Post #563481 by TabooDan on Thu, Nov 4, 2010 4:11 PM

Well, would love to answer you PePe but I got stuck in the lineup outside for over 2 HOURS and didn't get to get in!! It was unbelievable!! I should have tried to get on the guest list but didn't think about it until after.

I arrived early, around 6:20pm, already there was long line up that snaked around the building, down the stairs and into the side parking lot. I guess no matter what the venue, if you offer free admission, live bands and DJ's spinning you are going to get a turn out! The day before Halloween also ensured a huge turn out! I heard over 4,200 people on Facebook said they were going!! I could swear I was the only person there to actually see the building and the decor! I was the only one not wearing a costume as well! I kept thinking what the hell was I doing there??!!

It also sucked because there was line up coming from the other way for the people on the Guest List and that was long itself. Oh....and it started pouring down rain after being in line about 45 minutes :(

By the time I got to about 15' from the door I had been there for about 2 and a half hours. Some girls ahead of me said that the doorman said it would be another 2-3 hours as they reached capacity! I couldn't believe it! Well, I will just have to come back another time. With all those people inside it would probably be hard to get good pictures and talk to who I wanted to anyway so I figured it was time to hit the road. An hour drive back home now!

All this being said, the Waldorf has finally gotten it right. They are doing events, booking shows, opening the rooms, new restaurants, new menus, and really focused on showing themselves off and talking about their past. This is truly a landmark worth seeing and finally all and come here and enjoy.

Here is a shot of some of the snaking line up looking from the sidewalk down to the lower level:

They were even selling Taco's out of the truck in the back to all the people in line! Now that's a long line!!

Here's a shot of the entrance area where the two line ups met:

The whole exterior has been refinished and looks pretty good. The front has windows all along and you can now see into the building where the cafe and lobby area is. On the wall just inside I saw this Tiki which I have not seen at the Waldorf before:

This is probably a new one, like it looks, but I will look into it. It was also hard to see good detail from outside. As the Waldorf got older, alot of items were kept in storage because they didn't want their original relics, mostly hand carved and one of a kind, to get broken or stolen. I'm hoping a few of these have been pulled out now and are on display.

Here is a PNG style shield just inside the doorway and off to the right (sorry bad photos!):

Did not see this one at the Waldorf before either. There were a few other carvings that I could see but I just couldn't get any clear photos. Soon!

Here's a shot of their new exterior sign that has been redone:

The font is really cool and the sign does look good. I did like the old sign better but this sign still looks pretty good. The addition of the moon and stars at the top is cool. Gotta get a daytime shot.

Another thing that helped keep the Waldorf alive this long was the Liquor Store. The Waldorf has a small Liquor store on the side of the building and they always had pretty good sales from it. With the Reno, they have kept the liquor Store open and it now has a very cool wall sign in front of it:

Also a nice sign above the doorway as well:

The Logo is really cool and I am very glad they have used the their 'Logo' Mask and Tiki's from the Waldorf's old menus and paper work! It looks great!!
All the posters that featured this event had this logo at the top. It was very good to see this vintage art still being used. Hopefully they run with this logo and keep using it. Who knows, they may even start printing items with it on. I'll talk to them about that one!!

More info. to come!!!

Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2010-11-04 16:15 ]