The Man Who Goes to Disneyland 30 Times a Year

Mild mannered Todd Martens, video game critic, amusement park expert, and Historic Core dweller, is the right man to follow for Play

Does Disneyland always allow Todd to drive Sally Carrera alone through Cars Land? No, but it should.

Unlike most of the people in these episodes who are strangers to me, Todd Martens is a friend. He’s an incredibly detailed and hard-working journalist who is thoughtful and thorough and who cares very deeply about many things. He is who I aspire to be in many ways.

So in this interview if you hear me taking little jabs at him it is because in my mind he is high on the mountaintop. He gets paid by the best publication west of Manhattan to write about video games, amusement parks, and other areas of Play.

As Seen on TV: Todd telling the viewers of CNN whassup.

As the former LA Times Music Editor, Todd knows a thing or two about today’s sounds. And as the son of a Chicago Cubs season ticket holder, his life, like mine, was completed in 2016.

This is the gravy.

We, two handsome bachelors, sat in my Hollywood courtyard on Christmas afternoon right before heading downtown to have a delicious meal with another striking single journalist. What you hear below is a slightly edited version of that conversation. The sounds of me yelling at a frolicking squirrel were deemed unnecessary, for example.

Click the play button for the convo or keep scrolling for the part of our discussion about his Happiest Place on Earth.

[embed]Click the button above to hear the entire 90 minute gab fest

Tony Pierce: You go to Disneyland 30 times a year. True or False.

Todd Martens: True. At least twice a month. So yeah.

Thirty times a year and you’re never bored. Are you ever bored?

No.

Do you get bored doing other things?

Absolutely.

But you never get bored at Disneyland?

No.

Just one of the Disney-related tattoos Todd has.

You have… which Disneyland pass do you have right now?

I don’t have the top-of-the-line pass.

Did I ask what you don’t have?

No. I don’t remember.

They recently changed all the names of the passes. So there is like a top-of-the-line pass that gets you in most days of the year. I don’t have that.

The gateway handshake: when Mickey met a young Todd, little did either of them forsee how often they’d party with each other in the future.

You don’t need that one.

I was dating somebody, so I was going to Disneyland less —

I’m glad you broke up with her.

She broke up with me. I bought the Believe Key Pass.

What does the Believe pass give you? Like 200 dates? 300 dates?

More than 300 dates.

Are there any dates that you’re like, “ah, really wish I could go on that day”?

I really wish I could be there today.

Christmas Day you want to be there?

I would love to be there.

Yeah but you’re gonna have a steak dinner with me.

I would love to be at my place. I would love to be with my quote unquote, adopted family.

Fun fact: Todd does not have a car, but he does have this official Autopia driver’s license which should be good for a while.

Do you run into other regulars when you go there?

Yeah. Some of my closest friends I’ve met through Disneyland. So my closest friends are people who also write about Disneyland.

I love Disneyland. I think Disneyland is incredibly important.

Psychologically, why do you go 30 times a year?

When he’s not working from his DTLA apartment, or at a Disney park, you can probably find him at a Disney resort.

So yeah, I’ve been finishing a book proposal. I don’t know if I’ll ever sell it. I hope I do. The book proposal is “why do we go to theme parks?”

Hold on, hold on. We go to theme parks. You kind of live at this theme park.

Well, the book proposal is like a personal quest. Like why do I do this? But also 90 million people a year go to Disneyland. So it’s like, Why do 90 million people a year go to Disneyland?

Because they have to — because of their kids.

For years you could read Todd’s features and interviews with musicians, today LA Times subscribers are treated to Todd’s take on the video game industry, which dwarfs the movie biz (fun fact, literally).

No, I don’t think that’s true.

Or they date a girl who’s in love with Disneyland.

That’s over-simplifying it.

That’s what I do.

If you have kids, you could go to someplace much cheaper and they’ll be happy.

Todd is an Emmy winner. Maybe video games don’t make you a loser?

You really think that people can get away with going to Knotts or Six Flags when they got a seven-year-old who can’t stop singing “Let it Go?”

No, I don’t think they can do that.

You gotta take that a little angel to Disneyland.

But I think it’s more complex than that. We don’t go to theme parks to escape a world. We go to theme parks to make sense of a world.

Your host, Todd and Lily Mihalik Bhandari (now at Politico) in the bleachers of Dodger Stadium for a Cubs game back in the day.

Oh, that’s the thesis?

That’s the thesis.

Hmm.

But I definitely go to Disneyland to escape.

You think you go there to escape.

I’m figuring shit out when I go there?

Joe Rohde was a Disney Imagineer for 41 years before retiring at 65. #goals

You’re entering a place where, as one of my favorite Imagineers, Joe Rohde, has said… your entire life is chaos, like on a daily basis, whether or not it’s good or bad.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that your job is chaos, or your personal life is chaos, or your relationships are chaos. It’s chaos in the way of you don’t know what’s going to happen.

And you have little control.

You have very little control.

Todd at the 2016 World Series, hosted by his beloved Chicago Cubs. Why isn’t he smiling? He’s focused. He’s got work to do. And he did it. Cubs won that series, putting a smile on that pretty face once and for all.

When you go to Disneyland, you go to a place where everything has been laid out for you. As Joe would say, “you’re going to a place where you’re swimming downstream as opposed to swimming against the stream.”

So you’re entering a place that is based upon myths and fairy tales we’ve been telling ourselves for hundreds of years — whether that is a Snow White story or Star Wars story.

from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

A Star Wars story is really a story of haves and have nots. It’s really a story about class systems.

