20th Anniversary Baja Cruise and Disneyland Visit - October 2017

Looks like a really good meal - definitely took notes!

Glad you found it was worth it to get the veranda - that is one of our thoughts that it will be nice to have it as something to go out every now and then and just take in the view and the fact you are on a boat!

Also glad to hear you enjoyed the Frozen show - the fact they added that as the new show was one thing attractive about the Wonder to us (and to the kids specifically)
 
Looks like a really good meal - definitely took notes!

Glad you found it was worth it to get the veranda - that is one of our thoughts that it will be nice to have it as something to go out every now and then and just take in the view and the fact you are on a boat!

Also glad to hear you enjoyed the Frozen show - the fact they added that as the new show was one thing attractive about the Wonder to us (and to the kids specifically)

That's awesome Phil! Man, your cruise is getting very close now. I'm hoping that you do a TR so that we can compare notes! :hippie:
 
I don't know why I wasn't getting alerts to your updates but I finally remembered I had subscribed to this and went back to read it. Wonderful trip so far!

Your excursion in Cabo looked amazing. I think it's worth it to do a little investigating on your own and book excursions that the ship doesn't offer. We've been to Cozumel twice on cruises and did our own thing for excursions and both worked out great (and I believe we got more bang for our buck).

Oh, and I loved the Spinal Tap reference. Classic.
 
Day 6 - Thursday, 10/5 - Disembarkation

So… the final moments on the cruise ship... I would normally be suffering from "last day blues", but we had a big day planned as we would be heading up to to Anaheim along the coast!!!

The general plan was… grab a rental car, drive to the Del Coronado Hotel and explore for a while… and then start making our way north along the coast… with a few planned stops on the way.

Our assigned breakfast time was 7:15 AM. We got up fairly early to watch the moonset/sunrise and head into port.





We sat on the veranda and just soaked the whole thing in!!! And we took our phones out of airplane mode and the emails and messages started pouring in. (We didn't purchase the wifi option and were offline since Sunday afternoon.) We had fun checking in on social media, posting a few photos, and calling home to check on the kids… all while enjoying the beautiful views.





Around 7:10 AM, we said goodbye to our squeaky room and headed down to breakfast, which was at Animator's Palate.



Not a lot to say here… I went with the Route 66 breakfast and I think Stephanie did the same. We don't eat traditional breakfasts very often, so it was quite enjoyable! Mmm…. Disney bacon!



It was nice to visit with our tablemates one last time and say our goodbyes to our wait staff. I think I said it before, but our Head Server was the best we've ever had. The assistant Server was a total sweetheart. We loved her. And our regular Server was just OK in comparison.

All in all, this was the best dining staff we've had in our previous two Disney cruises and our single Royal Caribbean cruise. This was the first time we shared seating with strangers, and we couldn't have been happier with our assignments too. Looking back, the dining aspect of the cruise was stellar!

So yeah, around 8am or so, we were heading off the ship. A bit of a long/slow line to get off though…



But once we made it through… we found our bags within seconds and were on our way!



We had reserved a car at Alamo rental over at the airport. It was such a beautiful morning and since we enjoyed our walk on Saturday afternoon, we decided to just walk back to the airport area to pick up the car. Probably another 30 minute walk or so.



And fun watching the airplanes fly overhead as we approached…



We got our car from the rental place and we were on the road! It took about about an hour total from the time we left the breakfast table to the time we got the car.



Passing the bay (on the bridge), and looking back towards downtown…



And approaching the hotel…



So… the Hotel Del Coronado was the inspiration for Disney's Grand Floridian in WDW. I didn't do a trip report for it, but Stephanie and I stayed at the Grand Floridian few months earlier (back in May). We thought it would be fun to visit and compare the two in a relatively short time frame.







This is a terrible quality photo, but we were surprised to see that while the outside looks very similar to the Grand Floridian, the inside is quite different. It was very dark inside with all the mahogany wood. Classy!



We walked through the lobby for a few minutes and then headed out to go see the beach!









We hung out on the beach for a few minutes and soaked it all in… and then decided to be on our way. Stopping for a photo of the fountain on the way to our car.



And what a beautiful hotel! Maybe we'll come back and stay for real some day! (We fell in love with San Diego on this trip, we'll certainly be back to the area again.)
 


