I was scrolling through the billion and one (that's an approximate number) of channels we get at ESPN central feed last month when I noticed some video getting fed on the uplink from Anaheim: Kobe Bryant's Main Street victory parade. At the time I was like, "Apparently my old division, parks & resorts - specifically the Disneyland resort - is just going to hunt me down no matter where I go." Tonight, I was once again proven correct on this count.
It started innocently enough. I'm working for our tennis production department and during the seven weeks between the end of Wimbledon and the start of the US Open, we have a tournament per weekend which is part of the "US Open Series", sort of a round-robin at various sites throughout the country (this weekend for example, Indianapolis). But next weekend? Los Angeles, specifically the UCLA campus. My producer asks me to please compile a reel of "scenics" - these are the nice, high definition camera shots of famous landmarks and iconic places throughout the city where any event might be taking place, usually so we can have a nice shot to transition between games or matches or to lay advertisements over (example: if you watched Wimbledon coverage, you'd note how ads for IBM always had Buckingham Palace in the background).
So I pull a bunch of Los Angeles scenics from our archive and get ready to parse it down into one tidy clip reel. It's about 8 tapes, helpfully labeled as to what is on each (LAX, Santa Monica Pier, Sunset Strip, etc.) But one tape is just labeled "LA, Reel 1". So this first...the very first tape...I pop it in and what comes up on the monitor? Mickey, Donald, & Goofy standing smack in the middle of Sunshine Plaza at DCA (that's Disney's California Adventure for those of who not up with all the Disney "cast member" slang), waving to the camera. I couldn't help but wonder if somebody is trying to send me a message. I think what some of the old-timers at Parks & Resorts warned me about was true: The Resort is just gonna follow me around forever, like a sad little puppy begging for attention. It's not that bad really - I have a lot fond memories of the place and hey, you could be followed around by a lot worse things.
Anyway, there was a good amount of DLR footage so maybe you'll see it used as a scenic setting during next weekend's coverage of the LA Tennis Open. Or not.
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