Happiest Mac On Earth

Every family has a place that they go a bit more often than others for escapes and vacations. My family's escape place is without question is "The happiest place on Earth" Disneyland.  I've been to the park probably 50 times (if not more) in my relatively short time on Earth.  While I know the park like the back of my hand, the many twist and turns of the rides, the best places to get a snack and the quietest parts of the park it doesn't change my ability to enjoy each and every trip I've made there and still want to return for more.

Having already hit Knott's Berry Farm, I continued on with my short notice vacation by spending the final day and half at the Disneyland Resort parks before the car ride back up to the Bay Area.  The plan was for a full day at Disneyland and the half day at California Adventure and after a successful find of mac n' cheese at Knott's, my eyes were peeled for what I could only hope to be mickey mouse shaped mac.

Disneyland opened to the public on July 18th, 1955 but like any good story, there was plenty of drama and intrigue related to it's opening.

Walt Disney had already made a name for himself and his studio had cranked out a huge number of animated shorts, films and other works by the time Disneyland was being thought up.  It's inception came about while Walt took his own family to different amusement parks in the 30's and 40's and hoped to (like Knott's Berry Farm), have it act as a sort of tourist attraction for those who came to visit the Burbank studios where his artists worked to put together classic cartoon shorts and feature films (both live action and animated) that were being made there.

What initially started out as an idea for a small park on a few acres with a boat ride and other themed areas and attractions ran into a rather large problem.  Those on Walt's design team had created too much stuff for the small 8 acre parcel of land purchased.  With some help from the Stanford Research Institute a new larger space was searched out, with the purchase of 160 acres of orange and walnut groves hoping to fit the designs created and support the projected growth of Orange County, where the land was bought.

Funding was difficult to come by and some shrewd business relationships were made, principally with the new television network ABC to net the money needed to turn the dream into reality. Disneyland (the series) was born and Walt introduced cartoons both new and old and live action properties like Davy Crockett to America.  This partnership created a new corporation, made up of Disney himself, ABC, Western Publishing (best known for their little golden books) and Walt Disney Productions who then managed the development and operations of the park.  The park eventually bought out the shares from Disney, Western and ABC by 1960 to take control back "in house" as it were.

The construction started on Disneyland (originally planned to be named Disneylandia, bleck!) on July 16th, 1954 and opened to the media and special guests just one year (and a day) later on July 17th, 1955. Anything that could go wrong at the 'International Press Preview' opening seemingly did.

First off, there were somewhere in the range of 28,000 people at the opening, with almost half of those people there having purchased counterfeit tickets.  Traffic around the park was horrible, and celebrities who were supposed to arrive through out the day, all arrived at the same time. It was a balmy 101 °F that Sunday and because of a local plumbers strike during construction, Disney had to chose between having operational toilets or drinking fountains for the opening day guests.  While he smartly chose to have the toilets work, backlash was experienced because many felt that it was just a cheap tactic to sell more Pepsi (then a park sponsor) to thirsty guests who had no other options.

Vendors ran our of food (at the time, many of the restaurants and shops were not controlled by Disney, but were sponsored by companies like Carnation and Dole).  Construction continued almost up to the opening of the park, with asphalt laid just before the opening of the park, still not set before visitors were walking over it, leaving impressions with their shoes on it.  A gas leak sprung up in Fantasyland that afternoon that was serious enough that it forced the closure of Adventureland, Frontierland and Fantasyland for the remainder of the day.

Disneyland's opening was aired as a special on ABC and while things didn't go as planned on the opening and with much negative press to show for the many problems, 50,000 guests still arrived the next day for it's public opening.

The park has had numerous ups and downs over the years and while many parts of the park have been changed (for both good and bad reasons depending on who you may talk to) it's more popular than ever, with admission totals of almost 16 million guests in 2012.

Disney knows it's clientele and with as many children at the park, if I didn't find a mac being served at one of the many restaurants I'd have been sorely disappointed.  I can gladly say that Disney didn't disappoint my desire for mac n' cheese.

One of the most photographed locations in the world and the first thing that every guest sees when entering the park.

The Review

Brand:
Tomorrowland Terrace's Toddler Meal Yummy Cheesy Macaroni
 
*Mac and cheese isn't available at all restaurants in Disneyland, but the following do serve it/have it on their kids menu.
Cafe Orleans - New Orleans Square
Carnation Cafe - Main Street
French Market (Toddler meal) - New Orleans Square

*In addition some California Adventure restaurants also serve mac on their kids menus.
Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta - Paradise Pier
Taste Pilot's Grill - Condor Flats
Pacific Wharf Cafe - Pacific Wharf

Bronco Bites

The Bay Area has an incredibly rich history with all of the technological innovations and countless events that have happened since European settlers began to record history here. Among the first non indigenous people that made up the population California and the Bay Area were the Spanish. Colonizing and spreading forcing their religion to the local tribal groups of the Bay Area in the mid/late 1700's, these Franciscan missionaries changed the course of the entire region.

