11:03 a.m. - 2005-01-06
Disneyland, Part Four
On Friday, the fourth day, we headed back to Disneyland. We didn’t go quite as early in the morning that day, but we tackled a lot of rides. We decided that it would be a good day to go on a lot of the rides in Fantasyland, so we headed over in that general direction. We went on Mr. Toad, and were horrified to discover that you ended up in HELL at the end of it. We were underwhelmed by Snow White, and enjoyed Alice in Wonderland. The Storyland Canal Boats were restful but not thrilling, and the Casey Jr. Circus Train was not really built to be enjoyed by anyone larger than four feet tall. The carousel was fun but totally brutal on my sunburn, since I had to sit on a horse exactly where the worst of the burn was.
The steam boat was neat, and the canoes were ok but nothing we couldn’t do at home. We both really, really liked the Haunted Mansion. The Matterhorn was fun, but it was no Big Thunder. Winnie the Pooh was remarkably like all the other rides in Fantasyland. Peter Pan was surprisingly fun.
Dumbo was a totally lame ride, but the lineup gave us one of the most hilarious moments of the trip. Chatting in line, as people tend to do, we discovered that the girl two people in front of us was from Calgary! We asked her if she went to U of C, and that caused the guy in between to pipe up. “Oh, is that the University of Canada?”
Yes. We only have one. And you can only major in dog sleds and igloos.
After a day of riding, tempered again by a break back at the hotel for a nap and lunch, we decided we had to face what we’d been trying to avoid. I tried to stall by going on the Teacups (the Raisin declined to join me, since she would have barfed all over the teacup, so I went solo), but it was right next door and we couldn’t ignore it any longer.
So we went on It’s a Small World.
Oh my GOD, that ride was endless. It felt like we were ACTUALLY going around the world, and it probably would have been faster to do that. Naturally, the only Canadian was a Mountie, but we figured that at least we were represented. But the song. Oh god, the song. It still randomly sticks in my head. It was so awful that I called my sister on my cell phone mid ride to make her suffer along with us, since she had informed me I had to go on the ride. (Having a cell phone in Disneyland kind of rules, because I could periodically call people back home and be like, “hi! I’m in Disneyland! RIGHT NOW! Hear that behind me? That’s DISNEYLAND!” I’m sure they all hated it, but I had fun.)
It took us a while to recover from that ride, and we had to have a fortifying snack. Fortunately, not too long after we escaped the creepy dolls, it was time for the fireworks!
Those of you who know me know that I am totally fanatical about fireworks. I hated them when I was a kid – they scared the crap out of me – but I absolutely love them now. I had high hopes for the Disneyland fireworks.
Rightfully so. They were the best fireworks I’ve ever seen. We were sitting on Main Street, and I’d bought a glowing Belle rose from one of the stalls, and as we sat on the curb looking up at the castle, I was happier than I’ve ever been in my life.
The music started up, and at the time, the theme of the fireworks was “Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars.” So the fireworks kick in, and it’s this little kid wishing he never had to leave this magical place. And then they start talking about how dreams can come true, and you just have to make a wish and believe.
So I’m sitting there, looking up at the fireworks exploding in the sky, and my favourite music is playing, and one of my two favourite people in the whole world is sitting next to me, and they’re talking about the magic in the stars and what you can accomplish if you just believe. And it’s all this medley of Disney music, and the castle is all lit up and pretty, and people, I am not made of stone.
That’s right. The fireworks made me cry. But it was just so pretty, and so perfect, and as I sat there in my Mickey ears (oh, I didn’t mention those, did I? I got them on the first day. Blue, with my name in yellow. I clipped them on with hair clips and wore them the entire time we were there, and I love them and I still pet them occasionally when I am sad), holding my glowing red rose, I did not have a single care in the entire world.
It was during those fireworks that I realised that I had been completely swept away by the magic of Disneyland. It was then that I totally believed that it was the Happiest Place on Earth. Because it was then that I could honestly forget about every bad thing that had ever happened to me.
