IT'S A MALL WORLD AFTER ALL

Los Angeles is as much a state of mind as it is a physical place. Where we shop, dine, and gather is a reflection of our community and us. Los Angeles is a land where Hollywood set designers build houses, architects design movie sets, and many of our most cherished “public” spaces are privately owned and operated. In Los Angeles, anything is possible.

READ ABOUT LOS ANGELES SHOPPING MALLS AND THE INFLUENCE OF DISNEYLAND'S MAIN STREET AT MICECHAT.

2007 International Pow Wow

This is what I get for reading the Disney Food Blog. I was doing some research for an upcoming article and digging through my archives when I came upon this pass to the 2007 International Pow Wow. The Pow Wow is a huge event put on the U.S. Travel Association. This event is described as the “premier international marketplace and the largest generator of Visit USA travel.” Representatives from more than 1,000 U.S. travel organizations meet with more than 1,500 buyers from more than 70 countries. The Pow Wows have been taking place since 1969 but this was the first time it was held in Anaheim.

Disneyland put on quite a show for the opening night party. We had access to an exclusive party in three lands: Frontierland, Adventureland, and New Orleans Square. All of the attractions were opened and plussed just for the event. For example, when I went to the Haunted Mansion I was the only guest in the stretching room and throughout the attraction, ghostly butlers silently moved along the edges. Very surreal.

The banks of the Rivers of America were lined with tents featuring an unlimited quantity of food and drink. I enjoyed my time watching Billy Hill and the Hillbillies with some folks from Japan. At 10pm that night, Disneyland launch a special fireworks show. Considering that the event was capped at around 4,000 guests, this was a very special evening.

So what did I have for dinner?

FRONTIERLAND

Menu

Grilled Beef Short Ribs with Smoked Chipotle BBQ Glaze

Thunder Ranch Prime Rib Chili and Miniature Corn Muffins

Mini-Blue Corn Chicken Tamales with Mole Sauce

Sweets

Selection of Fruit Empanadas, Tia Maria Shooters and Miniature S’Mores Pies

ADVENTURELAND

Menu

Pankot Palace Lamb & Beef Souvlaki Served Rotisserie Style with Fresh Naan Bread and Tzatziki Sauce

Shankara Ostrich Spear Grilled on a Sugar Cane Skewer with Chili Anise Glaze

Mola Rama Grilled Lobster Tail Served with Thai Tamarind Sauce

Sweets

Chocolate Fountains with Exotic Fruits, Macaroons and Hand-Dipped Berries

NEW ORLEANS SQUARE

Menu

Crayfish Fritters with Cajun Remoulade

Louisiana Blue Crab Cakes with Fire Roasted Garlic Aioli

Po’ Boil Shrimp with Spiced Bourbon Barbeque Sauce

Sweets

Bananas Foster Flambe with Pound Cake

Southern Peach Crisp

Miniature Pies: Key Lime, Pecan & Sweet Potato

REASSURANCE

REASSURANCE

I am frequently asked if there is a difference in the spatial design process between theme parks and the world outside the front gate. There certainly is. The guiding principles that underpin the design of the public realm are very different. Each type of environment is driven by its own distinctive organizing system. So how do we define the difference so that we make the right choices and create places that are alive, vital, and appropriate for both worlds?

The real world feels alive when there is a certain messy vitality. A theme park succeeds when there is a lack of visual contradictions. It is virtually impossible to blend these qualities without creating a space that feels uncomfortable and undesirable.

Noted author Jane Jacobs and savior of large swatches of historic Manhattan from the wrecking ball described "the city as organized complexity." Among other factors, architect Robert Venturi came to the conclusion that successful and dynamic urban environments contain a "messy vitality over obvious unity." Both agree that it is this quality that is necessary if a place is to feel authentic and resonate with meaning to the users. Such places are embedded with quality, variety, and surprise. As a result, the environment puts you slightly on edge and you feel more alert and alive in a delightful way. However, too much of this messy vitality and you will only encourage fear. There is a delicate balance.

