SamLand's Disney Adventures

Prolouge Act I “You can’t run scared and succeed in show business.” That is how Dr. Jules Stein built the Music Corporation of America (MCA) into the “Octopus,” a vast entertainme...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2014/03/universal-prolouge.html

Hello Thank you for visiting Samland. Samland started as something of a lark some 3 1/2 years ago. I had just finished serving on the Pasadena Center Operating Committee board as kind of my ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/12/as-they-sayon-haitus.html

THE MOTION SIMULATOR RIDE When Star Tours opened at Disneyland in 1987, little did the Imagineers know that they would create a new industry. The breakthrough attraction combined a motion simu...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/11/hales-tours-and-scenes-of-world.html

In 1974, RockSlide became the latest filmmaking demonstration added to the Studio Tour. Based  loosely on the hit film Earthquake, the tram would stop along a rocky hillside when suddenly th...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/11/universal-studio-tour-latest.html

One of the best features found at Universal's Islands of Adventures are the public areas that line the lagoon. No matter how busy the place is, you can always find a quiet spot to regroup, relax,...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-every-theme-park-needs-space.html

DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE Cartoon Shorts Available on iTunes and online When it comes to showing my Disney Side (clever campaign) I tend to lean toward the theme parks. This means I am not ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-new-mickey-mouse-cartoon-shorts.html

Universal executives were always on the hunt for intellectual properties or technologies that they could exploit. Any film with a clear vision and extensive special effects was game. Amblin Ente...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-history-of-twister-ride-it-out-at.html

The only  way to  build  beautiful and  functional public  spaces is to learn  the  code  that  unlocks the  riddle:  how do such  places happen? We have  all experienced environmen...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-quality-without-name.html

After   a   tough    opening  day   and   some    negative  reviews, Disneyland turned out to be a smash hit when  it opened in 1955. The park  turned sleepy  Anaheim  into  one ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/you-cant-top-pigs-with-pigs.html

One of the best things about Samland are the readers. You folks are great. I recently posted an article about the Court of Angels that used to be in Disneyland's New Orleans Square. One of my re...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-court-of-angels-got-its-name.html

As Disney  discovered  years   later   when   they  developed the new  town   of  Celebration, neighborhoods  could   be  managed through homeowner ’s associations made  up of pri...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/celebration-flordia.html

DANNY KAYE: KING OF JESTERS David Koenig 2012 303 pages $27.95 Bonaventure Press I am a big, big fan of Danny Kaye. So the idea that somebody of David Koenig’s talent tried to ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-danny-kaye-king-of-jesters.html

CityWalk had been in operation for three years by 1996 and Universal began considering an expansion. The shopping and entertainment center may have taken a critical beating but it was a hit w...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/universal-studios-hollywood-1997.html

The removal of the Court of Angels in New Orleans Square to make room for an expanded Club 33 has become the latest polarizing issue between traditionalists and those who are apathetic about cha...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-court-of-angels-micechat-version.html

Just after the opening of Universal Studios Florida, the park's management began to develop a master plan for the Orlando property in 1991. The plan called for movie theaters, hotels, nighttime ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/an-early-history-of-universal-studios.html

When the A-Team television show was cancelled in 1987, Universal scrambled to develop a replacement stunt show. Not content to merely duplicate the earlier successful show, Universal choose to b...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-miami-vice-action-spectacular.html

NEW MEDIA FOR DESIGNERS + BUILDERS Stephen A. Mouzon 2013 The Guild e-Book only If you work in the architecture, engineering or urban planning trades, you realize that the past few ...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-new-media-for-designers.html

STARBUCKS ON MAIN STREET It seems that everybody has an opinion on the inclusion of a Starbucks on Main Street USA at Disneyland. Went to the park this week and was inspired to toss my two ce...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/starbucks-on-main-street.html

This is a little bit from The Disneyland Story: An Unofficial Guide Another addition to Frontierland was not so obvious. One of the things Walt loved to do was to add little surprises throug...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-court-of-angels-in-new-orleans.html

With New York but  a memory, Walt traveled  on to explore  other possibilities. It took  little time for another player to enter  the picture—in the form of billionaire John D. MacArthur�...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/09/palm-beach.html

The architectural vocabulary developed at Disneyland has influenced other  “invented” places.  For an outstanding example, one has only to exit Disneyland and drive north along the freewa...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-grove-disneyland-in-fairfax-district.html

When we have experienced a space that  has a higher  degree  of life, how can we explain  why we feel that  way to others? How do we express the positive qualities in such a way that they c...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-pattern-language.html

Creating  great  places  may  seem  like  an  impossible task  and one  left  to  chance. It  is  not. We operate with  three   levels  of knowing. The first is simplicity,  w...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-three-levels-of-knowledge.html

COLLOQUIUM IX:  “THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRIAL AND MIXED USE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES:  CONFLICT OR MUTUAL ACCOMMODATION?”   PRESENTED BY the Los Angeles Region Planning History G...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-evolution-of-industrial-and-mixed.html

As an urban planner, I have always been fascinated by maps. You can tell so many stories with one. A good map can guide the guest through unfamiliar surroundings using  representations of iconi...

http://samlanddisney.blogspot.com/2013/08/regrettable-wdw-maps.html