Matt meets the Imagineers, Tour of Walt's LA, and some Phoenix History.

whoever

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
For those looking for immediate Disney gratification, you'll have to bear with me. First off, I've got a few stops to make. You'll get a brief lesson in Phoenix History tied to LA to boot...

We start off leaving for the AP at 05:30 on Saturday morning, August 20th. We arrive at the airport a few minutes later, breeze through the terminal, security and find ourselves amply early for our 07:00 flight to LAX. We wander around for a few minutes figure we are kid-free for the second time in ten years and decide a breakfast at the Mexican restaurant in the terminal. A breakfast of marinated flank steak, eggs, and potatoes and some bloody marys and we were ready to go for the flight.

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The flight was pretty quick at just under an hour. We waited forever for a shuttle to get us to Avis, waited forever again in line to get a car, waited forever again for the car to be pulled up, and FINALLY left at 09:40. Yes... from the time we landed till the time we were in our car moving was about 1 hour 45 minutes. LAX is HORRIBLE and so is AVIS. Noted for future travel.

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Our first stop is where the Phoenix History lesson comes into play... Inglewood Park Cemetary..


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On October 16, 1931, Winnie Ruth Judd allegedly murdered her friends, Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson, in a alleged love quarrel over Happy Jack Halloran. She then bisected one and loaded them into trunks and on a train for Los Angeles where she was subsequently discovered and later, arrested. I live 1.8 miles from the scene of the crime, and nearly bought Happy Jack's house several years ago. A huge history buff, especially for local history, I've read every book on the matter as well as combed the microfiche of the 1930s reading about the crime and trial. Some sleuthing found out where Winnie had been buried, so while we were in the neighborhood, we decided to stop by and see her. She's registered in the records of the cemetery under an alias she used for many years while living in California after escaping from the mental hospital, however buried under her middle and maiden name.

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I just thought this tree was interesting... no idea the species but kinda strange.

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Our next stop... a park near a great theater which no longer exists...but first we pass the See's Candies Headquarters.


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And talking Amy out of stopping at quite possibly the world's largest Joanne's

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Beverly Hills ahead... the homes got very beautiful and very expensive very quickly..

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And we reached our destination...91 years after the picture below was taken. Carthay as anybody who has been to the replica in DCA knows was where Walt chose to premier Snow White!!!

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Sadly it's long-gone, but the area is still remarkable.

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Because... NIKON!!!

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This tree is ENORMOUS!!!

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The Pioneer statue is great.

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Shame it isn't still there.. would make for a better background.

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We walked around for a bit afterward checking out the neighborhood. Decided to start heading North East around 11:00

That's the Petersen Automotive Museum... which I'd love to visit. Just not this trip.

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And... The Tar Pits... also on my visit list...

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Is this the ORIGINAL La Brea Bakery? Never put two and two together until this trip.

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Hollywood..

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Amy car-dancing..she has white-girl moves..

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On our way to our next destination we were Yelping like crazy. Found The Faculty Smokehouse and Pub with high ratings at 11:41.. We walked in and were entranced by the delicous smell of the on-site smokehouse...Amy had a Brainless

Raspberry which was a wheat beer, and I had an IPA of the Nelson variety. A WONDERFUL Reuben with German Potato Salad for me, a Hot Roast Beef with the same side for Amy and were were stuffed.

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Up next, we cruised by the 1914-built, 4406 Kingswell Ave in the Los Feliz neighborhood. I'm a HUGE personal

property rights advocate, so I'm EXTREMELY torn on this house because nobody bothered to get historic protection

for it. The owners want to demolish it and put up some hideous hack and tract two story house. Such a shame as

it has original windows and just needs some love and TLC. I'm sure they would want way more than its worth to

sell it to someone who would lovingly restore it like I do with my homes of the era. Such a shame..

Here's an article on it.

http://laist.com/2016/07/20/walt_disneys_first_la_home_may_be_t.php

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Just down the street from the house is also one of the first locations that Walt and Roy hung a shingle..4651

Kingswell

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After finishing up on Kingswell, we decided since we had a few hours before we could check in to the hotel, that a trip up to the Griffith Observatory was in order. I've wanted to go for years. Being a HUGE Rocketeer fan and ENORMOUS Art Deco fan, I must admit my motivations weren't for the attractions offered by the observatory, but moreso the observatory itself. The science geek in me was quickly swayed once we got there though. It was HORRIBLE traffic heading up the hill, and we parked the car at 1:20 a few hundred yards downhill from the fork to go either through the tunnel or up to the observatory and did the rest on foot.



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The views even down the hill were amazing...

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The hike up was a good one, but way too crowded.

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Love the fascade and the mural on the ceiling

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The panels kind of reminded me of the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Art.

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Even the air vents were beautiful

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Being overwhelmingly crowded inside, we decided to venture out onto the second level. We made our way around the perimeter and just took everything in..

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Even the doors are awesome..

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That is a LOT of people...