And a Marvel story is really a story that dates back to the ancients of heroism. It’s a story that deals with large myths, very large themes and emotions.

So you go to a place like Disneyland, everything is on a platter. And you’re able to have a better understanding of how you’re going about the day or you’re going about your life.

At least that’s my theory.

Todd manning the controls of one of the most expensive video games ever.

It’s also super safe and really clean.

Well, it’s a model for how the world should be.

Oh, you think so?

Well, don’t you think you should feel comfortable —

No.

Don’t you think you should feel comfortable talking to your neighbor?

Yeah, but… I love The Clash because they pushed me. I don’t think Disneyland pushes me. It comforts me. It’s a little timeout. It’s a little respite of chaotic life.

The Clash was mentioned because they are Todd’s favorite band. Here one of their posters is displayed in his former apartment.

I think The Clash comfort you.

They do now because I know the words.

The Clash is based in idealism and so is Disney. Walt Disney, like punk rock at its most like core, is idealism. And Disney, at its core, is idealism. I think they’re pushing the same buttons.

You went to the most expensive hotel property that Disney has.

Todd gets the top bunk of the Galactic Starcruiser at Disney World. 📸 Allen Schaben

The Galactic Starcruiser in Florida. Walt Disney World outside of Disney Hollywood Studios.

How much does that room cost per night?

For two adults, it’s about $5,000 for two nights.

How long did you stay in this room?

Todd sampling one of the out of this world drinks aboard the Galactic Starcruiser. 📸 Allen Schaben

For two nights. That’s the standard.

Did you have another adult with you?

Yeah, I had Los Angeles Times photographer Allen Schaben.

That’s not sexy.

It was work, my friend.

[embed]Todd stars and narrates this trip around the Galactic Starcruiser.

One of the things that I appreciate about the LA Times is, unlike a lot of other outlets, they pay the five grand.

We paid the five grand. We could not accept the free trip.

Right. But no aspect of it is free? Maybe if they give you an hors d’oeuvre or Mickey Mouse ice cream? You could eat that, right?

I think we can accept media rates, but there was no media rate for the Galactic Starcruiser, and we could not accept a free $5,000 trip.

Young Todd with the video game Autoduel which according to wikipedia is “set in U.S. in 2030, where cars are a primary means of protection and defense, and the highways are dangerous stretches of land ruled by gangs and vigilantes with armed vehicles.”

The New York Times did it differently. The New York Times accepted the free trip. But they donated the cost of the trip to charity.

So yeah, for two people would have been about $5,000 and then hotels for the night before… it was close to eight grand.

Was it worth eight grand?

I would say I really want to go back. Like badly.

You liked it that much?

I like that much. And if I was in a position, where eight grand would not be detrimental to my financial health, I would want to go back. In like a second.

There is sooooo much more, hear it all by clicking the play button:

[embed]

Follow Todd on Twitter, on his website, and on Instagram.

Subscribe to the LA Times. Right now you can have a digital subscription for Six Months for a buck. Keep our man Todd employed.

Todd explains this autograph, just two he ever received, in the full podcast.

How great was Todd?!? You know who we’d party in Club 33 with (if they got us in)? Our Patrons

When you stoke us, you’re saying — Tony, Jordan, welcome back to the grind, have few Mickey Mouse ice creams.

So shout out to our Patreons: Nancy Rommelmann, Shawn Atlow, Matt Mills, Sean Wallace, Greg n Molli, Jamie Taylor, Mark Johnson, Keira Anne, Barney Greinke, Ben Welch, Jen Adams, Trevor Wilson, Bree Wilde, Dougie Gyro, Kristina up North , Rob n Carrie, Adam Tschorn and Ben from Down Unda.

Wanna support this fine podcast that features beautiful souls like Sara? Go to patreon.com/hearinLA and give till it hurts.

Wanna see your name on this crazy blog or hear your name on the podcast? Click the picture below of the clown using his phone in front of the Roosevelt Hotel.

(It’s cheaper than it has the right to be.)

[embed]Hear in LA is creating Podcasts | Patreon You will get a shout out on all of the podcasts that we create while you are a Patreon. And you will have your name (or…www.patreon.com

Because we fancy, we also have Angel investors. Donate $25 or more and you will get your name on the mythical website next to a number denoting how early you got in.

We are calling these generous friends Angel-enos.

Angelenos: #1 Ali Miller, #2 George Wright #3 Rita Joanne #4 Jason Sutter #5 Grant Haughton #6 Rob Baker #7 KevCheng #8 Brenda Garcia #9 John Griffiths #10 Lisa J.

[embed]Pay Anthony Pierce using PayPal.Me Go to paypal.me/busblog and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it’s easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account…paypal.me

Want to support us but you you’ve already blown your wad on Black Friday?

You can still help. Post your favorite episode on your facebook. OMG POST TWO. Tweet something nice about this. Any time you see me tweet about an episode, retweet it. And for god sake tell yr friends.

Tell them how Hear in LA is spelled and it’s on Apple Podcasts and Google and even Amazon.

Hear in LA is Produced by Tony Pierce and a man who asked the LA rains to stop for a few days and IT LISTENED: Jordan Katz

Editing, mixing, and music supervision by Jordan Katz

Songs by Orgone and Jordan Katz Special thanks to Cindy for creating the logo and Jen for inspiring this,

and good souls like Todd who know what they love and share it with the world. Thank you!

Todd with Johnny Rotten. Listen to the full podcast to hear how this went down.