Mouse Tales!

[Story]

Okay, I did a search on this one and no thread came up that was all about these books. Anyone a fan of the Mouse Tales books by David Koenig?

I rather enjoy them- funny stories, and a lot of insight about the going ons of the park. :)


So share your favorite Mouse tale story, an interesting fact, or just simply talk about it here :wave:

[Silverpsycho]

Oh man, I love the Mouse Tales books by David Koenig! Definitely some of the fastest reads I have ever read. :)
I may sound morbid but I was pretty intrigued by Disney deaths and how they happened. While sad, it's also amazing to hear just how few there have been since 1955. That is really quite a feat for Disney and I commend them for having such a safe resort.

Besides that chapter, I think my absolute favorite is actually the one that involves cast members and their experiences. I found myself laughing and tearing up at some points.

Honestly though, every single chapter is a page-turner. The way both those books are written gets me all excited because I love knowing so many details of Disneyland's history.

I have been meaning to pick up Koenig's works outside of Mouse Tales at some point. Have you checked out anything else he's done?

[Story]

Oh man, I love the Mouse Tales books by David Koenig! Definitely some of the fastest reads I have ever read. :)
I may sound morbid but I was pretty intrigued by Disney deaths and how they happened. While sad, it's also amazing to hear just how few there have been since 1955. That is really quite a feat for Disney and I commend them for having such a safe resort.

Besides that chapter, I think my absolute favorite is actually the one that involves cast members and their experiences. I found myself laughing and tearing up at some points.

Honestly though, every single chapter is a page-turner. The way both those books are written gets me all excited because I love knowing so many details of Disneyland's history.

I have been meaning to pick up Koenig's works outside of Mouse Tales at some point. Have you checked out anything else he's done?

Yay! Someone else likes them! :D Yeah, those are some awesome books in my opinion. I totally agree about every chapter being a page turner. I've read them both through twice already, and I think it's time to read them again ;-)

I loved hearing about the cm's too. Some of them are so hilarious! I loved how one guy talked about how Alice would protect the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit. When kids would kick them she'd take their hands their dig her long fake nails in them and say with a sweet smile that she'd make them pay if they hurt her friends; and the parents would be watching and saying "Oh how, sweet! She's talking with them!" :lol:

So many awesome things about that book. I'm a total nerd when it comes to disney history- I love reading about it! :D

[Silverpsycho]

Oh yes! I don't just like them, I LOVE them! :D

I will totally admit that I haven't even finished the last chapter of the second book because I didn't want it to end. I guess I'm weird like that but I honestly never re-read books. That will most likely change because I crave reading the first one all the time. :)

Are there any other good history books out there regarding Disneyland? I would love to know but at the same time, I doubt it/they would even compare to Koenig's stuff.

In terms of other Disney reads, I also have:
The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies by Jason Surrell
The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney by J. Michael Barrier (just started this but I heard it's one of the very few biographies that puts Walt in a positive light)
The Disney Treasures by Robert Tieman

...and then a few that are more heavily involved with the history of animation.

I've also been meaning to buy some books by Kevin Yee but I've never gotten around to it. He writes articles for another Disney themed site and used to work in Disneyland for awhile. Like I said, I am always on the hunt for any book involving Disneyland. :)

[HauntedCollector]

I emailed him before about putting in my story about the time I jumped off the Splash Mountain ride and the adventure that took place right after. I got a reply back that he would try to add it, but we will see. Also I love these books.

---------- Post added at 05:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:02 PM ----------

ps. Here is the story:

I wrote this for David Koenig for consideration in his next book, he told me if he has room he would put it in the next mouse tales he's working on.

--------

It was the summer of 1999, I was 19 years old and took the trip to disneyland with three other friends. We were all the same age and went to high school together, we were very tight, almost like a military unit. So it was night time around 9:00pm or so, we just ate dinner and had lots of candy and soda throughout the day. So we were all bouncing off the walls at this point.

So we decide to go ride Splash Mountain, it was kinda warm still so we thought it would be a good idea to go on the water ride. We were horsing around in the line and the ride operator Im sure was taking notice of the rowdy bunch of boys we were. After about 30 minutes we were all jumpy and got on the ride. The ride started to go and there was a wooden barrel about the start of the ride so I, stood up and smacked it really hard making a pretty big noise.

The ride operator yelled angrily at me to sit down, I turned around and yelled an obscenity back at him (I could tell you if you want, its Rated R). He stopped the ride dead in its tracks before it could take off down the plume. He comes rushing to our log and is very upset at this point. "Who said that?" We all look at each other. "WHO SAID THAT?" We said no one said anything. He said "All right you all get out", so I fessed up to being the person who said it because I didn't want my friends to suffer for my mistake. "It was me" I said.

He told me to get off the ride, I told him "No way". He said "Fine, Im calling security and when your ride is over they will escort you out of the park". I was like whatever man. He let us go and we enjoyed the ride, or at least my friends did. The whole time I was thinking about getting kicked out of the park when there was so many hours left till midnight when the park closed. So we did the big drop and the log went into the celebration scene towards the very end.

