Wednesday, June 15, 2005
TXPTLMS #4: Disneyland
Top Ten Places That Leave Me Slackjawed
Although I grew up in California, Disneyland was at the wrong end of the state for my family to visit more than once a year (if that) on IBM Family Day. Still, it was a trip I looked forward to ... a lot.
Frontier Village was the theme park I grew up with in San Jose. Then Marriott's Great America (now Paramount's Great America) came along and FV was gone not too long after that. Even with Great America nearby, and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk not too far away (I have vague memories of Santa's Village in Scotts Valley), Disneyland was still the place to go.
I'm sure there are marketing analysis on why Disneyland causes the slackjaw effect, but for me it's because the park was more than just rides ... the rides were destinations in themselves. You want to ride bumper cars or a carousel, but you want to go to The Haunted Mansion or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This was in part, I'm sure, due to the fact that there were travel posters for the various attractions as you entered the park.
Then, park map in hand, you'd plan out your route (actually, you began planning out your route on the 10-hour car ride down to Anaheim, but you'd go through it again once you got the map). And then you were off, hurrying to wait in lines that snaked endlessly toward the final turnstile. Fortunately Disneyland did a good job of keeping you distracted as the lines moved forward 1-4 riders at a time, especially in the long-wait lines at The Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain (this has become high art with rides like Star Tours and The Indiana Jones Adventure).
I've been to Walt Disney World, and I can understand if you're from the south or east coast and the Magic Kingdom there enslackulates your jaw. I think the Fantasyland rides there are maybe better than those in California. But The Haunted Mansion isn't as good. The ride part of Pirates of the Caribbean isn't as good, either; although the queue area is better.
Disneyland is billed as the "Happiest Place on Earth" and the marketing hype mostly holds up. I'm anxiously awaiting the day Dina and I take Phil there for the first time. Will it awaken our childhood memories again? See it afresh through his eyes? Or will we balk at the prices and the lines and the heat and other people's rude brats? We've managed to keep the kvetching to a minimum since we've visited as adults. I think there's hope Disneyland will stay on the list of places that leave me slackjawed for years to come.
Although I grew up in California, Disneyland was at the wrong end of the state for my family to visit more than once a year (if that) on IBM Family Day. Still, it was a trip I looked forward to ... a lot.
Frontier Village was the theme park I grew up with in San Jose. Then Marriott's Great America (now Paramount's Great America) came along and FV was gone not too long after that. Even with Great America nearby, and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk not too far away (I have vague memories of Santa's Village in Scotts Valley), Disneyland was still the place to go.
I'm sure there are marketing analysis on why Disneyland causes the slackjaw effect, but for me it's because the park was more than just rides ... the rides were destinations in themselves. You want to ride bumper cars or a carousel, but you want to go to The Haunted Mansion or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This was in part, I'm sure, due to the fact that there were travel posters for the various attractions as you entered the park.
Then, park map in hand, you'd plan out your route (actually, you began planning out your route on the 10-hour car ride down to Anaheim, but you'd go through it again once you got the map). And then you were off, hurrying to wait in lines that snaked endlessly toward the final turnstile. Fortunately Disneyland did a good job of keeping you distracted as the lines moved forward 1-4 riders at a time, especially in the long-wait lines at The Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain (this has become high art with rides like Star Tours and The Indiana Jones Adventure).
I've been to Walt Disney World, and I can understand if you're from the south or east coast and the Magic Kingdom there enslackulates your jaw. I think the Fantasyland rides there are maybe better than those in California. But The Haunted Mansion isn't as good. The ride part of Pirates of the Caribbean isn't as good, either; although the queue area is better.
Disneyland is billed as the "Happiest Place on Earth" and the marketing hype mostly holds up. I'm anxiously awaiting the day Dina and I take Phil there for the first time. Will it awaken our childhood memories again? See it afresh through his eyes? Or will we balk at the prices and the lines and the heat and other people's rude brats? We've managed to keep the kvetching to a minimum since we've visited as adults. I think there's hope Disneyland will stay on the list of places that leave me slackjawed for years to come.
Mikesell
2 Snarky Remarks:
Being a hardcore Disney addict, I'll agree with you wholeheartedly... We're up in the Northwest, and we *still* end up down in Orlando every 12 to 18 months... :-)
Thomas "Duffbert" Duff, at 6:29 AM
As one who has been to all 4 world wide Disney parks (CA, FL, France and Japan), they are all unique and all have left me slackjawed! I can't wait for Hong Kong!
