The Sorcerer's Guide

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...

Marty Sklar passed away at his home in Hollywood Hills in July of 2017 at age 83. He was an Imagineer for 54 years and remained active in the Disney community after his retirement. He has received many awards from the theme park industry: The Buzz Price Award for Lifetime Achievement (Themed Entertainment Association, 1995). Disney Legend (2001) Window on Main Street in Disneyland (2001) International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Hall of Fame Inductee (2008) Diane Disney Miller Lifetime Achievment Award (The Walt Disney Family Museum, 2016) Career Marty was hired to work at Disneyland part-time by Card Walker. His first assignment was to write The Disneyland News. He wrote speeches and marketing materials for Walt. Many quotes we think of as being from Walt were actually written by Marty: I hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse. We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curiou...

Characters keep sneaking more and more into Epcot. This park started out as a permanent World’s Fair, but it doesn’t come across that way anymore. Nemo has taken the Sea, Lion King has been to the Land, Ratatouille and Beauty and the Beast are in France, and Frozen is in Norway. To celebrate Epcot’s 40th anniversary, let’s take a look at the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Cabelleros, the first attraction at World Show Case to be transformed to a character ride. Rio del Tiempo Rio del Tiempo was conceived as an attraction to celebrate the history and culture of Mexico. Like the other original attractions at World Showcase, you can see a country’s influence on the pavilion. The Aztec temple facade drew people for shopping, dining, and the ride entrance. Once you boarded this gentle boat ride, you’d float by a volcano and another Aztec temple. After that, you’d take a trip through time that would show you snippets of Mexico’s ancient, recent, and modern history. The physical componen...

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...