Little Man of Disneyland

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Have you ever seen the Little Man of Disneyland? I had heard about this book and his house at Disneyland, but we had never tried to find him. I started thinking that the kids were too old to appreciate such things, but when I showed them the picture from Disneyland and the book on Amazon, they were all in. “Order it, Mom!” So I did.

Little Golden Books

I have loved Little Golden Books since I was a kid. I had several from my childhood, but I started collecting them in earnest when I was in my 20s. Now, we have 46 in our collection, some of which are very well-loved. At the beginning, I always looked for ones that had a copyright date from before I was born so that I knew they were “vintage,” at least to me. Little Man of Disneyland has a copyright date of 1955, and reads as a precursor to the opening of the park in July of that same year, probably published to drum up public interest. The original publication of the book wasn’t by Little Golden Books, but it was a similar style of book and has the same illustrations.

Patrick Begorra’s House

In the book, Patrick Begorra gets an eviction notice from the Fab Five when they inform him that the orange grove he’s been living in will be turned into Disneyland. He is upset of course, but they change his mind by showing him the plans for this wonderful park. He happily watches the progress of the construction until he moves into his new home at the end. The book doesn’t really tell you where that is, but challenges you to find it. Apparently, there was a house for Patrick near the Jungle Cruise, but it was cemented over and eventually, the tree it was in was taken out by the early 2000s.

Finding Patrick

During the D23 Expo in 2015, fans could purchase a reprinted copy of the book (now published as a Little Golden Book) and actually find Patrick’s house again in Adventureland. His new digs look almost exactly like his original house from the book. The day I visited was St. Patrick’s Day, and Patrick was celebrating with a shamrock decoration outside his door. You can find Patrick’s house on a tree to the right of the entrance to the Indiana Jones ride. It is a bit hidden from the walkway and protected by a rail, so you almost have to be looking for it to find it, exactly as Patrick wanted it!