I don't know why I wasn't getting alerts to your updates but I finally remembered I had subscribed to this and went back to read it. Wonderful trip so far!

Your excursion in Cabo looked amazing. I think it's worth it to do a little investigating on your own and book excursions that the ship doesn't offer. We've been to Cozumel twice on cruises and did our own thing for excursions and both worked out great (and I believe we got more bang for our buck).

Oh, and I loved the Spinal Tap reference. Classic.

I don't always get alerts either. Thanks for the input and following along!!!
 
That's awesome Phil! Man, your cruise is getting very close now. I'm hoping that you do a TR so that we can compare notes! :hippie:

I actually just had our "check in" yesterday (as a new cruiser had no priority so had to wait until 75 days out). Despite some technological issues I was able to get everything I was hoping for - including Palo dinner on my birthday!
 
really glad you enjoyed your dining this trip and had good tablemates - I think that is one thing that has me a bit worried but also excited for our cruise (though as a party of 6 not sure if we will get table mates or not)

1 hour from leaving breakfast to being in the car, including the walk, is pretty darn good

Wow, looks like perfect weather for a drive and cool you got to check out the Hotel Del Coronado - definitely does look different on the inside!
 


Glad I thought to check. Like everyone else no notifications LOL. The dinner at Animators Palate looked great. Sounds like overall the cruise was good despite the hiccups. Still on my bucket list someday! LOVE the Coronado. We have been a few times and it is always fun. Looking forward to your Disney portion!
 
I actually just had our "check in" yesterday (as a new cruiser had no priority so had to wait until 75 days out). Despite some technological issues I was able to get everything I was hoping for - including Palo dinner on my birthday!

How cool!!! Super happy that you were able to get everything you hoped for. What a birthday you are going to have!!!!


Glad I thought to check. Like everyone else no notifications LOL. The dinner at Animators Palate looked great. Sounds like overall the cruise was good despite the hiccups. Still on my bucket list someday! LOVE the Coronado. We have been a few times and it is always fun. Looking forward to your Disney portion!

Yahoo! Stay tuned, we're getting close to some more Disney stuff!
 
Day 6 - Thursday, 10/5 - Heading North

Next up... we headed up to just north of San Diego, to Mount Soledad. I had read online that this is a great place to get a view of the city and the ocean. And it was spectacular!!!

Here's looking north…



Oh, and what's Mount Soledad? It's the location of Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial.

https://www.soledadmemorial.com/



The large cross at the top was the center of controversy about the city owning the property, and the role of religion in government. But it became a moot point, as the property was sold to a private non-profit who takes care of the site now.



And then looking back towards the south. It's a bit hazy in the photo but you can just barely make out the city skyline off in the distance…



Then then all around the cross, there are rows and rows of memorials to veterans from pretty much every war our country has been involved in. It was interesting to spend a few minutes looking through them.



All and all, this was a fun pit stop... and nice to take a few minutes to be reminded of the sacrifices that our veterans make in service to our country.

And maybe 20 minutes or so later, we were back on the road again. Down the windy road heading to drive along the coast.



We had fun driving along the coast, going trough the little towns and what not, with our next stop in Encinitas…



… to visit Mike McGill's Skateshop!!



If you've read some of my other TR's or if you are friends with me on Facebook, you'll know that skateboarding has been one of my favorite pastimes since my teenage years in the 80's.

Mike McGill is one of the most accomplished skaters in that era. He was a member of the Bone's Brigade with Tony Hawk, and he was the inventor of the McTwist. (An inverted 540 degree aerial.) Super cool dude! He still skates these days and is active in the skateboarding community… and he's known to hang out at his shop from time to time. Unfortunately he wasn't there when we arrived, but we had fun looking around and chatting with the shopkeeper. I don't have a photo, but I did get a cool tie dye McGill's Skateshop t-shirt as a souvenir!

All right… it was about 12:15 PM now and we were ready for lunch. Hitting an In-N-Out Burger was a high priority on our SoCal checklist, so that's where we headed next! (Once you've had it once, you'll want it every time you visit an area that has In-N-Out restaurants!)







It was a gorgeous day, so we opted to eat outside. You gotta love California weather!





