Disney Animator Brings Halloween Magic to Small Northern California Town
Posted on - 10/11/2007
Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be an Imagineer for a day; to dream up and bring to life such rides as Splash Mountain or the Haunted Mansion? If you're anything like me, that sounds like a dream job. If you're anything like Disney Storyboard Artist Larry Scholl, it sounds like a dream worthy of pursuit.

Disney A to Z-A Must Have for Every Disney Fan's Bookshelf
Posted on - 10/2/2007
If A is for Aames, Willie and Z is for Zort Sorts, then the end all, be-all source for all things Disney is the third edition of Disney A to Z, the encyclopedia of Disney facts compiled by Disney Archivist Dave Smith. This book, weighing in at a whopping 763 pages, is the source for all things Disney from A to Z. With over 6,500 entries, the whole project took Dave Smith over 380 hours to complete, and the dedication and the time well spent definitely show.

Disney Greats Showcased at State Fair
Posted on - 9/25/2007
Like so many other families I know, my family has a lot of annual traditions. Besides our yearly vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth, we also like to visit other areas of the state, like Donner Lake, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and the closest of all, the California State Fair. The fair, which runs for three weeks every summer, is held in Sacramento every August, a mere thirty minutes from my hometown.

Disney World for the Disneyland Addict: Must Sees and Can't Misses
Posted on - 3/30/2007
Since visiting Disney World I have heard many other Disneyland fanatics saying that they could never go to Disney World; that it would be like the ultimate betrayal, a waste of time and money, a vacation not worth their effort, etc. etc.

Part of Walt's World: Exploring the Other Park
Posted on - 3/20/2007
It's been a while since I've written an article for Mickey News but for good reasons, I promise! Starting in January several big events happened; I started my last semester of college, I began the job hunt (keeping my eyes peeled for Disney job openings!), and, best of all, I went to Walt Disney World! It may seem odd that I rank going to Disney World above graduating from college, but once you realize that one is all fun and excitement and the other really quite scary when you stop and think about it, you probably see my reasoning.

Surfin' Safari: California Dreamin' at Disney's California Adventure Park
Posted on - 11/22/2006
Disney's California Adventure. Known to the frequent visitors as "DCA," the naysayers as anything from D-isney C-eo A-ntics to D-isney's C-heap A-musements, and the confused tourists as "Californialand;" I often just refer to it as "DCA: the lesser known park." I would like to point out right away that this does not put me in the DCA bashers club. In fact I quite enjoy DCA (you might even say I love it) but I do recognize the fact that it is most definitely second in command to Disneyland, and does not to stand up to the high standards visitors might expect from a park located a mere hundred feet from Walt's original park. However, it is definitely still worth a visit or several dozens of visits once you go and see how great it is.

My Day as a Disneyland Tourist
Posted on - 11/6/2006
Ah, Halloween. That one day of the year when you're allowed to dress up and go around begging for candy. For many, especially children, the issue of finding a costume for that special day is easy. There are always at least a dozen ghosts, zombies, and witches; a handful of beautiful princess and daring heroes; and about a thousand or so replicas of whatever movie or cultural phenomena happens to be most prevalent at the time. This year that meant pirates, pirates and more pirates. But what if you didn't want to be a pirate? What if you were "too old" to be a ghost or a princess? What then?

Missing Disneyland - Finding Ways to Fight that Deep Disneyland Depression
Posted on - 9/4/2006
Imagine yourself sitting under the red and white striped canopy of a Jungle Cruise boat. As the tour guide makes jokes about elephants without their trunks on, you float by an ape infested camp. Then you come upon Schweitzer Falls and as you pass by "the backside of water" you actually start to feel the water misting your face...Which is when you are awoken from your dream only to realize that you're not on the Jungle Cruise at all, but at work. The ape camp turns out to be high school kids running around screaming and grunting, the tour guide is your co-worker making what they think are funny jokes, and the water is a run away sprinkler that mists you as you drive by it in the cart you drive around your college campus.

Happy Birthday Disneyland!
Posted on - 7/17/2006
As Disneyland turns 51 and the 50th anniversary celebration begins to wind down, I can't help but look back to the beginning of the official 50th anniversary one year ago today. Last July I spent three days enjoying my favorite place on earth, and by far the best time I've ever had in Disneyland in the 20 years I've been going was the excitement of July 17th, 2005. For those of you that couldn't make it that day, here's a little something I wrote after I went so I could always remember the excitement and magic of the 50th anniversary...

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Taste of the Caribbean for Me
Posted on - 6/1/2006
Lately I've been missing Disneyland. And it's not even that first glimpse down Main Street, or the little "ding" of the turnstiles when you first enter the gates, or even the smell of the Splash Mountain water that I miss the most. Of course I do miss the sights, sounds, and smells of Disneyland, but when I combine all those senses I am forced to miss the food of Disneyland.

Backseat Imagineering: Breathing new life into old rides at the Disneyland Resort
Posted on - 5/1/2006
Join almost any Disneyland fan-site discussion and you are bound to hear some Disney fans complaining about revisions being made to the classic Disneyland rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, or others nostalgically wishing that the Imagineers would bring back some of the long gone attractions like the Sky Way or the People Mover. This first group of people is labeled as the "purist" group, and their arguments often start with "If Walt were still alive..." And the second group is, well, just wishful thinkers most of the time.

"Tale as Old as Time" - Starting your very own Disneyland traditions
Posted on - 4/13/2006
Every family has its odd quirk, the thing they do every Christmas or Thanksgiving, or maybe just every time they drive down the same patch of road, that are labeled, rather generously in some cases, as "traditions." For a long time, almost eighteen years in fact, my family's yearly tradition was taking an eight hour car ride down to the "Happiest Place on Earth"...Disneyland! And while every year my brother and I had the "tradition" of fighting over who got to put their head on the armrest, and my parents had the "tradition" of making us play The Silent Game (whoever stayed quietest the longest won, and parents, I must tell you, for some reason this game works!), somehow we always managed to make it to Anaheim in one piece.

"It's a nice day...if you wake up in Disneyland"
Posted on - 3/29/2006
There are so many things to do when preparing for a trip to Disneyland. There's reserving a flight, finding a place to stay, keeping a watchful eye on the weather forecast, reading all the new tour guides, finding out the latest on all the Disneyland fansites, listening to Disney music to get you "in the mood" (as if you need help with that!) and, my favorite thing of all to prepare for a trip to Disneyland...buying the tickets.

Disneyland, how much do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
Posted on - 3/8/2006
Lately as I walk around my college campus in Northern California I've noticed that everyone seems to be getting into the Disney spirit of things. Before Disneyland kicked off the year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary, I was practically the only person in a twenty-five mile radius sporting a Disney sweatshirt or carrying a tote with one of the Disney princesses embedded in sequins. Now, as we near the end of the 50th celebration, I can't walk across campus without passing someone wearing a blue sweatshirt boasting of Disneyland's 50th, or without being nearly knocked over by a widely swung Ariel bag.