Originally Posted By Aussie Obsession All the posts have really nailed the reasons to love Disneyland - It's pure magic! Our first "family" trip was in 2003, and we returned again xmas 2005 especially for the 50th anniversary. Living in Australia it is extra difficult being a Disneyland tragic, and seeing you all visit regularly makes it harder. We plan to be back every 5 years at least to celebrate the 5 year milestones. Expensive for us yes, but worth every cent!
Originally Posted By skywilliams One thing I fogot to mention that I absolutely love about Disneyland is how most everyones attitudes change when they walk through those gates. Someone could have just cut in line at the gates and made you furious but as you enter the park all is forgiven. People tend to be happier, friendly, more understanding, and even more honest as they let the spirit of Disneyland sink in. If I lose something in the 'real' world I would give up on it but if it is lost in Disneyland I know there is a good chance someone will turn it in (like my nice digital camera a couple trips back that also had my passes in the case). It If only everyone acted the way they do at Disneyland all the time it would be such a wonderful world.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I agree that the biggest thing is just the magical way it makes you feel when you're there. There's no logic to it - you feel it, or you don't. As someone said, nothing there is real - and yet you feel a sort of heightened reality. Or alternately heightened and stylized reality. It's kind of like what Salieri says an "Amadeus" after seeing a particularly moving moment during one of Mozart's operas (paraphrasing): "It was a moment of truth only possible in the arena of purest artifice." Disneyland can give one many such moments in any given day. I also love the fact that there is not one, but seven or eight completely believable "worlds" that one can be immersed in, in such a compact space. But you asked for just one reason.
Originally Posted By Aussie Obsession skywilliams your point on the lost property is spot on. Last trip we arrived after a sleepless 14 hour flight and went straight to the park. Nearly straight away I lost my entrance pass - a 14 day pass which we can buy over here - and my wife convinced me to check lost and found after I'd given up hope at day's end. It was handed in, and needless to say the rest of the trip was extra special. It was a golden moment.
Originally Posted By Socrates How about imagination? Where else but a Disney park can you see pirates, ghosts, and talking birds? And (until recently) Mr. Lincoln! Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By dzy76 Disneyland is the greatest place on earth to me. I love walking through the gates and feeling like the 12 year old little girl I was when I first went. No worries, just pure plain magic and fun. It is magical because it started as an idea of a great man. People thought he was nuts to go with this plan. But 51 years later it is still going strong. He was a genious in this idea. I love that he built and believed others would love what he would love. Wow. Such faith. I love walking on the very spots he strolled and I feel his spirit still stolls with all of us.
Originally Posted By disneyseagirl I love the park because it allows me to escape reality. It is also a wonderful place because it was where my fiance proposed to me. Right in front of the castle. I go at least twice a year and I never get enough. I always shed a tear when it is time to leave
Originally Posted By mj9401 It is a place that just brings back so many happy memories. A place to forgot about the rest of the world and be a kid again. It truly is magical to me and I am glad I have been able to pass that magic on to my family. Now if they could just move it a little closer to Australia for us it would be even better LOL!! Hey Aussie Obsession, we were at DL in 03 and also went back for the 50th in December 05!
Originally Posted By love DL I am not sure that I can explain the way DL makes me feel. I went last April for the first time. I look forward everyday to reading about it, seeing pictures, and planning my next trip. I guess for me it was a place I could go with my family and have the best times of our lives. There was something for everyone. I did not once think about work or home. You truly escape reality and forget about it for the time being. And where else can you take the hubby and the kids and paly all day without getting bored or in a argument about something. DL is a great place and I look forward to many more trips in my future.
Originally Posted By Aussie Obsession mj9401 it's good to hear of australians as obsessed as us. You must also be as broke as us too! Disneyland down under would be perfect for us, I reckon the north of NSW. But then, it just wouldn't be the same as the original!!!
Originally Posted By mj9401 ^^Yep definitely lighter in the pockets after the last trip and I agree that even though I would like to skip the long plane trip it just wouldn't be the same as the original.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 It's where my husband and I go to escape. It's far enough from work that clients don't expect us to immediately answer their demands. Our kids know it's our special place and that they are to phone us only in a true emergency. We wear matching shirts, eat way too much, hold hands, ride an attraction and then sit on a bench and eat a hot dog and people watch. There is rarely a script to our day. Our adult kids join us about once a year and we have fun as a family as we always did but it's become "our" place for DH and myself. Another thing is it's a great place to do or not do. In other words you can have a super energized day or a relaxing laid back day, or some of both Something to fit every mood. That's why we choose Disneyland above all other places.
Originally Posted By Pollyana Disneyland....one man's dream for a place where families could laugh and play TOGETHER. We shared many quality days with our two sons and now they can share the same time with their families. It's still magical, even though we are now "seniors". That pixie dust continues to sprinkle on us and will for many years to come!
Originally Posted By SDmom It is a chance to live the "dream". As a poor kid from Kansas we watched the Sunday night movie with Tink and the castle and thought it was magic. Now that I live in San Diego, I can take my kids several times a year.
Originally Posted By darrinv Like many others where do I start to describe my favorite reasons? As a kid I grew up in Brea (about 6 miles north of Anaheim). Back in the 70’s Orange County wasn’t as crowded as it is today, and we would site out on our front porch during the summer and watch the fireworks from D-Land, and my heart longed to be there. I don’t remember going a lot as a kid but my dad worked for Rockwell and Hugh’s Aircraft and we’d always look forward to the nights D-Land closed (during the off season) and companies would rent out the park for the evening. We’d go during these times and it seemed like we were the only ones in the park. I can remember walking from the car (in the old parking lot) towards the front gates and seeing the monorail and I’d jump up and down and clamp my hands and be so excited and take off full speed to get into the park. Well many years have passed and I live over 600 miles away now, but I still make it back at least once a year to see family and I always make sure I have at least one day at Disneyland. And though DCA takes up the old parking lot now, as soon as I get close enough to hear the sounds, smell the aromas and see the monorail, I’m transported back in time in and the kid in me jumps out and then this almost 40 year old will jump and down and clamp his hands, and be so excited. However, the nice thing though about today instead of 30+ years ago is I have a 15 year old, a 13 year old and a 9 year old who look at me and say, “My dad is still a kidâ€. Then they jump up and down clamp their hands and we all run full speed to the gates yellowing “I’m at Disneyland†What is the #1 reason I love D-Land, memories of the past as a kid growing up in it’s backyard and creating new memories with my kids. There is no better place to be a kid no matter how old you are.
Originally Posted By alexbook >>One thing I fogot to mention that I absolutely love about Disneyland is how most everyones attitudes change when they walk through those gates.<< This is *the* big thing for me. Unlike some others on LP, I was never a big Disney fan. Okay, I saw some of the movies and we went to DL a few times when I was a kid, and I enjoy a roller-coaster as much as the next guy, but I can't say I really thought much about DL one way or the other until I started working in the resort. I'd worked for Compass Books' parent company in San Francisco, and I just thought I was going to work for their Anaheim store. Yeah, it was in "Downtown Disney", but I figured it was just a shopping mall near Disneyland. Almost from the start, I noticed a big difference in the customers from other stores I'd worked in: Almost everybody was in a good mood. They were on vacation. They were at Disneyland! Yes, we get annoying customers. Yes, it's a job like any other job. Yes, the pay is low and the standards are high. But the people here are just so gosh-darned *happy* that I can't help being happy, too. (Well, most of the time, anyway. ;-P)
Originally Posted By BrerFoxx It's where my husband and I celbrated beginning our life together. . . (Honeymoon). . .
