The Fabulous Disney Babe - Mar 23, 2001

The Fabulous Disney Babe
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by Michelle Smith (archives)
March 23, 2001
Fab's all over the place this week - announcements, Walt's Barn and the past and future of Tomorrowland.

Dis and Dot...Those aren't geese you hear in Adventureland, but rather the Jungle Cruise. The guns are now a part of history, as well as the two shots by the hippo pool. What you hear instead is the "honk honk" of horns being used instead. "Horn Training" started for Skippers this week...If you can't get into the Fantasmic! buffet at Disneyland Park, or if you want to "plus" your parade viewing experience, Disney's California Adventure now offers a hors d'oevres and dessert buffet along the parade route, by Pacific Wharf, for $41.00...Want to thank a Cast Member for making special Disney Magic? Visit Tom and Allison Keaney's site, Founder's Legacy, and read about their What Would Walt Do? pin program at http://www.whatwouldwaltdo.com

I'm going to interrupt my regular column with a retelling of What Fab Did Last Weekend as I tend to get Good Mail on those. Sunday was Alice's 7th birthday, and since we've all been sick, we put off the big party with the bounce house and The Guy With the Reptiles and Bugs until a few weeks from now. We kept it low-key, Saturday at DCA, with Alice calling the shots (first stop: Redwood Creek Challenge Trail) lunch and dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Avalon Cove, and the discovery of the Sea Monster from World of Motion at Epcot. I'd walked by it about three hundred times, but Alice spotted it right off.  

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On Sunday, we drove up to Griffith Park to see Walt's Barn, which the Carolwood Pacific Railroad Society opens to the public the third Sunday of each month. Michael Broggie, head of the CPHS, occasional LaughingPlace.com writer and author of the incredible book Walt Disney's Railroad Story (click for info from Amazon.com) on his hands and knees, planting flowers next to the barn, which is a labor of love for all of the volunteers who come several days each week to work on it. Terry Lynn, who was manning the crosswalk where the passenger trains cross through the Walt's Barn area, drives up from the San Diego area several days a week. Now, that's devotion...it's a hell of a drive to make once per month, much less a couple of times a week.

They ask for a three dollar donation for adults and a one dollar donation for kids. Every one in a while, they will have a special guest, such as Mousekateer Bobby Burgess, make an appearance. Membership in the CPHS is a great bargain for all of the Disney-Insider-type perks you get (and no, I get NO reimbursement for saying so!!) You can learn more about the CPHS at http://www.carolwood.com Michael's father, Roger Broggie, was Walt's very first Imagineer, as it says on the plaque inside the barn, and some of his and Walt's work on the Carolwood Pacific, which was Walt's backyard railroad (Walt's home was on Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills) is on display inside the barn. Walt's tools still rest on his workbench as if he's just stepped away for a moment.  

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There is CPHS memorabilia on display as well, but, due to it's placement in Griffith Park, it cannot be sold there. If you want cool Carolwood Pacific Schwag, you will have to either visit the website or see Michael at the CPHS table at July's NFFC show and sale. He's always happy to talk to fellow Disney and Railroad fans and to sign copies of his book. One country even made a set of postage stamps to commemorate Walt Disney's Railroad Story, an honor which has been bestowed on no other Disney-related book.  

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