Disneyland Dream Suite Tour: Part 1

A fantastic opportunity came up for me that I just couldn't pass up.

Thanks to a Facebook repost from Cariann Higginbotham of a Disney Parks Blog entry, which allowed me to enter my name for a drawing to be one of 25 people on a number of different days to be able to go to Disneyland, and take a tour inside the Disneyland Dream Suite located above Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square.

What is it?

If you've been to Disneyland, you've seen it, even if you didn't know where it was, or what it was all about. That green balcony located above the Pirates of the Caribbean entrance, with the bread bowl walk-up window beneath it? That's it.

When Walt Disney was building Disneyland, he constructed for himself and his family, a little apartment above the firehouse that he could stay in. The appointments weren't lavish, but they sufficed. The apartment isn't very big either - it didn't need to be.

As the park grew, as did his kids, and his desires to bring them in to visit the park, so did his vision for creating a visit that they would never forget. He envisioned this apartment as a way to allow them to visit, yet still have that at home feel.

At some point in its history, what was the apartment, became the Disney Gallery. I recall visiting it once, and was fascinated by it then, even though what it was had been completely disfigured. Bathrooms turned into offices, and bedrooms became sales shelves. When the gallery closed, I was slightly saddened by not being able to visit it again, and pick out the pieces that had remained untouched, and still retained that vintage feel of it being Walt's guest apartment.

Not too long after that, Disneyland revealed that they had this Dream Suite. Not a place you could arrange to stay if you had the money to do so, but as a way to surprise their guests with something truly special. They would venture out into the park, and select a guest at random (one Imagineer said, for example, they would pick the third guest in line for Peter Pan at 11:36 in the morning, for example) and offer the room to them for the night. During their stay, guests were treated like royalty, and the staff would do anything they could within reason to make their visit memorable. Quite often, it was something lavish, given to a faimly that happened to be having a string of bad luck, or have been going through some tough times. Truly a gift, and something positive, the memories of which they will cherish forever. But never something they could buy.

This, I think was a fantastic program offered by Disneyland, and one of the reasons I am such a fan of the park.

So.. a chance to come see what's inside the Dream Suite? Sign me up!

I'm going to apologize in advance for some of the photos - They're from my cell phone, as that was all I had access to on short notice. Also, the videos aren't of the greatest quality, and in fact, one of them switches from portrait to landscape mid-action, so I am sorry. That said, I hope that you enjoy the tour.

Granted access.

As if in some secret club, we were instructed to wait outside the main gate, near Guest Services at 9:30. I was one of the first ones there, and as the park began to open, you could tell that a couple of stragglers seemed to be there for the same discrete rendezvous as you. I kind of felt like I was in a secret club with a secret handshake or something. We were greeted by Disneyland staff at 9:30, who checked us in, and distributed a one-day, one-park ticket (that we were instructed we could not keep if we had an annual pass), and we reconvened inside the gate right at 10:00. As unceremoniously as being walked to the Principal's office, we filed through the park to the base of Tarzan's tree house, and were allowed behind the chains secured by the Pirate's entrance bridge.

Little-known fact - there is an elevator tucked back in the corner there between the tree house, and the queue for Pirates. If you've ever been in that line when it is really busy, I'm sure you saw it, but you may not have known what it was, or where it leads. I've known it was there for some time, but have suspected it to be for access to Club 33. While you can enter Club 33 through the Dream Suite, they have their own elevator, but I have heard that their elevator is not ADA compliant, so those guests requiring as such would probably need to use this elevator instead of the fancy one in the foyer of 33. 

Just a hint of the opulence that awaits, the ceiling of the elevator is beautifully crafted wood. The rest of the elevator is pretty standard fare - it has buttons. But it's a nice elevator.

