Sunday, January 31, 2010

Book Update

New research material has arrived at Imaginerding Headquarters!


Included are five travel guides, which are great for researching changes in the parks.


Friday, January 29, 2010

Geek-End Update, Saturday, January 30, 2010



Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Restaurantosaurus Book Update 04

Our final look at some of the books that we found at Restaurantosaurus has some real winners. Previous Restaurantosaurus book updates can be found here, here and here.Let's look at some of the titles:
  • David Iridiumfield
  • First Year Primer of Literary Kritosaurus
  • A Confederacy of Darwins
  • Beak House
  • Allosaurus in Wonderland
  • Desire Under the Cycad
  • Desire Under the Stratum
  • East of Edmonton
  • Camelotia
  • Cretaceous Park
That is all we found in this series. There were so many other books located throughout Restaurantosaurus--unfortunately, they were real! I laugh every time I read a Confederacy of Darwins.

My other favorites are: East of Edmonton, 1984 B.C., Count Dracopelta, Buried Treasure Island, Atlas Coposaurus Shrugged, The Lizard of Oz, Driving Miss Daspletosaurus, and The Asteroid Also Rises.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Updates!


  • A few Disneyland Lines and Disneyland Newsreel publications!

  • A Happy Anniversary card created for Walt Disney Productions by RKO

Walt Disney's First Lady of Imagineering: Harriet Burns by Pam Burns-Clair and Don Peri

Friday, January 22, 2010

Geek-End Update, Saturday, January 23, 2010




Jeff Kober at MousePlanet shares his personal experience with taking his children to Walt Disney World. Two of his kids are autistic and Jeff recounts how each visit is as special as it can be challenging. Jeff offers some fantastic advice and tips for people visiting the parks with children that have special needs.

I encourage you to share it with friends and family.

    Wednesday, January 20, 2010

    Book Update

    I have two more books to add to my collection! These take my collection to 273 books about Disney.













    Monday, January 18, 2010

    Theme Parkeology: What's That?

    On a research trip to Walt Disney World, the Imaginerding research scientists were led on a Fantastic Tour of Forgotten Walt Disney World by Foxxfur from Passport to Dreams and Peter Rabbit from Luau Cove Marina. Part of the tour looked at the buildings that remain the Saratoga Springs Resort from the Village Marketplace days. We headed through the side of the Artist's Palette and passed the Turf Club restaurant. We stepped outside onto the patio dining area and turned right to head down the cement walkway that led to the right of the building.

    When we reached the bottom, we were faced with the following view:

    Image taken with my camera phone.

    Why would there be a grass rectangle bordered with cement? After we walked around it for a few moments and ruminated on the layout, we realized that it was the former pool for the Lake Buena Vista Clubhouse. It seemed that it might have been cheaper and easier to fill it in.

    We took some more images. There is a set of benches in the area that look over the small grass area that would change the focus of the area. It created a place you could bring the kids and let them run around for a few minutes. You could also relax and enjoy the view of the Sassagoula, sort of.



    The image below is taken as a 180 degree view from the picture above. You can see the area for the golf cart parking on the left and the snack shop on the right (blue awning). The level of the building you can see through the trees is underneath the Turf Club restaurant. It is an amazing ode to 1970s Walt Disney World: The Pro Shop. If you get the chance to visit, make sure to walk through the shop; you will be amazed at the large wood trim, metal casing and 1970s style.



    The following is a satellite image of Saratoga Springs and the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course. The dark ellipse shows the filled-in pool area.



    This is a scan of a picture from page 119 of Walt Disney World, the First Decade. We believe that the pool was much larger than the filled-in rectangle we see today. There was also a set of locker rooms located behind the area. This pool was probably used by people playing golf and by the Villa residents located close by.

    Any thoughts?

    You can find more books about the history of Walt Disney Word by viewing my Walt Disney World History Bibliography. I have also reviewed Walt Disney World, the First Decade.

    Looking for more 1970s Walt Disney World?

    The above image is borrowed from Alison's Walt Dated World page on the Lake Buena Vista Golf Club. The pool was much larger back in the day!




    Friday, January 15, 2010

    Geek-End Update, Saturday, January 16, 2009


    Michael Crawford pointed us to a series of videos on YouTube by allmightypuff. Currently, there are 19 videos that have been uploaded and they center on Walt Disney World from 1981 and 1983. This is the rare home video collection that allows us to see EPCOT Center in 1983. It is probably the closest to a time machine we will see. I was really excited to see the three videos about the Walt Disney World Village--it is a look at how the Village used to be. Maybe we can see a return to this idyllic vision. This video of the Village is one of my favorites.

      Tuesday, January 12, 2010

      Restaurantosaurus Book Update 03

      We continue our look at the books that we found at Restaurantosaurus at the Animal Kingdom. You can find the book updates we did for part 1 and part 2 from last week. We happened to catch more of these not so real titles on another shelf.


      • Captains Cretaceous
      • Dinos In Love
      • A Dino for All Seasons
      • 1984 B.C.
      Once again, we point you to some of the smaller details that go into the parks. Keep your eyes open. You never know what you will find. For me, I am amazed that the Imagineers were able to pour so many details into Restaurantosaurus. Someone had to make the book covers, in addition to creating the titles. Wow.

      For those interested in the smaller details, we believe the shot glasses were probably brought by some of the Grad students working at the Dino Institute. There are two from Utah and one from Niagara Falls, Charleston and New Mexico.

      Monday, January 11, 2010

      Book Update


      Celebration - The Story of a Town by Michael Lassell

      This is a glossy, photo-filled book about Celebration, the town that Disney planned and built during the 1990s. It looks like a fun read that goes into depth of the history of the town and the Disney Company's involvement with the planned community.




      Friday, January 8, 2010

      Geek-End Update, Saturday, January 09, 2010




      Thursday, January 7, 2010

      Restaurantosaurus Book Update Part 02

      We shared a few of the selections of the titles we found on a shelf at Restaurantorous in last week's post. There were a few more books on the next side of the same shelf.

      Just as a reminder, Restaurantosaurus is in theDinoland, USA section of the Animal Kingdom park. A majority of the books we found were yard sale finds or library discards. They all shared the same themes of dinosaurs (go figure) and science.

      Enjoy...and don't try to find any of these titles at your local public library.


      Here are the titles in question:
      • Count Dracopelta
      • The Ice Age Cometh
      • Don Gone
      • Buried Treasure Island
      • Dinosaur Farm
      • Atlas Coposaurus Shrugged
      • The Lizard of Oz
      • Gunga Dig
      • Driving Miss Daspletosaurus
      If the real titles the Imagineers allude to don't ring a bell, let me know and I can help!

      Wednesday, January 6, 2010

      Book Update

      I had a nice surprise this week when my wife texted me that she had found two Christmas presents that she had hidden very well. I was very excited when I found out they were for me!