In-N-Out is famous for their "secret menu" items. We've tried some of them before, and I've enjoyed my burger "Animal Style" a few times in the past, but we both ordered straight off the menu this time. Except for Stephanie ordered a Neapolitan milk shake, where they put a bit of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate in the cup. Yum!!!



Their burgers and shakes are definitely good, but these are my favorite fast food fries from any chain restaurant that I've ever tried. Ridiculously good!

Next up, we decided to stop at the Carlsbad outlet mall. They have a Disney outlet store and a Vans shoes outlet store.







It was a lovely shopping mall on a sunny blue afternoon.

But the shopping was a bust. I've got so many pairs of Vans shoes these days, that I have to be picky, and nothing was calling my name.

And then we've learned that not all Disney outlet stores are actually outlet stores, and even fewer carry theme park merchandise. For example, there is a Disney Outlet store in Gurnee Mills (north of Chicago) that usually has lots of cool parks merchandise for incredible discounts, but the Disney outlet closer to the city of Chicago might as well just be a regular Disney store. Our Disney outlet in St. Louis is like that, no parks stuff and only very small corner of deals. And then we've had great success at places like Dallas, TX and Oklahoma City, OK. And mediocre at places like Branson, MO and Nashville, TN. The allure of trying another California outlet to see what they might have made it worth a try… sort of like a treasure hunt. But again, this one was a strike out. No worries, because it was just a lovely day and it was nice to take another few minutes walking outside and enjoying it!
 
Nice update. I love that you included Mt. Soledad. It is def true what people say I am born and raised in California, although Northern, but have been to So Cal MANY times in my life and there are still things I have not done. We are trying to do more and more of what we haven't done when we take trips now. For a long time when the girls were small we would go and spend the entire week at Disney but now we try and add in other stuff or sometimes we go and don't even go to Disney. I know crazy right LOL. My ex husband was in the Army and did 15 months in Iraq and my best friend's husband was in the Marine's stationed at Camp Pendelton and was over there at the same time. He lost several men and they had a memorial at that Monument. I had heard about it and seen pictures but it is interesting to see. I think I would def like to go there some time and see it and pay my respects.

Encinitas looks really cute. I love little towns like that. Bummer about the outlets. We had that same experience at DW. We had heard about so many great things and I guess they cycle around but we really didn't find much on our trip.

LOL about In and Out. I am from here and we have 2 in our town so it is no big deal to me LOL. But we do love it. Glad you enjoyed it!

So since you are from St. Louis have you been to Chicago much? My daughter got into 2 schools in the area and applied to 2 others that we haven't heard from yet but we are going back in March to visit them. We are flying in to Ohare and I really didn't want to get a car but planned on using the L or buses. Just wondering if you had any advice on that? How easy is it to figure out L stops? We are kind of waiting to here if she gets into Univ of Wisconsin and if so we are going to rent a car and drive there our first day but if not I plan to NOT get a car and just use public transportation till we head to Indiana. Any advice you may have would be awesome!!
 
Oh This is my kind of San Diego day! Hopefully we can re-create it in 2019 after our Panama Canal cruise. Hotel Del Coronado is where I want to spend a couple days.
In and Out Burger, a must!
 
Nice update. I love that you included Mt. Soledad. It is def true what people say I am born and raised in California, although Northern, but have been to So Cal MANY times in my life and there are still things I have not done. We are trying to do more and more of what we haven't done when we take trips now. For a long time when the girls were small we would go and spend the entire week at Disney but now we try and add in other stuff or sometimes we go and don't even go to Disney. I know crazy right LOL. My ex husband was in the Army and did 15 months in Iraq and my best friend's husband was in the Marine's stationed at Camp Pendelton and was over there at the same time. He lost several men and they had a memorial at that Monument. I had heard about it and seen pictures but it is interesting to see. I think I would def like to go there some time and see it and pay my respects.

Encinitas looks really cute. I love little towns like that. Bummer about the outlets. We had that same experience at DW. We had heard about so many great things and I guess they cycle around but we really didn't find much on our trip.

LOL about In and Out. I am from here and we have 2 in our town so it is no big deal to me LOL. But we do love it. Glad you enjoyed it!