Crossing the walkway from the elevator to the Dream Suite entrance, the exterior matches the Pirates motif presented as New Orleans Square from the outside. I know the exterior walls to be original, even if they were redecorated at some point, but it kind of just looks like an entry way to a house in New Orleans, with a slightly fancier porch light. As we walked into the entry hallway, the Imagineer giving the tour stated that what we are about to see was meant to have the Disney touch, without being "Disney". I've always maintained that what makes Disneyland feel different from every other theme park, is that everywhere you look is filled with minuscule touches that collaborate to completely submerge you into a theme. Yeah, there's lots to nitpick with in many of their more recent ventures, and there's issues with many things here and there, but there's always that high attention to detail to make you feel like you are really somewhere else.

We were greeted by one of the Imagineers that worked on making the Dream Suite what it is today, and these prints of the original water color concept paintings for what the interior of the apartment was going to look like.

The main sitting room painting looked like it would be a wonderful place to sit and relax after a long day at the park. I have to be honest, if I ever got a chance to stay there, I would spend all of my time in the suite - I've been to the park a hundred times. This year. But being able to spend time in this suite is really something special - it's like an invite to 33; you don't say no, and you soak in as much as you can while it lasts. If you want a hint of the feel of this space, arrive at the park early in the morning, and go to the Main Street Station and ask to ride in the Lilly Belle - the last remaining enclosed car - and feel what it is like to get that "Disney, but not Disney" attention to detail that exists throughout everything I was now able to see.

I was unable to identify all of the rooms from the paintings as we worked our way through the tour, but that's probably because the entire thing has been redone since they closed the gallery. We were told that they managed to start with a completely blank canvas as far as the floorplan goes - they removed all of the interior walls, and built it up from scratch.

Another thing you will see a lot of photos of is light fixtures. I'm kind of like the author of Daveland blog in that respect - I love light fixtures. There are so many ways to attach a light to a wall, and I really like it when it's not boring. All of the lighting fixtures throughout the suite were exquisitely detailed, and made to match the rest of the decor. Many of them had a slight Victorian feel to them, but all of them had enough details in them to be able to sit and stare at them with wonder and fascination for at least a couple of minutes.

Other touches, like the furnishings were really impressive. Clearly, you come to a place like this, and you expect there to be some nice furniture, but the beauty of the pieces that were placed throughout the suite is something that even photos don't do justice. Decorations were well chosen, and could even be argued to have ties to Disney films, like these Dalmation statues on the lower shelf of the hutch in the entry hallway. Very "Disney but not Disney".

Rather than boring, straight walls, there were raised pillars that broke up the walls a bit, and framed areas of interest. Highly detailed, and painted white with accents of forest green and what I could only imagine to be gold leaf made even these columns a work of art in their own right.

One of the watercolor paintings had what looked like a pirate climbing up over the balcony railing, joked Joe, the Imagineer giving us the tour. And it really did look like it. I'm not sure if that was intended by the artist or not, but that is really what it looked like.

A cut-crystal candy dish sat on the entry hall hutch. Looks like that one that your grandmother used to have on her coffee table. It was somehow special, but not extravagant. The hutch was full of carved-wood details that look like it must have taken ages to make. I'm sure that the furniture here has a story all its own, but for most of the pieces, they just blend into the scenery, and contribute to that level of detail that transports you to another place entirely. This isn't Anaheim, outside of Los Angeles, in California - it's Disneyland - or what, I think, Disneyland used to strive to be. Beautiful stains and finishes everywhere you looked. The furniture was looked after, but wasn't a museum piece. Sure was gorgeous though.

There was a small bench at the far end of the hallway that had end pieces that resembled harps. So intricate and detailed, I was almost afraid to touch it. Beautifully finished, and of course, it just fit right in here. The appointments, and decorations weren't a surprise to me in the slightest. But they felt like they were. Maybe the surprise is that I was there.

While I am sure everything was up to code, you couldn't see anything that resembles the drab accoutrements that we expect a commercial facility to have these days - fire sprinklers, and emergency lighting. The ceilings were not just flat planes of nothingness that hung above your head - they added to the fantasy, and atmosphere as much as anything else. Now, I can't say it was Sistine Chapel, but beautiful details for sure. A lighting fixture attached to the ceiling wasn't an addition, it was a point of focus - something to be celebrated, and admired. It was meant to go there. Right there. Not an afterthought, or a selection from one of many that could have been used, but THAT fixture was meant to be hung RIGHT THERE.

