I grew up with Disneyland! And Disneyland grew up with me. It actually predates me by 1 year. I was first introduced to the park in 1956, but since I was a baby I don't remember my reaction at that time. I do remember frequent trips as a child. We lived an hour away (that was a long time ago. It's probably longer than that now! We lived in Ventura). My grandma lived 10 minutes away. Every now and then, my sister and I could wheedle a trip out of my dad by begging and we would be jubilant at our success when his answer went from "I don't think so" to "we'll see." That meant we'd be going to DL the next day!
My sister and I had birthdays in the same month, and if my parents said ok, instead of having a birthday party we would opt to take a friend to DL. We always wore dresses because people dressed up back then and my mom was a stickler for proper grooming
. I always looked forward to a giant Welch's grape juice and a Mickey bar (or 3). I loved Casa de Fritos. We always rode the Main St cars and trolleys at the end of the day to use up our 'A' tickets, I think they were. I usually had a few tickets left in my book anyway, but definitely no 'E's! It never, ever occurred to us back then to go more than one day in a row. It just wasn't done. I never heard of it until several years later!
We used to grow flowers and veggies in our backyard and sell them door-to-door in a wagon to earn the money to go to DL.
When my oldest kids (who are now 30 and 33) were little, I would take them to DL and stay at the Magic Lamp or the Magic Lantern motel (sister properties) on Katella. At that time, the main entrance was right across the street. I think we paid $25/night for a 2-bedroom suite with a kitchen and shared it with my sister and her boys!
My younger set of kids (10, 10, and 12) are spoiled because Mom has a lot more resources these days than when their older brother and sister were their ages. We usually stay onsite, which was just a wishful thought for the older set, and they've gotten to do character meals and so on.
Last summer, my oldest got married and my gift was a honeymoon to DLR. They stayed in the Fairytale Suite, had 2 meals at Club 33 and now they are happily addicted to Disneyland after a long interlude of not having been.
I have seen lots of changes--additions, deletions, makeovers, etc--but the essence of Disneyland has not changed and that's what I love most. I can't explain why Disneyland is almost a mystical experience for me and probably most of the people on this forum, but part of it is that it allows me to step back in time and relive my childhood and various times of my life in a way. It's just a certain...vibe?...that remains constant and gives me a sense of coming home. It's sort of like when you get a whiff of something that suddenly transports you to a specific happy moment.