When asked about this difference, Imagineer John Hench said, "Most urban environments are basically chaotic places, as architectural and graphic information scream at the citizen for attention. This competition results in disharmonies and contradictions that...cancel each other [out]." He warns, "A journey down almost any urban street will quickly place the visitor into visual overload as all of the competing messages merge into a kind of information gridlock."

John Hench should know. Imagineer Tom Morris described him as "the Philosopher of Imagineering." Hench grew up in Southern California. He started at the Disney studios in 1939 as a sketch artist on Fantasia. In 1954, after a career in animation, Walt Disney selected him to become one of the first Imagineers. Hench considered himself the "color guru" for the Disney parks. His theories on how color can be used as a storytelling element, how color welcomes guests and help them make decisions, and how color establishes the mood. He is the one who figured out how color "encourages the suspension of disbelief" and creates the illusion of reality.

John Hench was a master teacher and influenced a generation of Imagineers. This was especially true after Walt's death in 1966. In 1998, Hench was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Themed Entertainment Association.

In 2003, he released Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show. This book is required reading for those interested in theme park design and he defines, in terms understandable to the layperson, how visual storytelling, character, and color come together to create a sense of place and harmony. He would go on to influence every park and resort since Disneyland. Hench had very high standards. At the opening of Disney's California Adventure in 2001, he reportedly said, "I liked it better as a parking lot." He stayed at Disney until his death at the age of ninety-five in 2004.

Hench suggested that the only way to design a successful themed environment is to eliminate any visual contradictions. He defined a visual contradiction as "the active clutter that you see in the real world, which creates mixed messages, sets up conflicts, creates tension, and may even feeling threatening." Hench taught his team, "If visual details disagree, guests experience active clutter, which has the same effect on the eye as a cacophony of noises has on the ear."

"Walt wanted all the details to be correct," Hench said. "What it amounted to was a kind of visual literacy." He suggested that each space is like a "bead or charm in a necklace. The same thing was applied as you walk around the park. Continuity was the same. Whether you're slow or fast, what you look at it the same."

This never-ending aspiration to eliminate every visual contradiction comes straight from Walt Disney. One day, early in the park's history, while Walt was making his usual rounds, he spotted a guy dressed in a spacesuit walking from the backstage area near Frontierland on his way to Tomorrowland. In Walt's mind, it destroyed the theme and he felt this was unacceptable.

By eliminating the visual contradictions, Walt had created a world that was safe, clean, and could not exist outside of the earthen berm that surrounded his park. What he created was a place that is not about fantasy but is about a sense of reassurance.

"Physically, Disneyland would be a small world in itself - it would encompass the essence of the things that were good and true in American life," Walt said. "It would reflect the faith and challenge of the future, the entertainment, the interest in intelligently presented facts, the stimulation of the imagination, the standards of health and achievement, and above all, a sense of strength, contentment, and well-being."

John Hench said that Disneyland, "Tried to present an undilutedly rosy view of the world; contradiction or confusion were qualities the planners of Disneyland associated with the defective, poorly planned, conventional amusement park." He added, "That Disneyland offered an enriched version of the real world, but not an escapist or an unreal version. We program out all the negative, unwanted elements and program in the positive elements. We've taken and purified the statement so it says what it was intended to."

Make no mistake. The spaces within the park are not representative of reality but become a hyper reality - stylized and tightly edited versions of the real thing. The buildings are shrunk and edited to meet the needs of the story that binds everything together.

Disneyland is a legible urban environment. The park is made up of a series of spaces that unfold before you. Hench said, "You begin with the first scene and move through. You don't throw people into the fifth scene, where they cannot make sense of what is happening." The payoff is a sense of welcoming, worth, value, and security.

When somebody suggested the only reason people go to Disneyland was escapism, John Hench took offense and disagreed. He said, "There was never a Main Street like this. But it reminds you of some things about yourself." He added, "What we are selling is not escapism, but reassurance." A visit to Disneyland reassures us that things will be okay. Here, everything works, places can be clean, people can be nice, and the pace of the world feels right. Marty Sklar and John Hench have described the urban design for Disneyland as the "architecture of reassurance."

