Wondering What's Next….

The day started bright and early as we met in the lobby of the hotel and walked through the Kodak Theatre, posing for our first group picture. (Click on any of the pictures for a larger copy)

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We walked to the Grauman Theatre, and Michael gave a quick history lecture about its origins, and the participants. Did you know that Jimmy Durante actually pressed his nose in the cement? Betty Grable her leg? Whoopi her dreadlock?

We walked to the Disney Soda Shop for breakfast. While it is not normally opened at that time, the had set up tables within the store for all 46 of us.

I, of course, ordered the Mickey waffles (fabulous!).

As breakfast was starting, Kevin handed all of us napkins from Club 33 – and teased us that this was the Club 33 breakfast they had promised. I finished quickly, so I could investigate shopping opportunities – a common theme this week.

This gentlemen graciously gave us a tour and tried to stump us with Disney trivia. As if.

After breakfast, we toured the El Capitan theatre  – what a gorgeous place!  We had a demonstration of the incredible Wurlitzer

and saw the “Goodnight Kiss” demonstration. This was a short film and light show that played after the movie to “wow” the audience with special effects.

We went backstage, and we were able to see the gorgeous theatre from a new vantage point. The Wurlitzer can sink below the stage on an automatic ramp, and we learned that the hydraulics for the mechanism can actually move to a speed of 1G! Have to admit I chuckled at the thought.

Touring continued as we visited the basement and the collection of original Alice and Wonderland props.

Following the tour at the El Capitan, we went next door to the Jimmy Kimmel studio.

Unfortunately, this was one of the areas that we were not allowed to take pictures, but it was impressive. The studio is actually a converted Mason temple, and as terms of the lease they were required to preserve the building and treat as a historical landmark. There were rooms that ABC packed entirely in storage crates with careful documentation, so that at any point and time they restore the room to its original position. We saw the control room, the green room downstairs, and the formal studio – which was a lot smaller than I imagined. The green room is actually the entire basement downstairs, and looks like a fun place to hangout.

After the tour at the studio, we boarded the bus for the Jim Henson studios!

The Henson studios are actually the restored United Artist studios, the company formed by D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin. The buildings have been preserved largely as they were originally designed, and the whole campus is full of trees and flowers – very peaceful.

We broke into several groups and toured different buildings, and we went to the sound stage first. A puppeteer named Grant Baciocco gave us a demonstration of a Muppet in action. He was really a lot of fun, and was happy to take questions and let us examine the puppet. He also host the official Henson podcast, which is a lot of fun and worth a listen. We later posed with his puppet.

Below is a picture of Jamie giving me the “stink-eye” for taking photographs – a look I saw A LOT!

At the entrance, Kermit poses in his “Little Tramp” outfit.

From reading other trip reports, I knew we would get to tour the building where Muppets were designed, and I was really excited for the possibility. I envisioned shelves of Muppet torsos, wigs hanging on hooks, Muppet eyes and noses in barrels for creating the Muppets.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Muppets are largely done on computer now, with animation controlled by robotic gloves that control facial movements. The “Barn” contained rows of computers, not nearly as interesting as my imagination. Oh, and no pictures allowed. They did have on display 3 puppets from past uses, but these were is shockingly poor condition, as the vinyl and rubber pieces are not intended to last for several years. I will be honest in saying I was disappointed in this part of the tour.

We posed for pictures, and visited the main reception area, which has a cabinet full of Emmys and Oscars.

We were served lunch outside from the studio commisary. We had noticed our lunches stacked on tables as we walked in, and they were still there an hour later when we finally sat to eat. As a result, the salads were warm and the soups cold, and the whole meal was a disappointment. Fortunately, the ambiance of the studio more than made up for the lunch!

We found a door to the original film vault – apparently, early film was extremely combustible and required secure storage

We also posed with the dinosaur from The Flintstones:

After lunch and a few hundred pictures, we loaded back on the bus and headed to Griffith Park. This park is the location of the Griffith Observatory, but we Disneyphiles know it better as the park where Walt would bring his daughters to ride the carosel, and where the idea for Disneyland actually formed. It also houses the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society, who have lovingly preserved the model train system Walt Disney developed. This had a huge impact on me, and deserves its own blog post, which I will put up later.

After the train yard tour, we boarded the buses for the trip back, and learned that the guides had actually obtained 12 tickets for the nights taping of Jimmy Kimmel live. We drew names by lottery, and mine was the first chosen! Karen and I decided to go to the taping that evening.

The trip back moved slowly through L.A. traffic. Once back at the hotel, we had just a few minutes to drop our purchases and clean up a bit before the show. We hustled down to the Kimmel studios, and met Jamie who introduced us to the security folks who took great care of us. We waited online for several minutes, then the doors opened and they led our group to the front of the line (rockstar!). Another wait, then our group was led to prime seating inside the theatre.

These pictures were actually taken as stills from the show that night:

We warmed up with comedian Don Barris, who kept us loose and entertained and gave us applause instructions for the show. The night’s guestswere Alyssa Milano, Jerry Weintraub and the band Spoon (although the band they aired that night was Gloriana). We really enjoyed the whole show, and had a great time, but again – NO PICTURES.

Following the taping, we were starving and decided to walk to the legendary In-n-Out Burgers for a quick dinner.

Not sure what I was doing, I ordered my fries “Animal Style” for the heck of it.

After dinner, we walked quickly back to the hotel to enjoy our luxurious 5 hours of sleep. Oy.