Other Memory Contests
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     This took place when I was 13. We hadn't been to Disneyland in a few years and I was getting antsy. My parents and I were in the family room watching tv and they were showing new shows at Disneyland. For some reason I started to cry. I was sitting on the sofa with my Dad and I put my head on his shoulder and asked "Daddy, when can we go to Disneyland again?" He just looked at me and asked if I really wanted to go and I said yes. That was the end of the conversation. A couple of weeks later I came home from school on a Monday afternoon and my mother was packing clothes and putting it in the car. I asked what was going on and all she would say was "Your father is taking us some- where". We all piled into the car that night and we drove, my brother and I not knowing where we were going. As soon as we got on I-5 headed for Los Angeles I asked where we were going. That was when my Dad said we were going to Disneyland! I asked how, because he had to work and I had school.....ends up my dad took a huge plate of figs, fresh from our tree and went to visit his 'friend' our family doctor. He asked if he could give my dad some kind of medical excuse for a few days, and after he saw the figs he happily obliged. As for school, my mom called and told them we were going out of town for a funeral. We had a great time, and it wound up being the last time we went there as a family. I'll never forget that trip, and what my parents did in order to take me to Disneyland.

     Our family always ditches school for disneyland. The last time we went (March 1997) we ran to the indy ride and rode 3 times in 15 minutes. We ate in the Blue Bayou cause hardly anyone was in there. My 13 year old and my 10 year old thought it was pretty nifty, in fact they had time to run around and ride the ride before our food got to the table although it was close. We were exhausted by the end of the day because we had done so many of the ride, but we managed to eat dinner at the Plaza Inn so we could have just a few more minutes of Disney atmosphere. I'm here to tell you that we will always ditch school for disneyland.

     When I was at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, I qualified for honor roll. Each semester we would do something - from educational to otherwise. One semester (just after the Haunted Mansion opened), it was announced the honor students would go to Disneyland - and we did! So, I actually got to ditch a day of classes(legally too) to go to Disneyland.

     This isn't part of the ditch part but my grandfather was a truck driver who hauled steel - including that used for the submarines.

     While this is not a ditch day story, it's been so long since I've been to D'Land I was overwhelmed by my own stories while reading all of yours, I had to give one away.

     My family had an annual pilgrimage of sorts to Anahiem to visit my father's family and spend the day at Disneyland. We lived in Phoenix so it was usually an 8+ hour drive. I remember my brother and I just bubbling with excitement days in advance, and nearly unbearably overflowing joy during the long car trip. I still remember the feeling, it was always magical and was an experience that could be topped by nothing else. Disneyland! My mom grew up in the area and would also go as a child, she knew exactly what we were going through and would nearly drive us mad with her stories and recollections, teasing us with vivid accounts of unimaginable adventure. I still remember.

     My father on the other hand was a grade A, number one, stick in the mud. With him along, we had a schedule, a budget, and a pace. We were always allowed to roam free with pre-arranged meeting time and place, it was never enough time, we were always late. While it would have been impossible for him to totally contain our joy, he had a tremendous immunity to the infectious atmosphere so carefully crafted by the Imagineers. We ate at the cheapest food spots, rarely got the "over-priced" souveniers, never got our pictures taken, drawn, or painted. Looking back, I think I get madder about it now than I did then, ha!