This quality is achieved by removing visual cues with messages that do not embellish the narrative. In a concept drawing of Main Street USA from 1953, artist Dale Hennesy included a church. Such a civic building would have been common and historically correct. However, this is not reality. It is Disneyland and Walt decided it did not support the story and there is no church at the edge of the commercial district.

Every aspect of the public realm came under scrutiny from Walt. For example, when Bill Martin showed Walt drawings of Main Street he said, "[Walt] went over my plans with a fine-tooth comb. I'd drawn sidewalks on the blueprints with square corners and Walt said: 'Bill, people aren't soldiers! They don't turn in at sharp angles! Curve the sidewalks! Make the corners round!'"

Evangelist Billy Graham once told Walt that Disneyland was "a nice fantasy." This did not sit well with Walt. He replied, "You know the fantasy isn't here. This is very real...The Park is reality. The people are natural here; they're having a good time; they're communicating. This is what people really are. The fantasy is - out there, outside the gates of Disneyland, where people have hatreds and people have prejudices. It's not really real!"

In Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks, Karal Ann Marling suggests, "One of the consistent hallmarks of Disney architecture is its refusal to be avant-garde: reassurance, on the contrary, means using the familiar conventions of real-world architecture - and then 'plussing' them until the audience has to smile."

Although he was no fan, Robert Venturi does concede, "Disney is nearer to what people really want than anything architects have ever given them.

In Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, Yi-Fu Tuan compared the Chinese concept of utopia to the American version. He said the Chinese aspire to promote contentment. Walt insisted that Disneyland represents the best of the United States and our aspiration is to promote happiness. Yi-Fu Tuan says, "Contentment is a more passive word than happiness, and one might see in this a significant differences between the Chinese dream and the American dream. But whether 'contentment' or 'happiness,' that which is feared is disorder, chaos, violence."

John Hench said the architecture, colors, background sounds, music, and smells create an environment where it "gives one the permission to talk with strangers." Michael Broggie added, "[Walt] also thought the Park's atmosphere could be sophisticated yet relaxed enough that adults would feel comfortable allowing their 'inner child' to play, without feeling embarrassed."

David Zanolla of Western Illinois University noted that the physical experience of passing through the portal of Disneyland communicates a concept he calls "emotional separation" when guests are forced to separate the experience of paying and the experience of entering the park.

After a visit to Disneyland, Aubrey Menen said she, "spent the morning riding through dreams that lay somewhere at the bottom of my mind." Matthew Arnold said, "Every aspect of the Magic Kingdom, from trash collection to efficient transportation to the providing of near-constant stimuli, works to achieve this same end: freedom from worries, from toils, from the feelings of insecurity that define the average person's workaday life."

For many guests, there is a sense of timelessness inside the earthen berm that surrounds Disneyland. In Disneyland Through the Decades, Jeff Kurtti said that frequently visiting the park "is revelatory in the drastic change you will see - and the almost complete lack of change you will see." If you want to get a sense of the tremendous change that has occurred over the years, there is a model of Disneyland on opening day in 1955 tucked into a wall at the museum on Main Street.

For me, it was Imagineer Bruce Gordon who provided one of the best descriptions as to why Disneyland works. He said, "Walt was hands-on with everything at Disneyland. This was his park, his dream. I always believed the reason Walt built Disneyland was that he wanted one." Bruce adds, "He wanted the biggest train layout; he wanted a place for all his toys. In the park he had an apartment above the fire station. Walt would get up early in the morning, before the park opened, and he'd drive his fire truck around Disneyland. People would think he was crazy, but he was only playing with his toy."

Sleeping Beauty Booklet

Published in 1957. It has a coupon for additional copies at 25c each.

The Real Pirates of the Carribbean

As you wait inside the queue for Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean, you surely have noticed the fine drawings on the wall. What you might not be aware of is that these pirates are the real deal. Well most of them anyway. In doing research for the attraction, Imagineer Marc Davis was inspired by real pirates and their stories. In fact, the attraction was originally going to be a walk-through attraction featuring famous pirates. But the humor started to win out and the walk-through became a boat ride and the rest is history. Let's take a look at the walls and meet the real and unreal pirates of the Caribbean.

