Sleeping Beauty Jumbo

The postcard seen above marks my 34th Sleeping Beauty Castle postcard. And, if you add in all the character postcards that were photographed in front of this Disneyland icon that brings the total up to 55.

This postcard also marks a new series that I've started working on adding to my collection. In addition to producing the standard 3.5" x 5.5" postcard, Disneyland also sold jumbo sized cards. These were available in a 6" x 9" format. The bulk of the jumbo cards were just blown-up versions of the regular cards, but there was also some unique cards.

One of the main reasons I started putting my collection online, was just to keep track of my what I had. Too many times I bought duplicates because I couldn't remember exactly what I owned.

Worlds Fair Part II

Picked up another 1964/1965 New York World's Fair (Part I here) postcard featuring General Electric's Progressland. Disneyland fans will come to know this show as The Carrousel Of Progress. When the attraction moved to Disneyland, it was stilled sponsored by GE and the architecture of the building was slightly modified.

As a kid, this was one of my favorite attractions. I was thrilled at the use of Animatronics and the fact that the theater rotated was just mind-blowing. (I was nine and easily impressed). For years I would sing the brilliant Sherman Brothers "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" song, but there was always one part that I just couldn't remember. When the internet finally showed up, I was finally able to stop mumbling missing verses and find all of the accurate lyrics. I also remembered seeing Progress City, (Walt Disney's scale model of an urban utopia), but for the longest time I couldn't remember where I had seen it. With the publication of the Nickel Tour, my memory was finally cleared as I discovered that the Carrousel building had a second floor which housed Progress City. But, alas Carrousel of Progress would be replaced by America Sings - a show that I never really embraced. Then, we had a period of inactivity (ten plus years of no show?) to be replaced by the awful Innoventions.

Here's hoping something great will soon move in.

Secrets Of The Mouse

Here's another attempt to provide the Disneyland fan with some insider information. While not quite as detailed a book as The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland it's still an entertaining read.

The book is broken into three sections.  The first, and biggest part of the book are the attractions (listed by land). Each attraction is broken-down into the following sub-sections: About The Attraction, History, Behind The Scenes and Quick Facts.  There are pictures (black and white) on almost every page.  

There's also a section on Hidden Mickey's.  While some hidden Mickey's are very obvious (once spotted), I always have a problem with any three circles, ovals or circular blobs being identified as a hidden Mickey.

The final section are Queue Games - things to pass the time while winding your way thru the maze of guests.  These defintely go beyond the basic I-Spy games and will acquire quite a bit of attention to detail.

Secrets of the Mouse is the perfect size book for jamming into your backpack and reading during downtime at the Park.

For another review, check out the DisneyGeek.