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Entries by Fritz (42)

Tuesday

Feb282012

Magic Kingdom at Night

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Will you be pulling an all-nighter at Disneyland or Magic Kingdom as part of Disney's "One More Disney Day"? I will be at home and in bed by ten. After watching "Disneyland After Dark" on dvd of course. Here we present some old nighttime photos of Magic Kingdom.

Where was this photo taken? The top of the train station tower? We get a nice view of backstage parking and even Tinker Bell's landing spot atop one of the Tomorrowland buildings (in green lights).

Many of the following photos were sent to us by Ryan Rewasiewicz as part of our Photo Hunt. They were taken in either 1975 or 1976.

Tomorrowland. STUNNING. What great nighttime views old Tomorrowland offered.

Liberty Square.

Frontierland. And the still-in-operation Diamond Horseshoe.

Adventureland. So nice at night. Look at those old signs. "Tropical Serenade" and "The Enchanted Tiki Birds". The Sunshine Pavilion, unique to Florida, was such a delight. This photo is from an old souvenir picture book.

Ahh the soothing water fountain. Excellent photo, Ryan.

Back to Main Street.

For those of you who make it through the night, this may be your view as you turn around on your way back to your car (minus the Skyway poles, of course). Also from a souvenir book.

Why will I not be there for the Leap Year all-night thing? It does sound fun but I'm going to stick with the memories of the many many all-night adventures I had over the years. Grad Nites, Y2K preparation, Hurricane ride-out crews, other work assignments, sneaking around after hours, sleeping on some old couch in the break room under Main Street.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 9:43PM | |

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tagged

Adventureland,

Castle,

Monday

Feb062012

Disney Management Apathy / Hockey Analogy

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Fritz

As a high school kid working at Disneyland I was disappointed to learn that not everyone had the passion for Disneyland that I had. Not every other frontline cast member was enthusiastic about their work environment. The kid I trained with was super excited about his new job but quit shortly after to work at a movie theater where they would allow him to grow a goatee. (Good news, kid I trained with... you can have hair on your face now! Come back.) Few managers seemed to care about the history of the great park. A decade later I was equally disappointed to discover first-hand that higher management was apathetic to focus on any part of the grand Disney legacy.

Let me be clear. Not all park employees and managers fall into this category. There are some who do not. There are those who focus time and energy learning about the company and regularly enjoying the parks as guests. However, it’s been my experience that these people are more rare than you would think.

I’ve not been able understand why someone would (or could) establish a career in Disney park management yet not bother to know park history nor experience its current offerings. It’s been rather baffling that one would be surrounded by this stuff and not partake of it on any non-boardroom level. I’m talking about middle and upper Walt Disney World management who can’t name the Magic Kingdom lands. And managers who haven’t even been the parks unless to attend meetings held there. Then I came up with this analogy.

Hockey. I guess I like hockey. Sort of. I don’t dislike hockey. I went to two NHL games and one minor league hockey game growing up. They were great. I met Wayne Gretzky when I was 14 at an awards ceremony. I played hockey in the street with my florescent-colored rollerblades. I bought a mini hockey stick at the Canada pavilion at EPCOT Center when I was 11. But I've never read a hockey book, learned the history of the teams, or hung hockey memorabilia in my bedroom. I guess you could say I am apathetic about hockey.

Now if I had an opportunity to work for the NHL I imagine the offer would be rather appealing. A big organization. Reputable image. Fun by nature. Some bragging rights attached, perhaps. Say I accepted a management position within one of the teams’ organization. Would I attend a few of their games? Would I learn the team’s history? Would I learn names of the players and get to know the arena? All of these things would be free of charge of course. The answer is yes. I would do these things. Perhaps none of his would turn into deep, abiding passion. Regardless of how much or how little I really really loved the game, I would make the effort. Chances are..... I would end up really enjoying hockey.

I don’t know how much the hockey management culture encourages its people to go out of their way for such things. I do know that Disney management culture does not encourage similar proactive behavior.

Should every Disney park manager obsess over old park maps, learn the middle names of every dead Imagineer, and Tweet hundreds of obscure park facts. No. Should every Disney manager VISIT THE PARKS WITH THEIR KIDS? Yes. Yes they should. Should they have a basic knowledge of company history? One slightly more detailed than the Traditions orientation curriculum? Yes. Should they know the names of the rides and actually ride the rides? I would say so. This is not unrealistic. Six-year-olds know every ride.

So the hockey thing might help me understand what a non-fan might feel. Hopefully it will help some of you. But sadly, I still come up short-handed when trying to understand and explain why oh so many park leaders are unconcerned about such basic things. Even more curious is the fact that they can advance up the many ladders of company leadership never really knowing the company’s product.

On a happy note.... I’m thrilled to hear from so many people who are passionate about so many great things who are pursuing careers in the parks. To you I suggest reading some pointers from our friend Bob Gurr. And good luck!

EYE CANDY: Balloons!

Posted by

Fritz

We bring you photos of those good old iconic Mickey Mouse balloons.

I don't know the history of the Mickey-shaped balloons. I do know I loved picking one out as a little kid every time we went to Disneyland.

Spiffy old balloon vendor costumes...

This next photo is wonderful. It was sent to us by a fan of the blog, Jeffrey Lipack, as part of our Photo Hunt. Look at the grass hill!

These next two were sent in by Daniel Zuccarelli (@PerpetualGeek, PGMShow.net). I love Main Street morning shots like this. If you look closely you'll see a few kids have already gotten their balloon for the day.

Speaking of kids.... This kid is selling the balloons. Lucky guy. Look behind the balloons on the left. The artwork on the bag is fun. It features a very early Mickey and Minnie with that old Walt Disney World logo we all love. Click here for a clearer image.

On a date with a sailor. Great balloon and a fantastic pennant. Pennants were one of my favorite souvenirs after growing out of balloons. Where are all my pennants now?? Sadly I have no clue.

Lone balloons.

Characters with balloons.

Chip and Dale in Rescue Rangers garb.

Chip and Dale in the nude.

Roger Rabbit.

The "new school" version of the Mickey balloon. I actually love these balloons-in-balloons. It's a rare thing to take a classic product and improve on it without ruining any of its original qualities.