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View Full Version : Trip Report 06/09/07 - Imagineer Encounter!



animagusurreal
06-13-2007, 02:30 AM
It was Saturday, June 9th, 2 days after my 26th birthday. My mother and I (going to DL is a family tradition) were outside the Holiday Inn & Suites on Walnut, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the ART bus to the park. It was about 4:00 PM, and we were just going to the park for our one and only day there (we had gotten a late start out of Santa Maria and, after sailing through most of the drive, had gotten stuck in traffic in L.A. and Orange County)


A man and woman came out of the front door with a luggage cart full of Nemo-related artwork (which my mother initially mistook for Little Mermaid artwork ). I thought that perhaps an independant artist had done some Disney-inspired artwork (as with Thomas Kincade and Thomas "Biff Tannen" Wilson) and was doing a signing somewhere. Being an artist myself, I wanted to talk to them, but I wasn't sure if either of them was actually the artist, or if they were just helping them move the artwork. Just as I was about to ask who the artist was, a minivan drove up and a man got out of it. My mother asked him, "Are you the artist?"


"I'm one of them," he said modestly.


After a moment of mental processing, I asked him, "are you Tony Baxter?"


"Yes I am."


"Oh, my GOD!" I exclaimed. "You're one of my heroes!"


I told him that I had been seen him in Disney "Making Of..." specials since I was a little kid.


He asked me "have you been on it yet?" by which I took to mean the Nemo Subs. I answered that I hadn't, because I wasn't an APer. He told me that the day before, they had breifly accepted regular guests, and suggested I try stopping by there that day.


I asked for his autograph, and pulled out a bic pen and a pocket notebook, the only pen and paper I had with me.


He told me to put them away, and reached into a box in the back of the van, pulling out a Nemo Subs pin, which he signed with a silver-ink pen.


As he was doing this, I quickly pulled out a sample print of my own artwork that I had brought with me - I usually carry a full portfolio everywhere I go, but I was afraid it wouldn't survive the water rides . I signed it, and gave it to him, and he said it was "very good."


He seemed like a really nice guy :).



Here's a link to the picture I gave him:



http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19172786/?qo=54&q=by%3Aanimagusurreal&qh=sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps


******


After the ART bus crawwwwwwwled past various hotels for about 45 minutes, we arrived at the DLR. I was thrilled to see how short the lines for tickets were - and a little embarrased, as the entire way there I had been obsessing about how I should have bought them at Vons, so as to avoid the long line I predicted.


By this point, though, I was pretty much bursting to get into the park. I had been planning DLR trips for at least six months, but all of them had fallen through until now.


We got into the equally short line for the front gate, but wound up behind someone who didn't get a ParkHopper hand-stamp at DCA, (whom I felt sorry for, if they were telling the truth) and stood there for the longest five minutes I've ever experienced, as dozens of people seemed to flow through the turnstile next to us.


Then, finally, I was in the park! It was now about 5PM. I was just through the enterance tunnel when I spotted John Lasseter and his entourage dashing up the steps to the train station, and into it, through the exit.


I tried to find the enterance, which was a little confusing, since there were still green constuction walls all around the station. I subsequently encountered two people who may or may not have been Cast Members. In the excitement, I neglected to look for an official nametag.


The first Maybe-Cast-Member helped me find the enterance, and explained that Lasseter was on one of his unexpected drop-by visits, taking a grand-circle tour of the park aboard the train's engine. If he wasn't a cast member, he was either a rather well-informed and helpful guest...or possibly an internet columnist?


There was a line of people sticking out of the enterance, and I thought that by the time I got inside, Lasseter's train would be long gone.


My mother (who was still nearby) and I made our way towards the exit that Lasseter had passed through, figuring we could at least wave hello to him from there. We were stopped about halfway up the steps by Maybe-Cast-Member #2, who yelled up to us we had to go through the enterance. His pockets were stuffed with park pamphlets. In his demeanor, he seemed to me like one of those mentally questionable people who think that they're Cast Members that I've read about on DL forums.


"We just want to see John Lasseter," said my mother cheerfully.


"WHY?" he asked accusatorily.


"Just to say hello," said my mother.


The guy then launched into a story about how there are multiple decoy John Lasseters running around the park.


Either way, it had been thrilling enough to meet Tony Baxter and see John Lasseter, and I was raring to go on some rides, so I gave up and headed up Main Street, bound for Splash Mountain.


I didn't get to go on the Nemo Subs, but I did get to go on almost everything else I wanted to, with minimal waits . More details to come.

Leap for Joy
06-13-2007, 07:49 AM
What a great story! I think it's so cool that you went for it!! I often get shy in these types of situations and chicken out.

jeffthechef
06-13-2007, 09:37 AM
He's also right-- your picture is very good:)

tinker3
06-13-2007, 09:41 AM
You have a good eye! ;) What an exciting day.
BTW really cool artwork.

animagusurreal
06-13-2007, 06:19 PM
Thanks for the compliments, everybody :)

Here's a picture of the pin he gave me:

Nemo Subs Pin (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/animagusurreal/TonyBaxterPin2.jpg)

ktrm
06-13-2007, 08:11 PM
What a great experience for you. I would have recognized the art but not the artist. Of all the people to meet him in such a way, I am glad it was someone who really appreciated his field of work. Good for you for being prepared and having a picture of your own that you signed to give to him! Someone with your initiative deserves to work for a great corporation like Disney. By the way, how was the Holiday Inn and Suites on Walnut? It must have been pretty nice for such a well known Disney artist to stay there.

Bytebear
06-13-2007, 08:33 PM
Frame that pin behind glass. Don't even touch it. That is a one of a kind!

beansf
06-14-2007, 12:09 PM
That is a cool story. I enjoyed looking at your artwork, also.

doubleA
06-21-2007, 12:13 PM
Heya!

Cool story! Funny, I read your post and thought "Wow, I am a huge fan of Tony Baxter... someday I'd like to meet him!"

My girlfriend and I just moved to Southern California, and are now annual passholders. The fireworks keeps getting canceled due to wind on us, so we've just been making random weekday evening trips to see if we can catch the show without it being canceled.

Last night we went, and it turns out it was our night in more ways than one! Not only did the fireworks go off, full show, as planned, but we ran into Tony Baxter!

My girlfriend was pointing out the tea cups and wanted to ride, even though we had just finished Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin... Looking over at the tea cups, with a sick feeling, I spotted the one tea cup that wasn't spinning at all. I said to my girlfriend, "Hey, that guy in the tea cup that's not moving looks just like Tony Baxter!" but I figured it wasn't him, because his hair wasn't as gray as I remembered it (Sorry Tony!)

Anyway, she encouraged me to see if I could snag an introduction with him as he stepped off the tea cups. Sure enough, we caught him-- cutting in line for Alice in Wonderland's queue! I sort of yelled out "Tony!" and he turned around, and then I didn't know what to do... he came over, I shook his hand and told him I was a big fan. He looked a little perplexed... probably wondering what's up with all of the fan greetings lately? :)

He asked if we had ridden the subs yet, but alas we had not, the queue is still a bit too long for us. He mentioned the perk that if we got in line as the park closed we could stay in line... but being locals now, we have jobs and had to call it a night after the fireworks.

So, that's as high profile of a person from Disney I have met yet, and a cool guy at that. No worries Tony, we don't mind if you cut the lines-- after all, we have you to thank for most of them!

-Adam