I have become so desensitized to the magic that swirls when you step onto Main Street for the first time.  I still feel it, and appreciate it, but I expect it.  I had forgotten the wonder of when you step onto it for the first time.  When every window, every cast member, everything is new. When the smell of popcorn and churros greet you warmly.  When the beep of the trolley transports you into a different time.  When you finally round the corner to see the castle.  When you hug your best friend on that same corner.  Disneyland gave that feeling back to me.

Last weekend, my DCP roommates and I had a spontaneous Disneyland reunion.  It started small until we all committed and booked planes tickets from all different parts of the world to take us back to each other and back to the homeland.  I have been to Disneyland once before, briefly for half a day in high school, but somehow I just didn’t remember any of the details.  But that allowed me to experience it so fully and richly this time.

My friend Alex told me I would love it because it feels more homey.  I never doubted him, but now I get it.  Disneyland feels so much more genuine and so much closer to Walt because it was his park and his dream.  Having the appreciation I do for Walt and his vision made walking down the same Main Street as him so special.  Our fantasy loving hearts can connect on those streets in a way that World never can.  It’s as if Walt’s essence still lives there, breathing fantasy and magic back into the park.  It in no way diminishes or questions the magic in World, it simply intensifies it in Land.

Peter strolls in front of the castle alone, looking for lost boys or maybe pirates.  Fairy Godmother says hello as she passes us in front of the castle.  Mickey is a sorcerer, a vampire, a newsie with a dream.  Flynn complains about his nose again to people he passes in the streets. Magic swells in every part of this kingdom.

Everyone pushes you to pick your favorite park, World vs. Land, and during my days there I was happy to play the game from ride to ride.  There wasn’t really a ride in Disneyland that I thought World did better.  Space is smoother, Small World is actually fun, and the transformation that Mansion goes through to become Nightmare Before Christmas is absolutely incredible.  And Fantasmic is just.. wow.  The pirate ship.  The clearer, longer, more in depth water effects.  RAPUNZEL.

But I don’t think there is really a point in choosing.  Each offers such unique magical experiences that the other doesn’t have, and getting to experience the same ride in different parks simply expands the world of that ride, and how amazing that it can exist and expand across coasts.

I do think the connection to Walt in Disneyland has hooked me.  It feels so intimate and special to be invited to his original dream.  And then to see how successful he was and how it expanded to Florida and beyond is so incredible.

Walt said that what he wanted most of all was for Disneyland to be a happy place.  And don’t worry, Walt, it truly is the happiest place on Earth.  It brought my people together, first in World and again in Land, and continues to give inexhaustible magic daily.  What a privilege to work for you.