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View Full Version : Mouse Tales Trip Report (David Koenig Presentation)



DSNYDad
04-19-2007, 07:17 PM
My brother and I attended the talk "Disneyland: Back to 1955", by David Koenig, hosted by the Friends of Downey City Library. This was a magical multimedia presentation of the beginnings of Disneyland. David took us through the early days with pictures before and during its one year construction. He gave background on the improvising Walt Disney did during the building of the Happiest Place on Earth. Highlighting the early successes, failures and constant adjustments Walt made. It was clear that Walt had clear vision of what he wanted Disneyland to be, but there were areas where he had to learn by trial and error.

The presentation continued with photos of the main entrance, through Main Street USA and through the various lands chronologically throughout construction. Current photos were contrasted with early photos. It was interesting to see the original stores on Main Street and what those stores were and became, sometimes after several changes. I will never look at Main Street the same way again, making my visits more enjoyable (if that’s even possible). He continued with changes and reconfiguration of lands and rides like Fantasyland and the Jungle Cruise. It was with a little sadness too, to see some of the attractions that have come and gone :crying: and some that I have never seen.

The presentation was given on a large screen with a gentle background soundtrack of music and environment sounds. The venue allowed good viewing of the photos and listening to David from the side podium was good. David is an excellent speaker and I really enjoyed his anecdotes and knowledge of Disneyland. It was mentioned that we were only the fifth group to see this presentation. If you are interested, and I suspect most of us here are, in the beginnings of Disneyland, then this is a (Need I even say this?) must see. After the slightly less than one hour presentation, David was able to take a few questions that were answered revealing his inside knowledge of the subject.

There were several items given away with a free raffle. There were anniversary mouse ears, t-shirts and even the balloons from the venue were given away. Unfortunately, we had no luck in the raffle :( . Copies of David’s books were sold and he graciously personalized them. I talked briefly to him, not wanting to take up too much time, as there was quite a line behind me. Just speaking to him shortly I found he is a very cool guy.

Here’s a picture. (http://csc.csudh.edu/kleyba/DavidKoenig.jpg) I’ve been tied up with some personal things and I hope to post another or two when time permits.

David Koenig
04-20-2007, 07:53 AM
Thanks for the recap!
I was also able to attend the event and had a great time.

houseofmouse
04-20-2007, 08:37 AM
Thanks for the recap!
I was also able to attend the event and had a great time.

:D heehee!!

Frogberto
04-20-2007, 01:59 PM
^^^That's hilarious!

LLevy
04-20-2007, 02:59 PM
Is this ever going to be offered around northern CA?? we in the outcast area cannot always get away with short notice? we'd even put mr. koenig up for the night..., take him out to dinner. take him over to snear at great america...

LL

David Koenig
04-20-2007, 03:15 PM
LLevy,
Unless there were some sort of larger event, it would be difficult to hop up to Northern California. I will be making additional presentations later this year, but in So. Cal. and the Orlando area. Hopefully they'll be better timed with larger events to encourage a few Outcasts to justify a trip.

(And thank you for the dinner invitation!)

Gutz
04-21-2007, 12:43 AM
I also attended and was very impressed by the presentation and Mr. Koenig's incredible knowledge. I learned a lot of fun facts I didn't know about Disneyland and Walt Disney. I look forward to his next presentation and will definitely tell people about it. Any Disneyland fan who hasn't read David's Mouse Tales books should definitely do so.

