The Sorcerer's Guide

Disney's new Lightning Lane Premier Pass for Walt Disney World  and Disneyland  is Disney's latest way to sell exclusivity. With a daily charge more than the price of a one-day ticket, this is a premium product for a premium price. While Disney's profits will love the new revenue stream, is it going to alienate even more guests? Even though Disney keeps building the narrative that it's expensive and confusing to visit, it's unlikely that standby lines will be noticeably longer because of the new product. Same Offerings, Higher Price Overall, the Premier Pass doesn't represent a new service being allocated to the park. The number of people that can ride each ride is essentially fixed. There are small variations based on breakdowns, guests taking extra time to load, or the number of ride vehicles being used. But the availability of a Lightning Lane Premier Pass does not  make a difference for that capacity. So, regardless of how many people buy the pass, the same ...

Height restrictions keep kids safe, but they can be frustrating. If you have ever taken kids to the parks, you know what I mean. Every cast member measures a little differently, so sometimes you make it all the way to the loading zone and then get turned away. Other times your kids are just slightly too short, and you wish they would have worn taller shoes. One of the most difficult things, in my mind, is planning trips and figuring out how long it will be ’till your kids can meet height restrictions. Especially when some can ride and some can’t, the younger ones want to know how much longer ’till they’ll be big enough. I don’t know any parents that have memorized a growth chart and can say, “My child will grow 1 inch in the next 9 months, so we should plan a trip then.” When we plan trips with our kids, we just keep measuring them and telling them to eat a bunch in hopes they’ll be tall enough for more rides. Fortunately, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has released  data ...

If you haven’t tried a Monte Cristo at Disneyland you definitely need to try one. They are by far our favorite meal at the park. And since we celebrated a birthday last week I thought I’d try my hand at making one homemade. After some searching I found this official Disney recipe: It only took a few minutes to make the batter. The batter is much thicker than I thought it would be, almost as thick as pudding, but it coated the bread easily and fried well. We used “Texas toast” instead of regular bread so the sandwiches were a little thicker. We don’t have a fryer so we just heated oil in a pan and that worked well. I realized I didn’t have any powdered sugar so I couldn’t put the finishing touch on. They don’t look nearly as pretty as Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans, but surprisingly they tasted pretty good.

Disney has carved a strange place in the consumer’s mind. Few other brands command the love and respect of a group of fans the way Disney can. Not many people set goals to see every Six Flags park, collect every variation of Great Value pasta, or to decorate their homes like natural architecture symbols. But Disney fans try to visit each of Disney’s parks, impulse buy pins, plush, figurines, and hundreds of other collectibles, and decorate their homes to match Disney architecture. Simple themes – like the American Frontier, a European Village, or a Tropical Paradise – are instead labelled as Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Adventureland, whether they are actually connected to the Disney places or not. This is partly because of Disney’s skilled marketing teams. But the reason these teams have been so successful can be attributed to nostalgia. Disney thrives on nostalgia. Here are several websites that describe Main Street as nostalgic – one , two , three ,. It’s a common claim, but there...

It was 1948, and Walt desperately wanted to go to the Chicago Railroad Fair. Knowing Lillian and his daughters wouldn’t want go, Walt invited his friend Ward Kimball. Walt and Ward enjoyed the fair, and when Walt started building Disneyland in 1954, he knew he had to have a train. This wasn’t the first time Walt and Ward talked about trains. Back in 1945, Ward let Walt drive one of his engines at the Grizzly Flats Railroad, Ward’s personal railroad. We can’t say for sure, but it’s very likely that Walt’s Lilly Belle came because he wanted to have a railroad just like Ward’s. Now Ward Kimball is immortalized in the Ward Kimball engine at Disneyland. The Person Ward Kimball was an animator for Walt Disney. Hired in 1934, Ward started on the Silly Symphony cartoons. He went on to help animate many films including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Ward was one of the studio’s “Nine Old Men”. He was a brilliant animator, known f...