So since you are from St. Louis have you been to Chicago much? My daughter got into 2 schools in the area and applied to 2 others that we haven't heard from yet but we are going back in March to visit them. We are flying in to Ohare and I really didn't want to get a car but planned on using the L or buses. Just wondering if you had any advice on that? How easy is it to figure out L stops? We are kind of waiting to here if she gets into Univ of Wisconsin and if so we are going to rent a car and drive there our first day but if not I plan to NOT get a car and just use public transportation till we head to Indiana. Any advice you may have would be awesome!!

I spent a couple years in the northern suburbs of Chicago when I was in high school. And then we usually drive up to Chicago one every year or two. But we always have a car and don't use the public transportation... so I don't have any first hand tips, but it's my understanding that the L train is super easy to use. I wouldn't hesitate to skip the car and just use the Metro service.

Oh This is my kind of San Diego day! Hopefully we can re-create it in 2019 after our Panama Canal cruise. Hotel Del Coronado is where I want to spend a couple days.
In and Out Burger, a must!

Spending a couple days at Hotel Del Coronado would be amazing!!!!
 
Day 6 - Thursday, 10/5 - Rolly Crump

Wow… It's been just over a month since my last installment. We were a bit busier than normal during the holiday season this year, and I had some personal projects eating up a lot of my free time too. But things are settling down again…. I'm going to try and finish up this TR over the next few days. I apologize for leaving everyone hanging so long!!!!

So yeah, our next planned stop was to see the Rolly Crump exhibit at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Being Disney fans, I'm sure many of you many of you are already familiar with Rolly, but for those of you who aren't, he joined Wald Disney Studios in 1952 and became an assistant animator contributing to at least Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty. In the late 50's he joined WED Enterprises (Imagineering) where he helped design shops and attractions including the Haunted Mansion, Enchanted Tiki Room, and Adventureland Bazaar. He also worked on some of the Disney stuff for the 1964 New York World's Fair. He might be most well-known for designing the Tower of the Four Winds marquee for It's a Small World, and when the attraction moved to Disneyland, he designed the giant clock entrance with the puppet parades. He worked off and on for Disney until he retired in the 90's.

His work is just so "whimsical" and playful. He sure seems like a fun man! So…. When we heard that he had an exhibit going in Oceanside, this made our short list of "must see" stops on the drive up to Anaheim.

The museum is only a few blocks off the highway exit, so we arrived in no time at all….



Super cool entrance!





Side note: Stephanie is super into LeSportSac bags. They did a Mary Blair, "It's a Small World" inspired line a few years ago and she picked up a couple different ones. How fun to see the smiling sun charm from her bag on the wall!



When you first enter, they have a video playing showing some of Rolly's stuff and interactions with Walt. And a (moving) scale model of the Tower of the Four Winds. (I think this was created by Rolly's son.)



And a photo of the original.



They also had Rolly's original scale model for It's A Small World façade on display too. WOW!!!!











Some of Rolly's Disney artifacts…







On the other side of the entrance room, they had some Enchanted Tiki Room stuff!!!











They also had his Disney Legend Award (received in 2004) on display. How cool!!!





The exhibit was quite extensive and had several additional rooms of non-Disney stuff. All of it was just amazing. Here are a few more photos…













One of his more recent works



And on the other hand, one of his first works of art... as a preschooler



And one final note on the way out…



All in all, this was a super fun visit. I feel lucky that we were able to see the exhibit in person! It's open for another month or so, so if you are in the area before it closes, I highly recommend it!!!

http://oma-online.org/crump/
 
My youngest really wants to be an imagineer. She is very artistic and REALLY wants to go to Cal Arts. I know it is super hard to get into but we have an apt to visit it end of April. We are flying into San Diego first to celebrate her birthday. I wonder if it will still be around then? I have watched several videos from the past and I have always been fascinated with Rolly. I would love for her to see this!! I can't remember but did you say you met Bob Gurr? Is he one that you met at the Disney Train museum? I can't remember. I know you have met a few of the imagineers at various things. He is coming to our town next month and looking forward to meeting him. Thanks for sharing and look forward to the next update
 
Unfortunately, I think the exhibit only goes through the middle of February. Yes, we met Bob Gurr at Walt's Barn in Griffith Park. (Where they run the little trains.) http://www.carolwood.org/barn.html It's open on the third Sunday of every month. Bob shows up a few times a year, I think. If you happen to be there when they are open, it's totally fun. You can find their facebook page to see if any Disney personalities will be present in April. I'm always amazed at who they get to show up for autographs and book signings. But yeah, Bob Gurr was super fun to chat with! You should definitely go see him when he visits your town!!!
 
