Disneyland Spring 2012 Trip Report Pt 2
Given that, we allocated 2 hours for a trip that our Maps app said would take 45 minutes. I got us there in 35 minutes. What can I say–I drive like a madman. Perhaps I’d fit in perfectly in Los Angeles?
We were both hungry and we didn’t want to show up to our meeting obnoxiously early, so after we parked (finding the right place to park also killed some time), we wandered off the lot looking for somewhere to eat. We found nothing, so we headed back. Little did we know that we could have eaten at the cafeteria on the lot.
The lot itself was awesome, and was a treasure-trove of Walt Disney Company history. It was amazing being in that spot–even though I’d never been there before, I had read so much and seen so many photos that it was all strangely familiar.
I instantly began daydreaming about how great it would to work on at The Walt Disney Studios and to live in the Burbank area. To be a part of that history–and to be making history–really would be special. Ever since reading DisneyWar, I’ve been fascinated with the inner-workings of TWDC, and have wanted to be a part of it. Standing on the lot, I was finally right there where “it all” had happened, and the desire to be a part of it was even more intense.
We didn’t have much time to wander at this point, so we headed directly to the Archives and I called our friend, who came down to greet us. He then took us on a tour. Most of the photos below are Sarah’s, as I was mesmerized by all the collectibles and ephemera. Everything from Ludwig Von Drake to shelves and shelves of Cast Member newsletters and magazine. It was amazing, and I was transfixed.
After we finished in the Archives, we said goodbye to our friend, who headed back upstairs to work. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend taking advantage of one of the D23 or Adventures by Disney tours of the Archives and/or Studios (as a whole). Seeing these things gave us an even deeper appreciation for the parks. As we are primarily theme parks fans, sometimes we take for granted the deeper history of The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney, himself. It’s almost as if the theme parks exist in a vacuum, which, in reality, isn’t at all the case.
Everything is intertwined, and the theme parks have historical significance of their own, but they also have significance because of the related goings-on in Animation and a wide array of other divisions. It was nice to be reminded of this, and to some key components of this history.
We still had plenty more exploring on the Studio lot after we left the Archives, with a trip to the store and lunch next…
There are four pages in this Disneyland trip report installment. Navigate to the next page below!
Even though its 3+ years later, I cried a little bit when Sarah’s Matterhorn Macaroon hit the ground.
What a sad day for THE BEST dessert ever.
I’m going to go light a candle…
Random and probably useless trivia but it looks like the chocolate frosting is ganache. Basically ganache is chocolate and cream in different ratios. Depending on the ratio you use it can be soft and used to fill cupcakes, candies, etc or it can be firm and used to top cakes and such. It’s delicious.
I love the photos which show both Partners & Sharing the Magic. I know people have different views on what Walt and Mickey are talking about but when I went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour, we were told the version that Walt is pointing towards the statue of Roy & Minnie and telling Mickey that whilst he won’t be around much longer, Mickey will always have family there. And I think that story seems even stronger when you see the two statues in such close proximity.
Isn’t Burbank, CA beautiful? The mountains are spectacular to look at and I love the neighborhoods and the beautiful homes. I live in Los Angeles and while I love it, I’d move to Burbank in a heartbeat. The Studios are beautiful and amazing. I love my visits there.
We went to Disneyland for the first time this year (and stayed with a friend about an hour away to the north both before and after) and we were definitely worried about the traffic. We did avoid rush hour for the most part (it wasn’t entirely possible with everything we wanted to do), but traffic was not the absolute nightmare I’d feared–it seemed about the same as DC to me (I’ve never been to Chicago so I can’t compare)–and much less stressful than NYC. The Studios sound great!
I’m so jealous of your Disney Studios tour. Whenever I think about relocating back to California, I can’t muster the will to picture living anywhere farther south than Lake Tahoe, but I would totally move to Glendale if I could get a job archiving for the ARL or something. I can deal with the LA traffic for that. (By the way, I think Chicago’s traffic is obscene compared to LA’s. So are all the tolls!)