These informative passage was written on a dry erase board in a window on Sunset Blvd. at the Disney MGM Studios during the holiday season last year. As a Disney history buff, I thought it was a great piece of info, and a nice tribute to the pioneers in the company.

Text reads as follows:
In 1940, the Disney Studio started a new era with it's move to Burbank, CA. Changes included the creation of the animation board as a way to hire, train, and manage personnel in their department. For ten years, board members changed regularly but by 1950 the core group of supervising animators remaned the same. They were: Milt Kahn, Marc Davis, Les Clark, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Wolfgang Reitherman, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, and John Lounsbery. These men created some of the most memorable scenes in animation history. Each had their own special talents in animating certain characters. Marc Davis for example was a master at bringing female characters like Cinderella to life while Frank Thomas could make Lady and the Tramp so "romantic" while eating a plate of spaghetti. These artists worked on over twenty films together, and practically wrote the book on how animation is done today. Walt Disney gave them the name "The Nine Old Men" after what FDR called his Supreme Court justices. Many over the years have paid tribute to these masters. Most recently director Brad Bird created 3D versions of longtime friends Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas at the end of the "The Incredibles". Ollie Johnston today is the only living member.

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Mission Space is a motion simulator that uses centrifugal force to simulate blasting off into space. This is the ride on which a young man lost his life earlier in the year. Personally, not really the biggest fan of thrill rides to begin with, I'll pass. Photo was taken from the Monorail while passing through Future World; I was lucky to have a nice clean window to shoot the photo from.

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Hey just wanted to gloat a bit over my 1st win in BotB on BlogExplosion. Going to try it again...so vote for Tim in '05!

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...copied from my last Illuminations post...
Illuminations is the wondrous laser/fireworks spectacular at the end of the day at Epcot. Displayed over the World Showcase lagoon (Crescent Lake), this show features pyrotechnics, lasers, and a moving instrumental score the leaves me amazed every time I see it (even if my wife doesnt love it).

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Visit The Magic in Pixels.com.
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The Kilimanjaro Safaris in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom is by far the highlight of the park. You enter an open-sided safari vehicle and embark on an approx. 15-20 minute tour of the African plain, with a slight back-story. This shot, taken from a moving vehicle, depicts several zebra in front of the Baobab tree (upside down tree) which has several black birds, not sure what they are, in the branches. I love this ride.

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I know I am posting the Safaris two times in a row but I really love this ride. Here as we go through the Savannah, you see a giraffe getting ready to go whatever giraffe do (eat?).

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Three words - THE HAUNTED MANSION.
It's hardly ever lit up in this manner but WOW was it awesome. There will be more coming from this, so check back often.

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It's only a short trip this time, 3 1/2 days, but what the heck...Any Disney is better than no Disney! Off to see Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party...of course, pics to follow.

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The Walt Disney World Dolphin in one of the two sister hotels, the other being the Swan, that are just off the Boardwalk. The Michael Graves designed Dolphin, IMHO, is the more impressive of the two, with a gigantic convention center built in. Tons of restaraunts and a few establishments to get a beverage of one's choice make this a sure winner, even if it's not Disney owned. It's still considered to be on-property, and you get all the perks of staying at a Disney resort. I've stayed their twice, thank God for discount codes (!), and enjoyed it both times.

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This statue of Roy O. Disney and Minnie in Town Square is the perfect bookend to the "Partners" statue in the hub in front of the Castle. Roy and Minnie are seated on a bench looking toward the Train Station.

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This one is for BuzzLvr31 at the DIS Boards. Buzz Lightyear standing there to greet the guests as they board for the ride. Quite a sophisticated audio animatronic with a projection for a face to keep with the Toy Story look.

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (or Astro Blasters) is a unique ride. You are in an omnimover, similar to that of the Haunted Mansion, with a catch. You control the way the vehicle faces via a joystick, and shoot moving targets with a laser blaster mounted in front of you. The more you hit, the better your score. Each target has an assigned value, farther away = bigger score.

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