My first Disney Experience.

Disney world is only one month away exactly as I begin this post  I thought i might take advantage of this time to put down some thoughts about the attractions and the events that surround my frist trip to Disneyland. Maybe, its time to reflect on Disney trips in the past and anticipate the upcoming adventure in November. I've spent a lot of time commenting on restaurants and events.  I have even spent some time on the attractions in each of the parks.  For me, the enjoyment of this blog is reliving these experiences as I write about them and perhaps give my readers an insight on what to expect when they get the chance to visit.  Maybe along the way I get the chance to provide a tip or too that would make my readers trip to Disney as magical as I have found them to be.  I have no doubt that a single visitor can have a wonderful time at Disney world and I by no means wish to discourage someone that wants to go on their own,  But I have found the Magic of Disney to be most intense, most emotional and most enjoyable when I have had at least some portion of family around me to share the moments.  Up to now, of course my favorite trip has been the 2010 trip I took with Bonnie at the beginning of the Christmas holidays but that was not my first Disney experience.

That is not to say that the others have not been spectacular and special.  I remember the first time we wet to explore Disneyland.   My uncle Bud had gone to school at the University of Illinois to be come a  Veterinarian.  The Air force had helped pay for his school.  So when he graduated he was stationed in Sacramento California to care for the Dogs and other animals that the Air force had there.  My father had been working for the rail road and had just changed jobs to work where he would spend most of his working career for Marathon oil Company at the refinery in nearby Robinson Illinois. Between the Rail road and the Refinery My father had some time off before he started working at marathon. We packed everything up and went on a two week car trip to Sacramento.  (If you bear with me We will get to the part where We go to Disneyland.) We had a great time on the road. My first big impression as a 8 year old boy was how big the state of Kansas was. It seem to my young eyes that one part of Kansas was similar to all the other parts of Kansas.  I remember seeing the Mountains for the first time as we traveled I 70 through to Denver.  I think the interstate travels all the way through the Rockies now but at that point I don't think they had completed construction of the road, So we turned north.  We visited Pikes Peak, driving all the way up the switch back road that goes to the top. Parts of that road have curves that if you miss them you will just fall into oblivion. It was the middle of summer and it was cold at the top of the mountain.  Then we continued our trip northward to Cheyenne Wyoming where we picked up I 80 and we started our trip westward again.  We stopped at the  great Salt Lake It was an amazing almost unearthly place to this boy from Illinois.  I use to have a big salt crystal from the great Salt lake. Then we visited the Biggest Little City in the world, Reno Nevada. I can still remember seeing the sign. The road took we took into California went through the Sierra  Nevada's at Donner's pass,  it was cold again.  For crying out loud, this was California its suppose to be warm.  Eventually We arrived at Sacramento.  We had a wonderful visit with my Uncle and his family. We visited the California wine country before it had become such a producer of fine wines and enjoyed the sights around Sacramento. After a week with my Uncle we returned home. From our home in Palestine Illinois it took a good 3 days to travel out there and back.

TWA 707 Jet.  It was one of the biggest in the sky.

Frontier 727.  These Hung around forever.

The next year came around and my father and mother, who had had such a wonderful time in California last time, decided that the family vacation this year would be Sacramento again. This time In order to cut back on travel time and to add some additional adventure to the trip Mom and Dad had decided to fly to California. This was a really big deal for me when I was 9. I still had ambitions of being an astronaut. These were the early years of Apollo and many boys my age were inspired to go to the stars just like Buzz, Neil and Gus and the rest of those heroic men that risked and gave their life to expand our horizons beyond our earth. Of course, Neil and Buzz and Mike hadn't been to the moon yet, but it was only a matter of time before they would go. So it was with no little excitement we drove over to Saint Louis to Catch our flight on Frontier Airlines to Denver, The first hop on our trip to California. I can even to this day remember the kind of airplane we flew. It was a Boeing 727, the three engine aircraft that served the airlines all the way through the last half of the 20th Century. In Denver, We boarded at TWA 707 for the flight to Sacramento. It impressed me as a big plane. Four big Jet engines and was one of the biggest things in the sky at the time. I was excited to fly. Everything about it was cool.. from the razor disposal slot to the little bars of soap to the little bottles of alcohol that came with my parents drinks. Food and Drinks were included in the airfare. Much different than now. Anyway, We arrived in Sacramento that afternoon. In the eyes of a nine year old boy this was just short of magic to turn a three day drive to an single day of flight. This was before all the security check points and searches and crammed planes. It was a different age of flying and it was just plane fun.