Day 6 - Thursday, 10/5 - Anaheim

Next up... we decided to walk down to the Oceanside Pier, since it was so lovely outside. It was maybe a mile walk or so a the most…

A block or so down from the museum was their public library. Check out the cool fountain area outside!! (Too bad you weren't allowed to get in the water. Haha!)



And walking down a bit further, we discovered that they were having a farmers market. Well, they just had a farmers market... as everyone was packing up. It made for an interesting walk though…



And eventually we made our way out to the pier…





This was a super long one! We decided to stop about half way out. And relax for a little while before heading back to the car.



It was now about 3pm and we decided to start making or final drive into Anaheim. The goal was to go get checked into the hotel, see another art exhibit (Kevin & Jody), drop off the car, and finish the night at Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel.

So yeah… we got in the car and started heading north. Not too long after, we started to get into some traffic and it became slow going. Not too surprising, but no fun!

We arrived at the Candy Cane Inn around 4:45 PM.





This was our fourth visit to Disneyland. Stephanie and I stayed at the Howard Johnson in 2010. And then we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel with the kids in 2013. And then did a two week road trip, driving from St. Louis to LA in 2015 with some extended family. We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn on that trip... and we loved it.

For this trip, we looked at various options. We really wanted to stay at the Disneyland Hotel again, but after the cruise and everything, we were already pushing our budget… so we opted to save a few bucks and staff off property. Candy Cane Inn is reasonably priced, within walking distance, has a surprisingly good continental breakfast, a great pool, and even a shuttle service to the park. So yeah, it was a pretty easy decision to stay here again…

Here are a few photos of the room.

















We pretty much just dropped our stuff off and moved on. Haha!

So next up… the Kevin & Jody exhibit at Pop Comics!!!

If you aren't familiar with Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, they are a couple of Disney Merchandise artists. Here's a link to their Facebook page…

https://www.facebook.com/KevinandJody/

Scroll through it (or their blog at http://miehana.blogspot.com ) to get an idea of what they are about.

These dudes are about as cool as they come, producing some really outstanding art. We've actually picked up quite a few of their pieces through the years. And being Disney merchandise artists, some of the stuff is quite inexpensive while other stuff can be pretty pricey. If you've bought much Disney stuff in the last 20 years, there's a good chance that they designed it and you didn’t even know it!

Anyway, last year, they partnered up with a local comic shop (Pop Comics) to create an exhibit of surplus items and sell them off. I remember following it on Facebook and being incredibly jealous of the locals who could actually visit the shop! So… when I found out that they were doing it again this year, and that it would be going on while we were in town, this was also a "no brainer"!!! And if I was lucky, I might actually get to pick something up on this stop!

So Pop Comics is located a few miles north of Disneyland in Downtown Anaheim. We hadn't actually explored this area before, so we were excited to park the car and walk around for a bit. And walking inside… it was like a kid in a candy store. Oh my gosh!!!



Look at that Annette Funicello paper doll!!! It was used in this animation sequence. How fun!!!










A treasure trove of original art, proofs, and production samples!!!! The shop owner spent about 15 minutes showing us things, explaining their history, and their prices. Most of the cool stuff was hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars. And a lot of the reasonably priced cool stuff had been claimed already. (Everything sold was to remain in the shop for a couple more days when they were having a party with Kevin and Jody.) We had fun browsing around and soaking it all in. But I have to admit that I left feeling a bit disappointed to leave empty handed.

When we got back in the car, I checked my phone we fore we pulled off, and there was a Facebook notification. Since I was following their exhibit on my phone, I would get a notification every now and then about something that they posted for sale. Funny enough… they had just posted something before we arrived and they hadn't even put it out on display yet. (Keven and Jody were still bringing in new items from their stash on a daily basis.)





If you know me, I loved Tron as a kid… and I've been a fan ever since. When I saw these production sample pins, I had to have them… so I hopped out of the car and headed back to store. LOL.

