Backstage Magic, Day Three, Part One

Our Adventure By Disney is whizzing by. Today was our last bit of time in Hollywood before heading out to the Disneyland Resort. Originally, that's the part I was most looking forward to, but the first part has been such a blast that I was sad to have it nearly over with.

My husband and I headed down to breakfast at the hotel's Twist Restaurant. It was a buffet style, with the usual items like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, oatmeal, danishes, bagels, fruit, and french toast. I think there was also an omelet station, but I didn't check it out because I didn't feel like waiting.

After our meal, we were directed to meet in the lobby since our bus would be coming to take us to Imagineering. We had left our luggage in the room; it would be picked up by ABD and follow us to our next destination: The Grand Californian Hotel. Since we had our laptops with us, we stowed those in a backpack to take onto the bus. Since we had the same motor coach for the whole trip, we were able to leave our day bags safely on board.

Hubby and I finished breakfast early, so we hurried over to the Chinese Theater. We'd seen it briefly a couple of times, but it was always jam-packed with so many tourists that you couldn't even see the cement squares. Now that it was still early (before 8 a.m.), we figured we could get a good look at it. Sure enough, we were the only people out there on that chilly CA morning. It was weird to see it so deserted! We managed to get a good look at the prints and signatures before a group came along. I found Johnny Depp, so that made my morning.

We returned to the hotel and learned that the bus had gotten delayed in the infamous L.A. traffic. It finally managed to complete the uphill salmon swim, and we all trooped on board. The sense of excitement was palpable as we all reveled in the fact that we were going to Imagineering. We were headed for the place where the magic begins! We, mere mortals, were going to have a peek behind the hallowed veil.

Our guides passed out our credential, which we had to wear at all times. We were required to leave our cameras, including camera cell phones, on the bus to prevent anyone from trying to sneak a shot.

We rolled up to a rather nondescript building and piled out, eager for our tour to begin. As we went through the hallway, several alert people noticed that one of the nameplates said “Iwerks” (yes, it's a relative of the famous Ub). In a small room with a movie screen, we watched clips about Imagineering as well as Walt talking about his Florida project. When that was done, we were in for a huge treat: Lucky the Dinosaur! Lucky is one of the newest ages of Audioanimatronics. He can walk on his own, interact with guests, and even sign autographs. We all had a chance to get our photos snapped with Lucky before continuing the tour.

We split into our Mickey and Minnie groups, and next up for the Minnies was the sound room. We listened to the “R. J. Bean” clip from Disney Hollywood Studio (the sound booths after you exit “Sounds Dangerous”) and learned about how it was made, as well as about how the sound is done for the Circle Vision movies.

After that, it was into the model room where we saw literally dozens of heads and all sorts of models from Disney movies and attractions. It was fascinating! I scoured the cabinets, looking for a model of Figment since he is my all-time favorite. Somehow I managed to miss him until he was pointed out to me...not one, but two Figments as well as Dreamfinder up on one of the top shelves! Oh, how I wished I had a camera! Oh well, we did have a group photo taken in front of the marble models of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Then we went from still models to the working version, i.e. Audioanimatronics. We had the rare opportunity to see what's actually below the skin and clothing of those fluid new figures like Johnny Depp. Let me tell you, it's not a pretty sight! We were serenaded by “Joe Cocker” and his backup band of singing heads, and it was truly amazing to see a figure working in the raw. It was creepy in a way, too, with the realistic eyes and mouth/teeth in a robotic body full of components and hydraulics.

As we walked through the building, we caught sight of model work in progress and also had a chance to admire the gorgeous painting on the wall. I could have stayed there all day, but alas we had to hustle out to Mickey's of Glendale, the Imagineering store, before re-boarding our bus and heading to the Disney Studio. Everyone descended on the store with charge cards drawn and ready for action. Somehow I missed being born with the shopping gene, but my husband more than makes up for it. His wardrobe is 80 percent Disney anyway, so I knew he was going to go crazy at Mickey's.

I settled for a couple of t-shirts, but I lost count of the number of tees and golf shirts he stocked up on. We also got Imagineering license plate frames for our new car. I have to admit that I bought a few Figment pins, too, but I can never resist when it comes to that cute purple dragon.

We trooped outside, but hubby decided he had to have just one more shirt so he returned inside with the stragglers. The shopping jaunt put us behind schedule; even though we were technically limited to 30 minutes, the endless check-out line pushed things way beyond the limit. I suspect that something they're going to have to allow for on future tours. Granted, our group was heavy on the sort of Disney fanatics who would buy out an Imagineering store, but I think that's who the Backstage Magic tour is always going to appeal to which means it will always be a shopping frenzy.

As we re-boarded the bus, the guides offered drinks and snacks to tide us over till lunch. Finally we were all back on board our bus and heading off to the studio. Since our schedule had been thrown off, we did our tour first before eating lunch in the studio commissary. The tour was okay, but it had big shoes to fill...how the heck can you really wow someone with a mere studio after a visit to Imagineering? I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a big “wow.” My favorite part was seeing the Partners and Friends statues. There were no photo restrictions, so we snapped pictures with both.

Next up we got our lunch tickets, which were good for one entree, a side dish, dessert and drink. Even though it was past peak lunch time, the commissary was a total zoo. It looked like the Downtown Disney Earl of Sandwich in Florida at noon! There were several different food stations, but I'm not a big fan of trying to work my way through crowds in unfamiliar places so I just went for the closest/least crowded. That was the Panda Express station, where I got a beef dish and spring rolls. Hubby opted for some sort of lettuce wrap at an adjacent station. I thought the only iced tea was Nestea swill from a tap (somehow I missed seeing the fresh brewed Tazo tea), so I got a juice blend as my drink and a yummy looking slice of chocolate cake for dessert. I joined a line that would have done a theme park proud, and when I got to the cashier she was utterly baffled by my meal ticket. As I balanced my lunch, she grabbed a phone and made a frantic call. I convinced her to let me set my stuff down on a table while I waited. There were several other ADB people behind me, so we were all anxious to see the outcome.

Fortunately she found out that our tickets valid, so I plopped down at a two-top table to wait for hubby, who was a few people behind me in line. As I waited for him, I saw delicious-looking salads passing by that had obviously been made at a very good salad bar. If I had noticed that, it would have been my definite choice. It might be nice for ABD to pass out a little “map” of the commissary listed the stations and choices beforehand, since it's hard to take it all in when you get there and enter the activity hive.

We had time after lunch to shop at the studio store, but they didn't have much in the way of exclusive merchandise so hubby and I didn't buy anything. We trooped back on the bus, and soon we were headed off to Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort. Yay! Our guides had a music CD to get us in the mood as we wended our way through the never-ending L.A. traffic jam.

We rolled up to the Grand Californian, which gave me a sense of deja vu, since it's so similar to the Wilderness Lodge. Everyone disembarked the bus and moved through the lobby to pick up room keys. We headed up to the third floor to check out our digs for the next three nights. The room was themed with the usual Disney attention to detail, although its balcony has a “roof view” rather than a courtyard. Oh well, I doubt we'll be in it very long anyway since this trip has quite a jam-packed schedule.

Our luggage was delivered, along with a neat little surprise: copies of several of the photos from the earlier part of our trip.

Our night isn't over yet; a wine tasting is coming up shortly, followed by dinner and then a surprise at Disneyland. I can't wait to find out what it will be!