those who want to take that dangerous step into schedules there is even a holiday planner at the back of the book with park suggestions for each day.

The other thing that makes me smile about these books is that they contain little snippets of information in each section which they call ‘Brit Tips’, like it’s a secret that only we will know; like how you should take the left hand side of the queue at Pirates of The Caribbean……ssshhh, don’t tell anyone else ;)

Although I know most of the information covered in these books now I still buy a copy before a trip and read it cover to cover. Sometimes it’s nice to remind yourself of things you know, and it still gets me excited for my holiday. Another thing that I do whilst reading is mark certain pages with a sticker to identify a piece of information that I want to make a note of….that’s another list to make then….

Recently I realised that these guide books are a great historical reference for the changes at WDW. Unfortunately my oldest copy is from 2000 but I’ve decided to try to find some older versions so that in years to come I can look and see what the parks were like in say 1998. A Disney fan should always be looking out for their next collection of ‘reference’ material!

Well that’s an introduction to my planning ‘habit’ and how it originated. I look forward to sharing more research and lists in the future :)