Tokyo Disneyland was fun, but I'm probably twice too old for the target age. Some of the rides weren't as impressive as I remembered from when I was, oh, five - like Peter Pan. Roger Rabbit was just as creepy, though. The Pirates ride is pretty cool, especially the part where it opens up from a small tunnel into a huge room of cooler air and what appears to be a full ship. And I liked the haunted house, which was full of clever little tricks like the painting at the beginning that fades from a handsome young man to a skeleton, and the girl-guides who wear lovely Beaubaxton-esque uniforms.
Only living bird in New York.
Roller Coasters are like horror movies - I always want the thrill of riding them, but then once I'm belted in and it's going crick-crick up the slope I think, "What the heck am I doing here?" But everything's designed for little kids, so this one wasn't too intense. I have a strange habit - everyone else is screaming on the fast/down parts, when I just have my teeth clenched. It's on the slower/even parts that I let out a helpless, stifled, "Gyagh!" yell. My throat hurt at the end of the day.
The Swiss Family Robinson was my favorite as a kid, and still is. There's really nothing I like more than compact but efficient living spaces, filled with details and personality, and treehouses with elaborate gadgets. I only wish I could go inside and read the books, sit on the chairs, eat the fruit. Or better yet, actually live there, in the middle of the park, while tourists walked around and peered in at me.
Heck, I would have been happy if there were more rides with nothing but architecture.
Is it just me, or is Disneyland not actually all that appropriate for kids?
I wasn't too interested in the costumed characters - for one, knowing they're just actors and not the real deal leaves me cold. If the real Mickey Mouse was bouncing around the park I might be more impressed. And two, the stories I've heard about how miserable the job is inside that heavy, hot costume makes me not want to contribute to their torture. So I was being very mature while the kids ran about getting pictures with Goofy and Pooh and Minnie.
And then I saw Robin Hood, and "kyaa"ed like any of my students. That cartoon was a huge part of my childhood, and I hadn't even thought about him as a Disney character. He's cooler than them, but apparently it's not as popular over here since where the Mouses had a line to get pictures, Robin and Friar Tuck were just wandering around picking up strays.
He kissed the back of my hand, too. What a gentleman!
Although looking at how short he is, there's probably a woman inside that costume.
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