Disneyland Submarine and Monorail Ride Construction

you can see the monorail tracks going up above the dry submarine voyage lagoon circa 1959.. click it to make it bigger

Bad Duck!!

Mom and Dad

Hello from the Future!

Disneyland on a Leash

How would you feel after you get to Disneyland's main gate only to realize that your mother has just put a leash on you? I would be crushed and pissed, just like this little girl.



I know the leash is hard to see but if you click on the picture it will become obvious. Note the mothers 1974 fashion of the day, high waisted bell-bottoms, tied blouse and leather pouch purse.

Disneyland Tongue

main street merchandise

area supervisor

Behind the scenes at Big Thunder Mountain

Sweet Dreams Captain EO

Never forgotten...

Disneyland Pin-up

Can you say "Pointy Bra"?

This un-named pin-up girl is getting off Disneyland's Peter Pan ride, circa 1955. Was this shoot approved by Walt or done on the sly? Sadly we will probably never know.

Renovation of Disneyland's 'Small World' Complete!

As Walt Disney Co. set out to renovate It's a Small World at Disneyland, the company's Imagineers had one thing in mind: Don't mess it up.

Despite being one of the oldest attractions in the park, the ride is among the most popular -- drawing about 6.7 million riders a year.

The challenge was to give the beloved attraction new vibrancy without altering the stylized look created by the Disney artist whose childlike illustrations influenced such classic animated films as "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan."

The Imagineers consulted illustrator Mary Blair's original drawings for inspiration as they undertook one of the most ambitious updates of the ride since it opened at the Anaheim park in 1966.

After a yearlong renovation, it reopened with a new scene that depicts the "Spirit of America," a relocated rain forest and 29 added Disney and Pixar characters inserted in the countries where their stories take place.

Whether the public will embrace the changes remains to be seen. Some Disney purists have howled at the notion of Disney characters intruding on It's a Small World -- saying that their presence would destroy a historic work of art. Even the Blair family wrote a letter that labeled the move a "gross desecration."

Well, you decide for yourself...

New Ride Opens at Disneyland

Bathtub to the Moon

This Girl is Fucking Goofy

My Dream Date

Tragic Kingdom!

"Tragic Kingdom"

Once was a magical place
Over time it was lost
Price increased the cost
Now the fortune of the kingdom
Is locked up in its dungeon vaults
The castle floor lies in traps
With coiled wired set back
Decoyed by old cheese
Now the drawbridge has been lifted
As the millions

They drop to their knees
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds

His tears are frozen stiff
Icicles drip from his eyes
The cold wind blows as it snows
On those who fight to get in
On heads that are small
Disillusioned as they enter

They're unaware what's
Behind castle walls
But now it's written in stone
The king has been overthrown
By jesterly fools
And the power of the people
Shall come to believe they do rule
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff

Icicles drip from his eyes
Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Have yet to spring open
Have they lost their heads
Or are they just all blind mice
We've heard all their stories
One too many times
Hypnotized by fireflies
That glow in the dark
Midgets that disquise themselves
As tiny little dwarfs

The parade that's electrical
It serves no real purpose
Just takes up a lot of juice
Just to impress us
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff

Icicles drip from his eyes
Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Have yet to spring open

wORDS AND MUSIC BY nO dOUBT!

Infamous Disneyland Haunted Mansion Nude

This picture is for all those who refused to believe my story about the "Disneyland Haunted Mansion Nude Tombstone".



I always regretted not taking a picture of it when I was working next door on Splash Mountain. It is on the backside of one of the tombstones in the graveyard scene. It was drawn in the early 60's by a forgotten Imagineer. Done in charcoal it is a classic nude from that time. Note her hair style and voluptuous figure. Also note the aging foam material it was composed on.

This photo was taken in 1981 by Janet Mondragon (Walden). The guy's name is Dave. Click on the picture to make it mo'bigga.

What I got for Xmas - Jose from The Enchanted Tike Room @ Disneyland

Original Jose "Barker Bird" Dialogue from The Enchanted Tike Room @ Disneyland circa 1963!

(Sound of bell ringing)
Your attention please!
One show for you to see.
One for you and everyone.
Awk! Awk! Inside. I say inside.
You sit down on your tail feathers.
You see more than 200 flowers, Tikis,
and all my relations.
Those amazing birds. They come to life.
For 17 minutes.
No one takes a siesta. Especially the audience.
Wait 'till you hear the Tikis do the Hawaiian War Chant.
(Sound of grunting and chanting)
Si! That is what everyone is saying about, awk! Awk!
The Tiki Room.