Who could mistake this for anything but LAX.

Our trip had begun well and little unbeknownst to me and my 7 year old sister, My Mom, Dad, Uncle and Aunt had planned a trip to Disneyland.  We had bought tickets on a regional airline that served California and the West cost at the time.  The name of the airline escapes me, because that was more than 40 years ago.  Anyway,  the day came for our trip to Disneyland.  Anaheim was just a short flight from Sacramento and of course we had over slept that morning so we had to make a mad dash to the airport.  Along the way, my Uncles car had a flat tire. It seemed everything was conspiring to keep us from going.  This was the age before Cell phones so there was no way to call the Airline to let them know we were late.  But, in Indianapolis Motor Speed Way pit crew time, the tire was changed and we were again on our way to the airport.  Fortunately for us, the airline had held the flight long enough for us to arrive. We boarded the Aircraft and away we went to LAX. LAX seemed so modern to me then.  the Terminal building with its arches looked like a flying saucer to me still, to this day is an icon of Southern California and the icon of Los Angeles International Airport.   At the Airport we caught a bus to Anaheim, where Disneyland awaited.  The only thing I remember about the bus ride is how long it took to go from the airport to Disneyland.

Runaway mine train. Replaced by Big Thunder Mountian.

 I was really excited about going to Disneyland and wanted to get there right away. At that time I didn't know what rides where there. I thought of the attractions at Disneyland as rides. As i grew older I realized that there is so much more to Disney than just rides but I was nine. Rides were everything.  After what seemed forever to me, we finally arrived at Walt Disney's dream.  Walt had planned Disneyland to be a place where families could have fun together in a clean, safe environment. I have read that Walt Disney would take his kids to local amusement parks in California.  Walt knew that he could do better an set out to create the happiest place on earth.  In 1955 he opened Disneyland. A bit more than a decade, all I knew was they had the Runaway Mine Train and the Mad Tea Party ride.  Disneyland  had steam trains and the Matterhorn ride. I wanted to do it all.  Unfortunately, at that time, all the rides were available via a coupon system.  Visitors bought Coupons books that had tickets that ranged from A to E  with the most exciting rides requiring an E ticket. We each had a coupon book that didn't have enough E tickets to ride all the E ticket rides. Even though I missed out on the Matterhorn I had a great time at Disney.  For the first time I had ridden Its a Small World. We got to ride the monorail, which was an E ticket ride as well. I knew the Mad Tea Party ride was at Disneyland.  I was crazy for anything Alice in Wonderland at the time.  I still love all the Lewis Carroll books today and I was much more tolerant of the round and round that makes my stomach do flips today.  I rode it with my parents, never once thinking that perhaps they might have the same aversion  to round and round like i had discovered when i grew older. Of course,  when I was in my thirties which was their age at that time, I could still tolerate round and round fairly well.  Today, not so much.

Mad Tea Party.  I didn't loose my lunch. Now I would.

Many of the rides are still fresh in my mind.  I remember the Enchanted Tiki Room.  The singing birds seemed like technological marvels a the time. Even today, they are still pretty cool.  As simple as Its a Small World was, this ride amazing thing in my young eyes and the insidious song that has crept into my sub-conscience that will probably never be exorcised.  I got my first taste of flying over the chimneys of London on the Peter Pan ride and my first taste of the monorail. Some of the older rides have gone now.   the Carousel of Progress is now in Disney World.  Gone are the days of A, B, C or D ticket rides, but E-tickets have entered the English Lextionary.  People still refer to amazing or exciting events as E-ticket attractions.  Even shuttle astronauts have referred to liftoff as an E-Ticket ride. Now that all is said and done, I'm happy that this bit of Disney nostalgia lives on but as for me, I'm glad that we only have to pay a single price to gain admittance to the parks. That is truly Magic My Way.  Disneyland was all amazing and an enchanting place for a 9 year old. I still find Disney magical 44 years later.  I can't wait for the chance to go again.  30 more days.. just 30 more days.

Singing "Its a small world after all... Its a small world after all"