Disney Till You're Dizzy

1001 Facts, Rumors, and Myths about the Disneyland Resort

by Alexa Erekson | Release Date: January 15, 2017 | Availability: Print, Kindle

Disney Trivia Overload!

You know you can't get enough. You know you don't want to get enough. Binge on enough Disneyland secrets, fantastic facts, and behind-the-scenes whispers to fill a Buick. You really will come out dizzier than Donald in a clothes dryer. But without the anger...

In this double fistful of pixie dust, Alexa Erekson clobbers you (in a magical way!) with the ultimate collection of well-researched trivia about Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. Every land is represented, and all of the iconic attractions and shows.

Alexa also dispels some enduring myths and posits a theory or two about the backstories of history-rich rides like Haunted Mansion.

Printed in a compact size, Disney Till You're Dizzy is the perfect companion for your next trip to the Disneyland Resort, and a great way to bust the boredom of long lines.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Disneyland Park

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Main Street, U.S.A.

Adventureland

New Orleans Square

Critter Country

Frontierland

Fantasyland

Mickey's Toontown

Tomorrowland

Disneyland Railroad

“A Storytelling Park”

Disney California Adventure

Buena Vista Street

Grizzly Peak

Hollywoodland

Paradise Pier

A Bug's Land

Cars Land

Hotels & Downtown Disney

Shows & Parades

Disney Grab Bag

Cast Members

Imagineers

Holidays

I wrote this book for anybody and everybody who has been to Disneyland and wants to learn its secrets, its hidden history, its odd-but-trues. I wrote it for the Disney professionals and Disney rookies, for annual passholders and once-in-a-lifetime vistors, for fans and fanatics, for little kids and their great grandparents alike. You’ll find complex but cool information about Disneyland’s themed lands and attractions in this book, historical tidbits about the parks, and trivia you can “borrow” to amuse and amaze your friends.

When I was growing up, I loved Disneyland. My brother and I loved it so much, a lot of our free time was spent watching a movie called A Day at Disneyland over and over. Being as young as we were (probably 4 and 2 years old), we would spin circles around the room to try to re-create what it felt like to be on the rides. This was the birth of our phrase “Disney till you’re dizzy.”

Years later I decided to write this book, Disney Till You’re Dizzy. Disney brings people happiness, even amidst trying times. That is the goal of this book, to bring even a few moment of happiness into your life through fun facts about the Happiest Place on Earth.

Alexa Erekson

Alexa Erekson is a cheer and tumbling teacher in Henderson, Nevada. Her favorite place, not surprisingly, is Disneyland, where she makes regular pilgrimages with her husband, and where she's sure there will always be more pixie dust to discover.

The west is still wild in Frontierland, and there's some facts you better be knowin' afore you step foot in Walt's rip-roarin' version of the old frontier.

  1. The first time Imagineers tried filling the Rivers of America, water was absorbed into the dirt. So they had to go back to the drawing board to figure out a way to keep that from happening. The banks of the river are now lined with concrete, like a swimming pool.
  2. The Rivers of America holds about 9 million gallons of water.
  3. What was once the Bone Carving Shop is now the Davy Crockett Arcade.
  4. Davy Crockett coonskin hats were a nationwide phenomenon around the time of the park opening.
  5. Coonskin hats are still the #1 Frontierland merchandise sold in the park.
  6. Rumor: The turkey pardoned by the president of the United States on Thanksgiving is sent to Big Thunder Ranch every year.
  7. Big Thunder Ranch was formerly known as Quasimodo’s Festival of Fools.
  8. For their 31st wedding anniversary, Walt gave his wife Lilly a petrified tree stump (interesting gift) that he bought on his tour of the American West. Lilly wanted to display it in the park near the Rivers of America.
  9. Zorro used to make appearances in Frontierland.
  10. The lights in Frontierland are flickering cold-blast lanterns, identified by pipes recirculating air to top of the lamp. This was the “new” technology popular in the 1880s.
  11. The Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition used to use metal pellets in their guns. The metal pellets would chip the paint off the sets and targets, which had to be repainted every night.
  12. Rumor: For the first eight months of its opening, the Frontierland Shootin’ Gallery used .22 caliber ammunition. Due to obvious safety concerns, this was changed. Now, the shooting arcade uses lasers to determine the accuracy of the shooters.

Continued in "Disney Till You're Dizzy"!

Even A-ticket Buena Vista Street has some hidden charms. And its own newspaper! Who knew?

  1. Before the land re-opened as Buena Vista Street in 2012, this area of Disney California Adventure (DCA) was called the Golden State.
  2. The giant letters spelling “CALIFORNIA” at the entrance to DCA were each 11.5 feet tall. They were removed during the refurbishment of the land and its re-opening as Buena Vista Street in 2012.
  3. The San Francisco Bay area near the original entrance was an actual, working replica of the San Francisco Bridge that the monorail would cross many times a day.
  4. The golden sun in the front of DCA was the original focal point of the park.
  5. The golden sun icon was made of gold titanium.
  6. Buena Vista Street is supposed to make guests feel like Walt felt when he came to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams.
  7. The red trolley cars on Buena Vista Street were in common use when Walt came to LA.
  8. The real Carthay Circle Theatre is where Walt Disney’s first animated film (and the first full-length animated film ever), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered.
  9. The counterpart to Club 33 in Disney California Adventure is called Club 1901. It got its name from the year Walt Disney was born.
  10. Buena Vista Street has its own (free) newspaper, called the Buena Vista Bugle; it gets updated every quarter. Find it in news baskets near some of the stores on Buena Vista Street.

Continued in "Disney Till You're Dizzy"!

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