The Last Original Disneylander: Stories & Secrets from the Last to Retire of the First to Be Hired Paperback – December 6, 2016

This is a great look behind the Disneyland curtain and into the people who make the magic. It’s an easy read and I would recommend it to any Disney fan.

I admit that there was a time back in 2009 that I made it to the interview stage for a Walt Disney World job but a car was needed for the position I was applying for. I have made peace with that incident and I accept that my career destiny ties into some other cards/another career path. Yet I admit that I am guilty of still being interested in certain things Disney at times especially if there are Disney books that I intuitively and logically see would help my creativity as a writer. I came across this book that is The Last Original Disneyland; Stories and Secrets From the Last to Retire of the First To Be Hired by Bob Penfield through Amazon and I am obviously glad that I did as the career memoir book is inspirational. There are multi-faceted elements to this book such as; how he came to meet his wife through work at Disneyland around the time he was 21 (page 105) and then how he married her (he name is Judy Hollders and their wedding photo is on page 106), he is pictured with two other family members who have also worked at Disneyland before his mom and his son Chris who worked at the Sunkist Citrus House while in high school (page 108). Other various highlights of the book; a picture of the cast member league at Freeway Bowl in Anaheim California with coworker John “Cat-One”(page 43), participants in Disneyland’s 50th Annual canoe race in 2013 signed and presented to him a commemorative paddle (page 103),a collage assembled by a Disneyland co-worker featuring a picture of Walt Disney (page 119), reaching the top of Mount Whitney July 16 1980 (page 122),a photo of Bob Penfield coming close to working for Walt Disney World via helping to prepare Disneyland’s Omnibus #1 to be sent to Florida to provide transportation for Epcot’s World Showcase Lagoon in 1983 (page 146), a picture of Bob Penfield with other coworkers, some of them featured had also started in 1955 at the Anniversary Party for Disneyland’s 35th Anniversary in 1990 (page 151), picture of him with two other coworkers from 1955 Tom Nabbe and Ron Heminger (page 154), pictured with a man by the name of Dan Otrambo in Tokyo Disneyland during the autumn season of 1982 (page 162), picture of Bob Penfield with “Mickey”, Marty Sklar, Judson Green, and Michael Eisner for the 40th Anniversary Time Capsule (page 177), and much more.

I'm a sucker for stories of Walt Disney and the worlds he built, so I was quick to pick this book up by former Disneyland Cast Member Bob Penfield. Bob began working for Disneyland on opening day in July of 1955, and over the course of 42 years, also assisted in the creation of attractions at the 1964 World's Fair, Walt Disney World AND Tokyo Disneyland. Great stories of the behind the scenes world of the Happiest Place on Earth. If you are like me, with a love for Disney history, pick it up!

Great book, brought back a lot of memories of my early days at Disneyland. Well done Bob.

A charming insight into the early years of Disney from an original employee. This historical is full of behind the scenes info, mixed with personal experience and humor. I enjoyed every page of it!

I read this book to my kids every night. We all have moments of wow. I grew up 5 minutes from Disneyland when it was $5 to enter the park and you paid with tickets for each ride. I never knew there was a rivalry between Jungle Cruise and Matterhorn! The early park required employees to invent and solve problems, so they did and Walt encouraged it all. Well done Bob.

What a fanstatic read! Bob is a true Disney and Disneyland legend and we are truly blessed that he has shared so many great stories with us. I highly recommend this to any fan of the Disney parks or anyone the wants to know what it was like to work 40+ years at Disney...as an original 1955 Disneylander.

Boring.

As a former Disney cast member it is always interesting reading and hearing stories from other cast members and seeing what experiences they had working in the parks. After working at Disneyland for over 40 years Bob Penfield has a lot of stories to share and I found many of them really interesting and entertaining. In particular was hearing about the park during the early years. Since Penfield worked from opening day onward he is able to share with the reader his experiences as the staff at Disneyland tried to work out all the opening day kinks and challenges. I found it great to hear about how some Disneyland traditions such as the cast member canoe races initially got started.Penfield has had a diverse career as he worked at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics, helped open the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, and worked at the 1964 New York World's Fair. In the book he writes about each of these experiences and what made them great and not so great. However, it is clear that Penfield truly loved Disneyland, as he shares with the reader many stories about the park. This includes little details like the tunnels that run under some parts of Disneyland or the underground pipes that connect some of the waterways. And Penfield also reveals what he secretly placed in the time capsule vault for the park's 40th birthday in 1995.Overall, I think that Disney fans and especially those that are interested in Disneyland will truly appreciate this book. Penfield tells many stories about his friends and coworkers, much more than most Disney books do. However, it reminds the reader what wonderful and hardworking people are at the parks everyday, making the magic come to life.