Roger Rabbit Watch by Fossil

This is a Roger Rabbit watch by Fossil. It's part of Fossil's Watch Collector's Club Series IV. This is a Limited Edition watch, and is number 1,828 of 7,500 made. Once I was wearing this watch at my job at Fed Ex, and a customer noticed my watch and asked me where I got it. "At the Disney Store, where I work", I said. "I'm working on the Roger Rabbit ride for Tokyo Disneyland at Walt Disney Imagineering right around the corner", he replied. "How'd you like to come over and see?", he asked. "Can I?", I wondered. "If you have a Disney ID, I can get you in", he replied. "I sure do", I said, and we set the date. I must say, that place was really amazing. From the street, you'd almost never know that Disney was there. Once inside, though, I recognized a lot of things that were clearly Disney Theme Park stuff. I saw them building and painting the props for the "Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin" for Tokyo Disneyland. I saw a cobra head that had been made for "The Indiana Jones Adventure" for Disneyland. I also saw the (then) new cars for Disneyland's "Space Mountain" being made. Wow- I got to see all that, just because I worked for The Disney Store, and the guy liked my watch!

Walt Disney Classic Collection Clarabelle Cow from "Symphony Hour"

This is a Walt Disney Classic Collection sculpture of Clarabelle Cow, here featured in Walt Disney's classic cartoon, "Symphony Hour". Here she's playing the violin. Clarabelle was in a few Mickey Mouse cartoons a long time ago. She was recently seen in Disney's, "The Three Musketeers", starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. She was kind of mean in this recent film.

Walt Disney's Peter Pan Watch

This is a watch based on the Disney Classic, "Peter Pan". It features Tinker Bell in the foreground, and Michael and John flying behind her. Peter Pan and Wendy are standing on the minute hand of "Big Ben", which is the face of the watch. This watch was purchased at Disneyland. It came inside a small lunchbox-like container. This watch is number 2506 out of a Limited Edition of 5000. It was made exclusively for Walt Disney Theme Parks and Resorts.

Beauty and the Beast Watch by Fossil

This is a beautiful watch based on Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". This particular watch was made by Fossil, and is number 628 of a Limited Edition of 7,500 made. It's part of Fossil's Watch Collector's Club Series V, where all watches made in this series came inside a beautiful matching music box.

Purple Mickey Mouse Crystal Watch

This is a dark-purple-colored Mickey Mouse Watch. You can see Mickey's face etched inside the crystal. This exclusive watch was a prize to me and my fellow Cast Members at The Disney Store. We won it because we convinced enough people to apply for the now-defunct Disney Credit Card. This is one of my favorite watches.

Mary Blair Peter Pan Pillow

This is a pillow from Disneyshopping.com that I bought 2 years ago. It's based on conceptual artwork that Mary Blair created for Walt Disney's classic film, "Peter Pan". It's a really nice pillow- so good, in fact, that I bought one for my sister Julie, too. This pillow shows Peter Pan at the Mermaid Lagoon with mermaids.

Walt Disney's The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh 25th Anniversary DVD

This is the DVD of the movie, "Walt Disney's The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh". This movie is actually a combination of 3 Winnie The Pooh movies: "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree", "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day", and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too". This DVD features lots of extras, and it's a deal!

Jose Carioca Sculpture from "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros"

This is a sculpture of Jose Carioca from the Walt Disney classic films, "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros". This particular piece was made by Disney artist Jody Daily. It is the prototype for the final pieces that were eventually sold by Disney. Jose is a Brazilian parrot, who smokes cigars and likes to sing and dance.

Casa Mexicana Pin from Disneyland

This is a "Casa Mexicana" Pin from Disneyland. It features Donald Duck as a Mexican musician. This pin is a Disneyland Annual Passholder Exclusive Special Edition of 10,000. Casa Mexicana was a restaurant in Frontierland at Disneyland which had previously been opened as "Casa de Fritos" back in 1955. On October 1, 1982, the restaurant was re-opened as Casa Mexicana. In 2001, the restaurant was completely re-themed as "Rancho del Zocalo". This restaurant has always served Mexican food.

Photo of Pluto taken at the Liberty Tree Tavern in September 2008

This is a photo of Pluto that I took at The Liberty Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in September 2008. I went to Walt Disney World for a total of 7 days (over a 10-day period). I decided to dine at The Liberty Tree Tavern because I had never eaten there before, and it seemed fun. It did not disappoint. I was greeted warmly and served a lot of food- I couldn't even eat it all, but it included dessert and a drink! Additionally, I was greeted by Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Wow! I recommend this place for dining with or without the kids! By the way, I used Disney's Dining Plan to pay for the meal - it counted as 1 table service meal (for those of you who know what that means).