READ MORE AT MICECHAT

The Gags of Toontown - Mickey's Neighborhood

Welcome to the residential cul-de-sac of Toontown. This is where the characters live. Of course, they are always interested in meeting their fans. Most of the architecture is reminiscent of the California bungalow style. This would make sense since many of the animator lived in Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena where this style was popular.

The musical fountain really is a musical fountain. Gather up three other buddies and have them tap the medallion embedded in the sidewalk. The result will blissful musical chaos. Perfect for the Toons.

Goofy's house used to be famous because you could bounce off the walls. Well you could have if you were a certain age. However, we have to be safe and now Goofy has laid out the yard so that parents can relax and watch the little ones burn off some steam.

Resourceful fellow. An no duplications. Each jar is an unique solution.

So this is how Goofy pays for his hobbies? I did not know that.
Chip 'n' Dale live in this treehouse but they are never home. Seems they enjoy the Grand Californian a bit more. Not much to see. Once upon a time there was a little play area behind the treehouse where little ones could dive into a pool of balls. However, many would take advantage of the seat and, well, it got messy. Now it is hidden behind shrubbery.

Donald's boat portrays Daisy strapped to the front of the boat. Is she supposed to be complemented or concerned?

Do you ever wonder what kind of junk mail these two must get?

Mickey's House is a treat. If you get a chance to go late at night or early in the morning when the crowds are non-existent, and really take your time, you will be rewarded with dozens and dozens of great inside gags. From the book titles to the photos to faking people out that you are playing the piano, Mickey's house is one of the best designed immersive environments that Disney has ever designed. Right up there with the Roger Rabbit and Expedition Everest queues.

This is one of my favorite gags. It is the ever growing population of brooms from Fantasia. As you enter the hallway and look up, the mirror shows hundreds of brooms coming your way.
Turn around and look up and you see it is only three brooms and a backdrop painting. The mirror acts like a camera and creates and optical illusion. Love it.

WHERE IS THE BUZZ PRICE WINDOW? PART 2

Buzz and Anne

Buzz

Buzz and Anne

all photos courtesy of David Price

PART II

Excuse me for a moment. I am going to reach over here and grab a soapbox again. There. Very good. Now I would like to stand on top of the soapbox and bleed my heart for another few minutes. You bought the ticket so let’s go for the ride.

A little background for those who missed Part I. I was admiring the worthy tradition at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom to honor those who have made an impact by placing their name on a window on Main Street. Walt Disney himself started the idea. According to Marty Sklar, the rules for achieving this honor are:

1) Only on retirement

2) Only the highest level of service/respect/achievement.

3) Agreement between top individual park management and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates the design and copy concepts.

So can somebody explain to my why Harrison “Buzz” Price does not have a window on Main Street in either Disneyland or Walt Disney World? If there was anybody who really deserved this, it has to be Buzz. He is a Disney Legend after all. He is one of the few who have not worked directly for Disney. He just worked for thee Disneys. Come on Disneyland. Please explain.

Thank you. Enjoy the stories.

Yes, if…

Buzz Price would be called upon frequently to weigh in on the viability of a project and he developed a research methodology that suited Walt and Roy’s needs. The process that he used when working with Walt was a “Yes if” line of attack. Price said, “Yes if…is the approach of a deal maker. It points to what needs to be done to make the possible plausible. ‘No because…is the language of a deal killer. Creative people thrive on ‘Yes it.” He added that, “Walt liked this language.”

Price refined this innovative research process by hosting more than 150 design workshops called a charrette. Charrette is French for little cart. Back in the Ecole des Beaux Arts period in Paris, students would bring their paintings to be judged by their masters in carts. In many cases, the artists would still be working on their canvases while on the move.

In modern usage, a charrette is a process whereby all those affecting and affected by the outcome of a project come together to collaborate on finding solutions. After a lot of consideration and discussion, the group can start to develop a consensus and establish clearly articulated performance goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. With these goals set, the project’s success can be judged by the ability to meet or exceed the planning criteria. By using performance goals, it is easier to manage and comprehend a complex project. What may have appeal to Walt was the layer of storytelling applied to the technical process of spatial planning.

