Disney Day- Main St

In walking into the front gates of Disneyland you are immediately transported to a magical place... at least that's what the advertising should say. I'm afraid it's true. Put out of your mind the crying children, dropped icecreams and parental arguments. The cinematic music of Fantasia and all of the Disney films played in the streets (almost) covers them. Every day is sunny and happy at Disneyland.

The heart of Disneyland is "Main St USA". It is like something out of the movie Pleasantville, except busier. All the best cultural aspects from the 1900s to the 1960s are there, it's as if none of the wars never happened. Walk with me down Main St...

Everywhere you look there are bright colours and happy children. Most of them are wearing their best "dress-up" costumes (because really, where else would you wear your tiara and tulle all day if you're under the age of 8? I ran a serious risk of envying them) A smiling ice cream vendor in a paper hat, striped shirt and bow tie offers you a selection of traditional flavours. Banners hang from the candy store nearby where you can mint your own penny with a picture of Mickey, Goofy, Donald or any of the Disney Princesses. You turn to the sound of music getting louder and its a brass band in striped shirts walking by. Stripes were all the rage. A horse and painted wagon waits patiently for people to get on and gives way to a tram that shuffles past. The one thing that was real were the trees. Being Springtime, they were all in full pink blossoms and matched in perfectly.

Main St ends at a roundabout planted with pansies and low flowers. In the centre is a bronze Statute of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse holding hands and waving. No getting away from Uncle Walt.

There is a fantastic thing in Disneyland. Instead of waiting all day in lines to get on a ride, you go to all the most popular ones, grab a ticket telling you a timeframe to come back ie: between 2.00 and 3.00 and when you get back, you are in the "express" line. Super. Bec and I decided to belt around the park and get all our tickets straight up and then we could plan our day around it. There was just one small hitch. It could have been my imagination but even with a map and each section of them park on a theme; ie: Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland etc it seemed as though all roads lead to souvenier shops and quite often we got lost. We found bathrooms when we didn't want them and couldn't find them when we decided it might be a timely idea.

We packed so much into the day I cannot remember it precisely chronologically. Besides, I never said that I would tell you how this year happened. Charles Dickens I'm not, but like our young man in Great Expectations, I'll tell the story of this year how I remember it. Firstly, Tomorrowland, which fittingly I must leave until tomorrow.