Disney's Hercules Movie Sneak Preview Weekend Commemorative Ticket

This is a Sneak Preview Weekend Commemorative Ticket for Disney's animated movie, "Hercules". This came with a special Hercules commemorative pin. I bought this ticket from The Disney Store back in 1997. The date of the movie was June 21, 1997. To celebrate this movie, both Disneyland and the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World had a special Hercules parade, featuring the Muses and all the other characters from the movie, including Herc himself.

Book: Mouse Tracks - The Story of Walt Disney Records by Tim Hollis and Greg Ehrbar

This is the book, "Mouse Tracks- The Story of Walt Disney Records" by Tim Hollis and Greg Ehrbar. It's an interesting book with pictures about exactly what the title says. Featured in the book are such famous Disney recording stars as Mary Martin, Sterling Holloway, The MelloMen, Jimmie Dodd, Annette Funicello and Cliff Edwards. This book discusses many of the Disney recorded musical works over the years, including right up to the publishing date in 2006. It's a must-have for fans of Disney music!

Disney Pixar Toy Story Mania Sign at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida

This is the big outdoor advertisement for the new attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, "Toy Story Mania". This billboard was too cool to pass up photographing. The ride is based on characters from Disney/Pixar's hit movie franchise,
"Toy Story". This ride is also at Disney's California Adventure Theme Park at the Disneyland Resort.

Although I live in Los Angeles (very close to Disneyland), I actually rode the Toy Story Mania ride in Florida first. It is a very popular ride- all the Fastpasses will be gone around 10:30AM, so unless you are getting up real early to get one, you can plan on being in line for this one a minimum of 40 minutes, and probably at least one hour. It's worth the wait, though- this is a fun attraction- much more fun than the "Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin" from a few years ago. For one, the technology is way better. It's cool that you earn points by doing different things in each of the rooms that the cars bring you into. In one room, you are throwing baseballs to break plates. In another room, you are tossing darts to break balloons. This ride makes you want to go on it over and over again- it's more fun than real midway games, in my opinion, anyway. I'll bet your kids will agree with me!

Autographed "Designing Disney" Book by John Hench with Peggy Van Pelt

This is the book, "Designing Disney" by Walt Disney Imagineer John Hench, with Imagineer Peggy Van Pelt.


This features some very cool artwork, upon which the design of many Disney shows and attractions were based and built from. In the book, John talks about what Imagineering is, and what an Imagineer does. John worked at Disney as an animator in the beginning of his career at Disney. His artisitic ability and curiosity led him to become one of the premier Imagineers at WED Enterprises, which, years later, became known as Walt Disney Imagineering. John was also the master painter of Mickey Mouse for the Walt Disney Company, and since his death, he has not been replaced as such (although there will soon be a replacement for him).

Walt Disney Imagineering is the master concept, design, and building organization created by Walt Disney himself. It was originally created to design and build Disneyland. Since then, it has designed and built all of Disney's theme parks, resorts and hotels all over the world, including at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland Paris Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and Tokyo Disneyland Resort. In all, it has built 11 theme parks and the Disney Cruise Line. Wow.

I got this book a few years ago at an NFFC Convention Show and Sale in Garden Grove, California. I got to the Convention a little late, and I saw the table where John was supposed to be, signing his book. I asked the lady sitting there, co-author Peggy Van Pelt, where John was, and she said that he had to leave. He had left her a few signed copies of his book, but she told me that she had run out of those, but she sold me a book and signed it book in front of me. I was a little disappointed, because I knew about John and I wanted to meet him and get his autograph in the book.

About a month or so after that Convention, I read it in the news that John had passed away. I was sad about this, not only for the loss of a legendary Imagineer, but because I had never got the opportunity to meet him or to have my book signed.

After hearing the news of his passing, I decided to pick up my book for the first time and really look at it. I stared at the beginning, and thumbed through the pages. Lo and behold, after turning a few pages, there was John's autograph, right in the book! I couldn't believe it! I don't know if Peggy knew that it was autographed or not when she gave it to me, but I tell you this, I believe in miracles! This book is so good and enjoyable to read and look at- I can spend an hour looking at it and reading it, and never get tired!

Book- A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes - My Story- by Annette Funicello with Patricia Romanowski

This is the book, "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes- My Story" by Annette Funicello with Patricia Romanowski. When I look back at the original "Mickey Mouse Club", I know this: I loved every single one of those Mouseketeers, and I know that Walt Disney did, too. However, there is one that stood out above them all: Annette Funicello. She was pretty, that was true- but she had this sweetness, innocence and inner beauty that was so special, it's not surprising that she was Walt's favorite- nor surprising that she got more fan mail than all the other Mouseketeers. This book chronicles her life, right up to the time when she was diagnosed with multiple schlerosis. I wish her the best- she's still my favorite, and I listen to her music all the time!