Throwback Thursday — Walt Disney’s Final Interview

I have been using the app Dubsmash a lot lately with some other Disneyland fans. For those that don’t know, Dubsmash is an app full of movie and song quotes and you can lip sync to them and send them to your friends.

We noticed there were NO Walt Disney or Disneyland quotes so we started uploading them — a LOT of them.  Maybe I’ll share them here one day, but while looking for famous Walt Disney quotes to add to the site, I came across this gem:

Walt Disney’s Last Interview 9-24-66 from jaime maas on Vimeo.

Not sure if this is well-known in the Disney community, but this is Walt’s last interview and it was in September of 1966 just as he was preparing production of “The Happiest Millionaire.” He sounds great here! It’s from a South African radio program and Walt’s interview starts after the musical introduction at 6:25.

They talk about Mary Poppins, The Sherman Brothers, and even a little about Disneyland in this short but fun interview. It’s terrible that this was his last interview and he would pass away not 3 months later. He was a legend of not only his day but into today and beyond.

Take a listen to this interview sometime and imagine a world where radio programs sounded like this, Walt Disney was still a living legend, and the Disney company, while a mega-giant in its time, was relatively new and still finding its place in the world.

What a guy!


 

For fun, here’s one of our Dubsmash clips:


Pardon the audio quality, it’s the best version of the clip I could find.

Featured image source: jaimemaas.com

Monorail Mondays!

In addition to Matterhorn and Mansion Monday pics, I love seeing the Monorail Monday pics on Instagram! Just like last week’s post, I created a “one stop shop” for you to see these right on your desktop in a rotating gallery that self-updates!

Now, when you search for Monorail Mondays on our site, Google, or just by bookmarking this page, you’ll have this nifty gallery below!

Happy posting!

Gallery provided by the good people at http://www.instush.com.  Gallery refreshes ever 10-30 minutes. Some photos may not be of Disney’s Alweg Monorail or any other Disney park rides.

Indiana Jones Adventure Turns 20!

 

Last week, Disneyland held two Annual Passholder event nights celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Indiana Jones Adventure. We were fortunate enough to attend the second night and it did not disappoint.

The check-in process was way swift and hassle-free. At the end of getting passes scanned and getting a wrist band, cast members were handing out great commemorative fliers with decoder cards. You can still get these cards by asking Cast Members at the attraction, FYI.

IMG_2955
Commemorative map!
IMG_2954
Decoder card!

 

Walking in, the park had already closed for the regular operating day with Main St. remaining open for guests, so it was straight to Adventureland. For this event, Adventureland, Frontierland, and New Orleans Square were accessible to attendees. All of the attractions between them were operational as well.

The Rivers of America played Indy queue music and had an 11:30pm showing of Fantasmic. It was really nice seeing it all lit up in blue, purple and green lighting playing 1920-1940’s music through an “old radio”. From there, a majority of the Indy related events took place directly in front of the attraction with an awesome Tony Baxter hosted panel over in Frontierland.

In Adventureland, an awesome live band played. Poking around, I found out they all had the last name “Jones” and they wore fez hats! Unfortunately, I only heard them playing “Putting on the Ritz” while Indy had a ball around them (pun intended) but never got a chance to watch them play. Indy could be found conquering the infamous rolling boulder and interacted with guests. Mostly thorough pun. Walking around the area was a gypsy woman named Mara who tested our ability to avoid the eye of Mara. She was awesome.

16774532672_032ecb866b_b

16749769126_f3defc98dc_b

16749762046_08e5d25a34_b

Tarzan’s treehouse was used as a backdrop for “spontaneous” stunt shows which we missed every time. Heard it, ran over and missed it. Thank you internet for filling in that blank!

Towards the end of the night, we caught the awesome Tony Baxter panel. Tons of opening day footage, concept art, and unused media for the attraction were shown and talked about. Tony really conveys enthusiasm and love for this attraction and it was pretty awesome hearing him speak. We found out that they do not call the transports “Jeeps” and the writings on the walls are called Maraglyphis. The obelisk room has the initials of the all the imagineers that worked on the attraction with the last pair belonging to the  Frank Wells, Disneyland president who died shortly before the attraction was completed.

After the panel, Fantasmic! started and I found myself alone as my group went to see the showing. So I walked around Adventureland. I found CMs handing out Safari style hats and grabbed one for myself. I then spent the rest of my night taking in the sights and sounds of one of my favorite spots in the parks. This is also where I ran into Mara. I had a blast talking to her.

I enjoyed this AP event so much! It was perfect and I have to agree with some twitter chat that it adds a little more value to being an AP holder.

Did you attend? If so, tell us about your experience! Would you like to see more events like this? I know I would.

Cheers!

*i

Mansion Mondays!

In addition to Matterhorn Monday pics, I love seeing the Mansion Monday pics on Instagram! Just like last week’s post, I created a “one stop shop” for you to see these right on your desktop in a rotating gallery that self-updates!

Now, when you search for Mansion Mondays on our site, Google, or just by bookmarking this page, you’ll have this nifty gallery below!

Happy posting!

Gallery provided by the good people at http://www.instush.com.  Gallery refreshes ever 10-30 minutes. Some photos may not be of the Haunted Mansion or any other Disney park rides.

Photo Gallery: Club 33 (2010)

For “Throwback Thursday” this week, we decided to go WAY back to 2010!

In 2010, we got to visit Club 33 — FINALLY! We are so glad we did, looking back, because we were able to see the game room and the original entry way from when it opened. Both are now gone with last year’s refurbishment.

Take a look at our photos from that trip here. Do you have some favorite photos? Let’s seem them below!

The Story of Disneyland Auction

This is a re-blog written by our friend Inthia over at This Little Disney Life about the recent (and, unfortunately, now closed) “Story of Disneyland” exhibition and sale at the Van Eaton gallery in Sherman Oaks, CA.  Here’s a slide show of the photos we took when we went to visit the gallery last week:

Can you believe this stuff all went for just under $2 Million!? Did you get over to see the exhibit?  Let us know in the comments below!


Click here to see the original post

Today is the last day to set your eyes on one of the most amazing Disneyland memorabilia collections that is completely up for auction at Van Eaton Gallery in Sherman Oaks, Ca. If you’re out of the area, they have a wonderful online catalog for your viewing pleasure.

We made the short drive over to check out the exhibit last week and it did not disappoint. Well, only in that I can’t afford a thing there. Well, I could but then I wouldn’t be able to pay rent or eat or anything trivial like that.

The galley is held in two room but it packed wall to wall with all sorts of artifacts. Costumes, signs, furniture,  concession containers, souvenirs, models and more! All of them amazingly displayed for my up-close and personal viewing.

I picked out a few awesome favorites to share here but there is soooo much. I know I’ll be hitting up some flea markets and eBay this summer.

Cheers!
*i


Matterhorn Mondays!

I love seeing Matterhorn Monday pics on Instagram and thought to myself, “How can I see this easier and on my computer?”  With a minute of Google searching, I found that I certainly COULD create a gallery based on Instagram hashtags — so I did precisely that!

Now, when you search for Matterhorn Mondays on our site, Google, or just by bookmarking this page, you’ll have this nifty gallery below!

Happy posting!

Gallery provided by the good people at http://www.instush.com.  Gallery refreshes ever 10-30 minutes.