What in Disneyland makes you feel like a child?

[mystic_path]

My friend and I were having this discussion and it was so fun that I had to share it. You know when you get to Disneyland and you step under the entrance sign that says "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy" and you lose sense of all the world and you turn into a child and start skipping down Main Street?

What is it about Disneyland that makes you feel like a child again and not have any care in the world? I know that seeing the reaction of your children having fun is one thing. But what else is there that takes you to a totally different world?

For me I have to say its first thing in the morning waiting at the gates to get in surrounded by so many excited people who are all thinking the same thing... what a great day this is gonna be with the music, entertainment, food, rides and smells, and knowing that nothing is going to go wrong.

 

[awdfan]

For me I have to say its first thing in the morning waiting at the gates to get in surrounded by so many excited people who are all thinking the same thing... what a great day this is gonna be with the music, entertainment, food, rides and smells, and knowing that nothing is going to go wrong.

Same exact thing for me--waiting in line in the morning. Then walking under that little bridge area, right underneath the train, and stepping onto Main Street. My first time back to the park 2 years ago, I started crying because it brought back so many emotions of my childhood and youth. Oh and watching the Main Street Electrical Parade (I know, I know, it's not called that anymore, but that's what I know it as) because that was my favorite way to end the day when I was a kid.

 

[Mike_M]

Walking through the tunnel connecting the ticket booths and Main Street always brings me into the magic. I see the posters and I start to get excited and then I come out onto Main Street and suddenly I'm 10 again and the outside world disapears.

Something else that really brings out the kid in me is disney hats. Last year while my DS and DW were getting Mickey/Minnie ears for themselves, I got a Goofy hat (The one shapped like a huge baseball cap and looks like the top half of his head). This is almost the exact same hat I had worn back around '87 as a kid. On that trip years ago, I remember running up to Goofy as he was about to go backstage and in my best Goofy voice I said "Hiya Goofy" and he actually said "Hiya Goofy" back to me. I've never had a Disney character before or since actually speak to me before so needless to say, I was thrilled. Flash forward to 2007 and I'm walking around the park in my brand new Goofy hat and I'm feeling like 1987 all over again. Goofy didn't talk to me this past trip, but the Pirate band on TS island congradulated me on slaying the half man / half dog beast from the land of Disney across the river and wearing it's head as a trophy.

 

[mystic_path]

the Pirate band on TS island congradulated me on slaying the half man / half dog beast from the land of Disney across the river and wearing it's head as a trophy.

Thats hilarious

 

[Caseydilla]

The teacups make me feel like a kid again. I always remember them more than any other ride when I went as a child and love to go on them every time I visit as an adult now.

 

[rentayenta]

IASW makes me feel like a kid again. So does the Matterhorn and the silhouette shop on Main St. The Mickey balloons and the Alice in Wonderland ride also bring back magical memories! Basically anything in the park that has not been super changed.

 

[Sally_fan]

I don't think that I can put my finger on it but I'll try. lol From the minute I get in line until the minute the trip ends....I leave the "real world" behind. It's the music, the characters, the smells, the food, & alllll of the wonderful little details that Disney pays to everything! I love the excitement that builds in my tummy as I wait in line to enter the parks or for most of the rides. Can't wait until October!

 

[jernysgirl]

The music.... everywhere. I love all the music in the park, whether it is for the parades, fireworks, rides or atmosphere. I could just stand on Main Street and listen to the music all day with my eyes closed and just have thousands of memories flood across me of trips past. I think my favorite music is probably Fantasmic though. I remember being an older kid, sitting there waiting for Fantasmic on the cobblestone bricks for hours and being miserable, cold, hungry and tired. And then the show started and I fell in love. Now, everytime I hear the music it definitely brings tears to my eyes. It just all seems so special.

I also enjoy smelling the churros..

And standing in line for my kids to get the characters autographs. This was the first trip for DS1, and second for DS2. With DS2's first trip he was to young to do characters, but this time we were ready! Standing in line waiting for all of them was definitely a blast from the past!

 

[mariezp]

For me it starts with the fact that I don't have to make any really big decisions for our entire vacation.... well, unless you count which ride to ride and which place we will eat. As soon as I enter the gates I am totally immersed in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Everything is so beautiful. People are happier. Food tastes better. Disneyland truely does have a magic to it!

 

[Ride Junkie]

Running through the castle, and watching the electrical parade.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, the sad thing is....I was never care-free as a child. I had fun, but there was always stress. My parents divorced when I was 4, but should have done so before they had either me or my younger brother. Things were bad from the beginning of my life. Without the safety worries, there were money worries. And I loved my mom very much, she was a wonderful person, but there was something about her that made people want to take care of her (even if only emotionally), and I do (sorry, mom) feel she put too much on me too young.

