Disneyland Adventures: Part 1

Like an ache it begins: the longing to return to Disneyland. It had been nearly three years since I'd been, which I realize isn't actually a long time--but it feels like a long time to me. So earlier this month, I up and went to Disneyland for a magical one and a half days. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Maybe I could have spent longer there if I had waited, but I needed to go in May because, well, I had to ride Hyperspace Mountain and the original announcement said the retheming of Space Mountain would only be back during the month of May. And I knew that the whole retheming thing wasn't the greatest thing in the world (I did ride Ghost Galaxy a few years back, which uses the same projection system, and really wasn't the greatest), but I still had to ride this silly ride. I've had dreams of going on this ride, my longing for it has been that great.

And yes, Disneyland is much greater than Star Wars or even Space Mountain. I'm not saying that a Star Wars element is the most important thing about Disneyland. Certainly not. But I won't deny that I was unabashedly excited for this one ride--and so I made it my first ride on the first day.

Oh, my goodness, it did not disappoint. Sure, I can see why locals would tire of it. But that first ride? It was amazing and I smiled the whole time. A familiar ride, a ride in which I know every turn and every beat, became something new. You're not just seeing projections of ships; you really are in the middle of a battle, with a plot and everything. You're dodging this and aiming for that and there are not just ships but also shots ringing out through the air. And it's like this big game that you're playing in, like you're a child with all your toys again except that this time the toys are a whole attraction system of vehicles and lights and projections, etc.

I started off my day at Disneyland with a smile. I'd done the silly number one thing that I'd wanted to do, so I knew that nothing could go wrong and everything would be wonderful. That's how Disneyland is: it's a place where you decide that you're going to have a good time. And so whatever happens, you're riding that wave of enthusiasm. You smile at it all because you've decided that it's all going to make you smile.

Ah, Disney magic.