We approach the formidable entrance gates, across the promenade of engraved cobblestones, a large mountain becomes visible in the distance and the spires of a castle reach into the warm sunny afternoon. The sign overhead proclaims “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy”. Our hearts are beating with childlike enthusiasm and our palms sweaty with excitement.
Entering this world of fantasy, our senses come alive with the buttery and sweet smells of popcorn and waffles filled with ice cream, the laughs and joyous shrieks of adults and children. The street ahead of us is buzzing with street performers and wide-eyed visitors. We have entered Main Street USA and the expansive fantasy world of Disneyland, California. The stresses and jaded cynicism of modern living are nowhere to be felt and have been replaced with the fascination that is unique to Disneyland.
Disneyland California has been an iconic symbol of childhood, innocence and imagination since its opening in July of 1955. Because of its continued operation for over 55 years, it is a holiday institution that now spans 3 generations. An interesting trend has developed where adults, once children who visited Disneyland many years previously, are visiting the park, reliving childhood memories and experiencing the bliss that only comes from childhood enthusiasm. It’s a place that is no longer simply for families and children, but for “Big Kids” too.
Since its inception, the park has had several transformations and upgrades. But my wife and I are here to re-experience the attractions that welcomed us both almost 30 years earlier. As we walk along Main Street, ahead of us are pirates, spaceships and adventure.
First stop, mouth-watering BBQ of “fall off the bone” ribs, complete with coleslaw, beans and cornbread at the Big Thunder Ranch. We meet a couple from Nevada who are visiting the park, celebrating her 50th birthday. We all talk about the last time we visited the park and what we remembered most. The one thing I notice from all of us, are our smiles.
As with every attraction, Disneyland spares no expense creating ambience through touch, sight and sound. The original Disney concept was a park that was a living movie set. Even now, the onsite staff are called “cast members” and design staff are known as “imagineers”.
Our first stop is the Haunted Mansion. As we enter, the doors close and the ceiling seems to drop away as we enter the bowels of what can only be described as the underworld of darkness. Ghosts are projected on the walls and are flying around the room. As our decent stops, we enter our chariots for a trip around what is undoubtly the imagination of Tim Burton and his gangly fantasies of gruesome characters.
We leave the mansion; enter the warm sunlight, and are serenaded by a New Orleans brass band. Within a few steps, we are in the French quarter of the New Orleans Square. The ornate french architecture, street cafes and the Mark Twain river boat paddling by, immediately puts you a thousand mile away. The ability to transport you to a different place and time is truly the wonder of Disneyland.
We hitch a water-drenched ride at Splash Mountain, cruise on a jungle boat safari complete with wild elephants and exotic tribesmen in Adventureland only to be whisked away into the future on the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland and experience weightlessness and warp speed in Space Mountain. All we could say as we exited the ride, with our big smiles, is “awesome”!
The Mad Tea Party, tea cup ride in Fantasyland, has been a staple of Disneyland since its beginning and a visit to Disneyland wouldn’t be complete without it. We finish our evening with a bobsled ride on Matterhorn Mountain; which uses an optical illusion called “forced perspective” to give the mountain an illusion of being larger than it actually is. I learned from another couple, which visits Disneyland regularly, that there is a hidden full sized basketball court inside the mountain. Apparently the park is sprinkled with hidden treasures only known or seen by a selected few, such as the Tinkerbell dressing room at the top of Matterhorn.
The evening finale was a parade along Main Street featuring old and new Disney characters. Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, the Mad Hatter and Alice, the chipmunks, along with some of the newer characters, like Woody from Toy Story, all take center stage.
Time really has no relevance in Disneyland and the surprise was how quickly the entire day had vanished. The magic of Disneyland had struck again. Over 30 years since our last visit, we were both “beaming inside”. The day was filled with feelings of exhilaration and childlike joy. We could have easily spent another day or two exploring the Disney properties. As we made our way to the exit, we ran into a fellow whose father worked directly with Walt Disney, designing murals in the park. He sported his father’s Disney painted hardhat. It was an auspicious meeting. Without knowing it, he is an icon himself of how future generations reach into the past and make Disneyland part of their present and future.
The wonder of Disneyland still lives and the children visiting today, will revisit in another 20 or 30 years later and re-experience the marvel and joy they experienced, but as “Big Kids”. That really is magic.
On a practical note, check the Disneyland website before going; check for closures. Unfortunately, The Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World were closed for renovations during our visit. There is an iphone app for Disneyland that displays how long the line-ups are. And most important, visit in off-season, if you can. We didn’t experience any substantial lineups during our visit in the first week in November and it was fantastic to have the park almost to ourselves.