We arrived early, expecting more traffic than we hit. So we parked down the street, and walked down one side of the studios. I took these pictures, and about 10 steps later a 'D Security' guy found us and wanted to know why we are taking pictures. We explained we are crazy tourists, I mean, D23 members that get to tour the Studios today. He said we saved him a bunch of paperwork! Every employee has a Disneyland name tag, and dressed the same as in Disneyland. The atmosphere here is identical to Disneyland's, the gate's have mickey heads, the colors, bushes/plants/hedges, etc.
The parking structure. We are in the Zorro parking lot. (It was built where they filmed Zorro.)
Check-in, and a store that is being remodeled.
This is the original Hyperion room, where Walt worked with his animators. They moved it to the Studio. We waited in there after checking in, to find out that Josh, from D23's Armchair Activists, was joining us for our tour! (Very funny guy!)
The Hyperion room has pictures of Walt and the Sherman Brothers, along with many others in it. It has huge desks in the middle, and crown molding and other fancy elements inside. I have to say, being into lighting and atmosphere, not one lamp/fan/light on the ceiling or anywhere else was random. Everything looked like it came right out of Disneyland. Detail is still important here!
Also, here is a picture of the Hyperion Health Club, and the one & only Disney Co. flag that is flown.
(If the pictures seem out of order, it's because of Blogspot..)
Here you can see Josh, along with my mom and I. This street sign is actually just a prop.
The Theater, and the Animation building.
Inside the Animation building-
There are 24 frames-per-second in a film, which means 24 drawings per second. That is thousands of pictures per film.
We got to walk through an underground tunnel that goes under the street, which led from the Animation building, to the Ink and Paint Department. Pictures weren't allowed on the other side.
Roy E. Disney, when he was a kid, stood on some cells and paintings, and slid down this hallway.
Mary Poppins, and parts of Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed on Stage 1. In the Shorts building, Snow White came to life.
The next few pictures are from the Archives. With or without my flash, pictures through glass didn't turn out very well. Some of the costumes include Alice In Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Prince of Persia. Along with hats from various movies.
The next few pictures are from INSIDE the Archives. My mom and I got to hold an Oscar that Walt won, the first Disneyland ticket ever sold, the first passes, we met Dave Smith, and we saw a ton of awesome things like the wardrobe from Chronicles of Narnia, crowns from various movies, collectables, and just a ton of incredible things that inspired Walt, or that were used in movies. This was probably my favorite part.
The next few pictures are from the Legend's Plaza. I was looking forward to this part also. I took about 30 pictures of all my favorite people's hand prints, but I won't be putting them all up on here, due to space. The seven dwarfs on the building look small, but in real life they are huge!
Seeing some of these Disney Legend's hand prints.. And knowing some of them passed, and passed recently, is really nostalgic. The hospital Walt passed away in is right behind the studios. It's all very surreal, and I promise you can feel his presence there.
And so the tour comes to an end, and we head back to the Zorro parking garage. But I took a couple more pictures on the way out-
(Please note that I wasn't able to take pictures of EVERY little thing. I was trying to listen to our Guide tell the history, and some things you weren't allowed to take pictures of. I'm actually surprised at how many pictures they did let us take.)
They sold merchandise there, so I bought 3 pins and a bag. They gave away the fan, and the badge.
A special thank you to D23, for providing this incredible tour! I know I will be back next year to see it all again.
And thank you for taking the time to read my adventure. If you ever have the opportunity to do this, don't pass it up. Especially if your a huge Disney fan like I am. I promise, no matter how much you know of the Company, and of the Parks, you will learn something new. Not to mention see and experience things not many people get to do!
"Yes, Walt's marvelous entertainments- most of them imagined, designed, and created in this tree-lined campus in the heart of Burbank, California- will always live closest to our hearts, but it's here that Walt's spirit wraps us the most warmly, here where we can still almost hear his purposeful steps. It is here that his spirit will roam forever." -D23, Spring 2010 issue
