This is a question that’s asked a lot of folks, isn’t it? What’s your favorite thing about the Disneyland Resort? We’re guilty of asking that question of every guest we have on our Tales From The Mouse House – Disneyland Podcast, and typically, we get answers like, “Pirates Of The Caribbean”, or “Small World” and even “Corn Dogs”. All very nice answers but if you really take time to consider the question, you may come up with something more.
Many of you know my story: I didn’t discover the Magic of Disneyland until late in life – 2007. And I was born in 1964! So yeah, one could say, late to the party. BUT, I made it to the party! So for me, the question posited earlier has a dual-layer answer. Yes, I LOVE Pirates, Small World and, well, I think you know how I feel about CORN DOGS (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM!!), but for me, there’s a much deeper answer. My favorite thing about Disneyland is…Disneyland.
Ok, let me get deep for a moment. Disneyland is many things to many people. It’s an amusement park that’s ever changing and yes, very fun. Disneyland puts the thrill in “thrill rides”, and then some. But if you really think about it, it’s really just a theme park, isn’t it? Roller coaster, check. Carousel, check. Water rides, check. Over priced amusement park foods…check. So, in that regard, what’s the difference between Disneyland and Six Flags? The answer of course is…Disneyland. That’s what Disneyland has that no other theme park in the WORLD has or will ever have. The magic of Disneyland is…Disneyland.
When Walt sparked the idea of creating a place for families to be together and have fun, it wasn’t just so folks could spend the day on rides. No, it was so families of the day, and 100 years in the future could share the same thing –experience. There’s a feeling, no, more like an emotion, that most people feel when they enter the gates to Disneyland. As odd as it sounds at a thrill park, (at least for me) that feeling/emotion is relaxed. I feel relaxed when I walk into Disneyland. Every ounce of concern, irritation, anger, disappointment that I harbor in my everyday life melts away when I’m at the Disneyland Resort. I don’t think that was an accident. I think Walt was very conscience of that fact when he designed the place, and that’s what he strived to achieve when he opened Disneyland in 1955. No other place in the world can offer me that same feeling, even when I’m not there. When, in my “ordinary life”, I find myself getting overly stressed about something, I’ll close my eyes and visualize Disneyland and I smile. Disneyland is a feeling, an experience. I challenge all of you NOT to feel something on a very emotional level when you visit the Disneyland Resort. ~~~ Al
Preach, brotha!!! I'm right there with you.
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