FLYING WITH ELEPHANTS, PART ONE
I live in Orlando now, and spent seven magical years working at Walt Disney World. But my childhood was also spent at a Disney theme park. Every summer, I would go with my Dad on a road trip from our Northern California home, all the way south to Anaheim. We would spend an entire day at Disneyland, Dad and I, from park opening until park closing at 1:00 am. Even as a child, I wondered at the detail and artistry that went into creating that place. Dad was a railroad historian, and would talk about the authenticity of the Disneyland Railroad. I became a Disneyland fanatic, and read everything I could find about the history of the park. How they planned bodies of water and water features as a way of keeping the temperature down and providing some relief to California’s summer heat. How the pavement changed color when you cross into a different “land.” How Main Street’s buildings where built in a smaller-than-real-life scale so that guests would feel like they were playing inside a toy.
Many years after my childhood visits to Disneyland, my friend Annie and I took our own road trip. Annie’s favorite ride in all of the park is Dumbo. I hadn’t ridden Dumbo since I was a little kid: the lines were always long, filled with parents and toddlers, and there were so many other delightful rides, so I never minded skipping past Dumbo. But Annie insisted. Just as I had my own unbreakable ritual of stopping at the Dedication Plaque in Town Square and reading it – aloud – at the beginning of every visit to the park, Annie had her own hard and fast rule: we will ride Dumbo.
We waited on the long line, but enjoyed every moment of the wait, as the children around us were so bright-eyed with anticipation – and their joy was matched with Annie’s own! She pointed out to me the design of the ride, the beautiful detailing of the scrollwork and colors of the ride structure, the water feature circling the base of the ride, underneath the flying elephants. Seeing all of this again as an adult, seeing it through Annie’s keen designer eyes, reminded me all over again why Disneyland’s magic continues to delight.
Once we squished our adult bodies into a pink-decorated Dumbo, strapped ourselves in, and came to an agreement about who would control the up-and-down movement of our little flying elephant … the ride began! Dumbo carried us high up and we flew … cutting through a lovely cooling breeze, delighting in the familiar sights of Fantasyland seen from this new perspective. It was magical. On that flight, the Dumbo ride became my new favorite ride in all of Disneyland – so much more fun than any little five-year-old could appreciate.
There was more! There was a discovery I made that day which I’ve never forgotten, and you can read about it in my next post. But even if that other thing hadn’t happened … just flying over Fantasyland was an unexpected joy for me. So do yourself a favor: listen to your best friend when she suggests something you don’t usually do. You just might find yourself on a delightful new adventure!