Fifty Years and Five Days of Disneyland
Burbank, California—It's hard to say when it was decided to schedule a vacation at Disneyland. A year of pictures dominated by apes, lions and burning flesh—and those were just the kids' movies—probably had something to do with it. In any case, it was time to celebrate Disneyland's golden anniversary in style.
Buyer's remorse set in as soon as the trip was confirmed. What could one possibly do for five days and four nights at Disneyland without becoming a complete geek? It started to seem overindulgent.
The doubt stopped when I woke up in Disneyland. After scrambled eggs and coffee at the Grand Californian's Storytellers Cafe, and a brisk morning walk through Downtown Disney to Disneyland's entrance, hundreds of us—couples, single dads and moms, families, clusters of friends—stood in line at the turnstiles an hour before the park opened, and suddenly it made sense.
Disneyland is an idea that goes deep into one's soul. It transforms adults into children and children into wide-eyed players in a benevolent universe. It stands for competence and optimism and it is part of a proud, middle class American culture. What could one do in five days at Disneyland? The mind was reeling—and the legs were halfway to the Matterhorn.
By the time it was over, fireworks were dancing, children's laughter was ringing and the smell of waffle cones lingered in the wind. That such a place can exist in today's times is practically a miracle—yet it's definitely not; a contingent of men and women work day and night to nurture the vision of the businessman who created it.
Their efforts are evident throughout the park, from pressure-washed streets to smiling people opening doors, greeting guests with a chipper "good morning" and bustling around like an army of merry soldiers marching purposefully to their posts. Many in Disneyland's cast are older, and the gray hairs complement a youthful kingdom that runs on scrupulous attention to detail, patience and fortitude.
Disneyland has its flaws and some look for them to the exclusion of its wonders. Let them. The rest of us are having the time of our lives.
You can tell by the expression on people's faces. Not merely in the eyes of a child, though that's something to see. It's in a weary voice suddenly lifted higher by the anticipation of sliding down a mountain or meeting Mickey Mouse or living in a world where princesses dance with princes. As Walt Disney invented the park primarily for adults, Disneyland proves that when man is given a neat, orderly playground, he is generally neat, orderly—and he tends to be happy.
The movies, like the good will, are everywhere, from the concept of Disneyland as a motion picture set with cast members, rehearsed performances and a castle for Sleeping Beauty to the lesser known features for Aladdin, Cinderella and Song of the South.
At Disneyland, movies promise a new adventure: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Toy Story, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Peter Pan.
Aside from the new Monsters, Inc. ride at Disney's California Adventure, more movie-themed attractions are coming soon: a water-based platform for Finding Nemo (under construction where the submarines used to be) and Disney's third highest-grossing motion picture of all time, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, is based on the theme park's 16-minute journey through New Orleans—the last one personally supervised Walt Disney. Disney's purchase of Pixar means storytelling may be further integrated into this national treasure—more intimate than Disney World.
It's already impossible to stroll along the Hollywood Boulevard in Disney's California Adventure without bumping into Woody from Toy Story or Frozone from The Incredibles and, while it may have all started with a cartoon mouse in the movie house, it is worth remembering that the mouse started with a man who was proud enough to put his name on it. Fifty years later, let us be happy Disneyland is still there.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Close-Up: 50 Years of Disneyland—Q&A with Tim O'Day
• Disneyland from A to Z
RELATED LINKS
• Disneyland Official Web Site
• Book: Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort 2006
Buyer's remorse set in as soon as the trip was confirmed. What could one possibly do for five days and four nights at Disneyland without becoming a complete geek? It started to seem overindulgent.
The doubt stopped when I woke up in Disneyland. After scrambled eggs and coffee at the Grand Californian's Storytellers Cafe, and a brisk morning walk through Downtown Disney to Disneyland's entrance, hundreds of us—couples, single dads and moms, families, clusters of friends—stood in line at the turnstiles an hour before the park opened, and suddenly it made sense.
Disneyland is an idea that goes deep into one's soul. It transforms adults into children and children into wide-eyed players in a benevolent universe. It stands for competence and optimism and it is part of a proud, middle class American culture. What could one do in five days at Disneyland? The mind was reeling—and the legs were halfway to the Matterhorn.
By the time it was over, fireworks were dancing, children's laughter was ringing and the smell of waffle cones lingered in the wind. That such a place can exist in today's times is practically a miracle—yet it's definitely not; a contingent of men and women work day and night to nurture the vision of the businessman who created it.
Their efforts are evident throughout the park, from pressure-washed streets to smiling people opening doors, greeting guests with a chipper "good morning" and bustling around like an army of merry soldiers marching purposefully to their posts. Many in Disneyland's cast are older, and the gray hairs complement a youthful kingdom that runs on scrupulous attention to detail, patience and fortitude.
Disneyland has its flaws and some look for them to the exclusion of its wonders. Let them. The rest of us are having the time of our lives.
You can tell by the expression on people's faces. Not merely in the eyes of a child, though that's something to see. It's in a weary voice suddenly lifted higher by the anticipation of sliding down a mountain or meeting Mickey Mouse or living in a world where princesses dance with princes. As Walt Disney invented the park primarily for adults, Disneyland proves that when man is given a neat, orderly playground, he is generally neat, orderly—and he tends to be happy.
The movies, like the good will, are everywhere, from the concept of Disneyland as a motion picture set with cast members, rehearsed performances and a castle for Sleeping Beauty to the lesser known features for Aladdin, Cinderella and Song of the South.
At Disneyland, movies promise a new adventure: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Toy Story, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Peter Pan.
Aside from the new Monsters, Inc. ride at Disney's California Adventure, more movie-themed attractions are coming soon: a water-based platform for Finding Nemo (under construction where the submarines used to be) and Disney's third highest-grossing motion picture of all time, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, is based on the theme park's 16-minute journey through New Orleans—the last one personally supervised Walt Disney. Disney's purchase of Pixar means storytelling may be further integrated into this national treasure—more intimate than Disney World.
It's already impossible to stroll along the Hollywood Boulevard in Disney's California Adventure without bumping into Woody from Toy Story or Frozone from The Incredibles and, while it may have all started with a cartoon mouse in the movie house, it is worth remembering that the mouse started with a man who was proud enough to put his name on it. Fifty years later, let us be happy Disneyland is still there.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Close-Up: 50 Years of Disneyland—Q&A with Tim O'Day
• Disneyland from A to Z
RELATED LINKS
• Disneyland Official Web Site
• Book: Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort 2006
