California Tourism: It's All Connected

I've been asked why I discuss other locations in California when this blog's title is "Disneyland Dreamin'".  Well, the fact is, it's all connected.  All these amusement parks, these local attractions...they all coexist in this big bubble of tourism and cultural history.  I came across this article today while browsing Facebook.  As someone familiar with both Disneyland and the Boardwalk, it struck me as interesting.  I can see some of the influences of the seaside park on Disneyland easily because I am so familiar, but for people who haven't spent much time at the Boardwalk or examined its history, you might not see a connection.  Mr. Whiting is one of the old timers.  He has been working at the Boardwalk for almost his entire life.  So, when he writes about flipping hamburgers and meeting Walt Disney, it's some pretty big stuff.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE SOURCE

The Day Walt Disney Visited the Boardwalk

Disneyland and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Ted Whiting III

June 14, 2018

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When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland boasted the Autopia Ride, a self-driven turnpike for kids of all ages. The cars were outfitted with bumpers, but they were plagued by collisions and occasionally jumped the curb that centered them on the roadway. When the Boardwalk’s Autorama ride opened in 1961, in addition to front and rear bumpers, our cars also had a center guide rail to control the cars steering range. Our ride was built by Arrow Development Company of Mountain View, CA. Arrow innovated amazing new ride concepts that helped make Disneyland such a novel amusement park back in the day.

On the morning of Saturday, March 9, 1963, Walt Disney and several of his staff, along with reps from Arrow Development, came to inspect our auto ride. Ed Morgan of Arrow Development educated Walt on our safety design and Mr. Disney subsequently took a ride. He must have been impressed, because two years later Disneyland's Autopia had a center guide rail.  

Walt Disney was recognized by Boardwalk guests that day, and it was reported that he graciously signed some autographs. Now is where the story gets personal for me. I knew Walt Disney was coming that day and I was working alone in a food concession in the Bright Spot building, very near the Autorama ride. I saw an entourage of people coming down the Boardwalk to the ride. I could make out an individual who appeared to be Walt Disney and I was satisfied I had seen him, if only at a distance.

When the ride inspection was complete, Seaside Company management planned to take Mr. Disney and his staff to lunch at a nice restaurant. When that offer was made, Disney suggested that they just get a hamburger, or something quick nearby, and they would be on their way.  The nearby place they chose was where I was working...by myself! While I was still preparing for the day, a half dozen or so men suddenly appeared at my counter, and there before me was Walt Disney!

 
I nervously took orders from each person, calling for help at some point. I prepared the hamburgers, fries, shakes, coffee and whatever else had been requested, and one by one each was served. As I passed Mr. Disney his order, he thanked me and shook my hand. Wow! I say to this day, it was the best hamburger I ever made!
Disney's visit to the Boardwalk is a little known event in our history, but it rests vividly in my memory. I described my encounter in more detail in an interview for a documentary that was recently made about Arrow Development. Here's a link to that interview.

 Enjoy!

There have been other well-known personalities who have visited the Boardwalk over the years. It would be fun to hear about your surprise encounter with a famous character during one of your visits to the ‘walk.
‘til next time!

Ted 

Mission San Juan Capistrano

My oldest son is going to be entering third grade in the Fall.  As tradition in my California family, it is time to start exploring California culture and history in anticipation of fourth grade California history.  We start in third grade in my family because typically third grade social studies involves learning about American Indians, which are and were an integral part of our history.

To begin our 2 year learning experience, we went to Mission San Juan Capistrano, located in the southern area of Orange County.  I have always appreciated this mission for its beauty and preservation efforts.  As opposed to some of the other missions which have been completely rebuilt, you can see the ruins of parts of this mission that have been destroyed over the years, giving a better conceptualization of just how old and amazing these structures are.  Despite the dark history of the missions and the deaths of many American Indians who were forced to do labor in these institutions, they give us insight into live 300+ years ago before California was anywhere near statehood in the United States of America.  Both the gardens and relics are inspiring to view. 

