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[Michelle Ma-Belle]

I am going to blog the days of the trip here but if you truly want the full post it will be on our website. Mouse Fan Café. It is up and has pictures and all.

I took this trip to preview it for the Decade of Dreams Disneyland portion in Fall 2009 and was amazed at all the wonderful details etc.

Day 1- Arriving in Hollywood. I landed in LAX and was greeted by one of our Adventure Guides, Diana (pronounced - Dee-Anna) holding an ABD sign. The guides gather your luggage and load you into Towncars which drive you to your first Hotel, the Renaissance Hollywood Resort and Spa.The Renaissance Hollywood hotel sits adjacent to the Hollywood & Highland Center and Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, the Hollywood walk of fame, and is also across the street from the El Capitan Theatre, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and Jimmy Kimmel Live show. Great shopping and food area. This hotel is very comtemporary, with colorful geometric decor throughout, nice outdoor pool and brand new Spa opening May 1st. Here in the lobby we meet our second Guide Quinn who gives us our room keys and welcomes us.

First event is a hotel reception and ice breaker game to meet all the guests. This is fun and gets you moving around and seeing where others are from. We then walk next door our Dinner spot right in Hollywood and Highland, called Trastevere Ristorante. Very nice selection of salads, pastas and tasty food along with Beer and Wine. Again, we play another Ice Breaker type Game Show hosted by Matt who is quite funny. After dinner you are on your own to do whatever, we just walk around the stores and see the Kodak Theatre building etc.

[Colexis Mom]

great start

[Michelle Ma-Belle]

Day 2 - Hollywood
breakfast this morning is across the street at Disney’s Soda Fountain and Studio Store. An old fashioned ice cream parlor, located right next to the El Capitan Theatre and it has a studio store filled with fun studio merchandise. We get a choice of eggs, oatmeal or a Mickey waffle. I opt to stick with the eggs and wait for the waffle until later in the week. The fun surprise here is having our photo taken with Ariel who is set up in the back of the store. Other fun things going on for kids are coloring and mobile making at the counter… OK, I had to jump in and color some since the kids things seem so fun…

Next Stop is a tour of El Capitan Theatre, one of the original old Hollywood theatres built in the 1920s. In 1989 the Walt Disney Co. undertook a two year renovation to take the theatre back to its original state of the 1920s. The only real original pieces still housed here are cast iron light the lower level old “smoking room. One cool fact we learned is that when a Disney movie premieres, even though this is a single screen theatre, the El Capitan makes more money than any other movie theatre in the US. Ed our guides takes us all through the place and tells us lots of history.
From here we head to the Jimmy Kimmel live Studio (right next door). We get to walk through all the rooms, meet Uncle Frank and Guillermo, and go onto the set they film on each night. It is cool to actually see a Green Room and know that Snoop Dog was there ! (the Staff's most memorable guest) They also have a permanent sound stage outside for mini concerts featuring the bands that come on the show.
On to the Jim Henson Studios....former home of the Charlie Chaplin Studios. Lots of history and folklore. Very great studio nicely renovated and yes we did get to tour the studio, creature shop, and meet Muppets and a puppeteer named Michael. Lunch today is served outside of here in the patio, yummy.
Last stop of the day is a surprise and not guaranteed on all of these Backstage Tours but we were taken to "Walt's Barn" in Griffith park and got a chance to see his train collection of memoribilia and ride a mini train around the park.
Back to to the hotel for a night on our own. I dine at Campanile on La Brea, also an old Charlie Chaplin office building. Food is fabulous and setting very nice.

[DyanKJ130]

Great start! We really enjoyed the Renaissance, when we stayed there in February. Can't wait to hear more

[Michelle Ma-Belle]