At the end of the hallway, there was a door that led out onto the private patio straight ahead, to Club 33 to the left, and to the right was the main hallway. The marble floors here meshed perfectly with the stained glass bordering the door to the patio, that itself was a large stained glass feature with a large Disneyland "D" right in the center. Beautifully polished brass fixtures on the door just begged for you to fling open the door and sing "The Hills Are Alive...". Opened with windows on the left of this hallway, it felt like a bird sanctuary. There hung in several locations cages with bird statues in them adding to the theme. Wait - all I did was turn the corner, and I go from a Victorian-modern hallway to a bird sanctuary? The chandelier that hung in the middle of this hallway looks like what a bird would have made for a nest if given enough brass and some light shades. The ceiling was wood planks, tongue and grooved, and painted white - not a seam to be found. Shuttered windows to the right added to the menagerie feel. As you approach an alcove on the right, you realize that it is the doorway to the master bedroom, and above the door is a beautiful stained glass piece depicting butterflies swirling around the door.

You enter the master bedroom, and your breath is immediately taken away by a magnificent four-poster bed. The head board is high and proud, and the pile of pillows at the head doesn't leave much room to lie down, but it appears to be a full King. You start to notice some of the tasteful decorations in this room, and it sort of carries the menagerie theme here as well, but then it starts to blend into what is nearby: Tarzan's tree house. Like this is some Victorian refuge from the jungle. Mosquito nets hang deliciously from the four posts - not as utility, but for theme and ambiance. An carved armoire stands century on the left, topped with a parrot statue, almost as if a nod to the Tiki Room.

There is a beautiful vanity on the far side of the room, and a chaise lounge sits in front of the window to your right. There is a beautifully carved wicker bench at the foot of the bed, and the night stands frame the bed on either side. The only modern touch that you can see in here at first glance is the alarm clock. Again with the lighting fixtures. There is one on either side of the bed, with a proper lamp shade, topped with a small bird. The stem of the lamp attached to the wall appears to be a tree branch growing out of a brass broach mounted to the wall. On each night stand is a gorgeous lamp depicting a bird perched on the lamp, holding a smaller lamp. I'm sure there is some smart detail about this that makes the smaller lamp into a night light, but I didn't dare fiddle with it under the watchful eyes of our escorts. The carpet is a pattern of green leaves, with blue blossoms. The pattern isn't readily apparent - as with a good carpet, and the detail in it is enough to wander through for hours.

The details in the ceiling, again frame a stained glass lamp hanging at the foot of the bed, just clear of its canopy - which extends vertically to nearly touch the ceiling. The vanity has a jewel of a lamp; a decorative take on a banker's lamp, the bronze stem of which is a cat tail rising out of a pond, around which two colorful butterflies flit - one seems to hover in air, and the other has landed on the shade. The light from it exposes the beautiful carved details in the vanity, and the deep straight grain of the wood it is made from.

One thing that I was not able to capture effectively, was what happens when you're ready to go to bed.

In three of the rooms in the suite, Disney has added what they call a "Goodnight Kiss". An audio-visual lullaby that is built into the room itself. It was really impressive, looking around the room, trying to find the technology, but it was extremely well hidden. When the discrete button on the wall is pushed, the lights in the room dim, "Jungle Beat" from The Jungle Book plays, and a projection of winds across the water is shown on the walls. The painting above the bed comes to life with flowing water, and stars appear in the ceiling. Next to the bed, on the wall, is projected Peter Pan's cloud pirate ship in a full moon that wafts away with the end of the song.

It was such a beautiful place to be, but the tour didn't stop there. Next up, the gorgeous master bath, the sitting room, the kid's room, and the balcony overlooking the Rivers of America.. Stay tuned!