I gave them my credit card info and they sent them to my house a couple weeks later. A couple months later, I'm still stoked to have these! What a fun souvenir!!! (And good timing, because within minutes people on Facebook were trying to get them to reserve it for them. :eek:)
 
Day 6 - Thursday, 10/5 - Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

It was now about 6:30 PM or so, and we were getting hungry. So we headed back to Downtown Disney to drop off the rental car the Alamo lot and then hit Trader Sam's.

Unfortunately, both Google maps and Apple maps sent us on a wild goose chase for the Alamo's drop off location. But we eventually found it. You have to enter the Paradise Pier's parking lot, and then park behind the movie theater. So that's what we did. Since the Alamo office was closed, we just dropped the keys off in the drop box (hole in the door) and that's the last we heard about that. Despite a little trouble finding the drop off lot, the whole Alamo rental experience couldn't have been any better!

And then Trader Sam's is basically across the street!



Towards the beginning of this TR when we visited False Idol, I think I mentioned our love for Tiki stuff. We first visited Trader Sam's back on our 2013 trip. We ended up hitting it twice on that visit. And then once again on our trip in 2015. And we've visited the newer Walt Disney World version a couple times too. We were super excited about hitting the original location once again!!!

It was packed, pretty much all the outside and indoor seating locations were taken. They have a seat yourself policy, so we had to do some "strategery" here. Stephanie is a bit more shy about that kind of stuff, so she stayed back by the door while I surveyed the place. I found a couple ladies who said that they'd be finished in few minutes, so I camped out near their table to ensure that nobody else swooped in an snagged it out from under us. Maybe five minutes later, we were seated!

Thank the Tiki Gods for that miracle!!!







You just gotta love the décor of this place!!!







Oh, and it's worth noting that Kevin & Jody had a pretty big role in the design of this place!!!

We've tried quite a few drinks from the menu before, but we had never tried the "Uh Oa" yet!



(Light and Dark Rums, Orange, Passion Fruit, Guava, Pineapple, Grapefruit Juices, Falernum, Cinnamon and fresh Lime Juice)

It's meant for two people, so we shared this one. They bring it out on fire with the bar tenders chanting "Uh Oa!" (sort of like they do at the Tiki Room in the parks.) There's pockets of cinnamon on the sides that you can sprinkle into the fire, making miniature fireworks. How fun! And how tasty! I will definitely be ordering this again in the future!!! (And we brought the souvenir mug home with us!)



For dinner, we started with the Pu Pu platter. (Sweet and Spicy Asian Wings, Fried Spring Rolls, Panko-crusted Chinese Long Beans, Lettuce Mix, and Sriracha Aïoli) We tried this in 2013 and loved it. We loved it this time too. (But I missed the potty jokes that the kids made. Haha!) Stephanie's favorite on the plate was the wings and I loved the fried green beans. Sooooo good!



And then we split the Kālua Pork Sandwich (Barbecue Sauce and Shredded Cabbage on a Brioche Bun served with a choice of one of these sides: Sweet Potato Fries, Classic French Fries, Island Fruit) Also super yummy! I'd definitely order that again.



Stephanie has ordered the Piranha Pool every time. And I certainly understand why, it's freaking awesome! So that's what she had for round #2. (Strawberry Vodka blended with Pineapple Juice, Cream of Coconut, Strawberry Purée and Blue Curaçao) Oh, and did I mentioned, that it's frozen like a Slurpee?!?!?



For my second drink, I had a HippopotoMai-Tai, which is basically Disney's version of a classic Mai Tai. And pretty spot on too! (Light and Dark Rums, Orange Curaçao, Orgeat (Almond) Syrup, Organic Agave Nectar and fresh Lime Juice) I probably would have went with something else, but I have the original souvenir mugs for this drink in both the DL and WDW versions. They had just released a new version about a month earlier, so I had to have it for my collection. Fun!!!





I think now, I know why they call the first drink the Uh Oa! We were both feeling a bit tipsy at this point. It was now somewhere between 9 and 10pm and we had a big day at Disneyland ahead of us, so we decided to start the walk back to the Candy Cane Inn. Maybe a 25 minute walk or so…

We spent a few minutes wandering around the Disneyland Hotel property and just soaking it all in. This is definitely one of our all-time favorite Disney spots (if not our very favorite).



