The Happiest Place on Earth

Disneyland will always hold a special place in my heart, my family's visits there are one of the many highlights of my childhood. While I may not be old enough to remember the original Captain EO I do remember the short lived Rocket Rods (which I always believed were called the High Speed PeopleMover), the submarines that were not Finding Nemo related, the Lion King Parade, The Festival of Fools, and a time when there was no Disney California Adventure or FASTPASS. I have a very love/hate relationship with California Adventure but that is a whole other story. In my opinion FASTPASS has completely screwed up the lines at Disneyland but again that is another story. Disneyland truly is one of the happiest places on Earth, nothing can beat Mickey Ice Cream Bars, seeing Belle in real life, or riding Space Mountain. I learned the other day that Space Mountain only achieves a maximum speed of 28 mph, the fastest roller coaster in the world, Furius Baco, achieves a maximum speed of 84 mph! The illusion of speed is created in Space Mountain by keeping the track barely visible. My sister and I recently visited Disneyland which prompted me to think of my fondest Disneyland memories.

Top 5 Disneyland Experiences:
(In Chronological Order)
1. A Rainy Day at Disneyland
When Becca and I were kids my family had season passes to Disneyland. Becca and I would wake up at 7 am on a Saturday morning and decide that we should go to Disneyland that day. This would lead us to go jump in bed with our parents and tell them our grand idea. On one Saturday we decided to go to Disneyland even though it was pouring rain when we left. Apparently no one goes to Disneyland when it rains because the place was empty! Almost all the rides were open even though it had been raining though Becca's favorite, Dumbo, was closed for part of the day. This trip began my dad and my tradition of line hopping in the Indiana Jones Ride when coming out of the exit. A rainy day at Disneyland is the ultimate fast pass!

2. Backstage at Disneyland
Somewhere between the age of 10 and 13 my family went to Disneyland with my friend Lilly and her sister and mom. The day was like any other day at Disneyland until we rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds at 11 at night. My mom, Lilly, and I got in the bobsleds, went up the hill, raced past Harold (yes the Abominable Snowman is officially named Harold), when all of a sudden our bobsled stopped. After sitting there for about 15 minutes we saw two crew members walking up the track towards us. They informed us that the ride was broken and that we were going to have to walk the rest of the way. Not only did we get to walk down the mountain but we got to go INSIDE of it too. Ever wonder what is inside the Matterhorn? Well from what I saw there are some control rooms, what looks like some offices, and a break room for cast members. I later learned that at the top of the mountain, above where the ride goes, there used to be half basketball court where the climbers would hang out. Since I am a complete Disney buff getting to go inside of the Matterhorn was extremely exciting even though in reality the stuff in there is not actually that spectacular.

3. Madrigals Go to Disneyland
During my senior year of high school the choir that I was a part of went to Disneyland to compete in a singing competition. There is no better way to experience Disneyland then with your friends and a handicap pass to skip lines. Unlike the FASTPASS system, which is good and bad, a handicap pass allows you to skip almost any line in the park. As a result we were able to ride way more rides then one typically could on a Saturday. I also got the opportunity to show just how much of a Disney nerd I am. The judges of the competition as well as some Disney performers put on a show for us in what used to be The Festival of Fools space. After they sang they asked the audience to identify all of the Disney songs they performed and of course I was the only one who knew the song "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Yep I am a bit of a Disney nerd.

4. Grad Nite 2010
Grad Nite at Disneyland will always be one of my favorite experiences at the Happiest Place on Earth. Yes it is frustrating that it takes an hour and a half just to get in the park because of the intense bag checks that security does but it is complete worth it. Dance floors all over Disneyland, cutting the line for Space Mountain (how did we not get kicked out?), bumping into friends from other schools, and the thrill of knowing that in a few short days I would not be a high school student anymore. Rides like Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Space Mountain still had extremely long lines but other rides like the Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were relatively short. My favorite moment of the night happened when some friends and I rode Pirates of the Caribbean. First we got yelled out for taking a picture right before we went down the first hill. Who knew that there was a crew member standing in the dark right before the drop? It freaked me out! Halfway through the ride one of my friends proclaimed that this was a boring ride. The Snow White ride is boring, how can someone call Pirates of the Caribbean boring??!! I love the pirate with the pigs especially the pig who's leg twitches and the scene at the end with the pirates shooting each other. When I was younger I was always scared that I was going to accidentally get shot by one of the pirates. While that night was exhausting it gave me with some incredible memories that I will probably never forget.

5. Becca's Birthday Celebration
This past week Becca and I went to Disneyland to celebrate her 17th birthday. Some memorable moments include: rediscovering the single rider line for the Indiana Jones ride (how could I forget about this?!), riding the Peter Pan ride for the first time in years (I forgot how amazing the effect is when you fly over London and then Neverland), and explaining to Becca why FASTPASS creates longer lines while we waited in line for almost 2 hours for Space Mountain. My favorite part of the visit was when Becca and I rode Its a Small World. I was a little mad that Becca did not want to watch Fantasmic! I love the nighttime spectacle on the Rivers of America especially the dancing monkey's on the rafts. But Becca wanted to ride It's a Small World and since it was her birthday celebration of course I complied. I love riding It's a Small World, if people in this world could get along like the dolls in that ride then our planet would be a much better place. As we came to the end of the ride we heard loud booming noises which turned out to be fireworks. The fireworks show was amazing as always but the neatest part was the projection of Disney movies on the facade of the ride during the fireworks. It was the perfect end to a fun day!