Well, what can one say about Disneyland? It's total sensory overload, for one thing. The size, the colours, the noise, the thousands of other tourists walking around, the constant exhortations to "have a magical day", the relentless cheerfulness of the staff - it all combines to make one feel slightly overwhelmed. Today was very hot and sunny too - probably about 30 degrees - which added to the overpowering of the senses. Having said that, we had a whale of a time, going on a lot of rides and taking a lot of pictures.
One ride, the It's a Small World Canal Boat Ride, was the apotheosis of the Disneyland experience for me. Walt Disney must have been on crack when he dreamed it up. It is basically a canal boat ride through a series of tunnels containing mechanised dolls dancing to a loop of "It's A Small World" that sounds like it was recorded by a bunch of coked up Oompa Loompas. After about the 6th rendition I was ready to stab Walt through the heart with a Mickey Mouse letter opener ($11.95 at the gift shop). Luckily for Walt, he is already dead. Apart from being aurally assaulted for the duration of the ride, it was enjoyable watching the detailed mechanised dolls do their thing. Quite extraordinary.
That's the thing about Disneyland: it is easy to become jaded about the crass commercialism of the place (it is, after all, designed to part tourists from their money at every step) but you have to admire the attention to detail and there were moments of enchantment and wonder. The evening fireworks show was magnificent and rivalled the show put on by the City of Sydney for New Year's Eve. We did indeed have a magical day. It was also an expensive day, but hey, you can't put a price on magic.
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