We hit Disneyland!

     The day after I got home from my Oxford trip, my parents took the children to their first ever trip to Disneyland!  OK, ok, I talked myself into tagging along.  My mom said it was a ‘treat’, but I can’t quite remember what the rationale was for giving this particular treat to us at this particular time.  Anyway, I can’t say I’m always up for a good time, but Disneyland was too tempting to pass up.  So I pushed  my ‘to-do’ list for the day into some future mental space – where it could only trigger panic and anxiety sporadically, rather than constantly - and advised the children to do the same to their own lists.  Samuel wasn’t very good at it, though.  Throughout the day he kept saying he would rather be at school.  I’m a type-A and everything, but not even I could sympathize!

     It was, actually, unseasonably cool that day.  I don’t think it got above 60F.  Although I would have preferred the warmth, it also meant that people didn’t come to the park that day.  So it was fairly empty, and there was very little waiting time at each of the rides.

     It's true, Disneyland is magical.  We saw Mary Poppins and Burt walking around, and met Mickey Mouse - in his house, no less, but only after permission from Mickey’s agent, which was a bit surreal.  (Minnie has a separate house which is just next door.)  We got to eat at the Jolly Holiday café. 



Mary Poppins and Burt, in the flesh!

The Bleakley children with Mickey Mouse

The Jolly Holiday Café, which serves exquisite, um, grilled cheese sandwiches ....

     The parades are truly amazing!  They feature every Disney character you could possibly remember, along with ensembles from every story.  The costumes and floats are perfect!

The Lion King float and entourage

Belle, Cinderella, and Rapunzel

Rapunzel with her tower

Various Disney princesses, which look spookily like the ones in the movies

     The thing that struck me about Disneyland, though, is how old it is.  It started when my parents were children, and indeed, I think it has perhaps more to offer to that generation and my generation than it does to my own children.  My kids really don’t know much about Minnie Mouse or Donald Duck or Goofy or those little chipmunks (not to be confused with  The Three Chipmunks, but I have to say that my childhood entertainment experiences are blurring together a bit at this point). 

The kids in Toon-Town

     They don’t know much about the original Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, or Peter Pan – all of which feature in the ‘Storyland’ part of the park. I’m not even sure they know the songs from the original Cinderella, like Bippity Boppity Boo.  Of course, the original Disneyland would have been focused on those Disney productions from the 1950’s and 1960’s  

Georgie, Nellie and Verity in line for the Peter Pan ride

 

The clocktower in Storyland

     I was so excited by the It’s a Small World After All ride, but of course my children have never heard that song.  I was struck, too, by how many rides featured the animatronics of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s.  My dad loved the ‘Tiki-tiki Room’, which was a very amusing show of mechanized flowers which move in and out, up and down, and sing.  It all seemed very quaint to me, but my dad couldn’t get enough of it.

     We stayed until the grandparents couldn’t take it anymore.  They did very well, being on their feet all day, politely opting out of rides, and quietly buying whatever their grandkids asked for.  I think we left the park around 8pm or so, and dined on uncharacteristically delicious homemade tuna sandwiches on the way home.

Disneyland, March 2016