i've decided that Disneyland is one of the greatest anomalies in our system. i mean, excuse the fact that it's the self-proclaimed "happiest place on earth" but it defies many things that a lot of amusement parks fall into.
i had the pleasure of enjoying this magical world while on the job earlier this week. my boss wanted to make a trip of it with some other friends (those of which i can call friends as well). i'm just going to say it: five straight guys visiting Disneyland on their own and not to pick up on traveling girls is a bit odd. the fact that it was totally fun and not awkward (as one should expected it to be) seems to be part of the contradiction. i mean where else can a hetero, young man be excited about taking this photo and not be temporarily excommunicated from his friends:


yeah. what up, Stitch. this may have been the highlight of one of the guys' days (i won't mention any names... carlos...), but these characters have made an impression on our childhood that won't go away. (i personally haven't even seen Lilo & Stitch so i have no attachment to this character, but oh, here are others...) the Disney brand has been able to leave an impression on children and adults alike for generations now. whether it's positive or negative, i leave that to the individual, but no matter what there are somethings that seem to get set into our consciousness and subconscious that contradict our reality. the idea of the princess finding her prince is forever embedded into the mind of most women in a world where the majority of Disney-goers don't live where they can even find a prince, let alone true royalty at all. in the US we have people wealthy enough that can be considered an equivalent, but usually there is a lack of prince-like mentality from those born into it.

in creating this resort atmosphere in a city/town (Anaheim) with an economy entirely based on entertainment (Baseball Stadium, Convention Center, Honda Center (home of the Ducks), the Grove, and Disneyland) should be pretty common place with those places in mind. for most people from out of town, this may not be very noticeable as the freeways usher you to straight to this magical world, but for those of us locals, outside of the couple of blocks around Disney is not the palm tree-laden resort that Disney (and Hollywood) has portrayed southern California to be. not that it's ghetto, but...
in short the place is a section of orange county all its own. the fact that there is a "downtown" Disney, even plays into that quite well.

it just may be the equivalent of the Vatican to Rome.

oh and one of my favorite things to find at Disney:


the happiest place on earth: a place where you can find your prince, be gay (and i mean HAPPY :P) with your bros, shake hands with cartoon characters, and know that it's still your choice to recycle or waste... politely (may your conscience be your guide). until then---