The Mouse, his House and me

I’m about to say something that divides many in terms of their opinion. More than should a sandwich be cut horizontally or the diagonal cross-cut. Even more than the question of Coke vs. Pepsi and even more controversial than whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable.

I love Disneyland.

There, I said it. This doesn’t come as much of a shock to many of my friends and family.

Fanatic is defined as, “A person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal.” To be fair, for the first 37 years of my life, I was just a fan but over the past 20 years, I may have achieved fanatic status. I’m not sure if I fall into that category but if the Mickey ears fit…

The reason I’m talking about this is because if all goes as well, I’ll be returning to see one of my favorite destinations this September. It’s been way too long since I last went. I was on the verge of planning a solo trip until a cousin said he’d go. I’ve had a handful of girlfriends over the past decade who didn’t have an interest in going or simply didn’t like Disneyland.

Growing up, we went to Disneyland a handful of times. With my dad being a park ranger, we’d go on a day designated as Federal Employee Day or something like that. What was great was that you’d get a button and with it you could go on any rides you wanted and as many times as you wished. It was a precursor to today’s version of one price allows you access to all rides. Basically, they offered it while the rest of the general public still used the ticket booklet.

The last time I went as a kid was with my family in 1985 or 1986. I qualified for the Junior Olympics in track, which were being held in Los Angeles. So, kind of a two birds, one stone type of thing.

The next time I’d go was 20 years ago with my then-wife, who was a big Disneyland fan. We were living in Hawaii at the time and during a visit to see friends and family in Boulder City, we went. It happened to be during Disneyland’s 50th anniversary. Needless to say, I was hooked.

Part of my frustration in terms of not having gone in nearly a decade is that it’s only a four-hour drive to Anaheim and the last six years I was in Hawaii, I still averaged a visit to the park at least once a year. I’ve gone with family, friends and girlfriends over the years and they have all been memorable and meaningful. But it really depends on who you go with. I went with one friend and she was the type who could not let herself just be a kid and it was kind of a buzzkill. Compare that to my last visit with a dear friend I graduated with and she was just as big of a kid as me and it was wonderful.

I was recently asked why I enjoy Disneyland so much. I kind of hit upon the reason in the above paragraph. Once I walk through those turnstiles, all my adult stresses are left at the gate and I can be a kid again. Whenever I go, I take a moment and stop at the beginning of Main Street, U.S.A. I see the castle ahead; I hear the music and laughter and smell the popcorn and candy. It’s my favorite spot.

I know what some of you are thinking. Yes, it’s expensive, crowded and over-commercialized. But I’m OK with that.

So do me a favor and keep your fingers crossed that I end up going. The Mouse and his House beckon me.