Dreaming Disney Special - How to Play Baseball

Today is opening day for my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs!  I can officially start today with my claims that we will be better next year!

I love baseball, but for those of you who don't know the game, he is a quick instructional video:

Who ever you cheer for...good luck!  I know I will need it. 

Between Books - Jason's Disneyland Almanac

The day I was born the Disneyland Park was open until 1 a.m.  Sadly as an adult visiting for the first time it was only open until midnight.

We have all dreamed about walk-on conditions when visiting a Disney park.  But I don’t think any of us can imagine December 14, 1961.  It was a bit nippy and rained some. But on that Thursday there were only 523 guests in Disneyland.  Let me say that again, 523!

On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney passed away.  On that day only 3,284 guests were present to enjoy his creation.

I know these facts thanks to Jason’s Disneyland Almanac by Jason Schultz and Kevin Yee.  Jason’s Disneyland Almanac collects the opening and closing times, temperature highs and lows, precipitation, and major openings, closings, events, and potential important guests to the Disneyland Resort from it’s opening in 1955 until 2010.  In fact the authors have gathered operating hours for the resort for all but 773 of 20,257 dates.  The real delight of this almanac is the attendance data for dates between July 18, 1955 to December 31, 1966, taken from Roy O. Disney’s Disneyland Attendance Summary.   This historical record provides us with data that Disney executives do not generally make available about the park today.

This book is about the numbers.  There is some narrative and background but not in great amounts. Really it is the numbers that tell readers the story of Disneyland. Especially interesting is the attendance data from the early years of Disneyland Park.  One will be shocked to see days with especially low attendance, closures due to weather and trends that don’t match current Touring Plans Crowd Calendars.  For example, look closely at the attendances for Christmas in early Disneyland and consider equivalents today. Also readers will be surprised to find regular park closures, could we even imagine the parks closing on a regular basis even during today’s “off season?”

I am a big baseball fan.   Amongst baseball fans there are sabermetricians, the fans who use statistics and numbers to dig deeper into the story of the game.  This book is for the Disney sabermetrician, a source that provides the raw data for the examination of park trends.   And even the non-numbers minded enthusiasts, like me, can see trends that help us to better understand the park today.

The data itself and the authors’ methodology in collecting it appears as solid as possible for someone without access to Disney archives and records.  They do admit that there could be errors and mistakes as much data such as closures and park times were gathered from primarily public or second sources. So they warn that errors could be present.  I chuckled as I found one related to my first trip to Disneyland; as the text states that Glow Fest closed on the day I arrived at the Disneyland Resort for the first time, when I know that in the week following the stated closure that I participated in the event twice.  I believe this is due to an extension of Glow Fest; an extension that I believe was not listed in documents that provided the original dates for this party.  Who would have guessed that it was going to be as popular as it was?

On February 19, 2001, Disney’s California Adventure (with the ‘s at the time) was open for two hours later than Disneyland Park.   Shocking? Not really, because an examination of page 262 of Jason’s Disneyland Almanac will help the story unfold.  Numbers sometimes provide their own narratives!



Review Copy Provided for Purposes of Review

Dreaming Disney - Totems

I love the movie Inception.  In this film, characters enter and experience dreams together.  In order to tell the difference between the real world and dream world the dreamers keep totems, small physical items the dreamer has intimate knowledge of that will show them if they are dreaming or awake.

For me living Between Disney my vacations often seem like they were dreams.  I live in a place so unlike Anaheim and Orlando that it is sometimes hard to believe that Space Mountain actually exists.  Luckily I stumbled accidentally on my first trip to my totems which remind daily that the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort are actually real.  And they fit my personality.

I collect baseballs!

On my first trip to Downtown Disney in Orlando, I was shopping in the ESPN store when I picked up two baseballs.  I am a baseball fan.  One had the year of the trip and one had Mickey in baseball gear.  Little did I know that this would lead to me picking up several baseballs over the next few years.   About two years ago I realized I had for most of my trips the souvenir ball with the year on it for every visit but two trips.  This fact lead to an Internet and EBay search of several months that netted me my missing two balls. 

The balls are displayed in my office, and I look at them every day.  My totems remind me of where I have been, where I hope to go again, and that it’s real….it’s really real!

Here is my advice on a totem:

·         Small, easier to display.

·         Cheap, that way you never have to question the price tag.

·         Personal, I really like baseball and my friends will tell you that a Disney baseball is a good combination of two of my favorite interests.

I’m sure that I’m not the first one to pick up using totems out here Between Disney.  What’s your totem?