Birthday Memories
This post is inspired by a series of posts made by a friend. Given that today is my birthday, it seems like a fitting time to look back at one of my favorite memories. As it happens, this particular memory is centered around a birthday, just not one of mine.
Disneyland celebrated its 50th birthday on July 17th, 2005, however my story actually begins the day before. Disney was letting as many people as they could fit into Disney’s California Adventure stay the night in that park with the promise that they would be allowed into Disneyland before everyone else the following morning.
I had spent most of Saturday in San Diego at Comic-Con, but I got back to Anaheim in time to check into a nearby hotel room under the assumption that I would get a few hours of sleep before heading over to the resort to get in line. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t really sleep so I made my way to the parking lot tram and hotel shuttle loading area east of the esplanade. When I got there about 2:00am, the line was considerable, snaking back and forth filling about half of the tram/shuttle area. By the time they started letting us in, the area was completely full.
As we passed through DCA’s turnstiles, each person was given a colored wristband roughly denoting the time they entered and a pair of golden Mickey ears with the date stitched on the back before being sent off to search for the end of the line. For me, that was Paradise Pier where California Screamin’ crosses the walkway between the Maliboomer and The Orange Stinger. A few hours later when it was time to move us over to Disneyland, the line was bunched up into groups based on wristband color, and wave after wave of people were directed out the DCA main gate into a cordoned off path that led straight to the Disneyland main gate on the stroller rental side.
Once inside Disneyland, we could see the main gate cast members getting ready for opening. There were considerably more of them than usual since they had to give out those golden ears to everyone that came through. There were a bunch more CMs lined up on the sidewalk from the Opera House to about halfway up Main Street cheering, high-fiving us, and shaking our hands as they welcomed us home.
Upon reaching the hub, there was a choice to go left through Frontierland up to Big Thunder Ranch where the anniversary merchandise was being sold or to right into Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. I opted to head into Tomorrowland to get something to eat at Tomorrowland Terrace before making my way back to Main Street to find my friends.
The big ceremony was to begin at 10:00am and there were video screens set up all over the park so that everyone would have a chance to see what was going on. We found a spot in front of Coke Corner before all of Main Street became a sea of of golden Mickey ears. The ceremony began with Art Linkletter recalling time he spent with Walt Disney and ended with Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, reading his dedication speech from opening day. Bob Iger, Michael Eisner, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also made appearances along the way, but those were the best parts.
Afterward, as the massive crowd slowly thinned, I received a very pleasant surprise. A woman emerged from the crowd and threw her arms around me almost before I recognized who it was. It was my friend S. She’s the kind of person who hugs you like she means it and a hug from her right at that moment, when the energy of the day seemed to be at its height, was the perfect complement to whole experience and is at the heart of my memories of that day.
The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. There was the MousePlanet meet-up at Hungry Bear in the afternoon, trying to nap in the Opera House, fireworks, a group ride on Space Mountain, and the cupcakes. Way too many cupcakes.
Looking back on that day, that Sunday in Disneyland, and that hug from S, I’m reminded of all the Sundays that I’ve spent there and all the people I’ve met on those Sundays. Some have been acquaintances confined to those Sunday visits, while others have become close friends and important parts of my life. Never would I have thought that an introvert such as myself would be surrounded by such wonderful people.
Cindy said,
May 5, 2008 at 12:18 am
Wow, thanks for that post. All these years later, it still brings back a lot of my own memories, but I love hearing about other people’s experiences that day. The CMs on Main Street were just amazing.
Cupcakes, ugh. I’ve never looked at them the same way again.