PDA

View Full Version : The attraction of Disneyland



Ace
09-18-2001, 07:46 PM
Why is Disneyland so loved? Why do people like us come to this place to talk about a location that's not even real? In the words of the 7-up guy, the answer's easy: Disneyland takes us out of reality and puts us in a magical place where, if only for one day, we can forget our troubles and problems and just BE. No other theme park can come close to this, and maybe no other place on earth. The sheer genius of Walt Disney was poured straight into the park, not for money or profit, but for the love of what he did. As one imagineer said when Walt passed away, "We may never see his like again..." And I don't think we will...
Please use this post to talk about why Disneyland is so special to you, no matter what the reason is.

ripplededge
09-18-2001, 08:09 PM
Disneyland is special to me because of the people. Not so much the AP's or the Cast Members, but the people that haven't been there in months, or years. They are just so mesmerized by everything around them. From when they first saw Mickey when they were 5 or 6 (or however old they were). They don't care about cracked paint, or something an AP would whine about (not being mean to AP's). They are just amazed how time in Disneyland is frozen, and everything around them is perfect. Yes, I know I am not describing a typical guest. But then again, they are not the typical guest. Although, you would be surprised how many mesmerized guests I find in one day.

Ace
09-18-2001, 08:19 PM
my personal favorite thing is the theming.....every last detail is there to make you think you're not actually in anaheim, CA, but in a completely different world.

cemeinke
09-18-2001, 08:36 PM
For me there's a tremendous amount of nostalgia in Disneyland that instantly transports me back to those childhood moments of wonderous awe. I think it was a standard Birthday destination for me and all my friends at least through our 18th year.

My father worked for a subcontractor of Disney and brought home blueprints of the Park and some of the attractions like Haunted Mansion. I still remember him trying to explain to me that there were 2 elevators in the mansion, and thinking that he hasn't a clue what he's talking about.

Needless to say we were frequent guests, and my dad loving dixieland took me to See Louis Armstrong play on the Rivers of America. I remember standing in long lines just to ride the People Mover in the new (1967) Tomorrowland, and thinking how cool the rocket juets were because you got to goup a gantry tower just like the real astronauts. I also remember staring at the old fold out Disneyland maps in anxious expectation of "proposed" attraction, Space Mountain, or knowing that there was an apartment in New Orleans Square so someone could actually live there. How cool is that?

After being away from the Park for years, and now returning as an AP, the magic is still there for me. Granted I'm dissapointed by the new "new" tomorrowland, but I still walk it as a ghost tour and see the attractions I used to love. And I can't tell how joyfull I felt when I finally made it to the fireworks this summer and saw Tinkerbell descend from the Matterhorn, that definately brought a tear to my eye

Damn, I was just there 2 weeks ago and I miss it already

:crying:

beanpole
09-19-2001, 12:37 AM
What makes Disneyland so special? I've thought about that one for years. Everybody asks me why I continue to visit year after year, collect books about the park, write about it in my songs, and tirelessly scour the Web for information and attraction sound files.

The answer is: Walt Disney himself. Once in a blue moon, one individual has a creative vision that expresses something ineffable about our culture (and our species) with breathtaking completeness. Walt Disney was such a visionary. To visit Disneyland is to inhabit the mind of a very special person.

Of course, times have changed since Walt's heyday, along with the company's business tactics and the tastes of the guests, but the overriding idea of Disneyland remains solid at the core. And the idea that sprang forth from the mind of Walt Disney, in all of its corny, hokey, candy-striped glory, continues to delight guests of all ages and diverse cultural backgrounds. If that isn't special, then what is?

80S ERA
09-19-2001, 09:18 AM
What make Disneyland special for me?

Memories, Memories, Memories...

As a child and teenager, I had some of the most memorable days of my life in Disneyland. Looking at the park threw the eyes of a child gave me a feeling of completeness and hapiness that could not be achieved in the "outside world." The park seemed so huge and the outside world totally disappeared from sight and mind.

Nowadays, I find it difficult to have fun in the park through the eyes of an adult engineer. Instead of getting soaked into the atmosphere, I look at details like chipped paint and false perspective. Pretty sad.

I still continue to visit the park and collect classic Disneyland souvenirs so I could remind myself that the feeling I had experienced as a child was real, and not a dream. I think all of us want that special Disneyland feeling in our everyday lives in some sort of way.

violetdaisies
09-19-2001, 10:21 AM
Most people I know including myself find Disneyland special because it brings back all those wonderful childhood days. Like many others, my parents would bring us every summer to Disneyland. Of course..they were the most crowded and warmest days to go...but, I don't remember any of that. All I remember are wonderful smells, characters, mainstreet at night. Which brings me to my next point.

Yes, I agree that Disneyland can improve...chipped paint, missing lightbulbs etc., but honestly...do most children remember those things? Do those things ruin the wonderful fun they're having? Do they even notice them unless they hear some jaded adult pointing them out and constantly complaining about them?

I am certain that those children going to DL today will NOT remember that there was a sign that was peeling, or one of the lightbulbs on the carousel wasn't working.

What they will remember is visiting Mickey in his own house! They'll remember the "scary" dip on Pirates of the Carribean. They'll continue to hum "there's so much that we share...that it's time we're aware...it's a small world after all" until they annoy those around them to no end. They'll remember being really tired at the end of the day, and being carried by their Mom or Dad down a deserted mainstreet with sweet pepperment smells still wafting in the air, and the Maple Leaf rag playing (even they won't know the name of it). They'll remember riding the tram back to the parking garage with the cold air snapping at their face while they huddle between their parents.

That's what I remember. And I know my son will remember that too.

PirateoftheCaribbean
09-19-2001, 02:04 PM
Well said, violetdaisies. I, too remember never even looking at that peeling paint or that broken lightbulb. Current state can always be improved, and it does really gets me, now. But, all that should be important to a child on his/her magical visit is their visit to Mickey's House or their wild journey past the Snowman on the Matterhorn.

blusilva
09-24-2001, 04:34 PM
Disneyland is special to me because it symbolizes one man's dream. He wanted something and he made it happen. And it was magical and special because he believed in fantasy. A fantasy world where pirates still chased women and frontier forts still had guns and indians and a tomorrow where there were things you couldn't buy down the street.

I still go there because I can see the ghosts of these things. And it makes me happy that they haven't dismantled all of it yet.

DisneylandKid
09-24-2001, 06:18 PM
Can anyone accurately describe Disneyland? Nay I say. But I shall try nonetheless.

1. Theming - we do NOT feel as if you are in the middle of a highly populated California city, but rather in a turn of the century American town, or a New Orleans bayou, or a jungle, or a scene right out of a western film...ah...the list goes on. Every detail is thought of.

2. The thrill

3. The people

4. The Theming

5. The music.

6. The magic.

7. THE THEME