Kenversations™
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“The ‘E’ Ticket�? Magazine
You obviously know about LaughingPlace.com, a “new media�? operation that launched several years ago. Before sites like LaughingPlace.com existed, Disneyland aficionados and theme park junkies relied mainly on newsletters and magazines to tell them more about the places that had captured a piece of their hearts.
In a previous installment of Kenversations, I wrote about “The ‘E’ Ticket�? magazine, mainly because Leon Janzen, one of the two brothers who labored to bring us the nostalgic chronicle of Disneyland past, had passed away unexpectedly.
This time, I’m calling your attention to “The ‘E’ Ticket�? for happy reasons. Their website, http://www.the-e-ticket.com, has been reborn! Jack Janzen has wisely put Christopher Merritt to work on the great new site.
"The 'E' Ticket" is the granddaddy of all Disneyland fan publications. In the mid 1980s, Jack and Leon Janzen presented a charming black & white publication that gave the younger readers a glimpse into the past of southern California amusement/theme parks, and took the "more experienced" readers on a stroll down memory lane.
Improving in production quality over the years, "The 'E' Ticket" is the only publication of its type with such longevity and consistency. You could tell these were people who really cared and were nostalgic for the parks of yesteryear. Over the years, the Janzens have devoted most of their energies to covering the history of Disneyland Park, with occasional coverage of other parks, including Knott’s Berry Farm and some coverage of Walt Disney World Resort. Disney has sold the magazine in their theme park stores for years now.
Although the magazine has long been highly respected, there hasn't been much to their online presence until now. While "Theme Park Adventure" has been the paper publication that has most aggressively moved into the online realm with
http://www.ThemeParkAdventure.com, "The 'E' Ticket" has focused on printing paper issues regularly. In the wake of losing his brother and publishing partner Leon, Jack has seen to it that "The 'E' Ticket" now features an inviting, informative website. It has a pleasant, nostalgic look that perfectly compliments the publication.Clearly, for the time being, the site will not supplant the physical publication. Instead, the-e-ticket.com is a place to subscribe to the publication, buy back issues, and get answers to some of your questions.
Kudos to Chris Merritt (http://www.ChristopherMerritt.com) for putting the site together.
For your daily dose of Disney, keep visiting LaughingPlace.com. For something you can hold in your hands and proudly display on your coffee table, visit http://www.the-e-ticket.com and subscribe. It’s also worth it to check out the back issues. I’ve been buying the publication for as long as I can remember, and will continue to buy it as long as folks like Jack Janzen and all who contribute offer a quality publication.
The "E" Ticket Magazine:
http://www.the-e-ticket.comDiscuss It
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-- Ken Pellman
Ken Pellman enjoys theme parks enough that he earned a BA in Thematic Environmental Design. He has been a Disneyland park annual passholder and cast member and is trained in crisis communications. Ken can be reached directly at Kenversations[at]flash[dot]net or at http://www.Pellman.net, where you can learn more about him.
Kenversations is most often posted on the fourth Wednesday or Thursday of each month.
The views, opinions and comments of Ken Pellman, and all of our columnists, are not necessarily those of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
--Posted January 13, 2004
©2004 Ken Pellman, all rights reserved. Licensed to LaughingPlace.com.