     Well, one year stands out among the rest. It was the year that I will remember until I can no long muster the strength to hold it. It was the random hand of fate that found me that day, I was favored. This year my cousins were coming along, both of them were old enough that to me they seemed like adults, they were out of school and unmarried, young-at-heart, and always anxious to rescue us from the evil clutches of their stiff uncle, my father. Looking back, I still don't know how I was given permission, I'll bet my father didn't even hear the words coming out of his mouth. My cousin Ace, had a motorcycle and was going to ride to Anahiem (from Long Beach) to D'land and asked my father's permission to allow me to ride with him. Ace had to work that evening so needed his own transportation to the park (he was a manager of a food store, Fazio's?). Father said Yes! Even my mother, who would be merely concerned with my safety and in this instance had veto authority if she d! eemed my safety was at risk, said yes! Before my parents had the time to focus on the whole of their decision, we hastily prepared to leave. Dad checked my helmet, instructed me to keep my arms around my cousin at all times and in record time, rounded up the rest of the brood and lead the caravan to the promised land. Even my younger brother who had a chance to awaken my temporarily insane parents and demand justice, was in awe of my luck. The trip was a blur, my cousin, rode like the wind, down expressways, off and on cloverleafs beyond number, I grinned until my face hurt. Occasionally I would look around to see if my family was still nearby and would always find them ahead or behind us. My father occasionally waving, my mom frantically motioning for me to keep both arms around my cousin. I wondered how long the madness that clouded my father's judgement would last. Sheer joy, and we hadn't even arrived at the park yet, it still layed out ahead of me like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

     Then it happened, I'm still unclear how or what the circumstance were, but my father, seemingly still under the influence of his madness, missed the exit. I watched as he drove on, the temporary flash of the brake as his brain processed what just happened, just a missed second, in Phoenix he would have made it, but in L.A. he was just moments to late. My cousin was clearly not pleased, I had not seen the opportunity yet, I was concerned too. We arrived at the park, took the priveledged motorcycle parking and walked to the gate. I had no financial concern, admission was funded by my cousin, unfazed by the prices listed at the ticket counter, he purchased ticket books. Then he found a place to sit right inside the gate and we began our wait for the rest of the family. My new benefactor, purchased a few soda's, while I waited. We paged, walked, scoped, scanned for nearly an hour until it was clear that we had lost them. Well, the park was filling up, my cousin decided that we would issue occasional pages but the business of the day must commence. It hit me... I was in the hands of someone with seemingly unlimited resources, someone who was marching by a different tune, he was leading me to... Well I just couldn't describe it. I just knew it was going to be my wish come true.

     We gave it our all. Ace had until the end of the afternoon, our attempts at finding my parents were fruitless (I silently prayed that they would not hear our pages). He knew all the locations, the best rides, and the shortcuts. He laughed and screamed, ran and schemed. He had the resources of an adult but like a child, a fathomless appetite for fun. I was in good hands. Disneyland was different that day. I quit looking at prices, lines and limits. She opened up all that she had to offer that day, and while it only lasted a day, I was quite convinced that nothing would be held back. I never pressed my luck, never squandered my fortune, it flowed into me faster than I could imagine, I only took what was reasonable but even now it seems that I won't again see that flow again. I'm an adult now and an adventure like that, for my family would be a fortune, I would be difficult to repeat it in my life, but I can say I tasted it.

     The sweetness lasted until the heat of the late afternoon, the final page had been issued and it seemed that I would have to depart with my cousin, he had responsibilities, a job to get to. He was silent for awhile, probably trying to decide if this warranted calling his boss, some emergency leave. He then gave me a choice, leave with him now, or stay by myself and call him in a few hours if I still hadn't found my parents. I, of course chose the latter. He handed me a small fortune in ticket books (his mom always had a bunch around the house from other relatives who donated the remains of their books after their visits) and a 20 dollar bill. I tucked the money and his phone number deep in my pocket, I knew that while I wanted this to last, I needed to eventually find my family. I missed my brother, my partner in crime, we shared everything and I now needed him to enjoy this with me. I was alone and having the time of my life, Disneyland still beckoned me at every turn,! I ate when I chose, bought things I never would have been able to afford. I still remember how it felt.

