Disneyland:
If you go to Disneyland, California Adventure, Disney World, Disney Sea, Disney Paris, or anything else that Disney owns and operates, and you don't have a good time, it's your own damn fault. I don't care if you are 5 or 50, there is something for everyone at every single one of these parks.
I've lived within 50 miles of the original park in Anaheim all of my life, and I love it. Can't get enough. I visited the park hundreds of times when I was a kid. I was fascinated with everything about the place growing up. Was never a big fan of the parades, the quality of which, I kind of miss now. Like the Main Street Electrical Parade for example. That was another LP that I nearly wore out. From what I can recall, I think Pirates of the Caribbean was my favorite ride growing up until I was tall enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. BTRR is still my favorite ride in the park, though Space Mountain is quite a bit of fun once you get past the pesky queue. Star Tours got a little old once you'd ridden it a couple of times, and Indy was just never worth the wait.
Still I went. My Dad got my Brother and I Annual Passes (the cool ones with no blackout dates) my senior year in High School, so we went for Christmas (apparently), and all that we could, every chance we got. That was when Disneyland became more to me than an amusement park. Oh, sure, I was still plenty amused. But people watching - usually while waiting for someone was a fantastic past-time in the park. Listening to the partial conversation of someone walking by, or watching a group of people approach the hub from as soon as they came into view at the head of Main street. Sometimes, the people watching was better than standing in line for a ride. So good, in fact, that it didn't matter if we got on rides or not - watching a child throw a tantrum, and the parents try to save face was more fun than riding the teacups. Listening to two girls cackle "Oh my God"s at each other about some guy that was checking them out was better than Small World. And by far the best, and most memorable - Indiana Jones had just opened, and they were still distributing those little glyph translation cards so you could interpret the glyphs on the walls as you enter the temple. Of course, we'd already been on it like a hundred times, so we already knew what they all said. This couple in front of us had a serious PDA issue, and they were getting on my nerves. We came around this corner, and all snuggled up next to each other, they held the card up to share in the translation. In the deepest, most bellowing voice I could muster, I read the inscription from the wall, "Only the blind shall see" Immediately freaked out, they quickly darted glances in every direction, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. My Brother makes a good straight-man. I could barely hold it in. Who knows if they figured it was me or not, but it never seemed like it. But that was more fun than the ride.
There was a period of time where I didn't go at all. My wife and I had our first date there, like 15 years ago. But after that, I didn't go much. Thankfully, a little over a year ago, my wife insisted that we go for her Birthday, and get ourselves annual passes. The park has now become something more than amusement. Sure, we go for date nights, special events, take friends when they are in from out of town, etc. but most of the fun to me, has been discovering the little things about the park that seem to be lost to everyone else.
My favorite thing about the park is the little details. I know it's been there for 55 years, and I know it wasn't always this way, but I like that every nook and cranny that you can get into has some detail in it that just 'makes' it. That completes the illusion. That fully removes you from your daily life. It is those details that so many other places lack, and which so complete the atmosphere. You can't find those anywhere else. Though, I did like it a little bit more when you couldn't see anything outside of the park while inside.
Recently though, I have really been getting into the history of the park. The fact that it has been there for 55 years, and there is that much attention to detail, while astounding in and of itself has led to making keeping track of that history, and those little details even more entertaining. I can't remember the year it was when I first came to the park, but I do remember, and enjoy recalling, for instance, when Splash Mountain was not there, or the Nature's Wilderness train was still sitting, defunct, on the banks of the Rivers of America. I love seeing the progress of the park, in all of its successes, and all of its failures. How many of you remember when McDonald's invaded Frontierland? But knowing the little things about the park makes each visit more magical. Studying, and researching, and learning about the facts, and tid-bits of the ideas and inspiration, and process that went into building a ride, or what used to be there, and then going there, and seeing it with that new fascination and wonder, and knowing more than the average Joe about why the old man coming to see how my eggs are is a big deal. Despite the monster that it has become, I think Walt would have appreciated that those marks of history are still everywhere around the park, and might give a smile if I told him why I loved his park so much. And so, it is Disneyland that makes me who I am.
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