Legoland Summer Trip Review 2018

This past weekend, my family took off on a short summer vacation to Legoland California.  We've been there before, but at every age, the kids seem to find something new to love.  This time, we stayed at the Legoland Hotel on the adventure floor (floor 3).  Instead of a standard room, we also chose to try a suite as we had 3 adults and 3 children on the trip.  The suite was spacious and it was nice to spread out.  Our only complaint about the room itself was that it was a little hard to find the light switches for the adult bed area in the dark.  Otherwise, it was wonderful.  Since it's a little hard to find pictures and videos specific to the suites, I took one for you.  Pardon me if I sound exhausted.  I took the video after a whole day in the park before my family came up.

In addition to a fun kid-friendly room, the hotel has a comprehensive free breakfast buffet, a pirate ship playground, a bar for the grown-ups, a fabulous zero-entry pool, a scavenger hunt for free small lego kits, and nightly programming including a dance club for kids with a real DJ, disco dance parties in the elevator, hero training, model building contests, and movies by the pool at night.  Overall, it's a fun hotel and one of the best parts of the Legoland experience.  If you can afford to splurge on the onsite hotels (there's also the Legoland Castle Hotel which opened a couple of months ago), do it.  You won't regret it.

 We were at Legoland for Star Wars Days once again.  We've done this a time or two in the past and love seeing all of the people out there in their costumes.  My kids were thrilled to see rebels and sith alike.

Legoland is a lot more fun with kids that are 4 and almost 8 than kids that are younger.  My kids could ride almost anything they wanted to at this point as long as they had an adult chaperone.  My 8-year-old could have gone on his own on most of the rides if he wanted to as he's over 48 inches.  Some of the highlights in terms of rides are the driving school/junior driving school where kids can drive their own cars, the Ninjago ride, and of course, the classic boat cruise highlighting many amazing lego constructions.  The kids all enjoyed something a little different and all had a blast.

We also managed to get to the water park, though we didn't make it to the aquarium this time.  The water park was nice, but some of the guests not so much.  My mother has a physical disability and needs to be able to sit down.  We found an empty chaise lounge for her, but a few minutes later, the person who had claimed the 3 seats next to her told her it was theirs and she needed to leave.  After she got up and left, we watched as the family only used 2 of the 4 lounges they had claimed.  So, if you go, don't be wasteful or greedy.  There are a lot of people who want/need a seat and only a limited number.  If you aren't going to use more than 1 or 2 seats, don't "claim" more.  And if you're claiming them, leave something in the seat so it's clear that the seat is claimed.  Next time, we will bring my mother a wheelchair so that she doesn't have to fight with unkind guests.  Luckily, that was our only issue and it wasn't Legoland's fault.  I also have to say we came across one wonderful family who overheard we were looking for a seat and gave up one of theirs for us.  So, I guess the point is to be kind.

We enjoyed the water park while we were there.  My older son was able to explore the bigger slides while my little ones stuck to the more toddler/preschooler area.  I would probably have more to say if my kids were better swimmers or if we hadn't had to leave when my mom couldn't get a seat and was in pain, but I will say the water park is a lot of fun.  Just get there early if you expect to have anywhere to put your towels and shoes while you're in the water.

The food is one of the highlights, at least for adults, at Legoland.  While the kids were able to get hot dogs, mac n cheese, and chicken tenders, we also had options like chicken curry, shrimp fettuccine, cheesesteak sandwiches, and smoked "Texas-style" barbecue.  There were many health options along with the not so healthy choices, so it's pretty easy to find something to eat.  I'm not sure how it would be for a vegan, but there are definitely vegetarian choices and the resort is very good at asking and answering questions about food allergies.

So, will we be back again someday?  Probably at least once before my kids get too old for it.  It's really a park for 2-10 years olds.  Anyone older will probably get bored.  But, it's still a lot of fun as a family destination.