     As the sun was saying it's goodbyes, the afternoon light still sufficient, I sat somewhere in Fantasyland contemplating my next move, and I saw them. Although it may have seemed like the opposite thing to do considering what I was currently tapped into, I still ran like mad to join them. Dad was still under the influence of someone or something, he was smiling, enjoying himself. Mom, hugged me like there was no tomorrowland. My brother was as glad as I to be reunited, we looked at each other with the same stupid grins we always did in this place. Dad tipped his wallet my way, gave me my standard 10 dollar spending allowance (generous as it usually was, I had to muster a dramatic display of praise and thanks, my former benefactor seemed to have these in every pocket). My brother and I were freed for the evening hours and we laughed and talked spent the last of all of our money in the Magic store, candy shops, and Joke shops. At the end of the evening, mom wanted to go se! e Sciles and Hendersen (I think that was their names), we laughed and laughed, even my father laughed, he even closed his eyes and laughed, like he really meant it, like it was really funny.

     As Disneyland, closed her doors we left, almost too tired to recall the best moments of the day, we rambled.

     My cousin, always the adult, would still recall that day with me as one of the best, I don't know if it's true or not, but if it's not, I truly thank him for preserving it for me as magical for him as it was for me. It's been a long time, I really don't know where Ace is now, but I wish I could thank him, he gave me the REAL Disneyland for one day, I will always remember.

     I´ve had a whole bunch of experiences in Disneyland I will never forget. Disneyland was the first and last place where I saw my father, who died a few years ago, crying. That was very moving for me. We enjoyed the Main Stree Electrical Parade and we both felt like two small kids again.

     I went there lat year again (for the 3rd time) and again I was more delighted than before. The atmosphere was so fascinating. My sister and a few girls from her school class came with me. We all became very good friends and spent most of the time in the Theme Park together. For the friends it was their first Disney visit and so my sis' and I decided to make their experience as cool as possible. We knew when which attraction were extremely full and we tried to avoid them at these times by visiting others that are not so popular. (ah, yes! good hint for all of you out there: If you stay in DL for more than one day visit the parades on the first day and on the next days you should visit the most overcrowded attractions during the parades. Most of them are very fast to come by.)

     We've had so much fun!! We nearly visited all of the rides and saw all of the shows as we had five days. On the last day we all visited our most favourite attraction again to have a perfect "finale" of our stay. And it really was!!! In the Phantom Manor (Disneyland Paris) we had the luck to rush into a really motivated crew of cast members. One of my friends was really tough considering stuff like horror movies and scary things but actually this event she´ll never forget We were standing at the front door of the ghostly mansion and suddenly some guy (a cast member of course) threw open the door and screamed "WELCOME!!". We were very shocked as we didn´t expect this kind of a welcome :-) So..somehow this guy noticed that even our friend friend was bloody shocked. So he keept an eye on her. We went into the elevator and the ghost host began to talk. When we were asked to move into the middle of the room she didn't do it as she was again so fascinated by the show. She was still talking to us. So this cast member dressed up like an undertaker came up to us and watched her in a really really scary way. Then he pointed at her and put his fingers onto his lips and said "sshhhhhh!". She became so scared!! And didn't know what to do so she just shut up :-) When the light went out and we see the guy hanging in the attic right above there is this lunatic stroboscopic light and we saw that the guy was coming towards us and making the appearance as if it wa his intention to eat us alive...Our girl started screaming in panic as if really some one was out to kill her. When the light suddenly went on again the guy was standing there as if nothing had happended. She still was horrified like hell and just wanted to get out of the elevator. The last thing he said to her (in a very scary voice) was "have a nice and pleasant visit!!!" Even I was scared when I witnessed this scene :-)

     This is just one of my many memories I have from my visits to DL. There are many others and I'll tell you about them when I've got the time :-)

     Visit it and you will experience the magic!!!

     I went to Disneyland w/ my now-boyfriend. It was my senior year of high school, and we had the day off of school, because it was a teacher-day. My boyfriend took the day off of work to take me to Disneyland. (oh how sweet!)It was me,him, his friend, and his girlfriend, who I went to school with. Our day started when we left my BF's friends house at 7am, to be sure we'd be at Disneyland at 9am when it opened. Little did we know that traffic would hold us up and we ended up getting there at around 9:30. Once we got there, the day ran smoothly. We went on all the rides that I wanted to go on, and we got to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, which was a big treat since my boyfriend had never seen it and it was right before they shut it down for good. We spent the whole day there and got to go on all the rides we wanted. All in all, it was one of the best times I ever had there.