chrisaustx
04-21-2007, 11:23 AM
I also attended the David Koenig presentation, I liked the old photos that he found of the park in 1955. Did these photos come from the Anaheim Public Library? I know that the City of Anaheim does have a collection of old Disneyland photographs. I am writing an Orange County community history scholarly research paper on the historiography of employment at Disneyland which includes the Sept./Oct. 1984 U.C.F.W. strike. The UCLA television and film achieve does have lots of video tape footage of Disneyland from 1984 from T.V. newscasts, I forget how much better the park looked back then compared to today. I have cited a few pieces from the first Mouse Tales book as a secondary source, concerning the historiography of employment at Disneyland. The bottom line: Disneyland has always been a not so great place to work from day one, but in 1984 after the strike, the poor wages, bad working conditions and turn over rate have become a constant issue at the park. I no longer think Cal State Fullerton should be referred to as Cal State Disneyland, only a small percentage of the students work at the park these days. I have known three students who have worked at Disneyland during the past year, one dropped out of college because he is a manager in the foods dept. and was told its either Disneyland or college, he can't do both, so he left CSUF. I know of another student who quit Disneyland because they refused to work with his school schedule, also in the foods dept. I presently have a young lady in one of my classes who works as a tour guide, she wears the jockey outfit, complete with riding crop, Disneyland will not work with her school schedule any longer, so she is going to quit and find another job. Disneyland is now shifting its employee recruiting focus from college students to those on welfare/cal works, because those folks will take any type of job offered and usually have open availability in their work schedules. I have not heard anyone other than David Koenig call CSUF Cal State Disneyland, I only hear of it being called the "tragic kingdom" on campus.

DSNYDad
04-22-2007, 06:05 PM
Here are a couple more pictures of the event. I still haven't read the documentation on the flash, so the pictures are not as good as they should be. I just bought a book on my camera and flash at Borders today, so the next time I see David's presentation I should have better pictures. :D

David Koenig @ Downey 1 (http://csc.csudh.edu/kleyba/DavidKoenigDowney1.jpg)
David Koenig @ Downey 2 (http://csc.csudh.edu/kleyba/DavidKoenigDowney2.jpg)
David Koenig @ Downey 3 (http://csc.csudh.edu/kleyba/DavidKoenigDowney3.jpg)

houseofmouse
04-22-2007, 08:11 PM
Disneyland is now shifting its employee recruiting focus from college students to those on welfare/cal works, because those folks will take any type of job offered and usually have open availability in their work schedules.

Who told you that??:confused: I am not sure that is a fair statement unless you have specific information to confirm that statement. Is that to say those on welfare/calworks are desperate to take any job ever??? I don't mean to insult at all but....

Bytebear
04-22-2007, 08:15 PM
Given the push for affordable housing for Disneyland employees, it does seem the focus has gone from the students who don't mind crappy housing, to families who need something more than a studio. I find the shift isn't just disney though. It's all low wage jobs in SoCal and the shift from the young single crowd to the immigrant family crowd. But this is probably a subject better suited for the Lounge.

chrisaustx
04-22-2007, 08:43 PM
Who told you that??:confused: I am not sure that is a fair statement unless you have specific information to confirm that statement. Is that to say those on welfare/calworks are desperate to take any job ever??? I don't mean to insult at all but....
The Orange County Welfare/Cal Works office in Santa Ana now sends all interested program participants to the Disneyland casting office for employment. In California all single parents on welfare must work jobs to continue their benefits, Disneyland is now the #1 place in the county to send these people. Most of the foods, janitorial, hotel maintenance and the people in the white uniforms who sweep the pavement at the park all are coming from Cal Works now. Disney did try experimenting with a sign on bonus for the foods dept. last year and even did Spanish language marketing for jobs, they had little results in getting higher quality job applicants. When people complain about how the first line cast members seem rude and just seem not to care about anything any more, you can now understand why. I would go and take photos of the Disneyland recruiting posters at the welfare office in Santa Ana, but they will not allow cameras into the building, everyone is searched entering the building. In the historiography of employment at Disneyland, the shameful fact is that the park pays $8.25 an hour for part time new hires, in 1984 when the park went on the strike, the workers rejected the $8.25 an hour contract offer because they believed their work was worth more. So here we are almost 25 years later and Disneyland pays the same rate for new hires now that it did in 1984, David Koenig should incorporate this contrast into his future presentations and books. Nobody in Orange County can work for $8.25 an hour and expect to have a good quality of life.

houseofmouse
04-22-2007, 08:54 PM
Well there it is then. Good to have specific info to go on. How shameful of Disney to pay so low!(my opinion of course) Thanks for taking the time to answer my post.:)