Many of the cities and towns of the Bay Area don't have much left from their earliest settlements.  The land is precious and expansion often pushes out the old to make way for the new, especially in a region that has been occupied for hundreds of years. While the recorded history of the Fremont ties itself to Mission San José, one portion of what is now Fremont, Niles has it's history built around a massive flour mill that serviced the farmlands on the other side of the foothills that the town butted up against.

Originally called Vallejo Mills, a small settlement sprung up at the end of a canyon, who's other end lead out through Sunol and into the south end of Pleasanton and into the San Ramon Valley, where massive farms grew wheat and other crops and the town acted as a depot for these supplies thanks to an extension that fed off the Transcontinental Railroad.  Within a decade that traffic somewhat dried up thanks to a shorter line that came over the top of the bay through Benicia, but the railroad was still a vital lifeline for years to come.  The town didn't die, but it did change it's name thanks to the Central Pacific railroad, who renamed it Niles after Addison Niles in 1869.  Originally a lawyer for the Pacific Railroad, Addison Niles became an Associate Justice in the California Supreme Court and served from 1872-1880, passing away a decade later in 1890.

Niles eventual claim to (current) fame is that it housed one of the first movie studios on the west coast, EssanayStudios who shot hundred of films in Niles Canyon and the surrounding areas from 1912 through 1915. Some of these films included Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp which thrust his most famous character 'Tramp' into the spotlight and Broncho Billy the first western cowboy star.  The studio moved south to Los Angeles in 1915 but they opened the door for west coast movie making, not only in the Bay Area but for the everything that came to be in LA soon thereafter. 

Niles still has it's main street with many of it's original buildings that are now mostly antique shops, though a number restaurants and other stores are also on the main drag.  In town on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I wandered the antique shops not knowing what I'd find (a crazy personalized Hot Wheel with a kids face on it and a 20 year old X-Men coloring book were bought for friends) and as I walked back down the street towards my car, I passed by Bronco Billys Pizza and the sign I saw in front of the restaurant just called for me to have a late lunch/early dinner of appetizers.  I've had mac n' cheese bites before, but always from the comfort of my own home with varying levels of success. I hadn't had mac n' cheese bites at a restaurant in years,


The Review

Brand:
Bronco Billys Kids Meals Mac & Cheese bites



A few tables are outside and are great spots to eat if the weather is good or it's busy inside.



An Italian Double Agent

I've finally come to the realization accept that Italian eateries aren't going to have American style macaroni and cheese.  While I don't think it's too hard for them to have pasta + cheese and I still scour the menu hoping for it, but am prepared for the inevitable defeat.  My one saving grace is the children's menu.  American kids are often given the same options that they've got at home and after my positive results at Strizzi's I was emboldened to once again ask if it was ok to order off the child's menu.  Since I'm writing a review... it must have meant that I was able to!

Pasta Pomodoro is a SF Bay Area Italian chain, focusing on the use of fresh ingredients in the preparation of modern Italian dishes (not sure exactly what modern vs classic is, but that's a discussion for a completely different blog).  They've got a number of restaurants close to me and with a friend in the area during the Xmas holiday, our choice for dinner that evening was the local Pasta Pomodoro. 

The Review

Brand:
Pasta Pomodoro's Cheesy Pasta.

Watch out!  Full moon!  There could be Mac n' cheese hungry werewolves on the prowl!

Mama Mia!

Macaroni and cheese is a decidedly American dish I've come to realize.  I would think that this pasta dish would have worked it's way into (or out of) all kinds of Italian restaurants because of it's ease of making, when in reality it doesn't ever seem to be on the menu unless you're looking at the children's menu.  That means the planned Mac N' Steve's world tour of eateries (in Italy) that serve mac n' cheese vacation I had planned won't really net me any new blog posts.

While the lack of main menu mac's may stop some from trying to order the worlds best use of cheese and pasta, it doesn't stop me.  What's the harm in asking if I can order off the menu even if I don't come close to looking like I'm 12 (just because I may act my shoe size sometimes...)?

Just over a month ago I went to dinner with my parents for their birthdays (born just 4 days apart) and while Strizzis has an Italian flare with some American influence, I had no option for a mac and cheese on the main menu (I guess I shouldn't be surprised).  The waitress however was kind enough (or didn't care) that I asked if it was O.K. to order off the children's menu and she even told me that the potion was a pretty respectable size so I didn't need to worry about going hungry ordering it.

With that kind of reinforcement, I had no choice but to fulfill my destiny... erm order it.

The Review

Brand:
Strizzis (Kid's Menu) Macaroni & Cheese