It’s been 65 years since the Happiest Place on Earth opened to the world. To celebrate, here are 5 facts you may not know about Disneyland’s opening. If it failed, it would have become movie sets Disneyland was expensive to build, and Walt needed more money for it. Roy Disney was the company’s financial leader and was responsible for finding all the funding they needed.. To convince lenders to hand over more cash, Roy told them that the project was low risk. His story was that even if the park proved unpopular, the park could close to the public and turn into movie sets. Frontierland could be used for westerns, Adventureland for adventures, and Main Street for turn-of-the-century stories. I’m not sure what they could have used the Fantasyland circus tents for, though. July 17th was supposed to be a smaller party Disney sent invitations to a selected number of people for the grand opening festivities. The park was meant to open to the public on the next day, July 18th. However, some ind...

Walt loved trains! He knew he had to have one in the park, so when plans were drawn, it was included from the beginning. Its first test run was on July 10, 1955, just days before the park opening. Original Main Street Station The route was set up a little differently back then. Plans were made for two trains to take guests on a “grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdom.” But unlike today, each train stopped at only one station. A passenger train pulled by the E.P. Ripley only stopped at the Main Street Station, while a freight train pulled by the C.K. Holliday only stopped at the Frontierland Station (now the New Orleans Station). The track split at those 2 stations so the trains could pass each other. This lasted about a year before the trains began stopping at both stations. The Frontierland Station was rebuilt in 1962 to make room for New Orleans Square and the second track was removed. The Main Street Station still has the original 2 sets of tracks though. Original Frontierland Stati...

Welcome back to Part 2 of taking a baby to the park. I have a few more tricks to make your visit to Disneyland with a baby just a little smoother. Take advantage of the baby center Look for this symbol on your park map. Every Disney park has a baby center . It has changing tables, high chairs, a toddler sized toilet, and even a rocking chair behind a curtain so you can breastfeed your baby privately. They also have a bunch of supplies you may have forgotten that you can purchase: baby food, diapers, wipes, sunscreen, etc. It’s a nice place to give your baby some quiet time. Next time you’re in the park, go in and see. They are great! Bring a few different outfits You always want to have an extra outfit in case of spit ups or blow-outs. You’ll also want to have warmer clothes in case it rains or gets cold. While we were there it was a nice 75-80 degrees, but by 7 at night it was getting pretty chilly. It was nice to have an extra pair of clothes to keep her little legs warm. Of course, ...

There have been several articles this week about how Galaxy’s Edge ended up on Batuu rather than Tatooine. Based on an interview with Dan Cockerell, these articles portray the decision as a one-sided attempt to from Kathleen Kennedy to “carry Star Wars into the future!” They lament that we almost had Mos Eisley, complete with the cantina we all know from the movies. Part of me has to ask exactly how different that version would have been. There’s still a central, round bar at Oga’s, with alcove tables. There’s a docking bay. The town is small. The Droid Depot easily could have been replaced with Watto’s workshop. But I want to clarify what these articles have been saying: it was not a one sided decision driven only by Kathleen Kennedy that took Tatooine out of Galaxy’s Edge. It’s true that there were two versions of Galaxy’s Edge planned. It’s not uncommon for Imagineering to have multiple ideas they’re working on. They don’t just come up with an idea and build it. Imagineers make and ...

Did you know you can’t take your baby on Astro Orbiter unless they have shoes or socks on? Well, neither did I. That’s why I found myself digging through the diaper bag trying to find socks. I thought I was prepared to take my 4 month old to Disneyland. I’ve been to Disneyland a hundred times, I’d read blogs, I did everything I thought of to be ready. But of course, you can never be completely prepared. So here are a few things that made our trip a little easier. Have realistic expectations To start, you have to set the right expectations; you are going to be a lot slower than you used to be without having kids or a baby. My husband and I used to be able to do at least 25 rides a day. With our baby in tow we slowed down to about 15. You have to go much slower when you have to take the time to park the stroller and take the baby out, or wait with the baby while the rest of your party rides an attraction and then use the rider switch, and of course taking the time to feed and change diap...