So there's nowhere where I feel like a carefree child, it just can't happen in my being, because it never happened AS a child.

BUT!!!!! I do get the GOOD feelings of my childhood in two spots. Small World makes me incredibly happy. I don't know if I went on it multiple times during trips, but I do know that I got the album at some point, and I used to listen to it over and over. After I turned 30 my stepmom told me how crazy I drove her when she was my 27 year old new stepmom who hated that song... The other thing that makes me have good-childhood feelings is the Electrical Parade. It makes my eyes and ears so happy.

So even though I can't answer as wholeheartedly and easily as others, those are the things at DLR that make me as close as I can get to feeling like a carefree child.



I wanted to add that the whole of Disneyland, as it was then, reminds me of a wonderful moment of our lives. Because although I do think I had been there once before with my dad (who always stayed at motel 6), the time I went with my mom was an excellent moment! It was a total surprise, planned with her then-husband for ages, and we did it up. Disneyland Hotel, room service, the whole thing. That might have been the wealthiest I ever felt as a kid (I was constantly shown how non-wealthy we were, b/c I went to school in a wealthy district, and everyone was constantly going to Tahoe to ski, they had inground pools, they lived "on the hill", and so on and so forth, and that's just in elementary school!), so it was VERY exciting.

Hmm, might have to talk that out with hubby, b/c he was talking to me about *spending money on trips* vs *spending money on things for the apartment* just last night, and this might be an interesting insight to discuss....



OK, go back to being lighthearted!

 

[pixiewings71]

I never did Disney as a kid. Not the Land or the World, my family couldn't afford it. The first time I went I was 21, it was amazing.....and I've been back a few times since, mostly this past year because of our AP's and the fact that we can leave Friday night, drive for 6 hours (while the kids sleep) and have all of Saturday and part of Sunday to forget the "real world" exists. For me DL is a place to relax and enjoy myself, no one fights, no one argues, it's fun and it's relaxing and I like it.

 

[mommy2kande]

Main Street. I love all the lands and rides and foods. But Main Street just does it for me. I get so excited as soon as I step foot on it.

 

[stopher1]

Specifically - riding the MS Trolley, or the Ominbus. My grandpa loved to do that, and any time I'm on one of those, it takes me back nearly 30 years to when we would do that together.

More generally - Adventureland and Tom Sawyer Island. They remind me a lot of watching the True-Life films on TV that Walt loved so much - and made us little boys want to go out and hunt game, or shoot the bad guys and defend the fort! My brother and I had such fun playing on that island and in the caves.

 

[Avery's mom]

For me, it's the end of the night when we head out of the park. We're all exhausted, our feet hurt, we're cold, but walking down Main St. at the end of a fun-filled day at DL is what makes me feel most like a kid.

Now when I go with my daughter, we always turn around right around where the Christmas tree is and look back down Main St. and say goodnight to the park. She and I have done this every time now (first trip was at 19 mos and now she's 5). I hope that when she's my age, she'll remember our little good night ritual and it will make her feel like a kid again.

 

[mystic_path]

Its amazing what we all love.

When I was at work tonight I couldnt believe I left out one of my favorite things. That is being at Disneyland at night and wandering Fantasyland. Something about being around the hub and in Fantasyland at night is just seriously magical.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

For me it's reliving my childhood basically. I feel like a kid again, because I'm remembering all of those wonderful memories.

Disneyland offers magic unlike any other theme park. It's not just thrill rides. They offer experiences that even the most mature adult will enjoy. When you see grown men (and women) walking around with a Goofy hat, you know they are feeling like a big kid!

 

[GregC]

Anything and Everything...especially the Disneyland Railroad going through the Grand Canyon scene or the Haunted Mansion!

 

[mystic_path]

Yeah the rail road is awesome

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Awesome thread!

For me, everything about Disneyland reminds me of being a kid. I remember once, when I was about 5 or 6, my parents put me in the car, told me to take a nap and that we were going to breakfast and they would wake me up when we got there. I woke up and lo and behold, we were at Disneyland! I remember looking up and seeing the parking lot and knowing exactly where we were. Everytime I go now, I always remember that day..

The Electrical Parade (especially the music!) makes me remember my childhood the most. I can't remember going on specific rides as a kid (except POTC and BTMRR because I remember I was terrified), but the EP and walking down Main Street really make me fall in love with the place all over again..