Fantasyland

As you head down Main St USA towards the roundabout you see Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse holding hands. However, your attention is caught by something grander. The Disneyland castle rises up behind it in a very dramatic fashion, with an open drawbridge leading into the keep. Was it Tinkerbell's bells tinkling as I looked at it or just my imagination???

The guardhouse on one side has been utilised as a crystal shop. In there you can purchase collectable glass and crystal ornaments with the Disney characters lasered inside them in 3D leadlight images. I was particularly taken with one of Sleeping Beauty with the Prince in a waltz position that when placed on an uplight, was very simple and pretty.

It was then that I discovered the weird thing about Disneyland.

The staff at Disneyland are kooky. The perfomers and character actors are wonderfully flawless, always in character. In Fantasyland, Bec and I passed by the evil (but very beautiful) witch from Snow White on the street. Little girls were tugging her skirt and begging for her autograph. She gave it imperiously, hardly breaking stride but she did give them her attention. She didn't try to scare them but was icy, elegant and snobbish as a good witch should be, "Yes, yes, how lovely you are here. Now, I really must be on my way." The little girls thought she was great, they got their autographs. Bec and I thought she was fabulous.

However, the staff at the park in the shops and food areas are another matter. I watched for a few minutes at the parade later in the day, a young guy slumped over the counter of a nearby souvenier shop mouthing the words of the parade songs with eyes completely glazed over. 100% zombie. Disney-brainwashed. Then there are the old dears who run the candy stores on Main St (who I think) still think it's 1950, with the number of brass bands and ice cream vendors that go by each day. They were the least worrying to us. They were just permanently cheerful. If I'd lived through 1950 I'd probably want to stay there too.

Then there are the Disney fanatics. I asked the guy in the crystal shop to bring down the ornament off its light that took my fancy. I didn't looked at it carefully (the shop was dark) and I mistakenly called it "Belle and the Prince". The guy at the shop looked at me scathingly, "It's Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and the Prince, NOT Beauty and the Beast (Prince)". The thing is, he really cared that I should know the difference. Hmmm. Okey dokey.

I thanked him for the correction and slowly backed out of there without making a purchase, which is a shame 'cause I really liked it. Disney nutters. If I spent all day listening to the music and working in Fantasyland I'd probably take up residence mentally too.

In Fantasyland Bec did comment more than once that she was surprised the big tough lawyer had not outgrown her own "inner princess". I was delighted to find a shop full of costumes (for ages 8 and under) consisting mostly of glitter and tulle and bounced with joy when I found out that even though were were going to miss the evening parade (we had to be back on the shuttle), there was an afternoon parade that we could see. The parade was the big highlight of my day. Australians don't really do pagentry (but then again I've never been to the Royal Easter show in Sydney). I have absolutely loved the detail that goes into every professional musical I've seen and Disneyland was no exception.

I took a heap of photos and there were a series of giant floats. Mickey and Minnie were on a Disney castle float with all their friends. The Alice in Wonderland one was a giant table and chairs (Mad Hatter's Tea party). The table was a trampoline base and the Hatter was bouncing on it all the way down the street. The 7 dwarves skipped down the road followed by a float with the Disney Princesses (Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty).

The little Mermaid got her own float as did Beauty and the Beast, who waltzed on their float together. The parade ended with the Lion King float, with African animal characters on stilts. There were acrobats on ropes twirling and doing sustained poses 20 feet in the air in concert with each other as the float moved down the street. The Lion King characters looking incredibly life-like and the whole parade sang "Circle of Life" to a massive orchestration to finish.

Any residual embarrassment one might have about being in Disneyland at that point was completely gone. Having my photo taken next to, or in a set of giant spinning teacups was possible. Taking a ride on the Matterhorn was entirely probable.

The Matterhorn is a ride around and through another fake mountain covered in (you guessed it) fake snow. It zoomed around and like the ride we took in Frontierland, Bec was cooler than I was and again, I had fun by the end of it. It's pride that mostly gets me on those things. I refuse to be less courageous than a 6 year old.

In Fantasyland Disney takes its Princesses pretty seriously. Princesses have a Royal Schedule posted up in Fantasyland. I cracked up laughing and took a photo of what they were up to that day. We were determined to make it back to Fantasyland in time to have our photos taken with some of them but found the line was closed. No fear, we dodged Security and boosted ourselves over a low wall (which a Princess would never do) to watch them.

Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and Belle from Beauty and the Beast were all there. Ariel the Little Mermaid wasn't (I guess she's not too mobile out of water). The actresses cast in the roles looked the parts perfectly, like they had stepped out of the animated movies into human life themselves. It was remarkable what good casting, acting, makeup and costume can do. They were all giving gentle instruction to a bunch of young girls on the ways of the Princesses. Having insufficient power in my arms to hold myself up long enough on the wall to find out what exactly are the ways of the Princesses, how to become one to this date remains a mystery.

This little interlude reminded me a bit of something that happened earlier in the day at Tomorrowland. Bec and I bought some Cokes and I wandered off with my camera. Or more to the point, the last thing Bec heard was me shouting, "That's the Star Wars theme music!! I have to find out what's going on!" and dashing away. On a nearby stage a tall and good-looking Asian-American guy was wearing a Jedi costume doing spectacular martial arts moves with a plastic lightsaber. Now, the fact that he was still able to impress with a plastic lightsaber was remarkable in itself. The presence and athleticism he conveyed was terrific (it helped that his lightsaber made those swishy movie- sound effects when he moved it). Anyway, he was conducting Jedi class and getting children from the audience to become his Paduan learners.

I was entranced. I wanted to stay and become a Jedi. Was it a Jedi mind trick? Bec snorted and said she thought it had more to do with the instructor's charisma. She dragged me away to the Buzz Lightyear ride to focus me on defeating the Evil Emperor Zurg. That's what good mates do.

We left ourselves about ½ hr at the end of our day (about 5pm) to buy souveniers, having skimmed through most of the shops during the day. It was nowhere near enough time. The lineup for embroidered mouse ears was too long and I agonised over my lack of shopping time to buy gifts for my sister's children until I made enquiries and found they had all the same stuff at the Disney California Adventure Park (where I planned to go but ended up being prevented from going the next day- Joanne don't worry I still have a plan for Disney souveniers).

I helped Bec organise her souveniers and we strolled out of the Park around sunset. Was it time to rejoin the grownup world?



























I'm not sure if I need to explain these photos. I did something naughty in Disneyland. Bec and I got on the Snow White ride and didn't find it scary at all. So we screamed at random points in the dark for the benefit of the children in the carriages behind us to "enhance" their experience.









By the end of that day I felt I had danced in glass slippers, had tea with the Mad Hatter, eaten a magic apple, gone to a Prince's ball, visited an enchanted castle, slept through Time, tamed a Beast and sung from the depths of the ocean.

A magical day. I looked forward to living Happily Ever After.