Awk! Aloha! Aloha!
I do not know what that means but I like the sound.
Aloha! Come to the Tiki Room! Fly to the Tiki Room!
This has been a recording!

(Sound of gong, followed by jungle drums, animal noises, water splashing and bubbling)
Awk! Awk! Awk!
Stop walking while I'm squawking!
Aloha! It is time for me to tell you all about The Tiki Room.
It is a show brought to you by Audio-Animatronics, which is a big word.
But believe you me, it is even harder to explain.
...connected to the capacitor. The capacitor's connected to the transformer.
The transformer's connected to the toggle switch.
The toggle switch connected to the antennae.
(speaking faster)
The antennae connected to the control track.
(speaking faster)
The control track connected to the bird brain.
(speaking faster)
The bird brain connected to the tape deck.
The tape deck connected to...
(electrical noise)
Awk! I blew a fuse. Blew a fuse. Blew a fuse.
Turn me off. Blew a fuse. Blew a fuse.
Turn me off.
(slowing down)
Blew a fuse.
(normal voice)
Thank you!

Ay yi yi yi, Ay yi yi, Ay yi yi yi!
Buenos dias! Buenos dias and carrumba!
Up here I am. Wake up down there!
I have a few thousand things in my feathered brain
to tell you about awk! Awk! The Tiki Room.
The birds tell jokes. The flowers sing. The Tikis chant.
And, it is air-conditioned.
(sneezes)
Awk! Excuse me! I am allergic to feathers.

(sound of cork on bottle being opened followed by the sound of a lion roaring, followed by what sound likes a train chugging and then sputtering to a stop)
If you think that is easy, you should try it sometime.
You probably wonder why I am sitting, I mean roosting, er resting up here.
It is because I am tired. I mean, it is because I want to tell you about awk!
The Tiki Room. The show starts in just a few minutes.

Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle aye.
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle aye.
It's supercalifragile...um.
Superfragilecal...um.
Super Cauliflower?
Um? Super super califragilistic Enchanted Tiki Room!
Get your Expialidocious tickets right here!

How I got in trouble at Disneyland

I was a Walt Disney Imagineer a few years ago. While we were building Splash Mountain (in 1989) we had to have water reservoir under the mountain "mucked-out" by Disneyland maintenance. This was to get out all the trash and plaster that washed down there during ride testing.

One day I was talking to one of the maintenance guys and told him this tall tale�.

You know about those leaches in the rivers of America? Well we (WDI) have found that some of them have gotten into the flume water. Not that it is enough to have leaches but.. you know the water purification plant in the attraction? Well there is a lot of chemicals in there and they haven�t got it balanced right yet. So the other day I was down here and found that all those chemicals had made the leaches grow to enormous sizes. In fact one of them fell off the ceiling of the reservoir and landed on the shoulder of my ride engineer. So when your down there, be on the look-out, OK?

So the next day I get a call. It�s Ron Dominguez (Disneyland President) and he wants to see me! So I go to the old executive offices (at the diorama) and Ron calls me into his office. �Mark, I was just informed that the Splash Mountain maintenance crew has REFUSED to work in the reservoir today. Do you know why??�

Well you can guess the rest. He told me that I was never to tell anyone on the Disneyland staff anything about �Giant Leaches� again. I agreed and apologized. From that day on Ron Dominguez and I knew each other a little better (with a wink and a smile)!

Eisner and Hippos

When Michael Eisner , Walt Disney CEO. showed up at that particular cafeteria in a pitiful attempt to rub elbows with the masses, he only really succeeded in proving how out-of-touch he is and how little about the Parks he actually knows.

As the cafeteria took notice of Eisner's arrival, which was hard to miss due to the big entourage accompanying him, Eisner put forth his best political skills and tried to make friends. He marched right up to two college aged guys wearing Adventureland costumes waiting for their cheeseburgers and said "Hi fellas, where do you guys work?"

The two Cast Members dutifully replied "We work at the Jungle Cruise, sir." Eisner broke into a broad and forced smile and said "Hey, that must be a lot of fun! I'd love to be able to drive that boat around all day, making those jokes and shooting at the hippo's like you do!"

And without missing a beat, one of the Jungle Cruise Skippers said "We don't get to shoot at the hippo's anymore sir. They took the guns away three years ago." Eisner could only stammer, "Oh, they did? I didn't know that..." before he moved on down the line for the next forced smile and handshake.