And then heading back to Downtown Disney…



We enjoyed the walk, but didn’t really stop for anything. Except for to maybe soak in the park entrances in the esplanade area for a few minutes….



A few minutes later, and we were back in our room ready to call it a night.

Crazy to think that when we woke up that morning, we were still at sea… and then to think about everything that we did and saw in between. What fantastic day!!!!
 
Day 7 - Friday, 10/6 - Exploring Disneyland with Bob Penfield

Disneyland was hosting one of the Halloween parties tonight. We went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to attend, but we did the Halloween party with the kids in 2013, and we've done the WDW version a couple times in the past too. So without the kids, Stephanie and I weren't too gung ho to spend the extra cash on it. This was a tough call though, because we knew this meant non-party goers would flock to California Adventure in the evening. Ultimately, we decided to do Disneyland in the morning and then move over to California Adventure when the party started…

And also, we had plans to spend the morning with Bob Penfield, the Last Original Disneylander.

I guess we need a little back story here…. Living in St. Louis, Missouri, we are a couple hours away from Marceline, MO… where Walt spent the better part of his childhood. I could go on and on about Marceline, it's such a cool town with some great Disney history.

Did you know that Walt came back to Marceline many times as an adult, and that he even purchased his boyhood farm and had plans to make it into a mini-theme park? The plans were on his desk the day he died. Roy decided that he wouldn't be able to complete the Marceline and Orlando projects, so the Missouri project was scrapped.

Anyway, Roy sold the land back to his Marceline business partner, whose daughter currently lives on the Disney farm today. She also heads up the Walt Disney Hometown museum (and has a fantastic story growing up with Walt knowing her on a first name basis.) Which is awesome! I could go on and on about the museum and the folks who work there, but I don’t have time for it here… if you are interested, check out their website at https://www.waltdisneymuseum.org/

Anyway, the museum has really stepped up its game other the last couple of years and they've been bringing in some fantastic Disney guest speakers.

About a year and a half ago, Bob Penfield came in to give a presentation with some of his friends. And who is Bob Penfield?

He was the last person to retire from Disneyland out of the group who worked there since opening day. He worked there for a little over 40 years, retiring in the 1997. He's also held the role of "historian" of Club 55, which is/was the group of cast members who started working at Disneyland during its opening year. I say "was" because most of the members have passed away and only a few of them are still living. With all that in mind, it's needless to say that Bob has some fantastic stories to tell!!!

About a year ago, he published a book with his some of his stories in it. It's a great blend between a personal narrative (autobiography) and a history book. Telling stories about opening day, and all sorts of Disneyland history since. Including the time he spent working as a supervisor at the It's a Small World ride at the New York World's Fair, and his efforts to help with Disney's activities at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. These truly are some great stories and insights!



Anyway, we attended Bob's presentation and loved it. We got to meet Bob and spend a few minutes chatting with him afterwards. He gave us his business card and said that if we ever make it out to Disneyland to look him up. So we did!

I contacted Bob a couple of months before we headed out to California and he said that he'd love to meet with us. And that he'd meet us up in the front gates and escort us into the park. Wow!!! (It turns out that he visited Marceline one more time before our trip, and we got to spend a little more time with him then. And oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Bob donated a bunch of his Disney memorabilia to the hometown museum. The have a small section dedicated to him. How cool!)

We normally like to be in line before the gates open, but Bob suggested we wait until the initial rush gets through… so we planned to meet him around 9am.

After a busy day yesterday, it was nice to sleep in and take it easy. It was such a lovely morning, that we chose to walk instead of taking the shuttle...







And a few minutes later, we had arrived. Yahoo!!!



It was fun to see all the Halloween banners…



And the other various decorations!



We arrived a few minutes before Bob did, so we just relaxed and soaked in the atmosphere. Lovely!



And a few minutes later, Bob showed up and we headed into the park!



We probably spent an hour and a half to two hours with him, and it flew by so fast! He told so many first hand stories, that I can't even begin to remember them all! We hung out around the train station area for a while and then decided to take a ride around the park first.







He told us all sorts of stories throughout the train ride and those were mixed in with random conversations about all sorts of stuff. It was a lot of fun! Between train stops, he'd point out interesting things with the landscape and stories about the backs of buildings an whatnot.