Why I am me, Part 2

Disneyland:
If you go to Disneyland, California Adventure, Disney World, Disney Sea, Disney Paris, or anything else that Disney owns and operates, and you don't have a good time, it's your own damn fault. I don't care if you are 5 or 50, there is something for everyone at every single one of these parks.

I've lived within 50 miles of the original park in Anaheim all of my life, and I love it. Can't get enough. I visited the park hundreds of times when I was a kid. I was fascinated with everything about the place growing up. Was never a big fan of the parades, the quality of which, I kind of miss now. Like the Main Street Electrical Parade for example. That was another LP that I nearly wore out. From what I can recall, I think Pirates of the Caribbean was my favorite ride growing up until I was tall enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. BTRR is still my favorite ride in the park, though Space Mountain is quite a bit of fun once you get past the pesky queue. Star Tours got a little old once you'd ridden it a couple of times, and Indy was just never worth the wait.

Still I went. My Dad got my Brother and I Annual Passes (the cool ones with no blackout dates) my senior year in High School, so we went for Christmas (apparently), and all that we could, every chance we got. That was when Disneyland became more to me than an amusement park. Oh, sure, I was still plenty amused. But people watching - usually while waiting for someone was a fantastic past-time in the park. Listening to the partial conversation of someone walking by, or watching a group of people approach the hub from as soon as they came into view at the head of Main street. Sometimes, the people watching was better than standing in line for a ride. So good, in fact, that it didn't matter if we got on rides or not - watching a child throw a tantrum, and the parents try to save face was more fun than riding the teacups. Listening to two girls cackle "Oh my God"s at each other about some guy that was checking them out was better than Small World. And by far the best, and most memorable - Indiana Jones had just opened, and they were still distributing those little glyph translation cards so you could interpret the glyphs on the walls as you enter the temple. Of course, we'd already been on it like a hundred times, so we already knew what they all said. This couple in front of us had a serious PDA issue, and they were getting on my nerves. We came around this corner, and all snuggled up next to each other, they held the card up to share in the translation. In the deepest, most bellowing voice I could muster, I read the inscription from the wall, "Only the blind shall see" Immediately freaked out, they quickly darted glances in every direction, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. My Brother makes a good straight-man. I could barely hold it in. Who knows if they figured it was me or not, but it never seemed like it. But that was more fun than the ride.

There was a period of time where I didn't go at all. My wife and I had our first date there, like 15 years ago. But after that, I didn't go much. Thankfully, a little over a year ago, my wife insisted that we go for her Birthday, and get ourselves annual passes. The park has now become something more than amusement. Sure, we go for date nights, special events, take friends when they are in from out of town, etc. but most of the fun to me, has been discovering the little things about the park that seem to be lost to everyone else.

My favorite thing about the park is the little details. I know it's been there for 55 years, and I know it wasn't always this way, but I like that every nook and cranny that you can get into has some detail in it that just 'makes' it. That completes the illusion. That fully removes you from your daily life. It is those details that so many other places lack, and which so complete the atmosphere. You can't find those anywhere else. Though, I did like it a little bit more when you couldn't see anything outside of the park while inside.

Recently though, I have really been getting into the history of the park. The fact that it has been there for 55 years, and there is that much attention to detail, while astounding in and of itself has led to making keeping track of that history, and those little details even more entertaining. I can't remember the year it was when I first came to the park, but I do remember, and enjoy recalling, for instance, when Splash Mountain was not there, or the Nature's Wilderness train was still sitting, defunct, on the banks of the Rivers of America. I love seeing the progress of the park, in all of its successes, and all of its failures. How many of you remember when McDonald's invaded Frontierland? But knowing the little things about the park makes each visit more magical. Studying, and researching, and learning about the facts, and tid-bits of the ideas and inspiration, and process that went into building a ride, or what used to be there, and then going there, and seeing it with that new fascination and wonder, and knowing more than the average Joe about why the old man coming to see how my eggs are is a big deal. Despite the monster that it has become, I think Walt would have appreciated that those marks of history are still everywhere around the park, and might give a smile if I told him why I loved his park so much. And so, it is Disneyland that makes me who I am.