     It's become a tradition now for my friends and I to ditch school on my Birthday and go to Disneyland. This year, when we arrived, the first character we saw was Donald Duck. So we ran over and took pictures, and I received a kiss from Donald. Well, when I tried to leave, Donald kept kissing my face and would not let go of me! It took a couple of minutes dragging him through Main Street to get away! Next stop was Indiana Jones. When we finally got to the front of the line, I was waiting to be the driver. The worker up there asked me something that I didn't catch and so I figured he'd asked to see my Driver's License. So I got it out. I was sure it was a new policy or something. So , when I gave it to him, he started laughing and said "No, I asked you if you'd been on this ride before." Well, I turned all red and then he started teasing me about it. Later on, after my friends and I were getting off the ride, he said I could come through the back entrance anytime that day and he'd be there to let us back on. We came back later-and he'd been let off work that morning! My sister then picked up a guy and his phone number from talking to him on a ride, and entered into a long conversation with a worker on the Jungle Cruise, stalling the line as she heard all the jokes. It was definitely worth missing school and my birthdays still mean Disneyland to all my friends.

     First off, let me admit that I've never really ditched school to go to Disneyland. But when I was in high school, our marching band would make a yearly trip around February to play there in the Magic Music Days program. This trip, of course, was highly anticipated. The week before we left, we were required to go to each of our teachers and have them sign a form letting us get out of classes for the day. Most of them usually obliged without complaining. On the day of the big "field trip," we usually had to go to class for the first period. My junior year, I had to sit through a seemingly endless math class before we left. During second period, which was band class anyway, we got our instruments, loaded up the truck, and thought of the poor saps who had to sit in class while we went to Disneyland. Everyone agreed that it couldn't get any better than this: missing school, not getting in trouble for it, and going to Disneyland for free!

     We arrived at Disneyland after a twenty minute bus ride through a service gate off of West Ave. Everyone put on their uniforms in the dressing rooms that were set up in temporary buildings, took out their instruments, and we were ready to go. The route to the step-off point of the parade was through a good portion of the backlot so everyone craned their neck to see what Disney was hiding back there. I remember one year I saw them cleaning the Jungle Cruise animals. All of the hippos and elephants and the like were just sitting around, looking very out of place. When we arrived at the beginning of the parade route (the gate next to It's a Small World) we would usually end up waiting a while but then we would hear our name being announced over the whole park and it was time to step off. Usually, no one paid too much attention as we marched down the street but we still played our march all the same. We'd go all the way to beginning of Main St., circle around, and go out the gate on the east side of the street. Then there was the long walk back around the park to the buses where we would hurriedly change into "street clothes."

     Then came the fun part. Our Disney guide would take us back towards the south end of the park and we'd enter through the gate at the very far corner of Critter Country. People would pick their groups to hang out with and then the band would rapidly disperse thoughout the park. Of course, the best part of being at Disneyland on these days was that there were no large crowds to deal with. We had the park to ourselves! The most memorable year was my junior year when we went to check out the Indiana Jones Adventure, which hadn't quite opened yet (it was February 1995). But to our great surprise, it was open! We excitedly got in the line, which wasn't very long, and got to preview the ride. I felt privileged because I was sure not many other people had ridden this before me.

     The rest of the day we'd ride every possible ride we could and at about 5 PM (when we should have been on the buses waiting in front) went shopping for souvenirs on Main St. We then found the buses, (waiting in Eeyore) loaded every body up and were off back to campus with everyone recounting their favorite story of the day. The downside to all this was going to school the next day. I would sit in class feeling depressed because I was thinking about how much better it would be if I could be at Disneyland like I was the day before.