This is when I got really nervous, I saw a dark hallway and door to my left. I decided here is where I make my stand. I got up and put one foot on the top edge of the log and jumped out. Not only did I slip jumping out, I caught my self on the dock, my friends and the log behind us were like "What the hell is this guy doing?". The shock on their faces was priceless.

So I opened the door that was in that dark spot and went through. Went down a couple of stairs to find my self underneath the ride, I could see the gears and mechanical creatures wires going up to the set. I was also underneath the fiber glass flume which I could see the water running across it, there were small leaks and water dripped out some parts of the fiberglass. It was a very magical moment for me. But I snapped out of that real quick, "I need to get the hell out of here quick". So I made a left, went out another door to find myself outside by in some sort of holding area that was covered with pebbles. Like the kind you see on the railroad tracks. The only way out was a 20 foot barbed wire fence. So I said ok jump the fence, meet your friends at the car when the park closes. The another dose of reality sets in, I can't get over that, I will get all cut up. This was a closed off area with only a few doors.

So I go back to open the door I came out of and it was locked. Im about to die at this point, so I try a couple more doors and one opens. YES!!! So I go down this long hall way with a few doors, im still underneath the ride at this point again. Trying to open a couple doors at I go down this long hall way, still nothing, all locked. At the end of this hallway was a set of stairs which seemed like 20 or 30 steps. So I RUN up these stairs and there was a brown door...AND IT OPENED. YES!!! It was the park, I could see people wallking around. But I wasn't home free yet. There was this little knee high metal gate that I just hopped over like nothing. As soon as my feet hit the ground and was a couple feet from the gate. Two large security guards came around the corner and brushed right passed me and went running right down those same stairs I came up seconds before.

I though damn I made it.. but then thought to myself "Wait my friends". So I waited, at a distance, from where the ride goes into the wood building. My adrenaline still coursing through my veins. Hoping that my friends would be right out. Sure enough a few minutes later they came RUNNING around the corner, they spotted me and immediately started screaming "RUNNNNN". So we all took off all the way up the hill towards the Haunted Mansion where we blended into the very large summer time crowd. We never got caught.

I asked them there account of what happened and they said when the ride came back the guy was looking for me. When he realized that I jumped out told my friends to wait right there that everyone was in trouble. The second the ride operator turned his back on them, they took off. My friend Chris messed up his ankle that night from running from the ride operator but we were all lucky to make it out of Splash Mountain alive.

[Story]

:lol: That's pretty funny, Haunted Collector. Yeah, I remember reading that before- maybe koeing will do a book about guest experiences or something ;-)


Oh yes! I don't just like them, I LOVE them! :D

I will totally admit that I haven't even finished the last chapter of the second book because I didn't want it to end. I guess I'm weird like that but I honestly never re-read books. That will most likely change because I crave reading the first one all the time. :)

Are there any other good history books out there regarding Disneyland? I would love to know but at the same time, I doubt it/they would even compare to Koenig's stuff.

I use to be the same way! My brother would always be rereading his books, and at first I teased him a little about it, like "you already know how it ends! What's the point?" He explained it's like watching a good movie over and over again and I was still kind of not disbelieving but I went ahead and tried rereading a few books (The first 3 books of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books- still my favorite books ever :D) and I absolutely loved it! So long story short, I reread books now and he got the last laugh :lol:

The Mouse Tales books are even more interesting to reread tho because there is so much I forget about that when I read it again it's like learning about Disney all over again- So yes, I totally recommend rereading them, Silverpyscho! Well, at least depending on whether or not you want to finish it first ;-) (I know, I hate finishing a good book- I was like that with the Scarlet Pimpernel- a classic that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat. Just hated that it had to end- another book to reread I guess :cool:)

I might have to look into some of those books you listed- Especially the Life of Walt Disney one. From the little I can tell from the mouse tales books, he was quite the character himself :)

[disneylover1955]

Ooooo I love Mouse Tales, they are amazing! :happy:

[Story]

Ooooo I love Mouse Tales, they are amazing! :happy:

Yay! Another fan fellow fan! :happy:

[HauntedCollector]

I talked to David before and he said he was working on book 3 right now. I will email him this link, im sure he would love to hear about his readers.

[Story]

I talked to David before and he said he was working on book 3 right now.

Oh wow, then I can't wait! I've been hoping he'd make a new installment- I can imagine there would be so much more to say about Disney! It's never ending writing material :D

[Silverpsycho]

I talked to David before and he said he was working on book 3 right now. I will email him this link, im sure he would love to hear about his readers.

Oh man oh man, am I ever psyched!!! :D
Here I have him on Facebook but since he doesn't update much, I'm out of the loop on news regarding new material. Thanks so much for sharing your very crazy but cool story and the info. HC! :)