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We stopped in the cafeteria and grabbed some cold ice waters then made our way over to the gift shop to poke around for a bit. Afterwards, we spent quite a bit of time under the front lawn of the observatory where they placed an exhibit hall during the refurb of 2002.

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Again... I LOVE the architecture and finishes..

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The grounds are amazing too offering up great vistas in every direction.

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Cute little tunnel..

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We left Griffith Observatory at 3:00 and headed back down the hill to the car. A quick trip had us at the hotel at 3:27. We were staying at the Avenue Hotel on N Vermont Ave. We ended up at $155 after taxes for the night. More on the room later, but I really wish we had spent a little bit more for a nicer place. We hung around the room getting cleaned up, facetiming with the girls, and relaxing a bit. It had already been a long day.. After about 80 minutes, we decided to head over to our dinner location. We had a 6:00 dinner reservation. Where were we headed????

The Tam o' Shanter of course!!

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We arrived at 5:06 as we wanted to ensure our best opportunity to sit in Walt's booth. Per a fellow Disney fan, I had called at 11:00 to request our reservation have a request for Walt's Booth added to it (Thanks for the head's up Nancy!!). They had told me no guarantees, so I wasn't taking any chances. When we arrived, we checked in. We were told someone was seated in the booth currently, which wasn't a big deal since we were so early. They said they'd accomodate us. Amy and I ventured over to the bar to wait. We each had a first drink, her a Jameson and Gingerale, myself, a Stone IPA.

As we were perusing the menu of food and drink something piqued Amy's interest... the Plaid Derby. A quick chat with the bartender and a sample of the Pamplemousse offered, she was sold. I opted for a second Stone.

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I tried it and approved. More on that later in the TR. Soon, the hostess came and got us and we were seated in Walt's booth by 5:45.

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We ordered up an appetizer (Tempura Green Beans) and our entres. Amy got the Salmon and I got the Prince Charles Prime Rib... Medium Rare of course.

As we sat there, we took it all in. The table still had the engravings from the Optimist Alternate Reality game carved into it albiet EXTREMELY FAINT over the years of wear.

First up is one of the two Primeval World doodles harkening back to the ’64-’65 World’s Fair which was original part of Ford’s Magic Skyway at the Fair but currently occupying the space between tomorrowland and the Main Street Train Station.

Inscription says "1/22 Primeval World Meeting 01BC"

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And a Stegosaurus

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This one is related to Its A Small World.. also from the '64-'65 World's Fair..

Inscription is the IASW dolls, the outside diamond pattern, and the script "IASW FEB 14 is OB1C"

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Also the inscription of "5/16/64 = 0L1N" which is a reference to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

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And another stating "Contact Carlos about "Tomorrow" "

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The Plus Ultra Logo:

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Not quite sure what this one was..

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Before too long we had wolfed down those delicious green beans and our entres arrived.

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We wrapped up with several coffees, a complimentary strawberry shortcake, and a creme brule. So good and so stuffed...

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I REALLY want a copy of this print (also related to The Optimist). If anybody knows how to get one, please let me know.

It depicts Walt Disney and Imagineers Mary Blair, John Hench, and Bob Gurr going over the World’s Fair plans for Mr. Lincoln.

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Took in a lot of the items hung on the wall on the way out as we left the restaurant at 7:13

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Great write up. Thanks for sharing. I have been wanting to go to the Tam O'Shanter for a while now.
 
Up next, we cruised by the 1914-built, 4406 Kingswell Ave in the Los Feliz neighborhood. I'm a HUGE personal

property rights advocate, so I'm EXTREMELY torn on this house because nobody bothered to get historic protection

for it. The owners want to demolish it and put up some hideous hack and tract two story house. Such a shame as

it has original windows and just needs some love and TLC. I'm sure they would want way more than its worth to

sell it to someone who would lovingly restore it like I do with my homes of the era. Such a shame..

Here's an article on it.

http://laist.com/2016/07/20/walt_disneys_first_la_home_may_be_t.php

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Just down the street from the house is also one of the first locations that Walt and Roy hung a shingle..4651

Kingswell

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Such a pretty house. What a shame they're tearing it down.

Thanks for the tr.
 
Hey, Matt. Fancy meeting you here! Great trip report so far. You were practically in my back yard. My son even went to school at Griffith Park. The architecture at the observatory really is amazing. So many people just don't notice it. Looking forward to reading more.
 
Hey, Matt. Fancy meeting you here! Great trip report so far. You were practically in my back yard. My son even went to school at Griffith Park. The architecture at the observatory really is amazing. So many people just don't notice it. Looking forward to reading more.

Hey Steven. Didn't know you were over here. I would have loved to meet some fellow Disney fans while I was in town, but we had this pretty much planned down to the hour being in town for such a short time. I love the architecture from the 20s-40s. It is pure art for me.
 
I thought I'd give this board a try. It seems to be pretty active, and I like that. Next time you're in the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles area, and have some time, let me know!
 

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