Have you ever heard of the Moonshine Express? It would have been an awesome attraction. 30 years ago, before Splash Mountain came to Critter Country as a part of Disneyland, there was Bear Country. It was the same outdoors, woodsy theme, but there weren’t any little critters in town – only bears. This was the home of the Country Bear Jamboree – including its seasonal overlays – and Teddi Barra’s Swinging Arcade. When the Imagineers decided they wanted to build a log flume at Disneyland, they picked a spot in Bear Country. To fit the bear theme, the flume was going to be filled with bears. It was called the Moonshine Express. The idea was that you had the civilized bears just on the outskirts of New Orleans Square. These were the bears that performed in the Country Bears theater. But if you went deeper into the forest, you found the meaner, rough-and-tumble moonshiners. The bear sheriff enlisted the riders’ help in going after the moonshiners. Each rider was given a rifle to shoot the s...

America Sings was a Musical Revue at Disneyland. Musical Revue shows were popular among the Imagineers in the 60s and 70s. Shows like The Tiki Room and the Mickey Mouse Revue don’t take up a lot of space, but can get reasonably high capacity, making them great attractions from an operational perspective. Due to differences in the type visitors, shows don’t stay as popular at Disneyland as they do at Walt Disney World. The waning popularity, mixed with some awkward theming, eventually led to the show’s closure. America Sings Exterior – Taken from the People Mover Loading Platform Concept America Sings opened on June 29, 1974. It was created to replace the Carousel of Progress, which had moved to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World the year before. The show involved six animatronic sets – an introduction, a postlude, and four acts – that showcased music from different eras of American history. Because the show was in the Carousel Theater, each scene was in a different location in the ...

Did you know that FastPass was developed to enhance guest satisfaction, not to decrease lines? Neither did I till I did some research and heard how FastPasses came about. In the mid 1990’s, Disney realized that guest satisfaction was declining because lines were getting too long. No one is very happy when you spend your entire day waiting in line and only get to go on a few rides. After discussing different ideas they started testing in the late 1990’s. It started in Animal Kingdom with 2 different groups. Each group was given a diary to write down everything they did that day (what time they got in line, what time they got on the ride, what shops they went into, etc.) One lucky group was given a special card to show the cast member at any attraction they wanted to ride. The cast member would look at the current wait time, let’s take 45 minutes for example, and then tell the group to return to the ride in 45 minutes. When the group returned they would be directed through the exit and b...

The Fantasyland Theatre of today is home to Mickey and the Magical Map. This stage should not be confused with the other Fantasyland Theater, which closed in 1981. The difference between the use of the British and American spellings of “theater” may be coincidence, or it may have been to help distinguish these very different attractions. The Theatre is used for live performances. But the Fantasyland Theater was used for showing recorded videos. The Theater opened as the Mickey Mouse Club Theater shortly after the rest of Disneyland on August 27, 1955. Along with The Canal Boats of the World and a lot of Tomorrowland, the Theater wasn’t quite ready for opening day of Disneyland. Regardless, the Mouseketeers performed in Fantasyland as part of the Disneyland Grand Opening. Since this was several months before the Mickey Mouse Club first aired, this was the Mouseketeers’ debut to the world. The theater was also special for the Mickey Mouse Club because, at one point, it was home to 3D Jam...

Disney vacations cost a lot of money and they’re just gonna get more expensive. People are always looking for ways to make it cheaper, so here’s what we do. Get Buttons as a Cheap Momento from your Trip All the Disney parks give out free buttons, whether you’re celebrating something or not. You can get a button that says “Happy Birthday”, “I’m Celebrating”, “Happily Ever After”, “Just Graduated”, or “First Visit”. Cast members at guest services have them, but sometimes they run out. If you’re looking for a particular button ask around, sometimes cashiers have them. Buy Disney Merchandise Outside the Parks We all know how expensive t-shirts, or mugs, or mickey ears are when you’re shopping at a Disney Resort. There are lots of other places that have Disney merchandise for much cheaper. You can visit stores like Walmart or Target, or shop online through Amazon or Etsy. Disney outlets are a great option too if you have one nearby. Even DisneyStore.com has some great sales to get official...