The Focus Group

In November of 1953, Walt had Price conduct a charrette with four of the leading figures in the amusement park business. Price gathered William Schmitt who owned River View Park in Chicago, Harry Batt of Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans, Ed Schott of Cincinnati’s Coney Island, and George Whitney of Playland at the Beach in San Francisco.

Price rented out a hotel suite at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago during the annual amusement park industry convention and trade show. Along with Price were Richard Irvine, president of WED Enterprises, Bill Cottreall, vice president of WED Enterprises, and Nate Winecoff, the man who recommended Price to Walt. The men worked the crowd for over two-hours the old-fashioned way with “Chivas Regal and caviar” then a presentation

The Disney team used the famous Herb Ryman “lost weekend” conceptual drawing that Roy used when he had to convince the banks to fund the project. Price called this “a dog and pony show.” After the presentation, he recalls that the “reaction was unanimous. It would not work.”

Price documented their group’s reaction to the Disneyland proposal and he noted that they all agreed that all of the “proven moneymakers are conspicuously missing, no roller coasters, no Ferris wheel, no shoot-the-chute, no tunnel of love, no hot dog carts, no beer, and worst of all, no carnie games like the baseball throw.”

Walt’s proposal to build his own attractions was met with skepticism. The naysayers said, “Custom rides will never work. They will cost too much to buy and they will be constantly breaking down, resulting in reduced ride capacity and angry customers.” They suggested, “Only stock off-the-shelf rides are cheap enough and reliable enough to do the job. And besides, the public doesn’t know the difference or care.” They also determined that there was not enough ride capacity to make a profit.

After reviewing the park’s layout as designed by Marvin Davis, they were critical. In their experience, the fatal flaw was the single entrance into the park. This would mean a bottleneck at the front gate and that was unacceptable. They suggested the need for entrances all around the park next to parking lots and transit if Walt wanted to be successful.

“Most of Mr. Disney’s proposed park produces no revenue but it will be expensive to build and maintain,” said the focus group. “Things like the castle and pirate ship are cute but they aren’t rides so there is no economic reason to build them. There is too much wasteful landscaping.” They also found other examples of waste. Spaces like Town Square with its little park, City Hall, and a fire station were not designed to make any money. That was a poor use of real estate and did not add to the bottom line. Even the Main Street vehicles like the horse trolley, fire truck, and omnibus would be money-losers because they also suffered from a capacity issue.

After reviewing other concept drawings, the men suggested that Walt’s commitment to the little design details was just not warranted. They felt, “People will vandalize the ride vehicles and destroy the grounds no matter what you do, so you may as well go cheap.”

Even the level of design for the building interiors became an issue. Walt wanted the interiors to be as highly detailed as the exteriors. The men told the team “the interior finishing concepts of the restaurants are too expensive, especially since a hot dog and a beer are about all anyone eats at an amusement park.” They said, “He will lose his shirt by over spending on things the customers never really notice.”

Then they began to really tear the project apart. During the presentation of the Jungle Cruise, the men said that the ride would not work because the animals would be sleeping or hidden. Walt’s desire for year round operation was a bad idea when 120 days is “the only way to go.” Most importantly, the lack of barkers is certainly a bad idea. One critic said, “Without barkers along the midway to sell the sideshows, the marks won’t pay to go in. Customers are likely to leave with money left in their pockets.”

Price summed up the thoughts of the participants with this statement. He wrote, “Mr. Disney’s park idea is too expensive to build and too expensive to operate.” Their advice was, “Tell your boss to save his money. Tell him to stick to what he knows and leave the amusement business to people who know it.”

Walt appreciated the practical tips but he was always ready to compete when he thought he had a better idea and the results of this focus group was the affirmation he needed to hear. Now he was even surer that his idea would work. Instead of another amusement park, Walt knew he was creating the first theme park. The difference between the two, as explained by J.G. O’Boyle in Persistence of Vision magazine, is, “A theme park is not ride-dependent. A theme park without rides is still a theme park. An amusement park without rides is a parking lot with popcorn.”

After Price had completed his research, he predicted that first year attendance for Disneyland would be between 2.5 and 3 million guests. The actual attendance that first year neared 4 million guests.