The train stopped at the New Orleans station for quite a while, and he told all sorts of stories about the original jazz bands and the various players... And more stuff.

And then we started making our way through Frontierland and the back of Rivers of America. This section had recently undergone major renovations to make room for the upcoming Star Wars land. They basically chopped off the north end of the river and put a new trestle over it. It actually turned out to look quite nice!



We eventually stopped at the Toontown Depot and chatted about... you guessed it ... all sorts of random stuff… including his time spent living in Manhattan for the World's Fair. Some really interesting stories here. (You can read about them in his book.)



I asked him if he got to ride It's a Small World very much during his time working at the fair? He sort of chuckled and said, yeah… at least once an hour. As a supervisor, part of his job was to ride it periodically throughout the day to make sure that all the animatronics were still working.

Here's an example of the random stuff he'd point out… The rocks in this next photo aren’t regular old landscaping rocks. Their actually exhausts for the submarine ride.



During this stretch, he told us all sorts of stories working on the various attractions in this area. Some interesting stuff about Autopia and how difficult/expensive the submarines are to maintain.

I asked him which was attraction was his favorite to operate (seems that he worked on all them at one point or another. And at one point, he was responsible for scheduling about 400 cast members in this area.) He said that the Mine Train in Frontierland was his favorite to operate, but the Jungle Cruise was his favorite as a foreman/supervisor. He said that he liked the Jungle Cruise because celebrities and Walt would often visit it. He apparently had multiple interactions with Walt when he worked in that area.

Eventually, we made our way back to Main Street. We casually made our way down from the train station all the way to his window near Coke Corner.



I can't even begin to remember all the stories he shared. Stuff from opening day and everything in between. For example, he pointed out these water fountains…



Commenting that there was a plumbing strike leading up to opening day. There was only time to complete the bathrooms or water fountains, but not both. Obviously, Walt chose the bathrooms. But unfortunately, people who didn't know about the dilemma thought that the drinking fountains were left out on purpose… so that they could sell more Coke.

One of Bob's last projects was re-doing the sound system for the parade. He pointed out some interesting things about the sound and various locations for hidden speakers. For example, there are speakers at the base of this bench/planter structure.



Again, I'm glazing over all sorts of stuff. I wish that I had taken notes. He had some interesting stories about when the Penny Arcade was an actual arcade. And that there was also a shooting gallery back there. And how the guns used to be air powered, and you'd have to be careful of ricochets. Yikes!



Eventually, we made our way down to Coke Corner and he pointed out where his window is.



So yeah, working there for 42 years, Bob was a pretty well-known and respected cast member. And since he was the last of the originals to retire, they made a pretty big deal about it. They had a retirement party and presented him with his own window.



He said that it was the biggest retirement party that the company had up to that time. He downplayed it, saying it was because he was the last of the originals to retire, but I think he was being a bit too humble. He said that they drove him down Main Street in the parade before revealing the window. He was shocked that so many people were waiving to him, until he realized that Mickey Mouse ended up riding right behind him. Hahaha.

So yeah, we hung out around the window for a while. He told us how the windows are made, the art of painting them from the inside and not. It says, "Club 55 School of Golf". He said that he never really heard the full story, because he was never a golf instructor. He thinks the golf part is a play on the word "club". And of course the Club 55 part comes from his role in that group of cast members. How cool!



A little while later, we decided to part ways. Bob is in great shape for a guy in his 80's, but I don't think he was up for walking the whole park with us. We grabbed a photo and parted ways.



So yeah, that was pretty awesome. A highlight of the trip. And one of our overall all-time favorite Disney experiences. Bob is such a fun and friendly guy. And after all these years, he's still a huge fan of Walt Disney and the Disney company.

How generous of him to take some time out of his personal schedule to spend his morning with a couple of fans like us!

And two final plugs. #1. If you are ever passing through Missouri, you MUST make a stop in Marceline. And #2, if you are a fan of Disney history, you should go pick up Bob's book from Amazon!!

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Original-Disneylander-Stories-Secrets/dp/1937878066
 
Fantastic update! I can't even imagine how special it is to tour around with an original CM and hear all the stories. Glad you are back posting more of your trip. :)
 

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