My Favorite Place is the Happiest Place on Earth!

My favorite place in the entire world is Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland. The happiest place on earth! That place in Southern California where the sun shines bright, the churros are worth the five dollars, and grown women like me smile and pose with their favorite Disney princesses. Okay, I know what you’re thinking, this chick is one of those Disney people. I get it, we get a bad rap. You may think it’s childish...or too expensive...or both. I know, I know. But hear me out?

Disneyland is, and always will be, my safe place. When I am there, I feel like I am home. A sigh of relief and relaxation pours over my body as soon as I enter the park. I always enter Disneyland on the right and exit through the left. Don’t ask me why, I don’t make the rules. It just feels best that way. I love Disneyland so much because it has always been a constant for me. It is the one place I know where I am going to have fun and be happy without worrying about anything else. The world, especially as of late, is a very hard and ugly place. Disneyland is my escape from reality.  No matter what else is going on in the world, I know I can go there and hang out with the Mouse to remind myself that magic exists and everything has a way of working out. Also, Trump is not the President at Disneyland, so there’s that too. The only Donald at Disneyland is one of the duck variety, thank goodness.

I first went to Disneyland when I was two years old. I don’t remember any of it, so I am thankful for the old school style home videos my parents filmed. You can see me dancing on Main St with Hercules during the parade and screaming my head off on Roger Rabbit’s Toon Spin. My parents still feel bad about taking me on that ride. To this day, I still hate it. I went to Disneyland a couple more times when I was three and six. I remember getting a beautiful mylar balloon in the shape of Mulan’s head and beginning my lifelong love affair with Mickey Mouse waffles. Mmm.

The first Disneyland trip I really have vivid memories of was when I was eight years old. It all started when my parents had decided I was old enough to finally get a puppy. We began looking online for rescued dogs to adopt because my dad specifically wanted a chow-chow. We found the most beautiful chow-boxer mix who was rescued by an organization in Long Beach. She had gorgeous deep red coloring, so the woman who fostered her named her Brandy. Before she was rescued, she had run away with her momma and unfortunately, her mom was hit by a car and died. They found Brandy trying to nurse from her mother when they came to rescue her. Brandy lived with her foster mom while we began the adoption process. When everything was ready, we planned our trip to head down south to get her. Christmas was right around the corner, so she was going to be one of my gifts. But right before we left, they decided to add another gift on top of it; WE WERE GOING TO GO TO DISNEYLAND, TOO! When we got to Southern California, we alternated spending time with Brandy and getting to know her and going to Disneyland. It was perfect and definitely my favorite Disneyland trip ever.

As I got older, we went back every few years through middle school, high school, and now college. I am convinced I passed all of the math classes I had to take because I took my sorcerer Mickey to all of my exams. When I turned 21, everyone asked if I wanted to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. I told them no and that I wanted to go to Disneyland instead. We stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. My first legal drink was Snow White’s Poison Appletini. Drinking at Disneyland is SO much fun. In the words of Aladdin and Jasmine, it makes visiting the parks, “A whole new world! A dazzling place I never knew.” I ate tri-tip and lobster at Ariel’s Grotto and cried when they gave me a Little Mermaid birthday cake. It was perfect.

These days, I go to Disneyland every few months now that my family and I have become Annual Passholders. My mom and I joke that our passes are cheaper than therapy, and well, we aren’t wrong.  I cherish the time I spend there with the people I love most. I am excited for our upcoming February and April trips. Disney keeps me going through life’s stresses and setbacks. I keep a map of Disneyland over my desk at work to remind me of my happy pace and in the words of Walt Disney, to keep moving forward.

I know my love for Disney is silly and easy to make fun of, but I am who I am. It makes me happy and everyone deserves such a place. To quote Walt again,

“To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of inspiration and joy to the world.”

It really is Mr. Walt Disney, it really is. Thank you.

Here I am at Disney's California Adventure park this past October. For more shots of Disneyland, you should check out Disneyland's Instagram account! https://www.instagram.com/disneyland/?hl=en