Two Giants

Robert Moses was the most powerful man in New York for forty-eights years. As the head of a number of semi-public agencies, he created a power base that allowed him unprecedented power without having to be responsible to the public or elected officials. Under his leadership, New York built tunnels, bridges, parks, and parkways all at the expense of mass transit. Moses was not shy to destroy existing neighborhoods in pursuit of “progress.” Moses would go on to shape New York’s physical environment more than any other single person and it reflected his vision of what that great city should be. Moses was the force behind the influential 1939 New York World’s Fair and now he was interested in creating a sequel in 1964.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (Ret.) William Everett “Joe” Potter, an MIT graduate, an engineer who helped plan for the invasion of Normandy during World War II, and governor of the Panama Canal Zone worked for both Disney and Moses. He said, “If you said to either of them, ‘That’s impossible, that will cost a lot of money, or people will be against it,’ you didn’t last long.”

In an interview in 2010, Buzz Price recalled a story of two giants, Robert Moses and Walt Disney, during a flight in the Disney-owned 25-passenger Grumman Gulfstream. His job was to pour the drinks while two men who literally reshaped the world discussed the site plan for the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. The conversation was not going well.

Walt was drawing on a map and trying to tell Moses that the lay out would lead to failure. In Walt’s Revolution by the Numbers Price said, “I poured Walt and Mr. Moses each a big scotch and then watched the two giants verbally spar with each other. They were two strong protagonists, each accustomed to being number one.” Neither was listening to the other, “they were talking at the same time for about an hour.” It was a test of wills and neither man was backing down.

The men were specifically arguing about the transportation planning for the Fair. Walt did not like what he saw in the plans and had some suggestions. Walt knew he was an expert in how people moved about and after reviewing the plans; he felt that people would not leave the main Fair grounds to go to the recreational area. They needed to have some “special inducement like a monorail or a PeopleMover.” Price said, “Walt unsuccessfully tried to encourage Goodyear to install a people mover and even paid for a study.” Walt thought a Disney designed Alweg monorail system would become an attraction itself just like at Disneyland and would have the proper capacity to get the job done. It would also make for a fine legacy project and would remain operating after the fair closed.

Moses decided to go with a much cheaper system built by AMF. The difference between the technologies was the Disney version rides on top of the beamway and the AMF configuration was the I-beam type where the train was suspended underneath the beamway. Of course Walt dislike the hanging monorail technology because his wife Lillian got ill on such a train during a visit to Germany.

Angus Wynne invested $7 million to build the recreational area. Wynne would later go on to open the Six Flags theme parks. In the end Walt was right and Moses was wrong. Just as Walt had predicted, the site plan for the fair and the transportation connections did not bring enough traffic to the recreational area and Wynne end up bankrupted by Moses’ mistake.

The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair would attract 51 million over two seasons, less than the projected 70 million and lost money. The poor layout was cited as one of the reasons for the failure. Ray Bradbury, who wrote the script for the United States Pavilion’s exhibit, said the Fair failed because Walt did not design the whole thing. He said, “There were not enough benches, not enough trees, not enough restrooms…all the things that developers think are not necessary Walt would have provided.”

After the Fair, Moses asked Walt to build a park in the New York area. However, Walt declined because he doubted that New Yorkers would embrace anything like the Anaheim Park. “He said that audience is not responsive. That city is different.” Walt was also concentrating on a new location to the south.

So. Where is the window for Buzz Price?

Welcome to Summer!

What Is A Disneyland? Part 12

On July 15, 1955, the Los Angeles Examiner produced an insert that tried to explain what this new thing called Disneyland was all about. Since the piece was produced before the park even opened, the Imagineers used some of the beautiful concept artwork to illustrate the wonders of this new park. This is the final installment.

YOUR FIRST VISIT TO DISNEYLAND

INFORMATION DESIGNED TO HELP MAKE YOUR VISIT MORE ENJOYABLE

FROM LOS ANGELES AND VICINITY - Southeast on Santa Ana Freeway to Anaheim. Turn right at Harbor Blvd. to Disneyland entrance.

