A DISNEYLAND MEMORY

                                                   

I was twenty-two, Lyndon B. Johnson was signing Medicare into being, and I was visiting California for the first time. In two weeks I experienced San Francisco, Monterey and Cannery Row (I'm a Steinbeck fan), driving the twisting Pacific Coast Highway, and my first earthquake in L.A.  Some of my fondest memories from that vacation are of Disneyland. Ten years previously, Walt Disney had opened Disneyland as the grail in the quest for an amusement park to interest both adults and children. I was a little bit of both then, and I enjoyed myself tremendously. 

I remember being impressed by the cleanliness of the place and the availability of food and souvenirs in every price range. I was treated to the price of admission, but I don’t remember it being as big a chunk of the average wage as it is today. I do remember some of the rides. I liked the Jungle Cruise, and wondered how they got the hippos to come up out of the water without damaging their works. I especially delighted by the Storybook Land Canal ride. Scenes from Disney movies were displayed in perfect miniature along the banks, and, if you suspended your disbelief, you would think you were gazing down on them from a slow-moving blimp.

The Matterhorn and the Submarine

I remember the Matterhorn ride as being a bit clunky - after all, I’d been on the Cyclone at Coney Island many, many times. The scaffolding and structure of the inside of the mountain was plainly visible, as though they just dropped the shell over the ride. I looked at a recent YouTube video of the ride and saw they’ve made it look more like you are really going through tunnels in the mountain. I do remember that we were in the front of the bobsled and got soaked in the end of the ride splash. That I didn’t like at all.

We’d been advised to always get on the left-hand line for any of the most popular rides, and in most cases it worked. The submarine ride was wonderful.  As with a lot of things from that time in my life, I don’t know what ever became of the slide, but I did take a great picture of the giant clam. Like all the rest of the underwater sights it wasn’t real, but it sure was clever. I’d have liked to go on that ride again that day to see what there was on other side of the boat but, left or right, the line was really too long for another go-round.

       

Never will I forget the Mad Tea Party ride. We sat in a tea cup, and we could make it go round and round, faster and faster.  Meanwhile the tea cups were on a platform that went round and round the other way, and then those platforms were on a bigger platform that went round and round and round and oh, did I feel sick. I almost lost my lunch there. I’ve since seen several similar rides at other amusement parks. I am not amused, and I steer clear of them. Round and round and round. Blaaaarg! Whew!

I’ve seen pictures of how Disneyland has grown since then, and how the concept has grown into several Disney parks around the world - all huge. I think none of them will ever have the quiet charm of the original. Distance may lend enchantment, but it really was an enchanting day for me.