Disneyland – Why Go Back?
May
9th, 2009
The
talks about a trip to Disneyland in June never got beyond that –
just talks. For a variety
of reasons, the time just wasn’t right and I would be the first one
to admit it. But when we
got together last weekend for a family birthday gathering and the trip
was formally ruled out of the plan, I must admit that something inside
me felt some degree of disappointment.
Why
the disappointment? The
trips are terribly expensive and corporate Disney is a money grab
looking to pick your pockets at every turn even in an economy where
money is tight. The trips are physically demanding especially for those of us
who are now in the middle of their 5th decade here on
earth. A tired body
sometimes leads to a certain amount of irritability and that certainly
plays a part for almost everyone who goes to Disneyland.
Those with young children certainly have additional obstacles
to conquer.
So
back to the question “why do I keep wanting to go back”? I didn’t used to be this way.
My wife was the Disney fanatic – not me. But as years pass, perspectives change and at this stage of
my life where the end is much closer than the beginning and I reflect
on my past trips to Disneyland I see it now for the way ol’ Walt
intended, a special place of magic that transcends time and memories.
“Why go back?” Here
are some reasons.
Today
is May 9th, my sister Joyce’s 64th birthday.
Joyce passed away 3 years ago.
There are so many wonderful memories of her because her joy in
life was her family. She
excelled at being a mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and great aunt.
I think of her on every trip Disneyland because of the family
trip we made in October 2002. I have pictures of her at various places in Disneyland with
her family around her. For
me, these places have become shrines and when I pass by them today, a
rush of wonderful memories come over me.
At one point during the trip in 2002, she got lost from the
group, got a little scared, and cried.
A few years later, we got separated from her, got a little
scared. and cried. A
month or two after her passing, Nancy, Janeen, Tammy, Megan, and Eric
had me come with them a quick trip to Disneyland.
For a couple of days, sadness passed, and smiles returned.
That trip in June 2006 was so sweet.
So,
for me, the number one reason for going back to Disneyland is you will
return home, whether you realize it or not, with a pocketful of
special memories. Cherish
them.
I
went to Disneyland with my parents when I was a child though I have to
admit my memory of these trips isn’t very good.
When I walk down Main Street today, I know I walked down that
same street with my mom and dad when I was too young to even remember.
One special street spans almost 50 years of a family.
How amazing it that? I don’t know how else to explain it and
it probably isn’t the right word, but there is something
“supernatural” about Disneyland.
This is my second reason for going back to Disneyland. Maybe this is where the magic sets in. You feel things there that simply cannot be explained.
Up there in the Disneyland sky, I still see myself in those
buckets. I wasn’t
alone. Mom and dad were
there. The Disney people
seem to forever try to look for a reason to remove Great Moments with
Mr. Lincoln – “Dammit you idiots, I sat in this theater with my
mom and dad.” A lot of
people feel this way.
I
have little memory of being with my brother Harvey at Disneyland but I
do have a memory of waiting what seemed like forever to get on the
Matterhorn Bobsleds. I
know mom and dad wouldn’t go near something like that. Harv
was there. He would get
on something like that in a heartbeat and take his scared little
brother with him. Harv
passed away going on 9 years ago I guess.
He never got to see his grandkids.
A few years ago I crammed myself into a dark little submarine,
perhaps it was the same submarine where I sat next to my brother many
years ago, and looked over at Tammy and her kids and got that special
sense that I was looking at them through my brother’s eyes.
I get that feeling a lot and it’s been privilege each and
every time. My brother
never got the chance the walk through Disneyland with his daughter and
grandkids. I get to do it
for him. Talk about
magic.
So
now we have the opportunity for special memories sprinkled with some
supernatural magic as reasons for going back to Disneyland.
Is there more? Certainly.
Everyday
life can be a strain sometimes. People’s
lives can be stripped down and divided in countless ways.
Sometimes the raising of a family is what brings couples to the
sharing of a common ground. For my wife Lisa and I, the raising a family is coming near
the end and we’ve certainly had some setbacks in the last couple of
years. We love each other
very much but as she sits in front of the computer playing a game and
I’m watching a game on TV, we seem very far apart.
Oh, but wait……when things aren’t going so well, or things
seem routine and maybe even a little boring, nothing will get us
stirred up as planning the next trip to Disneyland (or even Disney
World). This is a common
ground we share in, a passion that runs deep. She was a Disney person long before I was.
Only in recent years have I begun to realize the power of a
mouse. We made our first
trips to Disneyland, with just ourselves, last November and December.
We took the plunge and became annual pass holders.
Despite a few days of bad weather, those trips were so special.
She whipped me in Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters and Toy
Story Mania every time. I
was beside her on the Tower of Terror when she was about to do
something her best instincts said not to do.
We enjoyed countless relaxing trips around the park on the
Disneyland Railroad and had shared wonderful meals at the Carnation
Café, French Market, and Wine Country Trattoria.
We both had been to Disneyland with different people in our
lives in the past but we now have made 8 or 9 trips in the 11 years we
have been married. There
is something very reassuring about that.
I love sharing Disneyland memories with my family and I
certainly love sharing them with my wife (now if I could just keep her
out of the gift shops).
So
now I have my three special reasons for going back to Disneyland –
creating special memories, a sense of magic, and the sharing of some
very special common ground. So
what’s next – do you want to have some FUN?
Disneyland
is a game and when you play it right it’s so much fun.
Do you remember the day when you could put the little maps they
give you when you enter the park away and you stood at the Main Street
hub and had it all figured out? You
knew exactly where to go and in what order.
Talk about a sense of accomplishment.
You are the Disneyland master.
Have you ever been to Disneyland when the park first opens and
you are able to knock out something like Indiana Jones, Splash
Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Finding Nemo,
Matterhorn Bobsleds, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Thunder Mountain
Railroad all in the first three hours?
Then you sit down for lunch, exhausted, with a smile on your
face, and pat yourself on the back.
Now that is fun.
Watching
kids smile. Your own
kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, other kids, just watching kids smile
is contagious. You
recognize the smiles because you know you had that same smile a
generation or two earlier. (Just be prepared for the mandatory child meltdown or
frustrated parent every once in a while).
Details.
Walt knew how to do things right.
I don’t care who you are.
You can go through Disneyland every single day for a year and
always find something that you hadn’t seen before.
I can go on Pirates, get off, get right back on again, and find
new things to see that I missed 15 minutes earlier.
Inside Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, or Small World,
do you really realize that you are essentially in a warehouse that is
not even in the park? Amazing
details.
Poking
the giant. Disney is a
corporate juggernaut but its kind of fun to walk around Disneyland and
say “They blew it here….they should take (fill in the blank) out
and put in (fill in the blank).”
Disneyland allows you to become your own theme park tycoon
because, of course, you always have a better idea for improvement and
bulldozing and replacing things is easy because its not your money.
And of course there's always the fun in trying to beat the system and
save money on a trip to Disneyland. You can't win this one of
course but you continually try.
Community.
I’ve got a pretty nice list here of reasons of why I like to
go back to Disneyland. I
guess the final reason would be that if you took a couple of hours to
scour the internet, you would find people who have lists just like
mine. There are
Disneyland web pages, forums, photo & video collection, blogs,
podcasts all created by people who think Disneyland is someplace
special.
So
now my list is complete. Let’s
review:
Creating
special memories – check
Supernatural
magic – check
Sharing
a special common ground – check
Just
plain fun – check
Watching
kids (of all ages) smile – check
All
the amazing details – check
Poking
fun at an easy target – check
And
a sense of community – check
Other
than making fun of his company, I think Walt would be proud.
He may even have a laugh over that.