FROM HOLLYWOOD, SAN FERNANDO AND VICINITY - East on Hollywood Freeway until it joins Santa Ana Freeway. Southeast on Santa Ana Freeway to Harbor Blvd. in Anaheim. Turn right at Harbor Blvd. to Disneyland entrance.

FROM LONG BEACH -East on Coast Highway to Lakewood Blvd.; turn left and go 1 1/2 miles to Spring St.; turn right and proceed along Spring (which becomes Cerritos) for 10 1/2 miles. Turn right at Brookhurst St. and go to Katella Ave.; turn left and go to Disneyland entrances.

FROM POMONA AND VICINITY - South on Brea Rd. (which becomes Spadra Rd. in Fullerton). At junction of Los Angeles and Palm Sts. in Ahaheim, continue straight ahead on Palm (which becomes Harbor Blvd.) to Disneyland.

FROM SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE - West on Hwy. 18 through town of Olive to Pacentia Ave., at eastern edge of Anaheim; turn left and go 2 1/2 miles to Katella Ave.; turn right and go 1 3/4 miles (past Harbor Blvd.) to Disneyland entrance.

FROM NEWPORT BEACH AND VICINITY - North on Harbor Blvd. to Katella Ave.; turn left on Katella and right into Disneyland.

FROM SAN DIEGO - North on Hwy. 101, turning inland at San Juan Capistrano continue on 101 past city of Santa Ana. When you reach divided highway, north of turn-off to town of Orange, keep right onto frontage road that parallels freeway, and go about 3/10 mile to Edison Co. substation at Katella Ave. Turn right and then immediately left onto Katella overpass on-ramp. Follow Katella past Harbor Blvd. and turn right into Disneyland.

OPENING - Disneyland, Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, will officially open on Monday, July 18th, and remain open every day during the summer from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Beginning in the Fall, Disneyland will be closed on Mondays.

ADMISSION TICKETS - Admission prices for adults are $1.00 tax included. For children, under 12, admission is 50c, tax free. Tickets may be purchased only at Disneyland. Your admission ticket entitles you to roam all the lands of Disneyland and view the many exhibits and free shows without any further charge. Disneyland's rides and other unique amusements are all popularly priced.

FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS - A wide variety of food and refreshment facilities are offered for your enjoyment in Disneyland. They range in cost from modest to moderate, depending on the type of food and service you desire. Alcoholic beverages are not served or permitted in Disneyland.

WEEK DAY VISITS - Week-ends and Holidays throughout the summer, will be the days Disneyland will have the greatest number of visitors. Whenever possible we suggest that you plan your Disneyland visits for week-days, Monday through Friday, to avoid crowds and congested traffic conditions.

To assure you a pleasant visit, Disneyland's gates will be temporarily closed whenever the park is filled to a comfortable capacity. The gates will be re-opened as visitors leave, to admit new visitors. If your plans call for a visit on a Holiday or week-end, we suggest you come as early in the day as possible.

PARKING - Disneyland's parking area will accomodate 12,175 cars, for the convenience of visitors driving private vehicles. A nominal charge of 25c covers all day parking.

DISNEYLAND HOTEL - California's newest and most distinctive resort Hotel and Motor Hotel is situated opposite the main exit of Disneyland. When completed, the Disneyland Hotel will contain 650 rooms, suites and garden apartments offering accommodations to fit every budget. 104 units are scheduled to be open by approximately August 15th. For opening date and reservation information please contact Disneyland Hotel, 9363 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, or telephone CRestview 5-4586.

WHERE IS DISNEYLAND - Disneyland is located in the city of Anaheim. For additional information on routes to Disneyland, we suggest you stop at a RICHFIELD Service Station for a free Disneyland road map.

History of the Disney Studios - Part 2

Last week, we looked at the genesis of the Walt Disney Studios in Part One of our two part series on Disney's magic factory. Today, we wrap things up as we take a tour of the facility which makes the silver screen sing.

Like a small midwestern town, the Burbank studio is laid out along a rational grid of streets. As you travel north along Mickey Avenue, the Animation Building is on the east side of the street and the Hyperion Health Club, Commissary, and the Roy O. Disney building (1976) are on the west side. At the end of the street is the Michael Eisner Building.

READ MORE AT MICECHAT!