Time Hopping

There's park hopping, resort hopping, and the ever-debatable pool hopping. Now there's time hopping! It's just a jump to the left and then a step to the right to the 1880's.

It is well known that Walt Disney had a great love of trains. This love may have just been in his blood since his father, Elias Disney, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for a time. And Walt's uncle, Mike Martin, worked on the Santa Fe Railroad that ran through his childhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri. Did you know that the Disneyland Railroad used to be called the Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad?

Anyway, apparently Walt loved to put his ear to the railroad tracks to listen for the train coming. Then he later worked selling newspapers and snacks to travelers. I knew Walt loved trains for most of his life, but I never knew it went back this far!

Just like everything Walt was passionate about, he took his railroad enthusiasm to another level. He had a 1/8th scale railroad in his backyard in California called the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. There was even a miniature barn that resembled the one on his family farm in Marceline. Again, I knew that Walt gave a nod to his roots in a lot of things he did, but this is one detail I didn't know. Another great detail I found out during my research is that while Walt's wife, Lillian, was very supportive of Walt and all of his ideas, she said he could not build his railroad through her flower garden, so he built a tunnel under them. You can tell Walt must have loved and appreciated Lillian and her support since the engine on the Carolwood Pacific Railroad was called the Lilly Belle.

Then Walt took it all to the next level that we all know... the railroads in the Disney parks today.

"I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. And it should be surrounded by a train." ~Walt Disney

I was really nervous writing this first Time Hopping post so I know it isn't perfect, but hopefully I will get more comfortable. I hope you enjoyed it and if you have anything you'd like to hear the history of, please email me or let me know in the comments and I'll get to researching!

My Greatest Disney Passion Plus A New Feature!

I introduced myself when I first started this blog and reintroduced myself to my new readers from the Magical Blogorail. I realized that I barely even mentioned my deepest Disney passion. I hit on it a little in my very first post when I talked about being inspired by the obvious love and energy the Imagineers put into their work. But what absolutely just thrills me is learning new bits of trivia and learning about the history of Walt Disney and the world he created.

My favorite pictures of Walt Disney are those of him working. You can just feel the excitement and passion he had. Taken at Walt Disney: One Man's Dream at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

A fairly well-known fact is how Walt Disney created many different companies to buy real estate with in Florida under so no one would suspect what the land was being bought for (which would keep the price from skyrocketing). One of those companies was called M.T. Lotts (Empty Lots). How cool is that?

I absolutely love to find out things I didn't know about Disney. While I could read forever about all things Disney, one site that helps challenge me to find out something I may not have known is Magical Mouse Schoolhouse.



Every couple of weeks, Jodi has a Giveaway Wednesday where she asks a trivia question then randomly picks a winner of a very cool prize from those who guess correctly. It is so much fun and I'm just always excited to research the answer. :) Plus she really does show how Disney IS school. Math, Art, Economics, everything. Brilliant.

Which brings me to a new feature I want to bring to Disney in Our Blood. There's park hopping, resort hopping, and the ever-debatable pool hopping. Now there's Time Hopping! I want to share with you what I am most passionate about when it comes to Disney by doing research on a subject (like Walt's love for trains) and telling you how it all started and what came of it. And since Aaron, Ashlyn, and I are big movie and television fans and quote random movies often (probably too often), I might just have to include a cool time traveling or history movie quote or something in there. Just for fun. ;) Let me know by email or in the comments if there is a Disney topic that you've been wondering about the history behind it. I plan to run Time Hopping on Thursdays. I really hope you enjoy it.

And please tell me, what are you most passionate about when it comes to Disney?