DAY 3-
Meeting at 7am proved not to be an issue today due to the fact that we all knew we would be going to the Disney Studios and Imagineering. When you have a group of avid Disney fans who really understand how no one gets to see these two places it, being on time is not an issue. Breakfast this morning was right at Twist, the hotel restaurant. The buffet included eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, omelets, breads etc. We sat with Brent, Brock and some new friends Alex and his mom Haydee. Had they known then what they know now about crazy people, they may have moved to a new table. LOL. We headed to the buses and then on to IMAGINEERING! Probably the highlight of the trip for most people. We were all singing and gigling on the buses. I won't go into all the details since its posted on our site (Mouse Fan Café) but will tell you we had a host Dave that walked us through the building seeing quite a few sites. Overview video of their history and where they are going, Magical Surprise here also. We got to meet an actual sculptor Valerie and see her studio and met Steve in the Sound area and he demonstrated for us how they use different devices to create sound not only on rides but in moves. Dave then gave us a demonstration of animatronics and showed us “Joe Cocker” a bare bones person so we could visually see how the insides work. We walked through another hallway of painting and murals then out into a courtyard where we were allowed 30 minutes to shop at Mickey’s of Glendale. No one but the imaginers are allowed to go here really so for our group 30 minutes seemed so short but Beci and I broke the bank by throwing as much of and as many things we could into bags. All in all a great stuff and the day was only 1/2 over.

[Michelle Ma-Belle]

DAY 3 - Afternoon
We gathered back onto the bus and headed to Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. As a working studio again they do not really offer tours here and there are not cast members here but studio people. We were walked through the hallway of the art building housing some archives, paintings, sketches, drawings etc. This building has 6 – 8 wings all with outside windows and leveler shades so artists can control their own lighting. This building as a tunnel underneath connecting it to the art building next door. The tunnel is still used in movies today. We headed out and took photos in the courtyard of legends then were given 45 minutes to shop and eat lunch in the Commissary here. Marty Sklar was here also eating lunch with all of us mortals!

Back on the bus now for the drive to Disneyland Resort. As you drive in the bus they play music that is selected specifically for the Adventure. I remember this too from the Southwest Splendors trip I saw. On our trip we are listening to older music from the Hollywood days, 70s tunes, Monorail music and then current Disney tunes. Then you suddenly here the whole bus starts singing as we are driving…so amazing. We have all really bonded, love Disney and just are acting like kids. As Tracy puts it she loves seeing us “all become children again” in our love of Walt and all things Disney.

We check into the Grand Californian and are given Standard View rooms overlooking the Courtyard. Great hotel. Built much like the Wilderness Lodge but instead of being surrounded by a forest and a lake, its surrounded by a Theme Park and Downwtown Disney. We have about 2 hours to relax. And run over to ride Soarin really quick...!!!!

We head over to Disneyland Resort Hotel and got to the Wine Cellar for a little cocktail hour. They have a guitar player hired to play music, have a selection of several wines to try and wonderful Bruschetta, veggies, dips to enhance this. Our host is Carlos who manages the Cellar and Hooks Pointe restaurant.. We head up stairs at 6pm for our dinner. One thing not mentioned before is we are always given tables away from all other guests in areas by ourselves with menus catered for our Group. It adds a nice touch and helps facilitate the bond of the group.

After dinner we walk over to Disneyland Park and all the 1st time guests take a picture before entering. We actually have a lot of guests who have never been here which is so cool. We are walked over to our first Fun Experience in the Park, the Haunted Mansion. We do not wait bur are guided into a back entrance and get right on. The host has several people lay flat on the floor while we are in the elevator which is so cool and they said it really makes for a fun experience.

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates!!

[chezp]

What an awesome day with some truly wonderful experiences.

[DyanKJ130]

Great updates!! Sounds like an amazing time!

[Two4Disney]

Originally Posted by Michelle Ma-Belle

We check into the Grand Californian and are given Standard View rooms overlooking the Courtyard. Great hotel. Built much like the Wilderness Lodge but instead of being surrounded by a forest and a lake, its surrounded by a Theme Park and Downwtown Disney. We have about 2 hours to relax. And run over to ride Soarin really quick...!!!!

We head over to Disneyland Resort Hotel and got to the Wine Cellar for a little cocktail hour. They have a guitar player hired to play music, have a selection of several wines to try and wonderful Bruschetta, veggies, dips to enhance this. Our host is Carlos who manages the Cellar and Hooks Pointe restaurant..

How wonderful! We plan to stay at the GC next time and love the Wine Cellar and Hooks Pointe. Sounds like the tour group is making it extra special. We've only been back for a couple of days and this is making me miss it so - wanna go back sooner rather than later.