Disneyland, small world, The Jungle Book, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Small World, Disney, Anaheim, California, Southern If you’ve ever been to a Disney Theme Park, You’ll remember these.
“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.”
"The boys in the back are called macaws. Because of their claws? No, because they're macaws... In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room." And, “It's a world of laughter, a world of tears. It's a world of hopes and a world of fears. There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all.”
Now that you’re cursing me because you’re singing the songs, these are not really what inspired me to travel, it was the rides themselves and when I hear the songs, the images of the rides appear in my head.
On the first Saturday of each December, when my siblings and I were young, we would get to go to Disneyland in Anaheim. As kids, we would spend as much time dreaming of this day as we did waiting for Santa to arrive on Christmas Eve. Our tickets into the park didn’t allow us to enter until the evening so we would spend all day jumping around the house with excitement while our Mom yelled at us to take a nap. We didn’t need one. Adrenaline would get us through. Then the magic hour would arrive. We would all get bundle up because it was always freezing for skinny, little California kids and we would roll around in the back of the station wagon for 45 minutes driving to the enchanted land. (Seat belts were required back then).
It wasn’t until years later when returning to Disneyland, that I realized, the influence the Park had on my current desire to travel. The mesmerizing rides provided me glimpses into the exotic places the world held. The Jungle Book was the inspiration behind my desire to visit Ankor Wat and its long ago built cities.
I was inspired by not the Pirates of the Caribbean with their swashbuckling but the very first section of the Bayou where you hear the frogs and crickets and the lightening bugs swirl around you. The creaking of the dog’s rocking chair. These still want me to visit Louisiana, eating
Jambalaya and crawfish until I burst.
The Tiki Room, persuaded me to visit Hawaii with its Polynesian culture. Women swaying, birds singing and smelling the magical aroma of the flowers while drinking a Mai Tai on the beach. Easter Island is still on the list.
On a local LA radio show, they had a contest to see how many times you could visit It’s a Small World before screaming, “Let me off!” I would have won. Each time, I go through it, I dream of seeing the Taj Mahal, visiting the Artic, the Alps, Africa, Holland, London and so much more. I want to visit all of the countries at the end of the ride that say good bye. Adios, au revoir, cherro, zàijiàn…
“Think of Christmas, think of snow, think of sleigh bells off you go, like reindeer in the sky, you can fly, you can fly....” I can fly!