You have probably heard a few "interesting facts" about Disneyland over the years. Perhaps you've heard that Walt Disney kept an apartment on Main Street? Or that there is a secret, members-only club in New Orleans Square? It's all true... but these are only two of the interesting facts pointed out in "101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland." Many of the stories here deal with more obscure, yet equally interesting, histories of Disneyland. In fact, the majority of the material comes straight from interviews with the Imagineers who helped to build, maintain, and revitalize Disneyland. The book pays special attention to the inside jokes and hidden references to Disneyland's past, as these samples illustrate: Do you know which play on words pays tribute to a former Mexican restaurant at a certain site? Do you know how Tarzan's Treehouse honors its predecessor in two different ways? Do you know what is so unusual about the decorations atop "It's a Small World"? Do you know why one palm tree in Adventureland is special? Do you know what the sign says at the bottom of Splash Mountain's big drop? Do you know which pumpkin is an homage to a Disneyland official? It's a certainty that you haven't heard all these stories before. Although there are 101 such highlighted stories, each comes with a fuller description and is followed by a second story that is thematically related, so this volume really offers 202 Things you haven't heard about Disneyland before. You will find these facts delightful and unforgettable once you've heard them!
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From the Author
In researching our Disneyland trivia book "Magic Quizdom," we came to realize that some of our information and trivia was of a certain nature: many details pointed out inside jokes and hidden references to Disneyland’s past, or had special but hidden relevance to the "real" world. More importantly, these tidbits of information all relied upon a still-extant artifact at Disneyland; something which by its very nature held special significance. Such nuggets deserved to have their stories told independently of the trivia book, so they were set aside and removed from "Magic Quizdom" drafts, and the results grew into "101 Things." The individual 101 Things referenced by the title are all items you can actually point to at Disneyland, so that the book provides a kind of walking tour of the park (in guided tour format, rather than questions format) that yields a glimpse of the deeper history percolating below the surface.
"101 Things" was crafted to be accessible for every level of Disney fan. Newcomers to Disneyana will be bowled over by the volume of detail, the rich layers of self-reference, and the abundance of insider tributes. Readers accustomed to such stories about Disneyland will find a useful resources that not only catalogs such occurrences in one volume, but goes far beyond the usual, and brings a wealth of new stories and anecdotes to the table.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
#27 out of 101:
A canal in New Orleans Square, labeled "1764," is all that remains of a plan to unify several themes in the land.
The plan called for a crypt next to the Mansion that led into an underground catacomb of treasure and dead pirates, culminating in a pirate-themed hideout on Tom Sawyer Island. The pirate theme would have focused on Jean Laffite, a real-life pirate from the early 1800s in New Orleans. Laffite’s name might be familiar to frequent Disneyland visitors from the Pirates of the Caribbean loading zone, where a sign reads "Laffite’s Landing." The date 1764 was derived by subtracting 200 years from the birth date of one Imagineer who worked on the project. FURTHERMORE: Before its replacement with La Petite Patisserie, there was also a Laffite’s Silver Shop in New Orleans Square. Having a Jean Laffite identified as the "owner" of the Haunted Mansion would have united Pirates of the Caribbean with the Mansion and the island into one underlying theme, an unusual feat for an entire land. Though unrealized, the plan lives on in the form of this barricaded "crypt."
#59 out of 101:
A sign above Rancho del Zocalo pays homage to the restaurant’s former name.
A welcoming sign above the entrance reads "mi casa es su casa," which is a reference to the location’s most recent name of Casa Mexicana. The first half of Rancho del Zocalo’s name honors Big Thunder Ranch, a nearby barbecue restaurant that closed but had its menu folded into the new Rancho del Zocalo. FURTHERMORE: Rancho del Zocalo takes the latter part of its name from a plaza in Disneyland’s earliest days. The circular plaza in the middle of Frontierland was named El Zocalo on early Park maps, and served as the mini-hub in Frontierland from which Guests could board the Pack Mules, Stagecoach, Conestoga Wagons, or Rainbow Caverns Mine Train. This area had a Mexican theme from the beginning: near El Zocalo, close to the Mark Twain dock, was Mexican Imports, a small merchandise location that reinforced the Southwestern flavor of the area.
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More About the Author
Kevin Yee worked for 15 years at Disneyland in a variety of roles (restaurant lower management, entertainment) and has written regularly about Disney theme parks since 1997 on Web sites, magazine articles, and blogs. He lives in Orlando, where he visits the Disney parks twice a week with his family.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get more bang for your buck while at Disneyland,
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This review is from: 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland: An Unauthorized Look At The Little Touches And Inside Jokes (Paperback)
I received this book just in time for a week at Disneyland during the 50th Anniversary celebration. The festivities of 17 July 2005 and the crowds were not all that heavy, and on Friday the 23rd I took the "Imagination to Celebration" tour. I had to ask for help to find that special palm tree in Adventureland--there are several--and the toru guide had to ask for help, too! "101 things You Never Knew About Disneyland" will make you seem like an instant expert.
Kevin Yee and Jason schultz made my stay at Disneyland much more magical. Disneyland is constantly changing, so some of the things in this book may be different from when I visitied. I had to ask a cast member in Indiana Jones to show me Eyeore. Many of the Hidden Mickeys, the tributes to people or things past, are really hidden--otehrs are hidden in plain sight. I had to look sharp to find the tributes to the Country Bear Playhouse inside the Winnie the Pooh attraction. Couldn't have done it if "101 Things..." hadn't told me what to look for--and where to look.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and Fun!,
This review is from: 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland: An Unauthorized Look At The Little Touches And Inside Jokes (Paperback)
This book is great for Disneyland fans. Very informative and fun. Although a lot of the information will not be new to hard-core Disney fans, they have written the book in a informative format. The one draw back to the book is that there are serious editing issues. At times it is almost unreadable due to the errors.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
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This review is from: 101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland: An Unauthorized Look At The Little Touches And Inside Jokes (Paperback)
I, being an avid Disney fan love to find out the little quirks about my favorite place on earth. However, these 101 things you never knew were 101 things even my child knew. Aside from the "101 things" listed are already in many Disney books, the book is poorly written. It reminds me of high school where when assigned an essay that had to 101 pages, every effort was used to double space, use the widest ruled paper available and write r e a l l y w i d e so you'd fill your assignment. To a Disney fan, very disappointing. To a fourth grader, rather insightful.
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